If you’re a content producer on Instagram, this may sound familiar: you’ve just finished shooting and editing a breathtaking photo or Reel, and you can’t wait to show it off to your fans. You’re so ecstatic that you want to immediately upload it. You’re ready to hit the “Post” button, but then a question pops into your head: “Is this the best time to post content?” Or, “Should I wait until later in the day when there are more people online?”
Being patient pays off. And that is especially true of material created on Instagram. Instagrammers want to make sure they’re publishing at the optimum moment to maximise audience interaction, in addition to crafting quality posts and utilising relevant hashtags to placate the platform’s algorithm.
Does Instagram post timing matter?
Simply put: yeah! Time of day counts if you’re an Instagram content producer who wants to increase interaction.
In a nutshell, if you want as many people as possible to view your Instagram post before it gets lost in the platform’s constant stream of new material, you need to publish on Instagram at the proper moment. While the Instagram algorithm remains a mystery, we do know that newer posts will be prioritised above older ones on a user’s feed.
Is there a magic time of day to publish on Instagram for maximum virality?
Time your Instagram posts so that they get the most likes, comments, and shares, and your material has a better chance of getting discovered by the app’s smart algorithm and featured on the Explore page. There, it has a better chance of being seen by more people, leading to its eventual viral spread.
Posting on Instagram at optimal times is crucial. In fact, they are vital when trying to increase your app engagement and the number of followers you have. Given the significance of Instagram posting timings, let’s examine the optimal window for sharing content.
How often should you post on Instagram?
If you’re here, you’re probably searching for a quick solution to the age-old issue.
There isn’t even a single solution to this conundrum. Depending on your location and the day of the week you’re publishing, there are a wide variety to choose from.
Instagram’s massive worldwide audience, which includes over 2 billion monthly active users, is largely responsible for this wide range of material. That’s a huge audience with widely varying tastes in programming.
Is there a perfect moment to upload photos on Instagram?
Because Instagram has such a diverse user base in terms of age, gender, location, and interests, there is no one optimal moment to make a post. Social frameworks (such as the 9-to-5 work week) or natural rhythms (such as waking with the sun) that practically all populations follow allow us to narrow down windows of time when it is optimal to post.
With this in mind, studies analysing massive quantities of user data have yielded average optimal posting times. Later, a social media management tool, analysed over 11 million Instagram posts (including Reels) in 2022 and found that 4 a.m. (averaged across all time zones) was the greatest time to publish on Instagram.
Instagram’s optimal posting timings, broken down per country
The location of your audience is an important consideration when determining the optimal time to make a post on Instagram. This is because people’s watching patterns shift depending on where they are in the world and what time it is there.
Fortunately, Later’s data scientists have mapped out the optimal times to post on Instagram depending on your location:
- Both the United States and Canada Pacific Time: 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.
- Both the United States and Canada Time zone central: 10pm-12am.
- Both the United States and Canada Midnight till four in the morning, EST.
- It’s 5 a.m. in South America.
- Britain: between 3 and 4 a.m.
- Time Zone for Western Europe is UTC+4.
- Time zone for Eastern Europe is UTC+5.
- Midnight to three in Africa.
- A.M. in the Middle East.
These peak hours are a good starting point, but you should experiment to find the optimal times for you to publish in order to maximise your interaction.
What time of day do you recommend posting Instagram Reels?
It’s common knowledge that the key to an Instagrammer’s success is Reels. Hootsuite data shows that posting Reels may increase interaction with an Instagram video by as much as 300 percent. If you want to get the most out of your Instagram Reels, it makes sense to publish them at the best possible moment.
Hootsuite found that 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., Monday through Thursday, are the greatest times to post Instagram Reels by analysing data from its own Instagram account over the course of two years.
What time of day do Instagram Stories posts perform best?
Instagram Stories should not be forgotten. There is an optimal moment to publish Stories, just as there is for grid posts and Reels. SocialPilot reports that on weekdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. is the sweet spot for Instagram Stories.
Therefore, if you want to increase interaction with your Instagram Stories, you should think about including these peak hours into your editorial schedule.