What is the best time to publish posts on Instagram?
Instagram is a great platform for your professional success or leisure time. But if you want to increase reach and engagement, what's the best time to publish posts on Instagram?
Whether you use Instagram for work or play, there are certain times of day or days of the week when you should publish posts to increase your visibility to your followers.
When is the best time to publish posts on Instagram?
The best time of day to publish posts on Instagram depends on several factors. First, Instagram tends to promote newer posts using its algorithm, so it's best to publish content when most of your followers are already online.
But when your watchers are active depends on things like their time zone, whether they work during the day and the industry. Fortunately, there are also some general trends you can follow to engage users.
Data on the best time of day varies. According to Influencer marketing center, the best time to publish content is Thursday between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Other excellent times to publish content are weekday mornings (from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and weekday evenings (after 5 p.m.). This is because people tend to check their social media accounts before and after work.
Some Engagement report on Instagram from HubSpot indicates that the best time of day to publish posts on Instagram is 12:00 pm local time. This is because many people check Instagram during their lunch break to kill time on weekdays. It also works on weekends, as people tend to wake up later.
The best time to publish also depends on whether you have a content niche. For example, if you're a mommy-blogger, publishing posts on weekdays and during the day would be ideal. If you run a business serving the corporate world, you can publish content after 5 p.m. on weekdays that will appeal to your followers. For assistance, Kicksta has created an excellent report for many industries, such as media, nonprofit organizations and tourism.
When is the best time to publish posts on Instagram?
There are factors that determine which day of the week is best for interacting with observers on Instagram.
According to multiple sources gathered by Influencer marketing center, Thursday leads the pack of activity on Instagram; it's not quite a relaxed work day, as it often is on Friday, but most people overcome the busy week. Hootsuite report slightly differently, claiming that the best day is Wednesday. Frankly, you can't go wrong with any day.
According to Community Sprout, Sunday seems to be the worst day of the week to publish on Instagram, and Saturday lags behind. If you decide to publish content on weekends, keep this in mind and try to publish later in the day. People tend to sleep or run errands on weekend mornings. They are more likely to check their social networks in the late morning or early afternoon.
You can also schedule social media posts using the app so you don't have to do it manually. This also makes it easier to schedule posts in advance and maintain a more consistent posting schedule.
What are the rush hours on Instagram?
According to the social marketing platform Later, at certain times most Instagram users are online. They analyzed 35 million posts on Instagram worldwide to determine the times when the average observer is most likely to be online and checking Instagram.
According to Later, these are the peak hours on Instagram in each region:
- United States and Canada (east coast): 4am to 9am
- United States and Canada (west coast): 12am to 6am
- United States and Canada (middle): 6am to 8am
- South America: 4am
- Western Europe: 18:00 to 20:00
- Eastern Europe: 5am to 7am
- United Kingdom: 4am to 6am
- Africa: 6am
- Middle East: 3am
- East and Southeast Asia: 23:00 to 4:00
- Australasia: 23:00 to 2:00
While this information is useful, analyzing your follower data and thinking critically about when your niche followers are most active on Instagram will be the determining factors in when you should post on Instagram. This information will not only help you retain your observers, but will certainly help you gain a wider audience.
You can also increase the number of followers on Instagram using Combin or similar social media marketing tools.
Consistency is key when posting on Instagram
"When" engagement is important, but consistency is still the most important factor! The more often you post on Instagram, the more likely people are to see your current posts and look forward to future content. The idea is to post regularly, but not to overdo it.
In addition, make sure you publish content that your followers will be interested in. For example, if you are targeting a business audience, it is better to publish your selfies and family photos on your personal account on Instagram.
Remember that quality matters, too. People will get tired of seeing the same selfie over and over again. On Instagram, it's better to post high-quality, changing content at consistent times. It is also best to always keep your audience in mind when you are trying to increase the number of followers on any social media platform.
How to get insights into your followers on Instagram
What if your watchers are not in your time zone? Not sure who your current audience is? If you have a company or creator account on Instagram, review the statistics on Instagram to narrow down the average time zone and demographics of your watchers.
To access statistics on Instagram on your company account:
- Go to your profile on the Instagram app.
- Choose Insights button.
In this section you will be able to see the historical results of your previous posts. Select Total number of observers to get information on watchers. This data includes cities, countries, age ranges and gender. Under Most active timesyou'll be able to switch between days to see the most popular times among watchers.
You can use this data to run your business profile on Instagram more efficiently - determine the time zone where most of your followers are located, and try to publish posts during the hours they are online.
High-quality content and consistent engagement on Instagram
To get the most out of your Instagram account, you should be responsive to your audience, post consistently, use thoughtful or funny captions for your photos, and try to post when observers in your niche are most active.
This defeats any supposed hacks for one particular best day of the week to publish, as attracting observers is not a one-size-fits-all approach.