The Best Time To Post On Instagram In 2024 (Latest Data)
Wondering what the best time to post on Instagram is? You’re in the right place.
In this post, I’ll be helping you figure out when you should share posts on Instagram to achieve maximum reach and engagement.
First, I’ll tell you why timing matters, and reveal what the statistics say about the best days and times to post based on data from five leading studies.
Then, I’ll explain why you may as well throw those stats out the window. And instead, I’ll show you how to find your perfect time to post on Instagram using your personal analytics data.
And if you stick around to the end, I’ll also share some bonus tips to help you get even more engagements and grow your Instagram audience fast.
Why does timing matter on Instagram?
The time you choose to publish posts on Instagram has a big impact on how well those posts perform.
And there are two main reasons for that.
The first is recency.
Recency is one of the factors Instagram’s algorithm looks at when deciding which posts to show in your follower’s news feeds.
Generally, Instagram likes to rank fresh content, so you’re more likely to see posts that were only very recently shared when you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed, and less likely to see posts that were shared hours or days ago.
The upshot: If you want your posts to be seen by as many people as possible, it’s a good idea to publish them at the time your followers/target audience are online and active.
The other reason timing matters is engagement.
People tend to be more likely to like, comment on, and share posts on Instagram at certain times than others. By sharing your posts at those times, you’ll get more engagements.
And because engagements are another important signal to Instagram’s algorithm, posts that get more engagements are given more visibility and stand a better chance of going viral.
Is there really a best time to post on Instagram?
The short answer is no, there isn’t one definitive ‘best’ time to post on Instagram.
And the reason for that is that every brand/creator has a different target audience. So what works for you might not work for someone else, and vice versa.
The longer answer is that while there isn’t a one-size-fits-all best time to post, there are some general trends that you can use to inform your strategy.
That’s because studies have found that on average, certain times of day, and days of the week, tend to generate higher average engagement rates than others.
And while these days/times might not work for everyone, they’re a good starting point to jump off from.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the data…
The best time to post on Instagram
There’s been lots of research into the best time to post on Instagram, and different studies have reached different conclusions.
However, the most comprehensive study to date comes from HubSpot and Mention. They analyzed over 37 million Instagram posts, and found that…
- The overall best time to post on Instagram is 8 PM, with an average engagement rate of 7.33%.
- The second-best time to post is 7 PM, with an average Instagram engagement rate of 7.1%.
Interestingly, this is at odds with the results of other studies, which we’ve outlined in the table below.
| Study | Best time to post |
| HubSpot & Mention | 8 PM |
| Later | 4 AM |
| Hootsuite | 11 AM |
| SocialPilot | 6 AM – 11 AM |
| Sprout Social | 9 AM – 1 PM |
As you can see, most other studies highlight the best times to post on Instagram as from morning until around lunch break.
Important note: Some of these studies didn’t specify the time zone, but your best bet is to use your target audience’s local time.
The worst time to post on Instagram
Again, the ‘worst time’ to post on Instagram depends on which study you look at, as there’s a lot of conflicting data out there.
The most accurate data seems to come from HubSpot and Mention, who found that…
- The overall worst time to post on Instagram is 8 AM, as this is when the average engagement rate is lowest (<5.9%)
- The second worst time to post on Instagram is 7 AM, followed closely by 9 AM.
What’s interesting about this is that conventional wisdom says that the middle of the night would be the worst time to post content on social media. But actually, Hubspot/Mention’s study found that posts get more engagement throughout the night than they do in the early morning hours.
Again, though, it’s important to remember that there’s no general consensus on this. Different studies have found different results, which we’ve highlighted below.
| Study | Worst time to post |
| HubSpot & Mention | 8 AM |
| Later | 1 PM (on Sunday)5 AM (on Saturday) |
| Hootsuite | N/A |
| SocialPilot | 2 PM – 8 AM (on weekends) |
| Sprout Social | 12 AM – 5 AM |
The best day to post on Instagram
According to data from HubSpot/Mention:
- Sunday is the best day to post on Instagram, with an average engagement rate of 6.92%.
- Saturday comes a close second, with an average engagement rate of 6.66%.
- Monday is third, with an average engagement rate of 6.53%
Here’s how Hubspot/Mention’s data compares to other studies.
| Study | Best day to post |
| HubSpot & Mention | Sunday |
| Later | Monday |
| Hootsuite | Wednesdays |
| SocialPilot | Weekdays |
| Sprout Social | Tuesdays & Wednesdays |
The worst day to post on Instagram
According to data from HubSpot/Mention:
- Friday is the worst day to post on Instagram, with an average engagement rate of 6.16%
- Wednesday is the second-worst day to post on Instagram
Here’s an overview of what other studies have found.
| Study | Worst day to post |
| HubSpot & Mention | Friday |
| Later | Saturday & Sunday |
| Hootsuite | Saturday & Sunday |
| SocialPilot | Saturday & Sunday |
| Sprout Social | Sunday |
Best times to post on Instagram by day
Many studies have found that the best time to post on Instagram varies throughout the week. For example, engagement tends to peak at different times on weekends compared to mid-week days.
Here’s an overview of the best times to post on Instagram by day of the week, according to five leading studies.
| Mention / HubSpot | Later | Hootsuite | SocialPilot | Sprout Social | |
| Monday | 8PM | 5AM | 12PM | 9AM | 10AM-12PM |
| Tuesday | 8PM | 7AM | 9AM | 9AM | 9AM-1PM |
| Wednesday | 12AM | 3AM | 11AM | 5AM | 10AM-1PM |
| Thursday | 9PM | 7AM | 11AM | 12PM | 9AM-12PM |
| Friday | 1AM | 7AM | 2PM | 9AM | 9AM-11AM |
| Saturday | 10PM | 1AM | 9AM | 8AM-12PM | 9AM-11AM |
| Sunday | 7PM | 1AM | 7PM | 10AM-2PM | 8AM-12AM |
As always, we’d recommend going off Mention/Hubspot’s data, as this seems to be the most comprehensive/accurate.
Best times to post by location
Only two studies (that we know of) have looked at the best times to post on Instagram by location.
The first is from Mention/Hubspot, which found that:
- The best time to post in Asia-Pacific is 8 PM (and the best day is Tuesday)
- The best time to post in North America is 9 PM (and the best day is Thursday)
- The best time to post in the UK & Ireland is 2 AM (and the best day is Saturday)
The second study comes from Later. Here’s an overview of the best time to post in each location per their findings:
- US + Canada (West Coast) – 9 PM to 12 AM
- US + Canada (Central) – 10 PM to 12 AM
- US + Canada (East Coast) – 11 PM to 4 AM
- South America – 5 AM
- UK – 3 AM to 4 AM
- Europe – 4 AM to 7 AM
- Africa – 2 AM to 3 AM
- Middle East – 4 AM
- East & Southeast Asia – 6 AM to 8 AM
- Australasia – 11 PM to 12 AM
Best times to post on Instagram by industry
A couple of studies have also looked at the best time to post on Instagram for specific niches/business industries.
Here’s an overview of each of them.
The best times to post on Instagram by industry (per SocialPilot):
| On weekdays | On weekends | |
| Travel and Tourism | 10 AM – 12 PM &7 PM – 9 PM | 9 AM – 11 AM &4 PM – 6 PM |
| Fashion and Apparel | 12 PM – 2 PM &7 PM – 9 PM | 9 AM – 11 AM &5 PM – 7 PM |
| Fitness and Wellness | 6 AM – 8 AM &5 PM – 7 PM | 8 AM – 10 AM &4 PM – 6 PM |
| Food and Beverage | 12 PM – 2 PM | 5 PM – 7 PM |
| Digital Marketing / Social Media | 9 AM – 11 AM &1 PM – 3 PM | 10 AM – 12 PM |
| IT Brands | 10 AM – 12 PM | 1 PM – 3 PM |
The best times to post on Instagram by industry (per Sprout Social):
| Best day/time to post | |
| Consumer Goods | Thursday at 2 PM |
| Hospital and Healthcare | Thursday at 1 PM |
| Hospitality | Wednesday from 11 AM to 1 PM |
| Media | Thursday at 10 AM |
| Nonprofit | Wednesday from 11 AM to 5 PM |
| Restaurants | Monday from 4 PM to 6 PM |
| Schools & Education | Tuesday from 1 PM to 4 PM |
| Travel & Tourism | Tuesday at 10 AM |
How to find your best time to post on Instagram
Okay, so we’ve covered what the statistics say the best time to post on Instagram is.
But here’s the thing: The statistics are almost never right.
Why? Because every creator has a unique audience.
Just because engagement rates tend to be higher at certain times than others when you average it across millions of posts, it doesn’t mean that your audience will show the most engagement at those times.
Sure, you can use the stats as a starting point. But ultimately, you’re going to have to find your own optimal posting schedule. Here are some tips to help you do just that.
Use an Instagram scheduling tool with send-time optimization
There are lots of Instagram scheduling tools out there that can automatically work out your best time to post, based on historical data.
They look at your analytics to figure out which posting times have generated the most engagements for you in the past, so you can schedule future posts at those times.
Take Pallyy for example. You can click the Best Time to Post tool in your content calendar, and it’ll show you a visual representation of your average engagements at different times/days of the week.
You can even change the metric you’re targeting to figure out what your best times to post are for likes, comments, reach, impressions, etc.
Use Instagram Insights to find out when your followers are active
As we discussed earlier, Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes recency.
So the best time to post on Instagram is usually whenever your followers are most likely to open up the app and scroll through their feed.
To figure out when this is, you can look at your Instagram Insights (only available to Business and Creator Instagram accounts).
First, go to your profile. Then, tap the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner to open the menu, and click Insights.
Next, click Total followers, then scroll down to where it says Most active times.
Here, you should be able to see both the days that your audience is most active and the times they’re most active on each day of the week.
Use this to inform your post-scheduling strategy.
Bonus tip: Instagram Insights is great. But if you want to dig even deeper into your data, you may be better off using a dedicated Instagram analytics tool.
Research your competitors
Another great way to discover the best times to post is to look at what your competitors are doing.
Do they tend to share posts at the same times/days every week?
If so, there’s probably a reason for that.
Experiment with sharing posts at the same time as your competitors (or even better, a few minutes earlier) and keep track of how they perform. If you notice they’re getting more engagements, stick with it.
Keep experimenting and adjusting your strategy
Tools like Pallyy can tell you the best time to post based on your historical data.
But you’ve got to keep in mind that they only have your previous posts to work with.
If you’ve never shared content at 2 AM, for example, it couldn’t possibly know whether or not that was a good time to post as it doesn’t have the data to go off.
That’s why it’s important to continually experiment with different Instagram posting times, even if you think you’ve already figured out your best time to post.
And if you find a new time that seems to be working, adjust your strategy accordingly.
Don’t underestimate off-peak times either. While your audience may be less active, there’s also likely to be less competition in their feeds at off-peak times, so you can still get good results.
Other tips to maximize your Instagram post engagements
Sharing posts at the right time is one way to boost your engagements on Instagram, but it isn’t the only way. There are lots of other things you can do to get more likes, comments, and shares.
Here are some of our top tips.
- Make the most of your captions. According to Instagram statistics, longer captions generate more engagements than shorter captions, so make sure you’re making the most of them.
- Use hashtags. Adding the right hashtags to your post captions can help improve discoverability and maximize your reach. Target popular hashtags with low competition where possible.
- Experiment with different formats. If you’ve only been posting images to your feed so far, try experimenting with other types of posts. For example, you might post Reels, Instagram Stories, etc.
- Engage with other creators. Interact with other influencers and creators in your niche to build relationships. This might open the door to partnership opportunities and help you tap into new audiences.
- Comment and like other posts. When you engage with other people’s posts, they’ll get a notification telling them and might check out your profile to see who liked/commented. This can be an easy way to get more eyes on your posts.
- Consider paid ads. If your organic efforts on Instagram aren’t paying off, consider running some paid ads for a quick boost.
Sources
Final thoughts
That concludes our data-driven guide to the best time to post on Instagram.
In conclusion, 8 PM seems to be the best time to post on Instagram, according to the best data we have.
But it really depends on which study you look at. Some have highlighted early- to mid-morning (6 AM – 11 AM) as the sweet spot.
That said, the best thing you can do is find your own best time to post by looking at your own data to find out the times/days your audience is most active, and when you typically get the most engagements.
Social media tools like Pallyy can help with this.
While you’re here, here are some other posts you might like:
- The Best Times To Post On Social Media: The Definitive Guide
- The Best Times To Publish Facebook Posts
- What Are The Best Time To Post Reels On Instagram?
- 15 Social Media Metrics You Should Consider Tracking
- The Best Time To Post on TikTok
- The Best Time To Publish YouTube Videos
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