This is a million-dollar question, and the answer is not as simple as you think.
Here, whether you are B2B or B2C, we will carefully study how to schedule Instagram posts perfectly.
When is the best time to post on Instagram?
Since Instagram was a feed in reverse chronological order, times have changed. The platform no longer displays the freshest posts first. It also takes into account interests, frequency, relationships, and the number of accounts you follow.
In this article, you will learn about:
Why timing is important
How the Instagram algorithm affects time (and how to beat it)
Best time to post on Instagram by industry
How to use analytics to determine the best time to post for your brand
If the times of Stories and Live videos are different
Why timing still matters
Although the timing is not everything, brands can't just release when they want. After all, recency is a ranking factor.
Brands should aim to publish when fans are online. In order to increase followers, brands need to create content that their audience wants to see. However, if you don’t think about time, followers may have a hard time finding killer content that you’ve worked hard on.
According to data from Pew Research, half of Instagram users scroll through the app every day. Nevertheless, the participation rate will vary depending on the time and content of your posting.
When users have free time, they tend to check the application. According to Sprout Social's research, now is the best time to post on Instagram.
All times listed below are CDT times:
Tuesday to Friday at 5:00 am is one of the busiest times on Instagram. People may wake up during the day and browse their phones before waking up.
11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays is also a great time to post because you will catch people during your lunch break or when you start to lose momentum in the afternoon.
Saturday morning at 11:00 is the best time to post on the weekend because you are catching up with the brunch crowd.
According to Sprout Social's research, the best time to post on Instagram. Image courtesy of Sprout Social
According to Sprout Social's research, the best time to post on Instagram. Image courtesy of Sprout Social
The best way to find the best location for your brand’s launch is to seize the moment and measure your findings. Schedule posts at different times so you can be part of your followers’ lunch break and morning routines, whether they are on the East Coast, West Coast, or other countries.
Of course, this can be a bit tricky if you operate globally, so you must consider the best time zone for multiple locations.
Ultimately, answering the question "when is the best time to post on social media" does not just depend on the traditional 9 to 5 workweek. It also depends on the industry and the type of content you publish.
In this regard, let's take a look at how the Instagram algorithm affects the time in its current iteration.
How the Instagram algorithm affects the time
In the first six years of Instagram, regardless of quality or relationship, the content was presented in reverse chronological order. So for brands, time is everything.
But in 2016, Instagram announced that they would change things by prioritizing "moments you care about" rather than your most recent posts. Although the goal was to create a high-quality feed, this change was not welcomed by users.
Auto-refresh made users lose their position. Brands believed that their content did not reach customers. A Change.org campaign called Keep Instagram Chronological was circulating on the Internet.
In 2018, the platform updated its algorithm again, this time rebuilding the "proximity" into its signal lineup. Since Instagram has prioritized new content, brands really need to consider when their audience is most active in order to get the most benefit from their posts.
Although Instagram stated that they will never return to a fully chronological feed, the latest iteration is a compromise. The feed is personalized based on factors such as how users interact with the content, as well as timeliness, interest, and engagement.
Here are some ideas about what other ranking factors mean for your brand and how it affects the time to post on Instagram.
You must be funny
If your content lacks personality, it makes no sense to post during peak hours.
Instagram’s machine learning algorithms are designed to provide the content you care about based on how you interacted with similar content in the past.
Brands can take advantage of this by focusing on engagement and authenticity. This means that identifying hashtags that help you be seen, as well as high-quality visual effects and carefully crafted subtitles. In other words, your goal is to launch posts that people really want to click on.
Aside from time, your posts will only perform well when they are interesting. Use high-quality color schemes and hashtags. Image courtesy of Instagram user JuniperOats
Aside from time, your posts will only perform well when they are interesting. Use high-quality color schemes and hashtags. Image courtesy of Instagram user JuniperOats
Relationship building is important
The relationship element of the algorithm attempts to determine the depth of the relationship between the account and its followers. This is where the "meaningful" content part comes in.
Instagram initially turned to more relevant feeds to try to emphasize deeper connections instead of engaging in bait or promotional spam.
Use Instagram Insights to learn more about your follower role and use that data to determine the type of content to post.
In addition, you can increase engagement by commenting on the accounts of your followers and replying to comments when they are still fresh.
Let followers know how to open notifications
Instagram provides a feature that allows you to turn on notifications when one of your favorite accounts posts new content.
Remind followers that they can open the notification by clicking on the three dots icon on the page and selecting "Turn on post notification", "so they don't miss anything."
Although you don’t want your followers to receive notifications, friendly reminders from time to time may lead to more engagement.
Run paid promotion
If your goal is to expand your audience, sponsored posts are a great way to show your content to new people. Time does not play a role here, because Instagram handles the scheduling process of paid advertising.
As with organic content, brands need to ensure that they target the right people, and paid ads have eye-catching headlines and eye-catching photos.
Don’t forget to use relevant hashtags
It’s no secret that Instagram posts with relevant tags get higher engagement than posts without tags. Mix brand tags and community hashtags to help you appear in relevant search results, thereby expanding your reach.
The best time to post on Instagram by business type
When determining when is the best time to post on Instagram, the best time to post varies by industry.
B2B brands benefit from arranging posts around the working day. B2C brands do better during typical breaks or weekends.
According to the SproutSocial data we mentioned above, different industries have different posting peak times. For example, they found that technology brands performed well at noon on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.
HootSuite also collects data from its users and organizes their findings into useful categories. They found that professional services companies performed better around 10 am on weekdays, especially on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Non-profit organizations achieved their best results at 10 am and 4 pm on Tuesday, while educational institutions achieved better results at around 4 or 5 pm from Wednesday to Friday.
In contrast, consumer product brands — such as cosmetics or clothing retailers — performed best between 11 am and 1 pm on Saturday.
Based on this information, brands should pre-arrange posts—especially those related to important events—so that they can be published at your "best time".
How to determine the best time to post for your brand
If you are looking for a "benchmark" of the best time to post on Instagram to get the most views, then the Sprout and HootSuite reports are a good place to start.
But between HootSuite and Sprout, CoSchedule and Late.com, each social marketing platform revealed slightly different opinions. This does not necessarily mean that there is any problem; it just means that there is no one-size-fits-all timing method.
Therefore, in order to know most accurately when it is best to post on Instagram for your brand, you need to pay close attention to your analysis.
In-depth research and analysis will enable you to better understand what is effective for your audience. We recommend that you head to Instagram Insights to learn more about the best time for viewers.
Remember, these insights only apply to business accounts.
To access them, go to Insights and click Audience options. Scroll down the page from there and you will see the date and time when your followers are most likely to be online.
These reports show that if you work in personal care, your audience preferences may overlap with brands such as MAC or Kylie Cosmetics. However, you need to check your Instagram analysis to see if this is indeed the case.
After you use Instagram Insights to find the approximate time your followers are online, try using a specific time to see if there is the best interaction time.
For example, if your insights indicate that your followers are most active between 3 pm and 8 pm, try posting at 4, 5, and 8 pm and compare the results.
Determine your popular time zone
Schedule your posts according to the follower’s time zone, not your convenient time zone. If most of your followers are on the East Coast and you are in California, please schedule posts based on EST peak hours instead of your peak hours.
And get demographic data
Likewise, it is in your best interest to learn more about your audience.
This information (available in your Insights account) will highlight interest, age, and location segments, as well as the best performing date and time.
Planned working day
Unless your channel is all about shopping, you should avoid posting important updates on weekends. Insist on getting maximum participation in the middle of the week, but pay attention to how subtle changes affect participation.
More posts mean more data
The more you post, the more data you have at your fingertips. Over time, you will begin to understand which type of content works best and whether there is a difference between posting a video on Monday night and Saturday afternoon.
Are the timing of the story and the video different?
When asking yourself "when is the best time to post on Instagram", you need to consider all formats.
One of the big myths surrounding the timing of Instagram releases is that Stories takes precedence over static photos. According to Recode, if the platform thinks your audience prefers Stories, the platform may give priority to Stories. However, the feed itself does not promote one type of content to another.
However, you may want to experiment for yourself to see how different types of content perform against your target audience. Keep in mind that users may not want to listen to the video on weekdays, so you may need to add subtitles or save the live content for future use.
This is another example. Your best bet is to analyze which content resonates most with your audience. They may not react to still photos like real-time video. If this is the case, then adjust your strategy to provide people with what they want.
So, when is the best time to post on Instagram?
This depends on.
Finding the best time to post on Instagram is a step to increase your audience, but it’s not the only thing to consider.
The success of Instagram marketing depends on a lot of trial and error and understanding of your followers. The algorithm is designed to provide users with a feed that suits them. Focusing only on time will not give you the best results. It's all about the complete package: interesting, understanding, and timely content.