Let’s Talk About the Best Time to Post on Instagram

In order to be successful in your Instagram advertising campaigns, you need to create content that’s engaging and interesting to your target audience. However, thanks to the ever-changing IG algorithm, there’s a chance that your audience never sees that content if it’s not posted at the right time.
So here’s the question: how do you find out the best time to post on Instagram? Well, if you don’t have the time and resources to figure it out on your own, then you’ve arrived at the right place. This blog post will explore the best times to post on Instagram and how you can take advantage of that knowledge.
Let’s get started.

When is the best time to post on Instagram?

On average, it can be said that the best time to post on IG is on Tuesday between 11 am and 2 pm CDT. Typically, all weekdays between 11 am and 2 pm CDT are prime times for getting engagement on Instagram.

When you post on Instagram can dramatically change the engagement you get. That’s because all people have different routines each day, and the minor differences they make from day to day affect their behavior. As much as people like to say they avoid doing it, most people look at social media the moment they wake up so they can see what their friends did the previous night. Then, when lunchtime comes around, and people have a few minutes to themselves, they go on our phones again. Finally, nighttime before and after dinner is also a time to catch up with friends, news, and media. That being said, it’s totally normal that the heaviest engagement hours align with the hours where our audience is the most active.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at the best times for posting on Instagram, as well as some extra insight provided by Sprout Social.

let the experts help you

AMPLIFY YOUR REACH

Unlock the power of targeted online strategies. Subscribe to our free newsletter for exclusive insider tips and timely insights, and stay in the loop to power your digital success.

Best Time to Post on Instagram Per Day of the Week

  • Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11 am to 12 pm CDT is considered the time where most users are taking a lunch break and are likely to spend some of their time scrolling through IG posts and posting stories. It’s a good idea to share content during those times that’s easy on the eyes and catches viewers’ attention quickly.
  • Tuesday from 11 am to 2 pm CDT – here, the timeframe is a tad longer, which makes it an excellent time to share long-form content like IG TV videos or longer reels.
  • Thursday at 11 am CDT – on this day of the week, the engagement window is rather short, which makes it a good time to post fun and quick content like IG stories with polls and quizzes – things that get fast responses and don’t require a lot of attention from viewers.

Whenever you create your posting schedule, you have to consider these timeframes. However, if you don’t want to get too caught up in looking at the clock, a pro tip is just to post Monday through Friday between 7 am and 10:30 am CDT – it’s guaranteed to give you consistently good engagement.

Best Time to Post on Instagram by Industry

The general data we just discussed is excellent for growing an engaged audience on Instagram. However, if you genuinely want to get into the thick of things, it’s good to know not only the best times to post on Instagram in general but the prime ones for your particular audience. Let’s take a look at them:

  • Best times for technological companies – Monday from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm CDT, and most consistent engagement gets generated from Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm CDT. Weekends are not a good time for posting.
  • Best times for restaurants – Again, Monday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm CDT and that day is also the one with the highest and most consistent engagement.
  • Best times for educational organizations – The best times are on two days: Thursday at 2 pm CDT and Friday from 4 am to 5 am.
  • Best times for healthcare companies – Tuesday is the prime day for posting, and the times between 8 am and 12 pm and 5 pm and 8 pm are considered best.
  • Best times for NGOs – There’s only one day for posting for non-profit organizations, and that’s Wednesday; the best time is from 10 am to 6 pm CDT.

Overall, even though the best times vary, we can indeed say that the weekends are the worst time to post on social media, and it’s easy to guess why – most people try to live their lives in the real world during that time.

Boost Your Instagram Engagement Even Further

Adapting your posting schedule to fit the best times is a terrific way to get higher engagement on your posts. That being said, for your content to capture the audience truly, it has to have other qualities to go along with being published at the right time. If you want to learn more about creating solid IG content and building successful marketing campaigns, take a look at our Instagram marketing tips article.

2
Share to...