When are the best times to post on Instagram?

Creating pretty pictures and posting to Instagram is not enough these days. If you’re serious about utilising Instagram as a business tool, you need to consider a wide variety of factors. This includes creating content that resonates with both your brand and your audience, but also you need to understand what times are best for you to post. There is no point posting your content to Instagram if no one is going to see and engage with it, that would negate all the work you put towards your content. 

As for the best time to post to Instagram? A quick search online will reveal a whole host of different answers, telling you that the best time to post is on a Wednesday at 12.15pm, and then reference different studies. Some others will say lunchtimes, others will say mornings. While, yes, these times may work for some, it may not work for you.

The easiest answer here is that in order to get the engagement you want, you need to tailor the times to you and your audience. The easiest way to do this is trial and error. Post at different times of the day, during different times of the week. After about a month of this, you should be able to see a distinct pattern emerging between your posts and how well your followers are engaging with your content. 

So how can you find out your own best time to post to Instagram? Here are a few simple factors that can help you determine this:

Post for your most active time zones

No matter where you are based in the world, it is critical to pay attention to where your largest following is from, as this is what will help you get the exposure that you want from your posts. Whether they are local or international, you want to reach them at the perfect time. If, for example, you have international followers, the best option is to post according to their time zone.

Paying attention to these small details will help you and your content get noticed more quickly by more people, to give you the best results. 

Post more during off-work hours, not during the day

It is understood that most people are most active on Instagram during lunch hours (Must check that feed on your lunch break!) and during the evening, when most users are winding down for the day. 

Keep this in mind when you schedule out your posts, as factors such as these can contribute greatly to how engaged your audience is with your posts.  

Important post? Try weekdays

There may only be slight differences in the levels of engagement of posts during the week and the weekend, but it is proven that most posts scheduled during weekdays have higher engagement. So, if you have a post that you feel is important for your audience to see, it would be best to post during the week. Research has shown that Wednesdays and Thursdays drive up most engagement, and there are drops during the weekend.   

While research into figuring out the best times to post on Instagram give you a vague idea of when to schedule your content, it truly is the best option for you to figure it out for yourself. Your analytics are there for a reason. Pay attention to them, and see if you can identify any trends to truly determine a personalised posting schedule that benefits both you and your audience.