To all the Instagram users; who are specifically using Instagram accounts for business marketing, it has always been difficult to decide the “best time to post on Instagram”. The simplest way to determine the best posting times is by following the activity of our followers.

There are several studies available on the web showing the prime Instagram posting times. According to Sprout Social, the overall best time to post on Instagram is at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and 10 a.m.–11 a.m. on Friday.

This is just a general evaluation. The mentioned time maybe the best time to post on Instagram but it may not be the best time for your business to post on Instagram.

This is because every business account on Instagram has an audience from different states respectively. Also, that audience is active and responding to the posts in different time zones. It eventually makes the user think of the optimal time to post on Instagram. To reach out to the maximum audience, you should find ‘your’ best time to post on Instagram.

We are going to discuss the methods by which you can evaluate the best and the worst time for your business to post on Instagram.

What is the best time to post on Instagram?

We have evaluated the data from a source for the good times to post on Instagram for respective purposes.

To Post for Technology Companies

• The optimal time to post on Instagram for technology companies is 10 a.m. CDT.
• The consistent peak engagement time is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT from Wednesday to Friday.
• The best day is Thursday, and the worst day is Sunday.

To Post for B2C Companies

• The best time of the day to post on Instagram for B2C companies is 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. CDT.
• The best time is at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. CDT on Friday.
• The best day is Wednesday, and the worst day is Sunday.

To Post for Educational Organizations

• The best time is 8 p.m. CDT on Mondays.
• The consistent peak engagement time is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT on weekdays.
• The best day is Monday and the worst day is Sunday.

To Post for Healthcare Companies

• The best time is 1 p.m. CDT on Tuesdays.
• The consistent peak engagement time is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT from Tuesdays to Fridays.
• The best day is Tuesday and the worst days are Saturday and Sundays.

To Post for Non-Profit Organizations

• The prime Instagram posting times are 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Wednesdays, 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Thursdays, and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Fridays.
• The consistent peak engagement time is 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
• The best day is Tuesday and the Worst day is Saturday.

What is the best hour to post on Instagram?

The following sources stated the overall best hours to post on Instagram.

HubSpot stated that Thursday is the best day between 2 PM and 3 PM.

Sprout Social stated that the best times are 11 AM on Wednesday and 10-11 AM on Fridays.

Expert Voice stated that 11 AM and 3 PM are the best times on Wednesdays.

What is the worst time to post on Instagram?

We see many people who post on Instagram randomly or when they like. These people are not conscious of their Instagram audience. Also, their focus is not to increase their Instagram reach.

The best and worst time to post on Instagram is evaluated and managed by the ones who want to grow their Instagram audience. These people are the influencers, business marketers, bloggers, etc.

Although Instagram has its desktop version (with certain limitations) but still this app is usually used via mobile phones. So, if you are wondering When should you not post on Instagram? You should keep the following things in mind when you decide to post on Instagram.

• Posting on the times, when your audience probably is not having their cell phones with them. It will certainly be the worst time to post on Instagram.
• Keep in mind that the Instagram newsfeed algorithm has been updated now. Instagram no longer displays content chronologically. The content you see on your Newsfeed now is related to your most viewed or liked content. Also, Instagram prefers to show the content that is posted by your close ones i.e. friends and family. It means you will view the content posted by the ones who seem close to you. So, having the best relationship with your audience should be the priority.
• Instagram is majorly used by persons who range from 18-35 in age. You should not post anything in the time frame when this certain group is busy.

Also, in the following times, you should avoid posting on Instagram.

• At the weekends, the majority of people prefer to relax and spend time with their families rather than sticking to phones.
• If according to your evaluation, you have to post on weekends, then avoid posting in the early morning.
• Also, do not post in the weekday afternoons.

Following are the times of the day when Instagram users are not mostly active.

• 7-8 a.m. and 8-11 p.m. on Mondays.
• 8 a.m. and from 9 p.m. to onwards on Tuesdays.
• From 8 p.m. onwards on Wednesdays.
• 7 a.m. and from 9 p.m. to onwards on Thursdays.
• From 5 p.m. onwards on Fridays.
• 8 a.m. and 12-11 p.m. on Saturdays.
• 7 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to onwards on Sundays.

How to Find: Best time to post on Instagram

We have discussed the generalized information about the best and worst times to post on Instagram. You can follow that information for general activity purposes. But it is best for your Instagram feed that you should find ‘your’ best time to post on Instagram.

Each Instagram user has its specific target audience either globally or from a specific region. To reach out to the target audience, one needs to post on the times when that audience is most active on Instagram.

There are some ways you can adopt to find the best time to post on Instagram. 

1. Through Instagram Insights.
2. Through SocialBu ‘Top Post’ and ‘Post Insight’ feature.
3. Or by manually calculating the data.

Through Instagram Insights

Using ‘Instagram Analytics’ is one of the easiest ways to determine the activity of your audience. Keeping track of your audience’s time zone and the time they are most active is the key.

The ‘Instagram Analytics’ feature provides its user with all the data about its audience; where they are located, in what time-zone, and at what time they are most active.

If you note this data, you can predict the interest of your audience. You will know that when is the best time to post on ig for your business. Then post on the times when the audience is most active. Also, keep in mind to post according to the time zone of your audience.

To be able to use the ‘Instagram Analytics’ feature, one must possess a business profile on Instagram. Also, having a business account gives you access to Instagram creator studio. Here, you can have more detailed information about your audience.

Through SocialBu ‘Analyze’ feature

To make this process quite light for you, you can use SocialBu as well to analyze the good times to post on Instagram. With the help of the SocialBu ‘Top Post’ feature, SocialBu will automatically filter your top post in recent. You can note the common time of your posts and then schedule your posts at that time.

The ‘Post Insights’ feature shows the post’s performance, how many likes it got, and other engagement factors. It will help you to calculate that

• How the audience in different time zones reacts to your posts.
• At what time your posts have maximum reach.
• what is the best hour to post on Instagram

Manually calculating the data

It is another method to calculate the activity of your target audience to determine the best time to post on Instagram. By manually calculating the data, we mean that you create an excel sheet.

Note the times when the majority of your audience responds to your posts. Start posting on those times daily. Then note the audience engagement.

Keep changing the hours you post and the days respectfully. Complete this cycle 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

When you will calculate the data collected by this method, you can easily evaluate that,

• At what time of a particular day, the audience is most responsive.
• At what times the audience is least active.
•  What hours are best to post on Instagram and what day.

How Scheduling Posts is Helpful?

After evaluating the best times to post on Instagram, it is time to publish your posts. When you schedule the posts to be published on the evaluated time, it is helpful in a way that:

• You do not have to worry about keeping track of time every day to publish your post.
• You do not have to log in every day to your Instagram accounts to publish your post.

One can easily schedule their Instagram posts with the help of SocialBu; social media management and complete automation tool. Scheduling Instagram posts on prime Instagram posting times is the best way to increase audience engagement.

SocialBu offers unique features for Instagram that can surely constructively affect your post results.

Instagram Posts Scheduling

Schedule your Instagram posts through SocialBu by following these easy steps.

• Link the Instagram account to SocialBu.
• Click on the ‘Schedule’ tab on the top left corner and select the Instagram account for which you are scheduling the posts.

• Create your post (add an image or story) and then schedule it to your evaluated time and date.

An amazing feature for scheduling the posts on SocialBu is that you can get an overview of all the scheduled posts on Social Calendar. And then if you want to change the date of any post simply drag it to the required data directly from the calendar.

IG Stories Scheduling

Other than scheduling the posts, SocialBu allows its users to schedule the stories as well. To increase engagement, you can add any sticker, location, hashtags, mentions to the stories. Also, you can add swipe-up links for Instagram stories with SocialBu. To schedule Instagram stories through SocialBu, follow the following steps.

• Open the ‘Stories’ tab from SocialBu.

• Then select the Instagram account(s) on which you have to schedule the Stories. Add the media file and customize it as you want. Then select the date and time to schedule the story.

• That’s it. Your Instagram story is scheduled now.

First Comment Automation

When you schedule or publish a post on Instagram with SocialBu, it allows you to automate the first comment with the Instagram post.

If you want to add the first comment when scheduling your Instagram post, just simply click the “all options” and add the first comment. It’s done.

Monitor Hashtags

SocialBu allows its user to easily search and jump to the posts by monitoring the hashtags they are interested in or are related to. It saves them the time and hard work to search for the posts they want.

Posts Insights and Follower Growth Trend

The Post Insight and Follower Insight feature of the SocialBu allows its user to keep track of their posts and followers as well. SocialBu reduces your work to a minimum by automatically tracking the performance of every post on a collective and individual level.

The top-performing posts and the individual posts reports help the user to calculate the best time to upload to Instagram.

The follower growth trends track the engagement of every follower and present the data in a graphical representation. It helps the users to understand the time zone and engagement level of their most Instagram followers.

Parting Notes

How to find the Best time to post on Instagram and using it to your benefit would be understandable to you now. There is no doubt that Instagram is a brilliant platform for business marketing and if you know how to use it to your benefit, then no one can stop your business from growing.

Finding the best time to upload to Instagram and then scheduling the posts accordingly will not only boost the Instagram posts but it will drive traffic to your page as well. Also, you will get new followers and customers with increased engagement on your posts.

We simply cannot deny the importance of social media platforms in business marketing. Just like Instagram, it is also good to find best time to post on LinkedIn.