Mastering social media marketing involves more than simply creating stunning content. It takes a lot of testing, trying, creating, failing and succeeding to know what will work best for your business. It’s a never-ending learning curve to understanding the algorithms, how people interact online, and what will resonate with your audience.
If you’re looking to maximize the reach of your content, expand your audience and boost your visibility on social media, it’s time to learn the best times to post on Instagram. Cracking the code to Instagram’s algorithm comes down to producing strategic content and knowing when to hit publish on your posts.
Not sure where to start? Don’t sweat it! We’ve dug into the research to uncover both the best and worst times to post on Instagram to ensure you’re getting as much value as possible out of your social media content.
What you need to know about posting on Instagram
In 2023, finding success on social media means having a strategy and plan in place. The days of effortless organic reach are behind us as social platforms, like Instagram, are becoming smarter in the ways they rank content in their algorithm.
As a brand, business or creator, you need to have a clear idea of who you’re talking to on social media and what kind of content will resonate with them. Plus, you need to be publishing content at the right times to ensure it doesn’t get lost in the digital void.
Posting your Instagram content at the wrong times can mean your best posts aren’t gaining the traction and visibility they need to drive results for your business. You don’t want your Reels, Stories and feed posts to go to waste, right?
But posting your content at the right time is easier than you might think. By diving into expert data about the best times to post on Instagram and reviewing your own audience analytics, you can create a posting schedule that catapults your content to success in no time!
When is the best time to post on Instagram today?
Social media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and recent statistics show that the average time adults spend on social media has risen to an average of 95 minutes per day! This gives brands, creators and marketers an opportunity to share engaging content that reaches the right audience at the right time.
But getting your posting times right is one of the key factors that will make your content sink or swim.
After sifting through thousands of different Instagram posts and expert stats from across the globe, we’ve come up with the definitive guide to the best times to post on Instagram.
Drumroll, please! The best times to post on Instagram are between 11 am and 2 pm on Tuesdays and 11 am on Monday through Friday.
Let’s break that down a bit further to give you the best time to post on Instagram for each day of the week:
• Best time to post on Monday: 11 am to 12 pm
• Best time to post on Tuesday: 11 am to 3 pm
• Best time to post on Wednesday: 11 am to 12 pm
• Best time to post on Thursday: 11 am
• Best time to post on Friday: 11 am to 12 pm
• Best time to post on Saturday: 10 am to 12 pm
• Best time to post on Instagram on Sunday: 9 am to 3 pm
Surprised? Confused? Or maybe you’ve been posting at this time for years?
At Plann, we were pleasantly surprised by the change in posting times in 2023 compared to a few years ago. It seems that posting earlier in the day will give more opportunities for your content to rank higher in the feed.
But remember to cross-check these figures against your own Instagram insights to ensure you’re posting content at the exact times your unique audience is online and active.
When is the worst time to post on Instagram?
Now that you know the best time to post on Instagram, it’s time to fill you in on the worst times to post on Instagram. Why? Well, you don’t want hours spent crafting, creating and scheduling content to go to waste.
So what does ‘worst time’ actually mean? Well, it means these are the times that most Instagram users are busy living their lives IRL. Maybe they’re enjoying a glass of red with a friend, they’re on the edge of their seat watching a thriller, or breaking a sweat at the gym.
Essentially, Instagram’s worst posting times should be avoided as it’s typically the items when most users aren’t active on the platform or engaging with content.
After diving into the data, we’ve uncovered the worst times to post on Instagram:
• Worst times to post on Monday: 12 am to 5 am
• Worst times to post on Tuesday: 12 am to 4 am
• Worst times to post on Wednesday: 12 am to 3 am
• Worst times to post on Thursday: 12 am to 4 am
• Worst times to post on Friday: 12 am to 4 am
• Worst times to post on Saturday: 12 am to 5 am
• Worst times to post on Sunday: 12 am to 6 am
By steering clear of these early morning posting times you can give your content the best shot of getting seen by your ideal customers on Instagram.
How to find your personalized best posting times on Instagram
Data makes the world go round, especially on social platforms like Instagram! By reviewing stats and analytics, you can get a clear insight into what your audience is doing on social media and how they interact with your profile and content.
As we’ve mentioned, it’s important to figure out what specific times YOUR audience is most active on Instagram. The good news? You have two easy ways to answer this question!
• Plann’s Best Time to Post feature: we’ve taken the hard work out of posting your Instagram content at the right time. When you schedule a post through Plann, you’ll automatically be given a set of recommended posting times for each day of the week, based on when your specific audience is most active. Clever, right?
• Instagram Insights: you can also easily check your best posting times on Instagram within the app itself. Head into Insights, then tap Followers and scroll to the bottom. Here, you can see a breakdown of your followers’ most active times and days of the week.
Looking to level up your social media presence in 2023?
Now you’ve scored insider knowledge about hacking the Instagram algorithm and learning the best time to post on Instagram, it’s time to put your knowledge into action. And what better way to do that than with your ultimate all-in-one social media suite, Plann!
Ready to expand your reach on social media with Plann? Go on, redeem your 7-day free trial of Plann Plus. If you don’t like it, keep using Plann for free!
