Instagram Growth Strategy #3: Best Time to Post

What’s the best time to post on Instagram? This is a common question many brands and businesses inquire about. Instagram content frequency is an important consideration when cultivating a smart content strategy.

But… 

How do you determine what’s the right time to post?

If you run a business and want to succeed on Instagram then you need to understand one of the best practices like the perfect time to post your content. Let’s explore several proven strategies about the best times to post on Instagram. 

What Does The Best Time to Post on Instagram Really Mean?

The best time to post on Instagram is during off-peak hours when users are less likely to post their content but more likely to check the app. Understanding when you should post will help stay top of mind on Instagram.

Unfortunately, there is no definite time to post on Instagram. Well… you know life isn’t that simple.

However, several studies by experts have determined several general standards to give your content the greatest boost. 

Best Time to Post on Instagram – A Research

HubSpot suggests that Instagram posts are most effective between 2 – 3 pm; Thursdays are also considered the best day to post.

However, SproutSocial  determined the best time to post on Instagram is between 9 – 11 am on Fridays and 11 am on Saturdays are the best days.

**Note that the time zones used in this study are the Central Time US. 

We hope that those findings won’t make you confused about the right time to post your content on Instagram. We will now talk about how to determine your best time to post on the ‘Gram.

Determining Your Best Time to Post on Instagram 

Have you ever explore your Instagram insight feature?

Instagram insight is a feature provided by the platform to make your work easier. If you have no idea how to use it, check How to Use Instagram Insights here to guide you. These are the data you can get from Instagram insight:

1. The number of accounts you’ve reached
2. Content interactions you’ve got
3. Audience demographic and growth

Alright, let’s talk about that one by one.

1. The Number of Accounts You’ve Reached

The Instagram insight allows you to check the number of accounts you reached in some time frame which are 7, 14, and 30 days as well as the previous month data.

Determine the most week or days your content reaches the highest amount of account. From there you can discover what season was it, what event, or what kind of content works the best.

2. Content Interaction

The more interaction you got the more relevant and attractive your content is. This kind of insight could give you tons of ideas on how to create the same quality content to grow more interaction and engagement.

With the changes in the Instagram algorithm, more posts that are irrelevant will disappear into thin air.

3. Audience Demographics and Growth

Demographics play a huge role in creating content and selecting the time to post the content. Data such as location, age range, gender, and most active times will absolutely be helpful for you to decide what kind of content you should create and when to post them.

Now, we hope you get an idea about what to do next after looking at your Instagram insight data. Let’s talk about another thing that will contribute to the decision on picking the best time to post.

Some Key Considerations to Check for Picking The Best Time to Post

There are various times of posting that will get your content getting more engagements. Check some of these key considerations to discover the best time to post your quality content.

1. Best Day of the Week

When you make an Instagram post on different days of the week, even at a fixed time, you will realize that the engagement rates will differ. On some days, the best time to make a post would be 5 AM because of the simple fact that almost everyone checks their mobiles first thing after waking up to see their unread notifications. This especially happens from Monday to Friday which is the workweek.

However, on a Monday, people may be more concerned about kick-starting the week than checking their mobile devices early and this may cause lower engagements on a post made on that day and time. 

2. Workday Breaks

It only makes sense to assume that most people only have a chance to check their phones during lunch break. After a hectic morning, people do several things to ease stress and tension and that may involve trifling with their phones to check piled-up messages and notifications. 

Also, during the late afternoons, people tend to become less interested in working and some may decide 

to checkout, their Instagram accounts to drag through till closing. 

3. Time Zone Advantages

Posting times on Instagram may mean nothing if you have an audience spread across different parts of the world and hence diverse time zones. However, considering an audience that is in the same time zone, you must take advantage of this and make your posts at set times.  So, if you identify your audience and want to make a post that you want them to see in the morning, ensure that a huge chunk of your followers will view it at that time. 

4. Specific Audience Active Time

Does your Instagram audience active time vary from that of a typical audience? If yes, then there may not be the need for practicing the best times to make posts. However, if you ow a business account on Instagram, you can use the Instagram insights feature to know when a particular arm of your audience is more active and you can work on making posts during these times. 

Furthermore, some platforms like Later can give information like when a user is online. 

5. Post Frequency

For your Instagram account to look luring and active, you will need to frequently post content. Posting too much can also irritate your audience so a healthy number of daily posts should be around 1 – 3.

Focus on various areas and not much on making sales or your audience will perceive you as selfish. Each post doesn’t have to bulky but must be high-quality. 

Final Thoughts

From the article, you will understand that there isn’t one size that suits all when it comes to posting on Instagram for engagements and growth of the account. However, the data made available from the studies can be used to give you a general image of when is best to post. Replace these times with your actual location data or time zone to get the suitable times for posting to a specific audience. 

Instagram insights may also come in handy here as they can show your audience’s behavior and when best to churn out content to them. Remember also, it is quality content above everything else.