To build a sizable Instagram following, yous need to create compelling content that your audience really craves. But if you don't post your content at the right fourth dimension, almost of them will never see it. So how do you figure out the optimal mail service time for your specific audition? The best way to find an platonic posting time is by testing the timing of your posts to see which post fourth dimension generates the most audience engagement.

If you lack the resources or time to behave your own tests, Sprout Social, a social media management platform with over twenty,000 customers, has you covered. In 2020, their team analyzed customer data to come across what fourth dimension and solar day their social media posts generated the most date. Hither's what they found.

  • Global Instagram Appointment
  • Best Fourth dimension to Post on Instagram By Time Zone
  • When is the best time to postal service on Instagram?
  • Best Fourth dimension to Post to Instagram Cheatsheet
  • Best Time to Post on Instagram Each Day
  • Best Time to Mail service on Instagram past Industry
  • All-time Times to Postal service Reels on Instagram
New Data: Instagram Engagement Report [2022 Version]

Global Instagram Engagement

If 2020 taught the states anything, it's that our worlds are more than interconnected than e'er before on a global scale. Our social media strategies take to reflect this new manner of life in order for our businesses to meet their goals.

The chart below shows the global appointment on Instagram by the time of day and twenty-four hour period of the week. Note: The time is in CDT. That ways you wouldn't post at 11 AM for every timezone individually — eleven AM CDT works just fine across posts published for a global audition.

Need a visual to strategize effectually? Bank check out this Sprout Social nautical chart which shows Global Instagram Engagement hotspots.

Global Instagram Engagement Graph by Sprout Social

Prototype Source

Since the chart above is just referring to CDT, we broke down the best times for engagement beyond different fourth dimension zones.

All-time Time to Post on Instagram by Time Zone

Your location can heavily influence the success of your social media marketing strategy. Audiences deport differently depending on where they are in the world, and you tin do good from knowing when they're nearly probable active on Instagram. Later on data suggested the following fourth dimension frames were the most optimal.

United States and Canada

  • Western Standard Fourth dimension (WST): 12 AM to six AM
  • Central Standard Time (CST): six AM to viii AM
  • Eastern Standard Time (EST): iv AM to 9 AM

For those looking for the best times to post for audiences outside of North America, the best local times to postal service for engagement in other areas are below.

  • South America: iv AM
  • UK: 4 AM to 6 AM
  • Europe (Western): 6 PM - 8 PM
  • Europe (Eastern): five AM to 7 AM
  • Africa: half dozen AM
  • Southward Asia and Eye East: iii AM
  • East Asia and Southeast Asia: 11 PM to four AM
  • Australasia: 11 PM to 2 AM

Returning to CDT, we'll go into even more detail near the best times to mail on Instagram, including the all-time times for mail engagement. We've summarized the key findings from their report into a quick cheatsheet that you lot can reference later.

When is the best time to mail service on Instagram?

  1. On average, the all-time time to post on Instagram is Tuesday betwixt 11 AM - ii PM CDT. Weekdays between 11 AM to 2 PM CDT is the optimal time frame for increased engagement.

All-time Time to Mail to Instagram Cheatsheet

Best Time to Post on Instagram Cheat sheet

The day of the week on which you post can change how much engagement you lot get during that same fourth dimension.

Why? Call back about the little differences in your daily mood and routine — the ones you might not realize you lot have — and how they affect your behavior. The same goes for anybody post-obit your Instagram account.

As much as nosotros don't like to admit it, many of us check our social media first thing in the morn to catch upwardly on the dark before. So, it'southward time for a lunch pause scroll. Finally, we take one last await at what our friends and favorite brands are upwards to before bed. It makes sense that the heaviest engagement hours align with the way our audiences live their lives.

Here's some other look at the best times to post on Instagram each solar day equally well as some boosted insights from Sprout Social:

Best Time to Post on Instagram Each Twenty-four hours

  • Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: xi AM - 12 PM CDT - Consider that most of your followers are taking a lunch break around this time and will be more probable to scroll through Instagram to catch up on the latest from their friends, favorite brands, and influencers. During these time periods, share content that is like shooting fish in a barrel to engage with and share.
  • Tuesday: eleven AM - 2 PM CDT - Similar to the to a higher place, luncheon breaks are common around these hours. Notwithstanding, the longer timeframe tin can be a fitting opportunity to share long-form content like IG Television videos or even go live on Instagram.
  • Thursday: 11 AM CDT - For these shorter dejeuner breaks on Thursdays, try posting Instagram stories with appointment boosters like polls, questions, and quizzes to get quick responses that users will come back to read later on.

When scheduling posts for Instagram, the same hours may not piece of work for each day. Consider both the mean solar day of the week and the manufacture yous're in (we'll talk about the latter in only a minute).

Pro Tip: Mail service to Instagram betwixt 7 AM and 10:30 AM CDT from Monday to Friday. You'll get the most consistent appointment that manner considering your content will take time to selection up views and shares leading into the elevation engagement hours around 11 AM CDT.

All-time Time to Post on Instagram by Industry

The general data to a higher place about optimal post timing is a not bad starting point for growing an engaged Instagram audience. But if you want to become more granular, hither are the best times to post on Instagram if your organisation is in the engineering, restaurant, instruction, healthcare, and non-profit industries, co-ordinate to Sprout Social'due south research.

Best Times to Post on Instagram for Engineering science Companies

Best time to post on instagram for tech companies

  • Best Time: Mon 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM CDT
  • Nigh Consistent Date: Mon - Friday, 8:00 AM - half dozen:00 PM CDT
  • Best Day: Monday
  • Worst Twenty-four hours: Lord's day

Best Times to Post on Instagram for Restaurants

Best time to post on instagram for restaraunts

  • Best Time: Mon 9 AM - 1 PM
  • Most Consistent Appointment: Monday 9 AM - 1 PM
  • Best 24-hour interval: Monday
  • Worst Day: Saturday

Best Times to Mail on Instagram for Educational Organizations

Best time to post on instagram for education
  • Best Timesouthward: Friday iv:00 AM - 5:00 AM, Thursday ii:00 PM CDT
  • Most Consistent Date: Friday 4:00 AM - one:00 PM CDT
  • Best Twenty-four hours: Fri
  • Worst Solar day: Dominicus

Best Times to Post on Instagram for Healthcare Companies

Best time to post on instagram for healthcare

  • Best Times: Tuesday 8 AM - 12 PM, 5 PM - 8 PM
  • Most Consistent Appointment: Sun, 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM CDT
  • Best Twenty-four hours: Mon, Tuesday
  • Worst Day: Saturday

Best Times to Postal service on Instagram for Nonprofit Organizations

  • Best Time: Wednesday 10 AM - 6 PM CDT
  • Most Consequent Engagement: Mon to Fri from 11:00 AM to viii:00 PM CDT
  • All-time Day: Wed
  • Worst Day: Sunday

Nosotros've gone over traditional posts, but Instagram has gotten a newer characteristic that favors consistency and timing, too.

The form of content creation that the Instagram algorithm is quickly shifting focus to is Instagram reels. Reels are brusk-form video content fabricated to capture cultural trends, interact with the community, and discover new ideas in a portrait view.

Best Times to Post Reels on Instagram

Best practices for posting Instagram reels would be to post four to seven reels a week consistently. If the uploading days or times you lot post are sporadic, the algorithm won't prioritize your business relationship visibility.

With consistency in mind, a After study constitute the optimal times to mail reels on Instagram throughout the week:

best time to post reels on Instagram by day of the week

  • Monday, Th: 5 AM CDT
  • Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday-Sunday: five AM CDT

While we're still learning more about them, pop Instagram accounts like the NBA accept gotten a 22% increased engagement with the new characteristic.

Heave Instagram Engagement on Your Schedule

Organic Instagram engagement and a scheduled posting schedule become hand in hand. Each industry has natural peaks and valleys of engagement throughout the day which means your Instagram strategy should menstruation with them. Utilise this helpful cheat sheet to plan your social media calendar for next quarter and lookout your engagement rate soar.

Editor's notation: This mail was originally published in February 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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instagram stats for business

Originally published Sep 21, 2021 1:45:00 PM, updated April 01 2022