When to Post on Instagram in 2024?

Posting time matters. Even the most captivating and high-quality content won’t reach maximum engagement if it isn’t posted on time. When you post content on Instagram at the right time, you reach your target audience and get a higher number of likes, shares, saves, and views. In most cases, people don’t spend much time scrolling the feed, and they definitely won’t go to your page to check for new content. So, it’s up to you to find the perfect time to post and create your personal posting schedule for every day of the week.

Bloggers, influencers, musicians, and those who do business on social media always look for the best posting timing. The better time they select, the more they earn.

Each social media has peaks of activity when the highest number of users enter the platform to scroll the feed, post something, chat with friends, etc. Such timings change every day, and if you want to get maximum engagement, you have to adapt. Instagram is one of the most powerful platforms that brings tremendous engagement once you know when to publish new content. So, let’s dive in and discover more about posting on Instagram.

The Best Posting Time on Instagram

First, we should outline the main time frames people use for posting. These are:

• Morning commute (usually from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.)
• Lunchtime (12 p.m. – 2 p.m.)
• End of the business day (5 p.m. – 6 p.m.)
• Scrolling time before bed (9 p.m. – 11 p.m.)

Such time frames work during the business week. If you want to post during the weekend, consider choosing another time frame. On Saturday, it’s good to post between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. On Sunday, you should add new content from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Why so? During the weekend, people usually spend less time scrolling the feed because they go outdoors, spend time with family, and do something they won’t be able to do during the week.

According to the data from Later, it’s better to be the early bird and post on Instagram in the first half of the day.

On Saturday, select the early morning time when people are not leaving yet so they will see your content on the feed and engage with it. On Sunday, the frame from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. is the one with the highest activity. Still, experts consider Wednesday as the best day to post on Instagram and Monday as the worst day to post. Still, such statements are based on average data. To understand when is the best time to post a reel on Instagram for you, you should run a deep analysis. Even if you buy Instagram views, it will be a short-term boost, so you need to understand how your audience sees your content and how it works out for them.

Understand Your Audience

Your followers are those who bring engagement and help you increase the visibility of your content. To ensure people will see your posts, you need to analyze their activity and find out when they are the most active. If you have followers from different countries and even different continents, you won’t satisfy everyone due to different time zones. Still, you can look at the majority of subscribers and define when they remain active. Use Instagram analytics to find out what content fits your audience and how often they engage with your content. Use this information to change your posting schedule and get back on track. To get the needed user data, do the following:

• Open the application and enter your profile.
• Go to the “Insights” section.
• Find the option “Total followers” and scroll down.
• On the bottom of the screen, select the graph that indicates the peak of activity for your audience.

Still, this data is incomplete. For example, you don’t know how many users were active during each time frame. When you post Instagram stories, they are available for 24 hours, and after that, they disappear. You don’t know exactly what was the best time for Instagram users to engage with this content.

You can also use tools like HypeAuditor to gain more insights into your profile. It was designed for influencers and bloggers, but you can also take advantage of it. The tool is not free, and after a free trial, you’ll have to renew your subscription.

Use HypeAuditor to advance your capabilities and get more info about your audience.

At the beginning of the path, when people don’t have a large audience, they buy Instagram followers to boost their profiles and have better engagement. Moreover, it’s much easier to grow when you surpass the starting point and get core followers.

Understand Instagram Algorithm

The platform’s algorithm is also essential for posting. By understanding how the platform works, you can organize your posting, achieve better results, and increase overall engagement. This is especially important when you use Instagram for music promotion or to make your brand more popular. The new platform always gives you access to a wider audience, so you’ll have to figure out how the algorithm works to share your content and achieve maximum engagement effectively.

The system analyzes the content (stories, Reels, images, and videos) and gathers information to offer this content to the right people. Below are 4 main factors that directly impact the algorithm:

• Interest. Interest is based on users’ behavior, how they engage with content, and whether they search for similar content.
• The popularity of the post. The popularity of a post is decided by how quickly it gets likes, comments, shares, saves, etc. The engagement time also counts.
• Information about the poster. The platform gets information about the content creator, including posting frequency, past interactions, overall activity, and posting timing information.
• Interaction history. Instagram analyzes how users interact with different people and like/comment on their posts. This information shows how much people are interested in this specific type of content. Even if you buy Instagram comments to get higher engagement, they will count in these stats.

Also, it’s essential to consider these three factors:

• User engagement. The platforms consider how much individuals engage with particular accounts, such as posting, sending DMs, etc.
• Viewing history. Gathering information about the profiles you visit the most and prioritizing them. Later, the system offers similar accounts you may not want to miss.
• Closeness. This factor is about your relationship with the author.

Besides these factors, the platform considers how much you are interested in a specific type of content (for example, Instagram Reels). Depending on how you engage with this type of content, Instagram offers you videos related to your interests. To push content higher in the recommendation system, people often buy Instagram likes, as they are one of the most effective metrics.

The Instagram algorithm received a major update in April. Many things have changed, and you must consider these changes to make your content posting more effective. In this video, the author explains what exactly has changed and how you should adapt to new algorithms.

Another crucial factor for posters is relevancy. Your content must be relevant to the audience (whether it fits people’s expectations or not). Also, new posts are considered more relevant than the older ones. So, if you select an optimal time when to post on Instagram, your new posts will always have higher priority than the older publications.

When to Post on Instagram?

Now, let’s get to the main point: posting time. Every day, the posting time changes, so you have to adapt and make regular content updates according to the recommendations to keep the engagement level high. It’s crucial fo the whole social media strategy because Instagram’s posting schedule differs from other platforms. The time to post on LinkedIn differs from time to post on TikTok or Facebook, so you can’t use the same schedule for multiple platforms. So, let’s go through each day and define when to post on Instagram from Monday to Sunday.

Best time to post on Instagram on Monday

Monday is the beginning of a new week, and it’s usually the toughest day of the week, so people usually open Instagram at the beginning of the day. It usually happens between 9 and 10 a.m., and this is the best time for you to make a post on Instagram.

Best time to post on Instagram on Tuesday

This is only the beginning of the week, and people are still enthusiastic about new content. Use it to your advantage and surprise your followers with new content. The best time to post on Instagram on Tuesday is the same as on Monday: between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Best time to post on Instagram on Wednesday

On Wednesday, you can go beyond the usual schedule and post three times per day. The first time to post on Wednesday is early in the morning (around 5 a.m.), so people will see fresh content after waking up. The second time comes later, at 11 a.m. Finally, to refresh the afternoon slump, make another post at 3 p.m. Some creators consider Wednesday as the worst day to post on Instagram, but if you find the optimal time frames, you’ll still take advantage and get high engagement.

Best time to post on Instagram on Thursday

On Thursday, we focus on posting in the second part of the day. Adding new content to the platform is the best decision. The best time to post on Instagram on Thursday is 12 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Best time to post on Instagram on Friday

Again, we go with the double. The weekend is coming, so people want to distract themselves and stay away from routine. Since then, you can make your first post on Friday between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. After that, wait until the evening and use the next major time frame: from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Best time to post on Instagram on Saturday

The best times to post on Instagram on Saturday are early in the morning (at 8 a.m.) and in the middle of the day (12 p.m.). In the morning, when people don’t need to go anywhere, they spend more time scrolling and engaging with content on the platform. Use this to your advantage and add two posts in the first half of the day to get maximum engagement.

Best time to post on Instagram on Sunday

On Sunday, people usually have their self-care routine and spend time recovering and preparing for the upcoming week. It means you should not expect high activity in the morning and look to add new content closer to lunchtime. Focus on posting content on Sunday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Still, this is not a perfect schedule. These posting recommendations were created based on various analyses. If you want to have great engagement on your content and constantly increase your follower count, you should make your own analysis and define the best time to add new content.

Is Promotion Important for Instagram Posting?

If you want to succeed on the platform and keep getting new followers, you have to do more than just regular posting. You should understand that not every follower will like to engage with your content, which means you have to do more to achieve better engagement. One of the ways to do that is to use Instagram on-platform promotion. You add funds and get your content promoted by Instagram. The promotion is based on existing algorithms.

In this video, the author explains how exactly Instagram Ads work and how impactful they really are. 

If you use Instagram to promote music from Spotify and other platforms, always add links to your music profiles so people can proceed and listen to the full version of the track. Popular musicians and music bands actively use Instagram to promote their tracks and announce upcoming tours. Since you are a rising star, Instagram can be an effective tool not only to promote but also to communicate with the audience, ask for feedback, and reveal insights from your daily life.

Besides using Instagram’s built-in promotion, consider using paid promotion services. Depending on your budget and goals, you can select various Instagram promotion packages (combined promotion with additional likes, followers, and comments) or get something specific. The service offers full-time support from specialists. Moreover, we don’t use bots, so you will receive organic engagement and watch your account grow. Depending on the volume of your package, the delivery time may change, so be patient and wait until the execution is completed. For example, if you will buy Instagram Reels views, you will get them fast.

Create a Unique Posting Schedule for Different Types of Content

Since Instagram offers three different types of content, you have to create a complex posting schedule that has time frames for stories, Reels, and images. You can use the posting routine we provided as basic, but still don’t forget to analyze your audience activity and define the best timing to publish your content.

FAQ

Why is the timing of my Instagram posts important for engagement?

The timing of your Instagram posts directly impacts your engagement. The earlier you upload your content, the better engagement you will have. Since users scroll the feed, they focus on the recent posts, so make sure you have the right timing.

How can I find the best time to post on Instagram for my specific audience?

Go to Instagram Insights and get data about your audience activity. Find the time when your followers are the most active and create a posting schedule according to this information.

Are there different optimal posting times for Instagram Reels compared to regular posts?

Several general recommendations exist on when to post Reels. The best time to post Instagram Reels is 4 p.m., and Tuesday is the best day of the week for it.

How do industry trends affect the best time to post on Instagram?

If global trends lead to nighttime posts, the general Instagram posting schedule will slowly shift to late nights. Still, not every trend is recognized by the audience, and sometimes people break trends to set their own schedule.