As our social media industry benchmarks study has shown, in 2021, Instagram is by far the most engaging of all the long-established social media platforms.
Therefore, the benefits of using Instagram marketing to reach broader audiences are many and worth trying for any brand interested in growing.
But in order to maximize the engagement potential of the platform, there are two things any social media manager must do - first and most important: to create excellent content, and second: to post at optimal hours.
Now, you’ve probably wondered the internet searching for the best time to post on Instagram.
Even if some days are better than others and some hours more productive, you must know there is no single receipt for success - meaning a specific day and time that would be great for any business.
But enough with the chit-chat. Let’s take a look at the average best posting time on Instagram, and not only.
When is the best time to post on Instagram?
1. What is the best time to post on Instagram in general?
2. Best day and time to post on Instagram for different regions
- Best time to post on Instagram for the US
- Best time to post on Instagram for the UK
- Best time to post on Instagram for Italy
- Best time to post on Instagram for Spain
- Best time to post on Instagram for Mexico
- Best time to post on Instagram for Australia
- Best time to post on Instagram for Germany
- Best time to post on Instagram for Brazil
- Best time to post on Instagram for France
- Best time to post on Instagram for Canada
3. Discover the best time to post on Instagram for your brand using analytics
What is the best time to post on Instagram in general?
According to Sprout Social, the best time to post on Instagram would be Tuesday between 11 a.m.–2 p.m. and Monday through Friday, at around 11 a.m.
If you were to ask us the best time to post on Instagram, we'd honestly say there isn't any.
That's because establishing the best time to post on Instagram depends on so many factors and implies the ability to aggregate your insights, and requires a macro analysis of your industry.
Here's what we mean. According to our database, when doing a UK social media trends study, we found out the best time to post on Instagram may be on Friday, between 5 a.m and 6 a.m.
That's because this is the timeframe with the highest engagement levels.
And for being the border between the weekly work and the weekend, it's understandable why.
Let’s take a short example - Ikea’s Instagram followers.
The brand’s fanbase may be more tempted to engage with the Ikea content on Thursday or Friday because Saturday is a family Ikea day. And may be less likely to engage on Monday when they are more likely to be looking for food for their launch break.
If you've started your research on the best time to post on Instagram, you'll see most of the articles around the Internet tell you to post somewhere around 10:00 a.m or in the middle of the day.
Which is exactly the time window people spend on social media before getting to work (either commuting to the actual office or just opening their laptops in their cozy homes).
And there's also, of course, the lunch break time window.
Doesn't it all add up now?
Best day and time to post on Instagram for different regions
Regardless of where your brand has its headquarters, you must always adapt to your audience's time zone.
That's why global brands have multiple accounts for different regions they penetrated the market.
Because reaching your audiences when they are most likely to be active is key. Localization is essential in gaining and retaining clients for bigger brands.
Disclaimer: all the timeframes mentioned are recorded in Eastern Standard Time (EST), not in the timezone of every region analyzed.
Best time to post on Instagram for the US
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 4 p.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 6 a.m - 10 a.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Best time to post on Instagram for the UK
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 5 p.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 1 a.m - 5 a.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Best time to post on Instagram for Italy
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 10 a.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 1 a.m - 6 a.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Best time to post on Instagram for Spain
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 10 a.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 2 a.m - 6 a.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Best time to post on Instagram for Mexico
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 5 p.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 7 a.m - 11 a.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Best time to post on Instagram for Australia
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 4 p.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 2 p.m - 6 p.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Best time to post on Instagram for Germany
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 4 p.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 1 a.m - 5 a.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Best time to post on Instagram for Brazil
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 9 p.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 4 a.m - 8 a.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Best time to post on Instagram for France
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 4 p.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 1 a.m - 5 a.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Best time to post on Instagram for Canada
Most engaging day of the week: Friday
Most engaging hour: 4 p.m
Worst time to post on Instagram: anytime between 6 a.m - 9 a.m;
- Saturday and Sunday are the less engaging days
Discover the best time to post on Instagram for your brand using analytics
As we said earlier, there's no one-size-fits-all best time to post on Instagram.
The most reliable way to discover your best posting time for Instagram is to check your analytics.
The native app, for example, gives you insights into your followers’ locations, their genders, their ages, and, most importantly, when they’re most active on Instagram.
Or, of course, to get the optimal posting time for your audience, you can turn to a third-party Instagram analytics tool, like Socialinsider.
To demystify the myth of the best time to post on Instagram, I used Socialinsider to discover the optimal posting time for various brands to see to which degree they are alike.
For example, for Netflix, the best time to post on Instagram seems to be Tuesday, while the most engaging hour is 3 a.m.
Considering the brand's industry, it is no surprise because late nights are when most of the binging is done.
But what works for one doesn't necessarily mean it will work for everyone.
If, for Netflix, Tuesday is without any doubt the best day to post on Instagram, for National Geographic, for example, the situation is not quite the same.
In NatGeo's case, the best time to post on Instagram seems to be on Friday, around 6 p.m.
On the other hand, for Nestlé both Monday and Wednesday seem to be pretty good days to gain higher levels on Instagram engagement.
And the example could continue, but you surely got the idea.
Now that we've covered the basics let's quickly go over some tips that will help you identify the best time to post on Instagram for your business.
- Check out when your competitors are posting
Complete your timeline research with your competitors’ actions on Instagram.
Use tools like Socialinsider, which tracks every movement your competitors make on Instagram and see when your competition gets the highest engagement rate on their Instagram posts.
- Research your industry’s behavior
Keep track of your buyer persona or user persona behavior.
Let’s say you’re selling shoes and promoting your business on Instagram, and you are located in Chicago.
You know that most people buy shoes late in the evening.
Therefore, apply this insight to your Instagram account and measure the results over time.
- Analyze what you’re posting
The timeliness of your post is one factor, but your engagement results depend on what you’re posting.
Maybe on Monday people are not interested in shopping or holidays, but they are looking for gifts, books or courses.
If the content you are posting is appealing to your target audience, then it will receive more likes and comments.
Final thoughts
And there you have it: the best time to post on Instagram for different regions, as well as tips on how to discover your optimal posting schedule.
To make sure your Instagram posts go live even when you would not be able to push them into the platform manually, you should consider an Instagram scheduling tool.
Just to make sure you don't miss out on the opportunity of connecting with your followers when they are most likely to engage.
Now that you have learned how your audience behaves on Instagram and what tricks your competitors apply to their strategy, experiment with posting times and measure your progress.
