Best time to post on Instagram: Expert strategies to grow your following

Instagram has well over a billion users worldwide and it's one of the best places for creators, brands, and businesses to grow and make money. Instagram accounts don't just magically blow up overnight, however.

One of the major factors in driving engagement and growing your following is posting at the right time—and the right times depend on where your audience is, who they are, and what you post. 

In this article, I'll show you a ton of useful data about when people use Instagram the most and teach you everything you need to know to figure out the best time to post on Instagram.

Why it's important to post on Instagram at the right time

Posting on Instagram at the right time is important because it increases the chances of your content being seen, which contributes to the overall success of your post. The more people see it and engage with it shortly after it's been posted, the higher your visibility in the algorithm. Simply put: Timing your posts right lets you reach a broader audience.

Instagram is split into different parts—for example, Feed, Stories, Explore, Reels, and Search—and they're all governed by separate algorithms. Instagram's CEO says this is because people use different features for different things. 

People tend to use Stories to check on close friends, for example, whereas Explore is used to find new content, and Reels are good for general entertainment. This means the app needs to prioritize and recommend different kinds of content for each part of the app.

This is great for users, as they always get exactly what they need, whatever they're doing. For creators, on the other hand, it adds extra complexity when it comes to figuring out the best time to post on Instagram. 

That's because the best time for posting on Stories might not be the same as the best time to post on Reels (and we'll get into this later). 

Many of Instagram's algorithms strongly favor posts that get a lot of engagement in a short amount of time, and this is the main reason the timing is so important.

If you post at a time when a lot of people are using the app, you'll naturally get more views, likes, saves and comments in less time and this will help you get the algorithm's attention. At this point, it'll start recommending your post to more people, you'll get even more engagement, and the result is a successful post.

Looking around you at the crowds of people constantly stuck to their phone screens, you might think any time would be good to post. Everyone is always on social media, right?

In some ways, this is true but there are still some days and times that are just much busier than others. 

The slowest times of day are quite obvious—it's when everyone is asleep. So if you happen to work late finishing a video, don't post it right away! 

The slowest days of the week, however, are actually pretty surprising: it's the weekend. Yep, as soon as everyone gets some free time, they suddenly have other things they want to do rather than scroll Instagram. In the middle of the workday, on the other hand, it seems everyone is watching Reels and Stories.

Below, I'll walk you through the best times to post on Instagram so you can plan out your content. 

Best times to post on Instagram by category

I've searched through multiple studies to find the best times to post on Instagram. Because the answers you get depend on the data you use, it's best to collate results from lots of different places to get the most accurate information. 

The absolute best time to post on Instagram

It's not uncommon for social media studies like this to yield different results, but engagement data for Instagram seems to be pretty similar across the board. 

Buffer and SocialPilot both agree that weekday mornings are the ultimate time to post — between 7 am and 9 am. 

For Sprout Social, engagement peaks just a little later at around 10 am or 11 am on weekdays. 

The best days of the week

As a general rule, weekdays are always better than weekends when it comes to posting on Instagram. 

During the week, nearly everyone is working and naturally checks Instagram during their free moments to unwind and catch up. This kind of engagement is so common it's almost universal.

Weekends, however, vary a lot from person to person. While some people will, of course, chill out at home and spend lots of time on Instagram, many others will go out and be too busy to check their phones. And then, the people who chilled one weekend will go out the next. 

Because there are so many factors that can influence what people are doing on a weekend, engagement rates never get as high as they do during the work and school week.

If you run an active account with daily posts, publishing on a weekend will still be part of your content plan and there's nothing wrong with that. Just make sure you're not prioritizing weekend content over weekday content. 

As for the best weekdays, the good news is they're all pretty good. But, most data seems to point to Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays as the best days. This is probably because people are a little busier at the start of the week and the end of the week.

The most active hours

According to the data I've gathered, the best times of day for posting on Instagram are morning, noon, and early afternoon, with peak times usually around 9 am to 3 pm. Similar to the logic that explains the best days of the week, mornings and early afternoons are when the largest number of people will be working.

This means that when they get a break or a slow moment, they will probably open Instagram and see what's going on. As the day continues into late afternoon and evening, however, the possibilities start to multiply. 

Some people go home early, some work late, some make dinner, some meet friends, etc. At this point, it starts to become less likely that huge numbers of people will all open the app at the same time. 

This isn't to say that the app won't be lively during these times. It's just that the traffic will be more scattered during those hours than during the 9 am to 3 pm window.

Best times based on location

There is also lots of data on when to post according to the location you're targeting. Daily routines can vary by country and culture so high engagement times can be different, but this is also a topic with lots of conflicting information. 

I'll list a few popular countries and their best times according to the research I've collated, but it's also worth remembering that this data isn't absolute. 

If you need to target a specific country, a perfectly valid tactic is to simply convert all of the best times you've already researched over to the correct time zone. 

• United States: 11 am on Mondays
• United Kingdom: 6 pm on Sundays
• Spain: 8 pm on Mondays
• Singapore: 9 pm on Mondays
• Korea: 9 pm on Thursdays
• Japan: 8 pm on Sundays
• Germany: 6 pm on Sundays
• Canada: 12 pm on Tuesdays
• Australia: 6 pm on Sundays

When is the best time to post Instagram Stories?

Stories work pretty differently from other parts of the app like Explore, Feed, or Reels because it focuses on accounts that users already follow. Stories are seen as a way of keeping up to date with the people you know in real life and the accounts you enjoy the most. 

That makes it pretty easy to know the best times to post. Since your followers are your main audience, you should post when they are most active. You can find out when this is by checking out your Instagram Insights.

The app will show the days and hours when the largest number of your followers are active, and posting at these times is sure to maximize your engagement. 

When should you post Instagram Reels?

Instagram's CEO says Reels are all about exploring new content, with an emphasis on entertainment. When a user scrolls through Reels, the majority of content they see is from accounts they don't follow. 

This makes it a great content type for you when you're trying to grow your audience, which means it's a good idea to know when the high-engagement times are. 

According to SocialPilot, the best time to post Instagram Reels is between 9 am and 12 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (EST). 

If you find your Reels aren't performing that well, make sure you're not doing anything the Instagram algorithm doesn't like. 

Instagram will purposefully reduce the visibility of Reels if one or a few of the following applies to them:

• Low-resolution video
• Watermarks on the video (such as a TikTok mark)
• Muted videos
• Videos with borders
• Reels that are mostly text
• Reels that focus on contentious topics 
• Content that has already been posted on Instagram

Does your niche affect the ideal Instagram upload times?

Your niche absolutely affects the best times to post. People search for certain content at certain times, such as looking for food-related posts in the hours leading up to dinner or fitness content in the mornings before a workout. 

This is usually most important for creators who also have business goals with their posts, like promoting products, restaurants, stores, and more. The main idea is to think about what you want people to do when they see your post and to make it as easy as possible for them to do it. 

Let's look at some examples. 

Finance

If you want to grab the attention of finance enthusiasts, the best time to post is during the early morning on weekdays. That way, you can provide food for thought before trading begins and catch early risers on their way to work. 

• Monday to Friday: 6 am - 9 am

Beauty

When it comes to beauty and makeup, people tend to browse content with one of two possible goals: finding something to buy for an approaching event or discovering new products for fun.

When people are leisurely browsing for fun, the most popular times are the evenings and weekends. 

People on the hunt for a product to use that week will usually be looking in the morning during the first half of the week so they have time to get the product delivered before Friday or Saturday. 

• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 8 am - 10 am
• Weekdays and weekends: 10 pm - 11 pm

Wellness and fitness

This one is easy. The best times to post fitness content are before and after the most popular workout times. Schedules are very important for a lot of people when it comes to exercise so people often do it at the same times each week, which makes things much easier for us creators!

The most popular times to work out are in the mornings before work or in the early evening after work. Some people also choose to work out on the weekend but usually stick to similar times—though normally a little less early in the morning. 

Before their workout, people are looking for motivation and new exercises to try, while after the workout they might want to review certain exercises to make sure they are doing things right. They also want to see content showing the results of a good workout regime so they can look forward to seeing their own results. 

• Weekdays: 6 am - 8 am and 6 pm - 10 pm
• Weekends: 8 am - 10 am and 4 pm - 6 pm

Travel

People love to travel, and when you have a holiday coming up or are thinking about booking one soon, it's hard to get the topic off your mind! That's why travel content is best posted during general downtime throughout the week. 

That's lunchtimes and evenings on weekdays and mornings and afternoons on weekends. When someone has holidays on their mind, they'll be looking for amazing spots and good deals every chance they get.

• Weekdays: 10 am - 1 pm and 7 pm - 9 pm
• Weekends: 9 am - 11 am and 4 pm - 6 pm

Food

The best times to post for the food industry are pretty intuitive, too. You want to post when people are hungry and when they're planning food. 

On weekdays, posting around lunchtime is perfect, as some people will be looking for somewhere to grab a late lunch, and others will be using their lunch break to work on their dinner plans.

For weekends, early evening is perfect. Lots of people will be looking for somewhere to get food either after the day's activities end or before the evening's activities begin. Weekends are the most popular time to eat out, so you can earn a lot of engagement this way. 

Even if your profile is focused more on cooking than dining out, aiming for times when people are hungry is the best way to go about it.

• Weekdays: 12 pm - 2 pm
• Weekends: 5 pm - 7 pm

Tech

Tech is a pretty broad area but your target audience is likely to either be interested in tech products for work or be a hobbyist (or both). You can catch the workers in the morning on weekdays, and the hobbyists on weekends during the early afternoon. 

• Weekdays: 10 am - 12 pm
• Weekends: 1 pm - 3 pm

Digital marketing

People who work with social media unsurprisingly use social media a lot. And because it's work, they do a lot of browsing during work hours. So if you want to sell social media courses, tools, and services, just post during normal work hours—and you can skip the lunch hour. 

Weekends will usually be a lot slower but some career-minded people will still check things out.

• Weekdays: 9 am - 11 am and 1 pm - 3 pm
• Weekends: 10 am - 12 pm

Fashion

Fashion posts work similarly to beauty posts in that people browse both for fun and to find something to wear during the weekend. You can catch them exploring their feeds in the early afternoon and evening on weekdays and throughout the day on weekends.

If you run or work with a clothing store, posting night-out looks during the first half of the week can work really well—but if you want to turn post engagement into purchases, make sure you can offer quick delivery options!

• Weekdays: 12 pm - 2 pm and 7 pm - 9 pm
• Weekends: 11 am - 1 pm and 4 pm - 6 pm

8 ways to figure out the best time to post on Instagram for you

Although there's lots of data on the best times to post on Instagram, there are still some variables to take into account. Below, I'll walk you through the steps to take to pick the optimal time for your needs.

1. Keep an eye on analytics

The real trick to finding the ultimate best times to post isn't following published data to the letter. It's following your own data. 

Instagram Insights are your best as they can tell you so much about the people who follow your account. 

We've been looking at heat maps that show you when the average person is on Instagram, and these are important for reaching new people. Still, always remember that you can see a heat map of exactly what your own followers are doing on Instagram Insights!

The tricky part is that you have to have the right kind of account to take advantage of these insights. If you already have a Creator or Business account, you're all set. 

If you don't, you will have to wait a while. Switching to a Creator account only takes a couple of seconds but it only shows you data recorded after the switch. 

This means you'll have to wait a few weeks while you post new content and the app can collect some information. You can check Instagram Insights from your phone by clicking the button on your profile.

2. Narrow it down to a few optimal times

The goal of your research will be to pick a few optimal times for you to post. Depending on your account and the type of content you make, this could mean anything from two optimal times per day to just a couple per week. 

Research is only the first step, however. The real results come from testing! Once you have a schedule of potentially optimal times, stick to it for a few weeks and see how things go. 

With any luck, your engagement rates will go up. But if it doesn't go quite to plan or you think it could be even better, you can tweak the schedule and run some more tests. When you have something you're happy with, you can stop testing—for a while, at least.

If you want to stay on top of things, research and testing will be ongoing. Keep looking at your analytics and when the data points to a new time, try it out. 

3. Check where your audience is from

Another thing you can do with Instagram Insights is check where your audience lives, and it's a very useful thing to know. 

The worst times to post are always late at night when people are asleep, but there are often short engagement spikes at the end of the evening when people are settling down. 

If you want to hit these engagement times, you need to be pretty precise. Just an hour or two off and you'll be posting when people are asleep rather than when they're winding down. 

The "Top Locations" chart on Instagram can help you avoid this mistake. It can show you both the top countries and the top cities your audience is scrolling from, letting you target the perfect time for the largest number of people. 

4. Write down all your findings

One of the most important things to remember while doing all of this research is to write these things down. 

It's all numbers and times and percentages and other specific stuff—you'll never remember it all without writing it down and you definitely won't be able to compare old numbers with new numbers without a record. 

Open up a new Google Sheet document and record everything you do. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just keep track of what you posted, when you posted it, and how much engagement you got. 

Over time, this will turn into an awesome resource that will help you spot your optimal posting times. If you compile lots of research and tests, there's also a chance your hard work will be useful for other Instagram creators with similar niches to you.

This means you could share or even sell your precious spreadsheets as a digital product on Whop and bring in some easy passive income. 

5. Niche down

You've probably heard this one before, but solidifying your niche and sticking to it is essential. There are two main and pretty simple reasons for this: the algorithms like it and the users like it. 

When you have a theme with consistent hashtags and categories, Instagram's algorithm knows exactly who to show your content to. 

On the other hand, if you post about different things every week, Instagram will have a harder time understanding what you're all about and it won't want to recommend you to users because it can't predict what you'll post and whether a certain user will enjoy it. 

Funnily enough, users think in a pretty similar way to the algorithm. When they first see your profile or a post from you, they'll instantly form expectations about the content you'll post in the future.

As an example, if they see a post about a type of fashion they like, they'll follow the account because they hope to see more clothes they like. If that profile then starts posting random memes or content about cars, the user will feel like they're not getting what they want.

Changing the scope of your content needs to be done gradually and is a risky process. Some users stay on top of their following list and will instantly unfollow an account like this, and though others might leave it, they'll likely stop engaging with the posts.

Many aspects of social media are uncertain. You can do all the "right" things but it still doesn't guarantee success. 

Niches, however, are pretty absolute. You're pretty much guaranteed to see better results if you find a good niche and stick to it compared to just posting a variety of different content. 

7. Consider scheduling your content

There is a chance that the results of your research won't be that convenient for you. Perhaps one of your best times to post is during busy hours at work or on a Wednesday evening when you have a sports club to attend.

In situations like this, you can consider using a scheduling tool. There are tons to choose from with also sorts of features available, but the main functionality is automatically posting to your Instagram exactly when you tell it to.

Simply fill out the blank post fields with content and drag the resulting post to the right time and day on the calendar. You can also easily change the publish date and time by dragging the post somewhere else on the calendar. 

Here are a few popular examples:

• Hootsuite
• Buffer
• SocialBee
• Feedly
• Sendible
• Loomly

Schedulers like this are easy to use, there are plenty of cheap options, and they perfectly solve a very real problem for content creators. 

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8. Keep tabs on similar accounts

As well as researching the average best posting times and checking out your own analytics, you can also pull ideas from other successful accounts. Location and niche matter here, so try to choose creators you consider competitors in these fields. 

If you choose big accounts with millions of followers, the chances are that they will work with a scheduling tool and post at very specific times—so have a look through their posts and try to spot the patterns. 

There's nothing wrong with learning from others, so feel free to add any times your competitor accounts use to your own schedule for testing. 

The single best way to grow your Instagram following and engagement

I mentioned already just how fickle social media can be. Sometimes you can do everything the internet recommends but success just doesn't seem to want to come. 

Well, the real reason for that isn't so much that the internet is wrong or success is just down to luck, but rather that the right things to do depend on each individual situation. 

Because of this, the best way to grow your Instagram following is to learn from experts. They can give you personalized advice that actually suits your unique situation. 

At this point, you might be thinking that's all well and good, but not everyone happens to just know a successful Instagram creator. The good news is—you don't have to. 

On Whop, hundreds of successful creators have launched their own online courses and exclusive communities for you to join and benefit from.

Many include one-on-one coaching or mentoring from the experts themselves, helping you to skip all the trial and error you'd have to go through if you were working alone. 

Here's a list of just a few of the most popular communities on Whop:

Content Academy 

Content Academy is aimed at total beginners in the social media industry and focuses on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. 

When you join, you'll have access to hours of video guides, live coaching calls every week, a paid online community, and plenty of ready-to-use resources. 

Social Growth 

The Social Growth community was launched by a creator who has made over $100,000 through social media. 

With his course, you can find out exactly what he did to achieve success, as well as participate in weekly calls and receive one-on-one support. 

SocialMize

SocialMize offers a combination of learning resources and automation tools to help you grow your Instagram following. 

By joining, you can get access to professional analytics, automatic DM tools, and advanced targeting tools. You'll also be invited to an exclusive mastermind community with group calls and a private Slack channel. 

Content Rebel

The goal of Content Rebel is to grow your account to 10,000 followers and make $5,000 in 90 days. You'll get access to a step-by-step online course, resources, and an active community. 

The owner also gives personal feedback on your Instagram profile to help you become a thriving member of the creator economy. 

Instagram Mastery

With Instagram Mastery, you can benefit from a private community and 24/7 support to help you grow your account. 

The online course teaches you everything you need to know about making money on Instagram, and every week you can participate in calls with experts and fellow members to share ideas and improve your knowledge. 

Get tips from Instagram experts with Whop

Whether you're just getting started or you need help turning a few thousand followers into a few million, Whop is the place to go when it comes to leveling up your Instagram game. Exclusive communities hosted on Whop offer everything you need to learn, discuss, practice, and succeed.

How exactly does it work? Instagram creators with millions of followers and hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit share their secrets and use Whop to create their own communities. 

These communities are called whops, and they're essentially an online hub for all things related to the community creator. Whop creators can add chat rooms, courses, weekly events, video calls, eBooks, giveaways, Instagram bots and trackers, and more, all to create a unique online community for their members. 

Communities often offer multiple tiers with different price points so you can join in even if you don't want to pay for one-on-one coaching. 

Direct contact with experts isn't an easy thing to come by—or at least, it wasn't until Whop came along. Now, you can learn from people who do this for a living and get personalized tips for your specific situation.

Join Whop today to start chatting with experts and learning the secrets to Instagram success!  

FAQs

What is the best time of day to post on Instagram?

The best overall times to post on Instagram are on weekdays between 8 am and 3 pm. People like to check Instagram on their way to work, as they're starting work, during their lunch break, and pretty much any time they get a spare moment. 

Is it best to post once a day on Instagram?

Posting at least once a day is the best strategy if you want to grow your Instagram following. You can post even more than this if you want to, but just remember that everything has to be original, high-quality content. It's honestly better to post less than to post something low-quality. 

How to get more views on Instagram?

If you want to get more views on Instagram, focus on Reels rather than Stories and make sure to post at the right times. Aim for mornings and afternoons during the week, and add the right hashtags so the algorithm knows who to show your content to.