Some excellent studies have been carried out about when it is best to post on Instagram based on analytical data. While it might seem sensible to post on weekdays at peak times, the data still shows that audience engagement is highest on the weekends – particularly on Saturday morning post 11am. That said, there are some clear advantages to posting through the week, including less competition and potentially more interest in your posts.
Mondays
Monday is the start of the week for most people and tends to be fractured. People are gearing up for the work week ahead and are mentally preparing for all the items on their agenda. As a result, it is better to target pockets of downtime – early morning, before 6am, 12 noon, and 10pm.
At these times, people are having breaks, relaxing, or winding down; they are more likely to be checking their phones and engaging with Instagram. If you post outside of these times on a Monday, you will notice a significant reduction in audience engagement. Conversely, getting your Monday timing right will put you front and centre.
Tuesdays
Tuesday is a relatively open day. It doesn’t have the same fractured and hectic nature as a Monday; on Tuesdays, people tend to be in ‘work-mode,’ and their Instagram habits reflect this. As a result, the best times to post are between 6am and 6pm.
As is usually the case posting around 6 am is recommended to catch the morning traffic – the majority of users check Instagram after shortly waking up. Unlike a Monday when posting at 10pm is sensible, Tuesdays are better served during the working hours. This breaks, business travelling and commuting.
Wednesdays
Like Mondays, Wednesdays are also hectic and fairly unpredictable when it comes to engaging audiences with your Instagram posts. According to research and data, Wednesdays tend to have lower Instagram usage, perhaps because people are engaged more with work agenda and completing tasks.
Maximise your posts’ effectiveness on Wednesdays by posting before 8 am and late at night, around 11pm. These are when most people are not engaged in work tasks and are likely to browse Instagram. If you get your timing right on this day, your post will be the first one they see.
Thursdays
The days of the week tend to mimic each other in some ways. If Monday is similar to Wednesday, then Thursday is akin to Tuesday. It is a day off the week that is fairly flat and predictable. This has pros and cons. It means your posts will receive the engagement you expect, but you may not take advantage of less competition on other days.
On Thursdays, 7am is the best time to post, along with 12pm, and 7pm. The working day tends to be busy on a Thursday, so Instagram usage is highest at break times and commute times. As the weekend approaches, there is an increase in usage as people want to check out what is happening around them.
Fridays
By far, Fridays are the best day of the week to take advantage of Instagram audience engagement. As the working week draws to a close people begin to wind down. Instagram data suggests that there are numerous opportunities throughout the day to tap into peak usage.
Those times are early morning, before 9am, 4pm, and 7pm. Particularly on a Friday, people check their Instagram feeds prior to going to work, and one thing that differs from other days is the spike that happens between 4pm and 5pm. This when most people head home to start their weekends. At 7pm, there is another spike – probably due to after-tea checks.
Saturdays
Saturdays differ significantly from weekdays. It is not recommended to post on a Saturday any sooner than 11am. Most people like to lay in and have a slow morning. After 11am is fine to post, but you might find less audience engagement until later in the day. Saturday nights get busier again, particularly between 7pm and 8pm.
Sundays
Sundays have pros and cons to posting on Instagram. Since everyone is off and in holiday-mode, the website gets a ton of posts and traffic at all times of the day. This can make it hard to stand out in the noise. But on the plus side, there is a lot more audience engagement and potential leads. If you can stand out, the best time to post is between 10am and 4pm.
