Whether you’re a budding fashion influencer or working to promote your small business, today’s guide will help you determine the best time to post Instagram Reels, photos, and Stories for every day of the week.
Plus, learn how to trigger the Instagram algorithm to boost your content faster than ever before.
Key Points:
When Is The Best Time To Post On Instagram?
Determining the best time to post on Instagram requires taking the following elements into consideration:
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The location of your target audience
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Your Instagram account type (personal, Creator, or Business)
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Your content niche
Your ideal posting schedule and overall strategy may vary depending on the above, however there are still a few general rules of thumb when it comes to finding the best time to post on Instagram.
First, you want to ensure that you’re posting when users are most likely to take a break and scroll their phones. This could be during their morning commute, lunch breaks, and after work.
It’s also recommended to post content at midnight so that your content appears in front of Instagram users as soon as they open the app in the morning.
Because of this, the following timeframes are a good place to start if you’re unsure about your target audience’s activity or just starting a fresh Instagram account.
If you want to streamline your posting strategy even further and maximize audience engagement, keep reading to learn the best time to post on Instagram depending on the type of content you’re sharing.
The Best Time To Post Instagram Photos
In general, the best time to post Instagram photos is late morning to early afternoon on weekdays.
If you’re posting on weekends, you have a shorter timeframe to work within.
The Best Time To Post Instagram Carousels
For carousel posts, the best time to post is early in the morning on Tuesdays.
The Best Time To Post Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels can take your account performance to the next level, but only if you post them when your ideal audience is most likely to be online.
Start with late mornings and early afternoons on weekdays - 11am tends to be the ideal time for most days.
The Best Time To Post Instagram Stories
Posting Stories depends on when your specific following is online.
You can learn about your follower's habits via audience insights but a general rule of thumb is to post early in the morning, or in the evening after work.
Since Stories only last 24 hours, you're going to want to optimize your posting strategy.
The Best Time To Post On Instagram Depending On Your Niche
If you're running a business, the best time to post can differ depending on your niche. Here are a few common industries and the optimal posting times for each one.
Does It Really Matter What Time You Post Instagram Reels?
While many swear by posting at peak hours as part of their successful Instagram marketing strategy, many experts insist that you can maintain high levels of Instagram engagement without stressing over the exact timing, as long as you're creating engaging content geared towards your specific Instagram audience.
If you'd rather not worry about the best time to post Reels, here are a few general guidelines to keep in mind:
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Post at least once a week, at the same time each week. You can use a social media management tool like Later to schedule content consistently across multiple social media accounts.
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Share your posts to your Story to ensure your followers see it
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Make the most of the 5 hashtag limit in each post. Include relevant hashtags (more on hashtags here).
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Diversify your post types. Create photo posts, video posts, Reels, Carousels, and Stories to appear in as many feeds as possible.
Using Instagram Insights To Find The Best Posting Times
You can also use Instagram analytics to learn more about your audience demographics, helping you to streamline your Instagram strategy even further and reach a broader audience.
To get started, you'll need to swap your Personal account to a Creator or Professional account.
How To Change Your Instagram Account Type
Tap the three lines on the top right corner of your Instagram profile.
Scroll down to For Professionals and tap Account Type And Tools.
Tap Switch To Professional Account.
Follow the on-screen prompts depending on your account type.
Select either Creator or Business (either option will let you view insights).
Complete the on-screen prompts to finish set up.
How To Find Your Target Audience On Instagram
Now that you have access to Insights, it’s time to figure out who your target audience actually is. Luckily Insights offers basic demographic information, including the age, gender, and location of your existing audience.
Tap the three lines on the top right corner of your Instagram profile
Scroll down to For Professionals and tap Insights.
Tap Total Followers and scroll down to see the following sections:
Top Locations: This section is separated by top cities and top countries. Clicking each section will show a breakdown of the top locations that your followers are accessing your content from.
Age Range: This section is split into All, Men, and Women to give you a more detailed look into your demographic information.
Gender: This is a breakdown of your followers based on gender. The graph is split between women and men.
How To See What Time Zones Your Target Audience Is Active In
From your Instagram Insights page, tap Total Followers then scroll down to Most Active Times.
This section allows you to see what times your current followers are most active. You can switch between specific days to get a more detailed look at which hours your followers are most active on for that day of the week.
Creating An Instagram Content Schedule
Once you’ve gathered the above information, it’s time to put it all together and determine what the best posting schedule is for your specific audience.
You can use the content planner below to mark off the days and times that your audience is most active, and narrow down an ideal posting schedule.
How To Get Maximum Engagement On Instagram Today
The tricky thing about Instagram, and most social media platforms, is that to get more engagement and reach a wider audience you need to already be earning some level of engagement.
Unfortunately this is a Catch-22 for most users, especially when they’re just starting out.
How can you gain engagement if you’re not appearing in front of the right users in the first place?
Below are a few tips on how you can increase your potential for gaining engagement from day one, without having to pay for Instagram ads or fiddle around with complex analytics.
Diversify Your Content Types
First, and most importantly, make sure you’re posting as many content types as possible.
Instagram offers users the opportunity to publish photo posts, video posts (known as Reels), and Stories. Photos and Reels each appear in different feeds within the app, and Stories always appear at the top of the homefeed for your followers.
That means you have three separate chances to be seen by entirely new groups of users if you post to all three places.
A simple way to go about this would be to film a Reel, take a screenshot of its best frame and share it as a photo post, and then share your Reel or photo post to your Stories for your followers to see. In this way you’re creating one piece of content but maximizing it across three separate algorithms.
Use The Right Hashtags
Hashtags are divisive, with many experts claiming they don’t matter as much as users think they do, but they’re still an important part of Instagram’s user experience.
Think of hashtags like search terms on Google - they’re short phrases or keywords that users search for in order to find the type of content or accounts they want to follow.
Instagram has a 5 hashtag limit per post, thanks to a recent update (it used to be 30) so make sure you choose wisely.
If you’re unsure where to begin, start by browsing content from creators you admire and notice what types of hashtags they’re including in their posts.
Tap each hashtag to see the hashtag page, so you can see what other types of content appear here.
If you feel that your content would be a good fit, jot that hashtag down for future use.
A good rule of thumb is to use hashtags that have anywhere from 1k-500k posts. Any fewer than that and it’s unlikely that users will be searching for that hashtag, any more than that and your content will get drowned out by countless other posts.
Use SMM Services
One lesser-known method for maximizing your engagement levels, especially early on, is using social media marketing services.
By doing this, you can gain a certain number of guaranteed followers, likes, comments, shares, and even saves for just a few cents, and as a result your post will be more likely to appear in front of a greater number of users.
This method is popular amongst full-time creators and business owners, since it saves tons of time and energy and avoids the inevitable waiting period and the need to rely on the Instagram algorithm.
To get started, browse our selection of high-quality Instagram engagement services here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Best time to post Instagram Reels in the morning?
Posting in the morning tends to be the ideal time for most Instagram content, including Reels. However, 11am is specifically a good time regardless of the day.
Best time to post Reels on Instagram on weekdays?
Aim to post in the late morning to early afternoon - anywhere from 11am to 3pm.
How to get 5000 views on a Reel?
You can buy 5,000 views for your Instagram Reel using one of our many high-quality Instagram views services.
Does it matter what time you post on Tiktok or other social media platforms?
Yes - if you want more engagement, it's a good idea to post consistently and around the times when your users would be most likely to open the app. That means during the lunch hour in your timezone, in the evening when users are most likely to check Instagram after work, or, in the case of younger audiences, after school.
What is the best time of day to post Reels on Instagram?
That depends on your niche and target audience, but there are a few general timeframes that work best. Learn more here.
How to make a Reel go viral?
Going viral isn’t a sure thing, but you can definitely speed the process along by posting consistently, paying attention to trends, using the right hashtags, and buying SMM services with a provider like QQTube to boost engagement fast and get seen by more users.
What is the best video time for Instagram Reels?
The ideal length for Instagram Reels is between 7-15 seconds.
What is the 3/8/12 rule?
The 3-8-12 rule for Instagram Reels is meant to help creators divide their Reels into impactful segments.
This means that the first 3 seconds of your Reel should be focused on capturing viewer attention with a hook.
The following 5 seconds (up to second 8) should deepen interest by adding suspense or building anticipation.
The final 3 seconds (up to second 12) should be a pitch, which could be a punchline or a sell.
After that, the rest of the content is up to you and should expand on the first 12 seconds that you set up.
Is 20k views on a Reel good?
20,000 views on anything is great! If you’re looking to improve those numbers, though, you can learn how to increase engagement with our tips here.
What is the 80/20 rule in Instagram?
The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your content should aim to provide value to your audience, with 20% being spent promoting your brand or product.
What is the 4 11 rule on Instagram?
The 4-1-1 rule on Instagram states that for every 6 posts you create:
- 4 should provide value to your audience through entertainment or education
- 1 should be a soft sell for your brand or product
- 1 should be a hard sell.
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