When it comes to finding the best time to post on Instagram for likes, a lot of brands are left in the dark.
Also, with the increasing complexity of Instagram’s algorithm, it’s even more challenging to determine the best time to post on Instagram for more likes and engagements.
The Instagram algorithm is getting smarter. Even though the quality of a post determines its position and engagement in the feed, timing is also essential.
But then you might want to ask: how do I find the best time to post on Instagram for likes?
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.
Also, the best time to post on Instagram isn’t necessarily the same for every brand. That’s because every brand on Instagram has a unique audience and followers in different time zones.
Even though studies have shown that specific time of the day or days of the week is generally better, the standard practice might not work for your brand.
On another note, the standard practice might be a good starting point.
But then, you still need to experiment with different posting schedules to find out what works well for your brand and audience.
Just as we stated above, the Instagram algorithm is dynamic, and it changes from time to time.
So, peradventure, you’ve found the best time to post on Instagram, don’t just hang your hat there yet. You need to always stay on top of the algorithm changes by testing, measuring, and refining your strategy.
Are you ready to find the best time to upload on Instagram? Do you want to avoid having your Instagram posts buried under many other posts? Do you want to get your message in front of as many people as possible?
If yes, then let’s jump right in.
WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO POST ON INSTAGRAM?
When it comes to finding the best time to post on Instagram, there’s no easy answer. But then, we’ll provide some references that’ll give you a guide of the best time to post on Instagram.
Over the last couple of years, several organizations have carried out researches to determine the best time to post on Instagram. Unsurprisingly, these organizations don’t entirely agree with each other, but then some clear trends exist in their recommendations.
Here are the studies that we have looked at.
LATER’S RECOMMENDATION:
In a bid to find the best Instagram posting times in 2019, Later analyzed 12 million Instagram posts that were uploaded in many different time zones across the globe.
Here’s a summary of their findings on the best time to upload on Instagram.
Sunday: 7 AM, 8 AM, and 4 PM EST
Monday: 6 AM, 10 AM, and 10 PM EST
Tuesday: 2 AM, 4 AM, and 9 AM EST
Wednesday: 7 AM, 8 AM and 11 PM EST
Thursday: 9 AM, 12 PM, and 7 PM EST
Friday: 5 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM EST
Saturday: 11 AM, 7 PM, and 8 PM EST
According to Later, businesses that want to get more engagement must find out their personalized posting time based on their unique audience.
Later also believes that to beat the Instagram algorithm in 2019, brands need to post content when most of their followers are online.
HOW TO FIND THE BEST POSTING TIME ON INSTAGRAM
According to Later, here are three ways to find your best time to upload on Instagram in 2019.
- You can use your top time zones to find out when your followers are mostly online
- Use Instagram’s data analytics to get insights on when your Instagram audience is most active.
- You can try out different posting days and times and measure your progress
HUBSPOT’S RECOMMENDATION:
According to Hubspot, the best way to find the best time to post on Instagram is by testing the timing of your posts.
That way, you can quickly determine the time that generates the most audience engagement.
On average, here’s what Hubspot suggests as the best times to post on Instagram:
Sunday: 10 AM – 2 PM Central Daylight Time (CDT)
Monday: 11 AM – 5 PM Central Daylight Time (CDT)
Tuesday: 5 AM, 9 AM – 6 PM Central Daylight Time (CDT)
Wednesday: 5 AM, 11 AM, *3 PM Central Daylight Time (CDT)
Thursday: *5 AM, *11 AM, *3 – 4 PM Central Daylight Time (CDT)
Friday: *5 AM, 9 AM – 4 PM Central Daylight Time (CDT)
Saturday: 11 AM Central Daylight Time (CDT)
Where * represents high levels of engagements.
Hubspot suggests that if you want to get consistent engagements, then you can consider posting to Instagram from Tuesday to Thursday around 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM CDT.
SPROUT SOCIAL’S RECOMMENDATION:
In a bid to help those who don’t have enough time or resources needed to determine the best posting time, Sprout Social analyzed their customer data to determine the time and day their social media post generated more engagements.
Outlined below are their recommendations for the best time to post on Instagram:
- The best day to post to Instagram is Wednesday
- The best time to post on Instagram is Wednesday around 11:00 AM and Friday at 10:00 – 11:00 AM
- The lowest engagements occur at 11:00 PM to 3:00 AM
- Sunday is the worst day that receives the least amount of engagement on Instagram
The recommendations above are a great starting point for growing an Instagram audience.
Additionally, here’s Sprout’s recommendations for those in the education, healthcare, B2C, technology, and non-profit industries.
BEST TIME TO POST ON INSTAGRAM FOR THOSE IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR
Instagram is an excellent opportunity for schools and colleges to highlight campus experiences and also build a visual identity.
Typically, most student-heavy audiences operate their phones in the later afternoon, and that’s when the engagement pattern trends.
Outlined below are recommendations of the best time that educational institutions can post on Instagram:
- The best days to post to Instagram are Wednesday through Saturday from around 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM
- The best time to post on Instagram is Friday at 10:00 AM
- The lowest engagements occur on Sunday from 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM
- Other high engagement periods to post on Instagram are Saturday at 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM, Friday from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PM and Wednesday at 11:00 AM.
BEST TIME TO POST ON INSTAGRAM FOR THOSE IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR
Considering the high engagements that Instagram drives for those in many other industries, it’s evident that audiences (who could also be prospective patients) are on the platform.
If you’re in the healthcare niche, then it’d be great to find the best time to post on Instagram.
Outlined below are Sprout Social’s recommendations:
- The best posting time for those in the healthcare niche is Tuesday at 8:00 AM
- The lowest engagements occur from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM every day.
- The highest and most consistent engagements occur from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Tuesday.
BEST TIME TO POST ON INSTAGRAM FOR THOSE IN THE MEDIA SECTOR
The expansion of Instagram’s video offering makes it possible for media corporations to highlight their best visual content.
Sprout Social recommends that media companies should consider the following time whenever they’re planning to post on Instagram.
- The best posting time for those in the media niche is Friday at 9:00 AM
- The lowest engagements occur on Saturday and Sunday.
- The highest and most consistent engagements occur from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
BEST TIME TO POST ON INSTAGRAM FOR THOSE IN THE TECH SECTOR
The best time for those in the tech sector to post on Instagram varies from the global peak time on Instagram.
That’s because most audiences in this niche turn into their feeds earlier in the morning to check what’s trending.
So, you can take advantage of those peak times to highlight your products, services, and brand offerings on Instagram.
Outlined below are Sprout Social’s recommendations:
- The best posting time for those in the tech niche is Wednesday at 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM
- The lowest engagements occur on Sunday.
- The highest and most consistent engagements occur on Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, Friday from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM and Saturday from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
- There’s also a relatively high opportunity for engagement on Tuesday at 10:00 PM.
BEST TIME TO POST ON INSTAGRAM FOR THOSE IN THE CONSUMER GOODS SECTOR
For many years now, Instagram has been popularly known as a network for shopping. So, shopping and retail businesses can’t afford to ignore the platform.
Once you find the best time to post on Instagram, you’ll get to improve the chances of cutting through the noise and getting more likes.
Outlined below are Sprout Social’s top time recommendations for those in the consumer goods and retail niche:
- The best posting time for those in the tech niche is Wednesday at 3:00 PM
- The lowest engagements occur on Sunday and every day from 11:00 PM to 3:00 AM
- The highest and most consistent engagements occur on Monday through Friday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
- There’s also a relatively high opportunity for engagement on Saturday at 10:00 AM.
BEST TIME TO POST ON INSTAGRAM FOR THOSE IN THE NON-PROFIT SECTOR
Even non-profit organizations can include posting on Instagram as part of their social media strategy.
For instance, non-profit organizations can build their brand’s visual identity and also post photos about an upcoming event on Instagram.
Outlined below are Sprout Social’s recommendations for those in the non-profit sector:
- The best posting time for those in the non-profit sector is Wednesday at 2:00 PM
- The lowest engagements occur on Sunday and every day from 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM
- The highest and most consistent engagements occur on Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
- There’s also a relatively high opportunity for engagement on Monday from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM, Tuesday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM and Saturday from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM.
KEY CONSIDERATIONS WHEN LOOKING FOR THE BEST TIME TO POST ON INSTAGRAM
1. TIME ZONE
The wider the geographical spread of your Instagram audience, the less critical a fixed posting time becomes. But then, if your target audience is in a single location, you can use the time zone as the foundation for setting your posting time.
If you want to post content at wake-up time, then you need to ensure that it’s posted at the same time when your audiences are just getting up for the day.
2. DAY OF THE WEEK
Usually, there can be some discrepancies in Instagram engagements. For instance, you might be surprised to see 6 AM in the recommendations above.
That’s because many people tend to check for text messages as soon as they wake up. So, it’s likely that people would check their Instagram early in the morning from Monday to Friday than at weekends.
But then, even Mondays can have a low engagement rate because many people will be rushing to begin the week and hence have less time to look at Instagram.
3. FREQUENCY OF POSTING ON INSTAGRAM
If you want your Instagram account to appear fresh, then you need to post regularly. One way to go about this is by sharing a mix of different quality posts on Instagram.
Also, ensure that your posts don’t sound salesy. That way, most of your audience will even be waiting for you to upload content on Instagram.
4. TAILOR YOUR POSTING TIME TO SUIT YOUR SPECIFIC AUDIENCE
It’s okay to follow the recommendations outlined in this article. But then these posting times can be irrelevant for your account if your audience isn’t online at the exact time of posting.
If you have a business Instagram account, then you can access Instagram Insights and discover when your audience is mostly online.
That way, you can tailor your posting time using the insights. Some social media platforms (like Later) also include details about when your audience is most likely online.
CONCLUSION
In this article, we were able to gather resources from different websites concerning the best time to post on Instagram.
Let’s try to resound this again.
There’s no definite answer to the question of the best time to post on Instagram.
Even though there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, the data we’ve provided should give you an idea of the best posting time.
Just remember always to try out different posting time and continuously measure the performance.
That way, you’d get to know what time works best for your brand.
What do you think? In your opinion, when is the best time to post on Instagram? Do you have any observations or contributions? Please share your views in the comment section below.