The Best Time To Post Reels On Instagram In 2024
What’s the best time to post Reels on Instagram? That’s the question we’ll be exploring in this post.
First, we’ll talk about why the time you share Instagram Reels impacts their performance.
Then, we’ll look at what studies say the best time to post IG Reels is (and why you can’t fully rely on the data).
And finally, we’ll show you how to use your own analytics data to find your personalized best time to post Reels, and discuss why this is much more accurate.
Plus, if you stick around to the end, we’ll also share some bonus tips to help you further optimize your Instagram Reels posting strategy and get better results.
Does it matter what time you post Instagram Reels?
Yes, it matters what time you post Instagram Reels. In fact, the time you post can be the difference between a video that flops and one that goes viral.
Why?
It’s simple: If you post your Reels when more people in your target audience are active and scrolling through their feeds, there’s a greater chance that they’ll see your video and engage with it.
And that matters, because the IG algorithm loves it when lots of people watch and engage with your videos shortly after you post them.
When you get those positive engagement signals right off the bat, it increases the likelihood that the algorithm will push the Reel to more viewers, thus improving the post’s reach and virality.
The best time to post Reels on Instagram (according to data)
Many studies have analyzed thousands of engagements on Instagram to try to work out the best time to post Reels.
Unfortunately, though, the data out there is very inconsistent. Different studies have found wildly different results, so it’s tough to draw any firm conclusions from them.
That said, in our opinion, the best data comes from a study by RivalIQ, which found that:
The overall best time to post Reels on Instagram is 10 PM – 7 AM, particularly on Saturdays.
The reason we think RivalIQ’s study is the most accurate is that it’s the only one that calculated the increase in each studied brand’s average engagement rate at different times, and then used this to work out the best time to post.
In contrast, most other studies seem to just look at which times/days have the greatest engagements overall, which isn’t necessarily a reliable indicator of the best time to post
Nonetheless, for context, we’ve also listed and compared the best time to post Reels according to other studies in the table below.
| Study | Best time to post Instagram Reels |
| RivalIQ | 10 PM – 7 PM on Saturdays |
| DemandSage | 11 AM on Wednesdays |
| SocialPilot | 9 AM – 12 PM from Monday to Thursday |
| Later | 4 AM on Mondays |
The best time to post Reels on Instagram by day
Many studies that have analyzed the best time to post Reels on Instagram found that it changes depending on the day of the week.
Below, you’ll find an overview of the best time to post Instagram Reels by day, according to several leading studies.
RivalIQ study
- Monday: 10 PM – 7 AM
- Tuesday: 10 PM – 7 AM
- Wednesday: 10 PM – 7 AM
- Thursday: 7 PM – 10 PM
- Friday: 7 PM – 10 PM
- Saturday: 10 PM – 7 AM
- Sunday: 7 PM – 10 PM
As you can see, RivalIQ found that the best time to post IG Reels is pretty consistent across the week.
On most days, the best time to post is overnight (10 PM – 7 AM). But on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays, engagement peaks slightly earlier, in the late evening (7 PM – 10 PM)
Influencer Marketing Hub study
- Monday: 6 AM, 10 AM, and 10 PM
- Tuesday: 2 AM, 4 AM
- Wednesday: 7 AM, 8 AM, 11 PM
- Thursday: 9 AM, 12 AM, 7 PM
- Friday: 5 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM
- Saturday: 11 AM, 7 PM, 8 PM
- Sunday: 7 AM, 8 AM, 4 PM
Influencer Marketing Hub found that there are multiple best times to post Reels on each day of the week.
Typically, these are spread across the day, with peak engagement occurring first in the early morning, then again in the afternoon, and again in the evening.
SocialPilot study
- Monday: 3 AM, 7 PM
- Tuesday: 12 AM, 1 AM, 6 AM
- Wednesday: 4 AM, 6 AM, 9 PM
- Thursday: 6 AM, 4 PM
- Friday: 2 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM
- Saturday: 9 AM, 4 PM, 5 PM
- Sunday: 5 AM, 8 AM, 1 PM
Like Influencer Marketing Hub, SocialPilot found engagement on Instagram Reels peaks several times each day. This may correlate with business hours and reflect the structure of a typical Instagram user’s working day.
DemandSage study
- Monday: 3-6 AM, 12 PM, 10-11 PM
- Tuesday: 2 AM, 4-6 AM, 8-9 AM
- Wednesday: 4 AM, 6 AM, 9 AM
- Thursday: 6-9 AM, 7 PM, 12 PM
- Friday: 2-4 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM
- Saturday: 9-10 AM, 6-7 PM
- Sunday: 5 AM, 7 AM, 1-3PM
Again, DemandSage found a wide spread of peak engagement times on different days of the week.
So many different times were highlighted as potential best times to post that it’s tough to draw any conclusions from this study.
Later study
- Monday: 1 AM, 3-6 AM, 3 PM, 11 PM
- Tuesday: 2 AM, 4-6 AM, 8-9 AM
- Wednesday: 3 AM – 5 PM
- Thursday: 12 AM, 2 AM
- Friday: 3 AM, 5 AM
- Saturday: 1 AM, 5 AM, 10 PM
- Sunday: 3-4 AM, 7 AM, 10-11 PM
Later found several best times to post Reels on each day of the week. But for the most part, these fell between 10 PM and 7 AM. This correlates with RivalIQ’s findings that overnight is the best time to post.
How to find your personal best time to post
So, now you know what the data says the best time to post Reels on Instagram is—but you should only use this data as a starting point.
After all, no two Instagram accounts have exactly the same audience, so you shouldn’t be basing your posting schedule on someone else’s data.
It’s a much better idea to work out your personal best time to post Reels based on your own data. Read on and we’ll show you how.
Use a third-party Instagram analytics tool
The best way to find your own best time to post Reels is to use a third-party Instagram analytics tool that can work it out for you.
Lots of these tools can automatically calculate your best time to post using your historical data. Once you’ve connected them to your Instagram account, they can look at how your previous Reels have performed at different times of day, and days of the week, then use this to identify your peak audience engagement times.
You can also filter by likes, engagement, and reach. This allows you to align your strategy based on the goals you want to achieve with your content.
What’s great about this is that it removes all the guesswork from the process. You’re not basing your Reels posting schedule on theory—you’re basing it on hard evidence and your own past results.
Note: Instagram analytics tools often also track other social media metrics too, so you can use them to analyze and report on all your profiles across different social media platforms in one place.
Use Instagram Insights
If you don’t want to use a third-party tool, the next best thing is to use Instagram Insights (Instagram’s native, free analytics solution).
It won’t tell you the best time to post based on your previous engagements, but it does give you access to information about your audience that’ll make it easier to work it out yourself.
To access Instagram Insights, you’ll need a business account or creator account. Open the app and click the menu in the top right, then click Insights > Total followers.
From here, you’ll be able to see a breakdown of your follower demographic, including Top locations (useful for determining the time zones you should be focusing on).
At the bottom of the page, you’ll see a Most active times chart, that tells you the hours your followers are most active on each day of the week, as well as the days they’re most active on.
It’s a good idea to post around 30 minutes before these peak times.
Bonus tips
Before we wrap up, here are a few bonus tips to help you further optimize your Instagram Reels posting schedule and get more views, engagements, and followers.
Be consistent with your Reels posting times
Consistency is important on Instagram Reels. So once you’ve worked out your perfect posting schedule using the tips above, stick to it.
If you post at the same times of day and days of the week, it’ll be easier for your audience to know when to expect content from you, which could lead to more engagement and views.
Run experiments
Above, we said that posting Instagram Reels at the same times every day/week is important. But there’s one exception to this.
If you’re just starting out on Reels, you’ll need to experiment with different posting times first so that you can gather data and hone in on your peak times, and only then should you switch over to a consistent schedule.
Conduct competitor analysis
Another great way to find the best time to post Reels on Instagram is to look at when your biggest competitors are posting on the social media platform.
There are social media tools that can help with this, or you can just do your research manually. A good idea is to experiment with posting a few minutes earlier than your competitors, in order to ‘tap in’ to their audience.
Also, try experimenting with posting at completely opposite times to your competitors. This can sometimes work well as there’s less competition for engagement and views at off-peak times.
Post Instagram Reels more frequently
With short-form video, quantity matters just as much as quality. It’s important to post Reels as frequently as possible to give you more opportunities to reach your target audience and get views.
As a rule of thumb, I’d recommend aiming to share at least 5 Reels a week. If you can manage it, you might even want to aim for multiple Reels a day.
Use a scheduling tool
If you’re publishing a bunch of Reels every week, it can be tough to consistently remember to log in and share them at the right time.
That’s where Instagram scheduling tools come in.
You can use them to schedule Reels months in advance, and the tool will automatically publish them for you when the time comes (or in some cases, send you push notifications to remind you to publish them yourself).
Focus on improving watch time
The time you post Instagram Reels isn’t the only thing that matters. There are lots of other factors that will have an even bigger impact on your reach and engagement.
One of the most important factors is average watch time. The more people that watch your Reels through to the end (without scrolling past), the more the algorithm will surface it on Instagram users’ For You pages, and the greater your reach and engagement.
The upshot of this is clear: Make sure you’re creating compelling, quality content that people can’t help but watch.
Sources
Final thoughts
That concludes our guide to the best time to post Reels on Instagram. Let’s quickly recap what we’ve learned.
Overall, the data says the best time to post Instagram Reels is between 10 PM to 7 AM, and the best day to post Instagram Reels is Saturday.
However, that’s not the full picture, as it depends on many factors including the day of the week, your industry, and your target audience. Plus, many studies have found contradicting results.
It’s a much better idea to work out your personal best time to post by looking at your engagement data and audience insights. And there are lots of tools that can help with this.
This article is part of a series covering the best post times across a variety of platforms. We’ve also covered the following platforms:
We also have an article covering post times for social media in general.
And, to learn more about Instagram in general, check out our roundup of Instagram stats.
