Best time to post on Instagram

6 May 2020

Instagram is one of the most populair social media platforms. According to Statista, Instagram had 1 billion active users in June of 2018. The research showed that 41% of Instagram users is below 24 years old. This makes Instagram an attractive platform to target younger audiences. Aside from using qualitative content, it is also important to take into account when to post content onInstagram to achieve success. What is the best time to post on Instagram?

Posting on Instagram

Instagram uses an algorithm which sorts the prioritization of posts. In the past, posts where visible in chronological order and the most recent posts were on top. Now, the order of posts are dependant on the probability that the user will like the post. This makes it more difficult for businesses to end up on top in the feed.

According to a study done by Hopperhq, Instagram’s algorithm does the following:

  • Evaluates the quality of the content based on interaction;
  • Orders posts so that “good” content will show up on top for users who are likely to interact with the post.

This is what happens:

  • When you post on Instagram, it is only shown to a small part of your followers (estimated at 10%).
  • The algorithm detects how quick these followers interact with your post. Therefore, it is not only a matter of the number of likes, but also how quick likes are gained.
  • The post is also compared with previous posts to see if this post is achieving better results. This comparison is done based on average interaction ratio and interaction speed.
  • When the post is achieving good results, it is marked as ”good content”. Posts marked with ”good content” are shown to a larger percentage of your followers, are often seen higher on the feeds of users and even have a probability to show up on the Explore Page.

The algorithm makes it even more important to post on the most favorable time. When there are not a lot of users online there will be less interaction with the post and it will take longer before there will be enough interaction. This will likely cause the post to not get the ”good content” mark.

Best time to post on Instagram

The best time to post differs per day and per target group. Hopperhq concluded from the data of 1.2 million posts what the best time is to post on Instagram. On average, these are the best times to post on Instagram:

  • Monday: 13:00 hrs
  • Tuesday: 05:00 hrs
  • Wednesday: 15:00 hrs
  • Thursday: 16:00 hrs
  • Friday: 05:00 hrs
  • Saturday: 11:00 hrs
  • Sunday: 10:00 hrs

These times are average times and differ per target group and the kind of business. The exact times for your own page and target group can be found under the Instagram account of your business. When you have a company profile it is possible to see the statistics of your page and posts. This shows when your followers are most active online and what kind of posts they find interesting.

Often the best time to post on Instagram is on irregular times. It is often outside of working hours, late at night, in the weekends and sometimes even at night. When a majority of your target group is in a different timezone across the world, it is not unusual to see that the best time to post is in the night. It is wise to plan Instagram posts, this allows you to automatically post so you do not have to get up at night to post.

Post consistently

Not only the time influences the number of likes, it is also very important to post consistently. There are no clear guidelines on how often you need to post on Instagram, as long as it is done consistently. When your followers know that you post each day at 5 o’clock in the evening, they will expect and look forward to these posts.

It is wise to make a planning of the posts you want to put on Instagram. If you do not do this, and you post a lot of content, you might find out that you do not have enough different content to post. For example, make a monthly planning to see when you are going to post and what the content is of that post.

It is also important to not post too much consecutively. This can surprise your followers which can make them stop liking your posts. If you have a lot of different content and you want to share this as fast as possible, make sure you do not post more than 2 times a day. If you leave very short time between posts, your followers will start seeing this as spam. Do you want your followers to stay curious? Post your content once every 2 days or even 1 time a week on a set day and time.

Are you unsure how to make a business profile on Instagram or do you need help with deciding your target group and posting content? Contact our experts for more information!

Sources: Statista & Hopperhq