Finding an effective posting time on Instagram is the most important thing for increasing the engagement and reach of your brand’s content. What makes it more challenging is the fact that Facebook has 1 billion active users in a month, each of them fighting for the attention of your audience. The best time of the day for you to post allows your content to be read by a larger percentage of your target people. This leads to higher engagement rates and more conversions because of it.
This guide on Instagram posting times will help you in having the right schedule for your brand. We’ll look at both your audience and different times, using tools to schedule posts, and consistently tweak your strategy.
Gather Your Existing Instagram Data
Start by thoroughly analyzing your Instagram data to uncover current posting trends.
Go to your Instagram analytics under “Interactions.” This shows you your last few posts as well as your top-performing posts of all time. Pay close attention to when your top posts were published and the day of the week. Look for any positive patterns or consistencies you spot.
For example, you may notice you tend to get better engagement when you post at 11 am on Mondays compared to 6 pm on Fridays. Use Instagram Insights to help clearly identify these types of patterns in your best performing content and find out when to post on Instagram.
Research Your Audience’s Habits
Next, you need to completely understand when your target audience is most active on Instagram. Sprout Social’s optimal posting times tool analyzes millions of Instagram posts to provide tailored recommendations based on your audience demographics.
For example, teens and young adults tend to be on Instagram later at night, while parents browse earlier in the day. Seniors are most active in the mornings.
Use Instagram Ads Manager Audience Insights to see your followers’ top interests, locations, age ranges, and habits. Look at audience activity by hour and day of the week. This gives you a thorough idea of when they are likely online and most receptive.
Experiment With Days and Times
Start consistently testing out different posting times over an extended period to see what performs best. Aim to make minor adjustments over the course of 2-3 weeks.
Post on different days and times than you usually would, and pay very close attention to the engagement rate and reach of each individual post. Document all your detailed findings in a spreadsheet tracking the day of the week, time, engagement rate, and impressions.
Eventually, it will become clear which day and time combinations result in noticeably higher reach and engagement. These are your ideal best times to post on Instagram.
Optimize Instagram Content For Multiple Time Zones
Keep in mind your audience exists across different time zones worldwide. What may be a peak time for those in New York might not be relevant for Eugene Tsarkov users in California.
Thoroughly review your Instagram audience demographics analytics to fully understand where the majority of your followers are located geographically. Take all major time zones like EST, PST, and CST into account when deciding on your ultimate posting schedule. Cater to more than one key timezone if possible.
Use Scheduling Tools for Instagram
It’s challenging to post at all the identified ideal times each week manually. This is where scheduling tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Later come in very handy.
These apps allow you to plan out your Instagram posts far in advance and schedule them to go out at your specified best high engagement times automatically. These tools save you hours while still allowing you always to post content at peak times.
Consider Key Events and Holidays
The days leading up to, during, and after major holidays, current events, and cultural moments can greatly impact when your audience is most active on Instagram.
For example, the weekend surrounding big shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday historically perform very well and tend to see above-average engagement. Major breaking news events also routinely cause spikes in likes and comments.
Keep these one-off event dates and anomalies in mind when evaluating your overall Instagram posting habits and best times. Make exceptions to posting around these big events when it strategically makes sense.
Continually Refine Your Strategy
Finally, don’t take your identified best Instagram posting times as the indefinitely permanent solution. Both user habits and the Instagram algorithm change substantially over longer periods of time. You need to continually re-analyze and refine your timing strategy on at least a quarterly basis.
Here are some ways to continually refine your Instagram posting strategy:
- Review your latest analytics every 60-90 days for any new changes in daily or weekly posting patterns
- Check your best performing posts in Instagram Insights for changes
- Look out for new product launches or promotions that perform well at specific times
- Spot trends around holidays, events, or seasons that impact engagement
- Do a full refresh of testing potential new post times 2-3 times per year
- Compare results to your existing best times and optimize based on the latest learnings
- Try a broader range of days and times, not just small variations, to uncover new opportunities
Consistently evaluating your strategy ensures you are always using the most optimal posting times as habits and preferences evolve. This comprehensive approach allows you to maximize your reach and growth on Instagram long term.
Consistency Is Still a Key
Posting consistently, whether daily or a few times a week, helps the Instagram algorithm reliably surface your content. Use your comprehensive research to inform an ongoing posting schedule customized to your audience. Establish a reliable cadence for releasing content that both you and your community come to understand and engage with intuitively.
Conclusion
Determining your unique best times to post on Instagram takes effort, but delivers immense value. Thoughtfully posting when your audience is most active leads to dramatically higher engagement rates and maximizes your Instagram growth. Use this detailed guide to dig into your own account data, research your followers’ habits, run posting time experiments and establish an insightful schedule. Consistently reach more people by understanding when your fans are most likely to see, like and comment on your brand’s Instagram content.
