Posting some amazing content on Instagram but it isn’t doing as well as you thought it would? Your issue may not be what you’re posting, but when you’re posting it. No matter how good your content is, people have to see it and engage with it in order for it to succeed.

Knowing the best time to post on Instagram is a key component in determining the success of your content, and in turn, your page. 

Here are some things to keep in mind when deciding the right time to post on Instagram.

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The short answer is no, there isn’t a one size fits all optimum time to post on Instagram. This is because the key determining factor of when it’s best to post on Instagram is the behavior pattern of the audience you’re targeting with your content.

Although the behavior patterns of different audiences are widely variable, there are still certain posting guidelines that you can go by that are often successful.

In order to achieve maximum potential engagement with your content, you need to know how Instagram’s algorithm operates. The primary priority of the algorithm is how recent a post is, meaning that newer posts will appear first on a viewers’ feed.

If you want to maximize your content’s relative recency, it’s essential to post at times when your followers are actually online and interacting with the app.

Another factor that goes into the decision of when to post is the objective you’re trying to achieve from a post. Is it a post intended to boost engagement? Increase awareness of, and traffic to your page? 

The answer to this question should partially be the basis of your decision of posting time.

Observing when your previous posts have had success is another indicator of when your future content should be posted. But again, you need to ask yourself what you want a post to achieve. 

The posting time of a previous post of yours that was intended to drive traffic to your page may not be a suitable time to post content for increased engagement.

Does a Universal Best Time Exist?

Here are the optimum times to post content on Instagram each day for maximum engagement.

Your followers are starting their weeks off at work, college, or school. They don’t start engaging with Instagram until noon. 12:00 PM is when they start scrolling through their feeds.

The optimum time to post your Instagram content on Tuesdays is between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM, these two hours are when there’s maximum engagement. Peak engagement is at 9:00 AM.

Generally speaking, Wednesday is the day when average engagement with all accounts peaks during the week. The sweet spot is around 11:00 AM.

Posting between 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM on Thursdays is your best bet for high engagement.

The weekend’s almost upon us and engagement is getting higher. The time window of high engagement is bigger on Fridays, being from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM. However, the highest level of engagement comes at 2:00 PM.

You’re most likely to experience high engagement with your posts on a Saturday if you post early, around 9:00 AM.

If you’re going to post on the weekend, Sunday’s definitely the better option. Engagement is consistently high from noon until 8:00 PM, with optimum engagement coming at 7:00 PM.

Only use the information above as your sole guide If you’re new to Instagram and still don’t have sufficient historical data to go off of. 

As you gain experience you’ll have more in-depth insights into your target audience’s behavior patterns on Instagram. You should adjust your choices on when to post based on that information.

Best Posting Times: By Day

In some cases, your audience’s behavior may deviate significantly from the aforementioned typical patterns. This may make the daily recommended posting times of no use to you.

If you’re an influencer or a business owner, you are most likely to have a Business Instagram account. This account type comes with a tool that’s integral to your success on the platform.

Instagram Insights is a tool that provides its users with valuable information regarding the engagement and interaction of their followers with the posted content. This includes data indicating when your followers are most likely to be using Instagram.

By making use of Instagram Insights, you’ll be able to transform the crafting of your posting schedule from guesswork to science involving informed decisions.

Know Your Audience

Not only does Instagram Insights provide information about when your audience is interacting with your content, but it also enables you to map the demographic of your audience in terms of age, gender, and location. 

That will give you insight into why your audience engages with your content at those times. For example, If they’re employees they’re likely to wake up early. Even if this data doesn’t indicate the exact time you should be posting, it gives you a very clear idea.

When you surpass 100 followers, the capabilities of Instagram Insights expand to actually indicate when your followers are online.

Be sure to use that data in tandem with the engagements per post feature provided by this tool. That'll make your choices for the perfect time to post content become much easier and significantly more accurate. You can also utilize this information to track how your content is performing over time.

Using Instagram Insights

In order to make the most out of your content, you must choose the right time to post it.

If you’re an inexperienced user of Instagram, use the recommended optimum times for each day of the week.

As you post more and more and have extensive data to base your decision on, you should use Instagram Insights to analyze this data and adjust your posting times based on it.

Best Time to Post on Instagram

Best Time to Post on Instagram

Does a Universal Best Time Exist?

Best Posting Times: By Day

Know Your Audience

Using Instagram Insights

Conclusion

Best Time to Post on Instagram

Best Time to Post on Instagram

Does a Universal Best Time Exist?

Best Posting Times: By Day

Know Your Audience

Using Instagram Insights

Conclusion

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