Even in the face of an unrelenting onslaught by upcoming rival social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram has held its ground. It has been and remains one of the ideal platforms for growing and engaging your audience.

Other brands and marketers have noted that competition for leads on the platform is fierce. Optimizing the best time to post on Instagram can give you an upper hand whether you’re trying to build an audience, find leads or even expand your brand’s market reach.

Unfortunately, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. The best time to post on Instagram depends on many factors; these variables may differ or change with time depending on your niche.

Find out the best and worst times to post on Instagram, plus how to identify the ideal time for your brand or business.

Why Does Finding the Best Time to Post on Instagram Matter?

The short answer is it can be detrimental or equally instrumental to the success of your Instagram marketing campaigns.

Look at it this way. Social media marketing and any form of marketing are all about communicating how you’re the best option for your target audience while trying to go overboard.

In many ways, it’s similar to courtship. You’re trying to get the person you desire to see how good you are, but you also try to make it seem effortless. Desperation reeks of “something’s not right,” and you don’t want that.

The same goes for Instagram posts. The idea is to ensure many of your target followers see your posts. A “Hail Mary” approach heavy on mass posting could guarantee many people seeing your posts, but the results would be the opposite. Your target audience and anyone interacting with your posts would tire of them.

Instead, you could determine the best time when your target audience is available, i.e., online and receptive to your message, and make your move. Think about this; you decide to post Instagram content for a B2B target audience on a Saturday, Sunday, or during holidays. Anyone worth their salt can tell it will yield little.

Best Day and Time to Post on Instagram (Based on Studies)

Before diving into this topic, it’s important to understand two things. Instagram operates in real-time, and most users log into the app for updates and to unwind from work or school.

Operating in real-time means whatever you post on Instagram will be accessible to all your followers immediately. So, if you post in the morning from Toronto, Canada, EDT, your followers in Australia will see it late at night owing to the 15-hour time difference.

That said, the best time to post on Instagram is in the early morning hours, between 6 and 11 AM, and afternoon to evening hours, 3 to 8 PM. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are the best days to post on Instagram, as these are the days when users are online and most active on the platform.

This is tough since each brand or business has a unique target market. Here’s a generalized look at the best times to post on Instagram, broken down by days of the week.

Day	Time
Sunday	6 – 8 PM
Monday	6 – 11 AM, 12-1 PM
Tuesday	8 – 11 AM, 2 – 3 PM
Wednesday	6 – 11 PM
Thursday	8 – 10 AM, 2 – 4 PM
Friday	7 – 10 AM, 2 – 4 PM
Saturday	6 – 10 AM, 6 – 8 PM

Remember, these are aggregated analyses. An ideal approach would be to determine the best time to post on Instagram informed by data that reflects the unique factors driving your brand or business.

Post Times to Avoid

Generally, avoid work or office hours unless your teenagers are most of your target audience. The reason is simple: your target audience will be busy with work or school and probably be offline, so they need help interacting with your posts.

Still, there’s an exception to this. If you’re in the B2B space posting on Instagram during work hours can work for you since your TA will be at work looking for solutions, and hopefully, they’ll bump onto your posts and turn into a promising lead.

Similarly, weekends, mainly Saturdays, are the worst days to post on Instagram. It’s only natural for people to unwind during the weekend. Again, if you’re targeting young adults and teenagers, your audience will be elsewhere, whether catching up with friends and family or finishing that book they just remembered.

Best Time to Post Reels and Stories on Instagram

If you’re trying to expand your market reach, Instagram reels and stories are a must-have. Unlike regular Instagram posts, you have more room to be creative and lure in your target audience. The added element of scarcity with Reels and Stories’ll prompt your followers to open up the moment they see them.

For this reason, the best time to post Reels and Stories is almost similar to the best time to post on Instagram, as illustrated above.

There are a few things that could be improved, though, depending on your audience demographics, but most would bring you the results you want, though you may have to post the Reels and Stories some minutes or hours earlier than regular Instagram posts.

Remember to experiment as much as possible and iterate whenever necessary.

Create Instagram Stories with Wave.video

Instagram Stories are crucial both for businesses and individuals as they provide a unique and immersive way to engage with their audience in a more authentic and real-time manner. Stories offer a powerful tool for showcasing products, sharing behind-the-scenes content, driving website traffic, and increasing brand visibility. Leveraging the popularity and reach of Instagram Stories can significantly boost engagement, foster a stronger connection with followers, and ultimately drive business growth.

Wave.video is a powerful video editing tool. Being both simple to use and providing complex features, it is a great tool to create unique stories for your brand.

1. Sign in to your Wave.video account. If you don’t have an account, you can sign up for a free trial at Wave.video.
   
2. Once you’re logged in, click on the Create Video button to start a new project.
3. Select the desired aspect ratio for your Instagram Story. Instagram Stories have an aspect ratio of 9:16, which is a vertical format.
4. Choose a template or start from scratch. Wave.video provides a wide range of pre-designed templates that you can customize according to your needs. If you prefer to start from scratch, select a blank canvas.
5. Add media elements to your Instagram Story. You can upload your own images or videos, or you can choose from the built-in media library in Wave.video. To add media, click on the Media tab, select the files you want to use, and drag them onto the canvas.
6. Customize your Instagram Story. You can edit the duration of each media element, add text overlays, stickers, animations, and transitions. Wave.video offers various editing tools to make your story engaging and visually appealing. Explore the options available in the toolbar and sidebar to apply the desired effects and adjustments.
7. Preview and finalize your Instagram Story. Once you’re satisfied with the design and content, use the preview feature to see how your story will look. Make any necessary adjustments or edits. Ensure that the duration of the story is within the 15-second limit for Instagram Stories.
8. Export your Instagram Story. After finalizing your design, click on the Publish button. Choose the desired video format and quality settings for your Instagram Story. Wave.video will process the video and provide you with a download link.
9. Download and upload to Instagram. Once the video is ready, download it to your device. Transfer the video to your mobile device if necessary. Open the Instagram app, go to your profile, and tap the + button at the top-left corner to add a new story. Select the video you created in Wave.video and upload it to your Instagram Story.

That’s it! You’ve successfully created an Instagram Story using Wave.video. Remember to follow Instagram’s guidelines and use engaging content to capture the attention of your audience.

How to Find The Best Time To Post on Instagram for Your Brand

Finding the best times to post on Instagram can be challenging but doable. There are many factors to consider when creating your posting schedules, such as your target audience, the time zone of your followers, and the time of day they’re most active.

Similarly, understanding your competitors’ posting habits and knowing what types of posts your followers are likely to engage with can help you create a winning strategy for your brand.

Here’s a detailed guide to see you through:

Analyze Instagram Insights

This built-in feature in Instagram offers a wealth of valuable data about your followers and their habits, which can give you an insight into when your content will most likely get seen and engaged.

You can access Instagram Insights from the business profile of your account. From here, you can dive into various data sets that will help you better understand when your posts get the most engagement. This includes the days and times your followers are most active and the type of content they interact with.

When looking at your followers’ activity, focus on the day, time, and type of content that receives the most likes and comments. You can use this information to determine the best time to post your content, as it is likely that when your followers are active, they will be more likely to interact with your content.

Determine When Your Target Audience Is Active

You’ve done the work and identified your target audience. However, for this to count, you must engage your target audience at the right time, i.e., when they’re available and most receptive to your message.

You need to analyze your Instagram Insights to determine when your target audience is active. You can do this in two ways.

First, look at Instagram Insights on your Professional dashboard. This will give you an overview of when people interact with your content, such as likes and comments. It also shows you when people are most likely to view your posts, giving you an idea of the best times to post for your specific audience.

The second option to use Instagram Insights to determine when your target audience is active is to look at the “Impressions” tab. This tab shows you when people are viewing your content, giving you an even better idea of when to post.

Once you have analyzed your Instagram Insights and determined when your target audience is active, you can start scheduling your posts around these times.

While it’s possible to post manually, you should aim for consistency that only automation can provide. Plus, scheduling saves you much time to focus on other business areas. Here’s a whole article on how to plan out social media content to get you up to speed.

Mind Your Time Zone

Unless your target audience lives in one time zone, you must consider this critical factor. Scratch that; mind your time zone regardless. In an era of borderless markets, you always need to find out where your target audience could be.

This feeds back to the point about posting on Instagram when your ideal clients are available and most receptive. If, for instance, you’re targeting an audience in the United States, consider that there are four major time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. If you’re targeting a global audience, consider the time zones of other countries, such as Europe, Asia, or Africa.

Not only will this help you know when to post for maximum engagement, but it can also save you from confusion when someone from a different time zone responds to your post. This way, you can be sure you won’t miss any comments or messages from people in different time zones.

Also, consider the holidays in various countries and cultures. Depending on where your target audience is located, holidays may occur at different times of the year. If you want to ensure maximum engagement during those special times of the year, you should be mindful of the holidays in each country and plan accordingly.

Watch Your Competitors

Instagram has been around for quite some time, and hard as it may sound, a lot about it has been figured out already. Rather than reinventing the wheel, you can take up strategies that have been effective for other people, modify and enhance them, and apply them to your goals.

However, the marketing strategy for a property management firm will be different from that of an adult GED school. The dynamics are worlds apart.

Looking at your competitor’s strategies is an easier and more effective method. You’re both in the same line of business, and your target audience is the same.

To do this, note the time of day your competitors post, the type of content they post, and the response they get. Pay attention to the frequency of their posts and how much engagement their posts get. This information can help you determine the most effective times for your brand.

You can also use tools such as Iconosquare to understand your competitors’ top posts and engagement rates.

Know Your Product

Different products appeal to different audiences, and the ideal posting times for each may vary. For example, posting late at night or early in the morning may be most effective if you target a young demographic.

Conversely, if your niche is B2B, posting during the day or office hours may be more suitable.

Straying a bit on posting time, your product should influence the type of content you post. If you’re selling clothing, you’ll want to focus on visuals, such as pictures or videos of people wearing your products. On the other hand, if you’re a software company, text-based posts might be more appropriate.

FAQ

How often should you post on Instagram?

Instagram is one of the best places to build an audience, but it can also be very challenging, considering the number of creators on the platform. However, the key to success on Instagram is determining an appropriate posting frequency and building that into a consistent habit.

That said, there’s no exact formula for how often you should post on Instagram.

To determine the right frequency for your brand, you’ll want to consider factors such as the type of content you’re posting, the size of your following, and the resources available.

If you’re starting with Instagram and building your following from scratch, you’ll want to focus on quality over quantity. Aim to post one or two high-quality posts each day. This will ensure you consistently share content with your followers without overwhelming them. As you grow your following, you can adjust your posting frequency accordingly.

For more established brands and those with more significant followings, you can get away with posting more frequently without overwhelming your audience. Depending on the type of content you’re sharing and your goals, you could post up to four times a day. However, note that this strategy is best used sparingly rather than daily.

But as you start, feel free to experiment with different posting frequencies until you find your sweet spot.

What’s the best time to go live on Instagram?

Going live on Instagram is a great way to engage with your followers, showcase new products, and build a community. But timing is everything when it comes to going live, just as it with the best time to post on YouTube.

To maximize the number of viewers and engagement, you’ll want to go live at a time when most of your followers are online and active. The best way to find out this information is to use Instagram Insights.

Insights will show you when most of your followers are online and what times they’re most active. You can use this information to determine the optimal time to go live.

It’s also important to consider the time zone of your followers when determining the best time to go live. If you have a global following, it’s a good idea to factor in their different time zones and plan for multiple live streams to reach everyone.

Another factor to keep in mind is the competition. Look at similar accounts in your niche to understand when they go live and plan your schedule accordingly. This will help ensure that you stay consistent with other influencers and increase the chance of more people tuning into your stream.

Consider the type of product or service that you’re offering. Is it a product that has limited availability?

If it is, plan your live stream around the product launch date. Is it a service that caters to different industries? Then plan to go live when those industries’ representatives are most likely active on Instagram.

Final Thoughts

Instagram can be an excellent platform for cultivating high-quality leads, building an audience, and generating paying leads. However, competition can be stiff on the platform. One way to gain an edge is to determine the best times to post on Instagram and schedule your posts around this.

The best time to post on Instagram for your brand will depend on your unique audience, product, and industry. That said, some general rules of thumb can help you maximize engagement.

Analyze your Instagram Insights to determine when your target audience is active, be aware of your time zone, watch what your competitors are doing, and tailor your content to suit your product and target audience.

Circling back to Instagram Reels and Stories, don’t underrate the importance of video in your overall content strategy. If you’re unsure where to start, this video marketing guide should provide everything you need. All the best!