Is there a best time to post on Instagram?
Every brand might have a slightly different sweet spot for posting on Instagram — because every brand caters to a unique audience, with unique behavior patterns on social media. But, that said, there are certain best practices you can follow that tend to yield great results across the board.
In general, posting when your followers are online is key, because the Instagram algorithm prioritizes recency. This means that, if all else is equal, a newer post will show up higher on the newsfeed than an older one.
Recency is honestly one of the quickest, easiest wins when it comes to optimizing a post for success. (Though we have plenty more tips on getting free Instagram likes, if you’re interested).
But beyond that, it’s also important to know what, exactly, your goals are for your Instagram marketing strategy. Do you have specific targets around building awareness, higher engagement, or driving traffic? What does success look like to you, and when have your posts achieved that success in the past? Your past successes are a key guideline for when you should be posting, overall.
Overall best time to post on Instagram
We combined data from analyzing over 30,000 Instagram posts from businesses of all sizes, plus our own social team’s observations and experiments posting to an audience of 200k followers to discover the universal best time to post on Instagram:
11 am on Wednesdays.
We found that Instagram users are the most likely to interact with content mid-day and mid-week. And that makes sense — it is a perfect time to take a break from work or school and do some scrolling. (And liking. And commenting.)
Weekends typically have lower engagement. We suspect that’s because people are out and about doing activities in the real world, as opposed to being on their phones scrolling Instagram.
Planning on posting more than once a week? Here’s a breakdown of the best times to post on Instagram for each day of the week.
Best time to post on Instagram on Monday
The best time to post on Instagram on Monday is 12:00 PM. It seems the majority of Instagrammers may like to start their week off strong at work, but by lunchtime, they’re looking to their Instagram feeds for a break.
Best time to post on Instagram on Tuesday
The best time to post on Instagram on Tuesday is 9:00 AM. Engagement is also strong earlier in the morning, between 8-10 AM, but peaks around 9:00 AM.
Best time to post on Instagram on Wednesday
The best time to post on Instagram on Wednesday is 11:00 AM. Wednesday is also the day that accounts seem to get the highest engagement overall.
Best time to post on Instagram on Thursday
The best time to post on Instagram on Thursday is 12:00 PM. In general, the 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM belt of time is strong for engagement on any weekday.
Best time to post on Instagram on Friday
2:00 PM is the best time to post on Instagram on Friday, though engagement is pretty consistent all through the morning and lunch hour, from 7 AM to 2:00 PM.
Best time to post on Instagram on Saturday
9:00 AM is the best time to post on Instagram on Saturday before people get into their offline weekend plans perhaps.
Best time to post on Instagram on Sunday
The best time to post on Instagram on Sunday is 7:00 PM, though engagement is pretty consistent throughout the whole afternoon and evening, from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
