The best time to post on Instagram depends on your audience & content niche. Some studies have gathered universal Instagram Best Posting Times to set apparent trends of what “time” or “day” a brand should post ideally to gain the most engagement. So, when is the right time to post on IG? Here is the global best posting time on Instagram in 2024 from studies and tips to find your own best time & moment to post.

Best hours to post on Instagram in a week, from Monday to Sunday in 2024
One hour before lunch on Wednesday is the best of the best time in the week.

Best Times to Post on Instagram:

  • Monday: 5 AM, 11 AM, 12 PM, 1 PM.
  • Tuesday: 7 AM, 8 AM, 9 AM, 10 AM.
  • Wednesday: 5 AM, 6 AM, 9 AM, 10 AM, 11 AM.
  • Thursday: 6 AM, 11 AM, 12 PM, 1 PM.
  • Friday: 7 AM, 2 PM, 3 PM, 4 PM.
  • Saturday: 6 AM, 8 AM, 9 AM, 10 AM.
  • Sunday: 1 AM, 6 PM, 7 PM, 8 PM.

Are you wondering when you should post on Instagram?

Then you must understand today’s best timing trends to post on Instagram.

You don’t want your beautifully made, high-quality content ends up being seen by only a few people because you post at the wrong time, right?

Knowing when to post is important to give you a benchmark of the ultimate moment to gain maximum results:

High engagement & new followers.

Of course, it doesn’t apply to everyone,

As every business has a different group of audiences that crowd at different moments.

With only Instagram analytics, you can get the personalized best time to post for your businesses.

Study about best time to post on Instagram

“But how can I do it?”

This article will explain to you the common best time to post on Instagram in 2024 in some studies,

And how to find your own personalized best time to post on Instagram in 6 easy steps.

Let’s go.

The thing is, Instagram doesn’t give you any best time hint on its app.

You must determine your own best time through Instagram’s built-in analytics.

Checking your own best time is essential because you will know when your audience is the most active.

Plus, the Instagram algorithm promotions work better on recent posts,

So uploading your content when the users are active is very important.

If you want to engage your followers, publish your Reels, Stories, & Feed Posts on Instagram during these times:

How can I say those are Instagram’s best posting times?

To determine the best posting times & days on Instagram,

we need to look at some studies by Instagram scheduling tools.

They usually offer “a best-time-to-post feature” to help users pick the most optimal time to gain the highest reach & engagement.

Best time to post recommendations from an Instagram scheduler
This powerful tool from Sprout Social gives you the best moment suggestion to publish your Posts Stories, & Reels.

And the best posting time list is a summary of the findings from some studies we use in this article.

They are the global benchmark of the best posting time on Instagram.

The best days and times for uploading your Instagram posts vary from each scheduler.

Let’s compare all the best times to post on Instagram based on some scheduling tools’ research.

Instagram Scheduler NameBest Day and Time to Post
on Instagram in 2024
Sprout SocialWednesday 11 AM, Friday 10-11 AM
LaterVaries on each day
Coschedule8-10 AM
MentionTuesday from 11 AM – 2 PM

If we look at the statistic, the most effective time to post on Instagram is between 10 AM-1 PM.

Exactly, it’s the time when people are waiting for and doing a lunch break.

There is also a good amount of engagement around 1-2 hours before and after the range time.

Or at 9 AM and 2-3 PM.

While early morning and evening are not the best times to expect high engagement.

The times when the engagement is low: are 6-7 AM and 6-8 PM and goes on.

Take a closer look at this graphic.

However, another study concludes that there are many times each day to post and have a high engagement at certain moments.

From the study, the best posting times on Instagram are in the morning, or between 12 AM – 7 AM.

When people start their day to go to the gym, going to work, etc.

The study highlights otherwise: the times when you can gain only the littlest amount of engagement.

See the white blocks, the engagement is almost empty.

Another study also concludes that the best time to post on Instagram

is people’s final time to work before lunch break.

But in their study, they crunched down the data to generate one best day and time.

This version says the best posting time on Instagram in 2024 is Wednesday at 11 AM.

See the graphic below.

To sum up, 

The best Instagram posting time varies from each scheduler because they gather different samples and data.

But from the two research, the most effective time to gain the highest engagement on Instagram is on Wednesday at 11 AM.

So, if you want the biggest results from your post, do it on Wednesday at 11 AM.

Best Time to post on Instagram each day in a week

The best day & time to post on Instagram, a.k.a Wednesday at 11 AM is already in your pocket.

But you can’t just rely on one day to boost your post, right?

Because uploading too many posts may send a wrong message to Instagram that you are a spammer.

Consider how often you should post on Instagram and pay attention to the “best time” each day.

Here is the schedule of the best posting time on Instagram in 2024 every day in a week: 

WeekdaysBest Time to Post on Instagram
Monday11 AM
Tuesday10 AM to 1 PM
Wednesday10 AM to 1 PM
Thursday10-11 AM
Friday10-11 AM
Saturday9 AM
Sunday9 AM

On Weekdays, it’s good to share long-form content like Reels when everyone is enjoying their lunch.

On the day when it gets burned out working from the office, like Thursdays & Fridays,

give them some light entertainment like quizzes, games, on Stories.

And for the Weekends, post early at 9 AM to engage with your relaxed audience.

What time are Instagram users most active?

Instagram users are spread across the world, and the most active time varies by your target audience’s location.

Now, think logically when your followers are fully awake and ready to scroll their phones.

If most of your audience is in the same country as you, it’s easy.

It will be difficult if your audience is in another part of the world, then it’s possible to post at midnight to make your post crowded with likes & comments.

Generally, 7-8 AM is the perfect time to post your Instagram Reels & other content and get the morning people’s attention.

Another great time to gather mass engagement is when people take their lunch break.

So, publishing your IG content around 11-1 AM can help boost your post to the top of their feed.

Some people also tend to give themselves some “reward” after finishing the day by scrolling social media after work or before bed.

So, try to take 6-8 PM as your consideration.

To sum up, Instagram users are most likely to be active:

When they start their day, enjoy their lunch, and go off from work or before going to bed.

But these times are not absolute, you can post at your own personalized best time and generate a lot better engagement.

Plus, more and more people are working from home nowadays which makes the best posting time on IG more flexible.

Consider your Instagram target audience’s age, demographic, and industry to decide your own best posting time.

What more to consider? Read on to learn fully about deciding your personalized best time to post on Instagram in 2024.

How to find the Best Time to post on Instagram for your brand?

As I said before, you can personalize your Instagram’s best posting time by analyzing when your audience is the most active.

“How to see the most active time on Instagram for my brand?”

The good news is:

you can find your own Best Time using “only” the Instagram built-in analytics.

By analyzing your Instagram insights, you will know which content performs best at certain moments.

This will create a more accurate best-time estimation as the data is directly generated by your own content.

Here are the steps to access your Instagram analytics, for content insights, followers, and more:

Open your Instagram profile page

Before anything, go to your profile first.

See the menus on the top of highlights or Feed posts and find the “Insights” menu.

Insights button on Instagram creator profile page
The “Insights” menu is directly on your front profile.

Tap the menu and proceed to the next step.

Inspect your Instagram insights

Once you open “Insights”, Instagram will showcase your insights overview.

It contains your Accounts reached, Accounts engaged, and Total followers.

Instagram user's insights overview focus on Accounts reached
The account stats show healthy growth for the Instagram profile.

If you want to go deeper on your posts, Reels, and Stories, scroll down to the section Content You Shared.

You will find any data you need to track your content performance.

Check your Instagram audience insights

Not only your account and content,

You can also identify your audience insights on Instagram directly.

Instagram audience insights on its built-in analytics to show the most active times on a day
Check when is the loved time for your audience to sit down and watch your content.

From gender, and age, to when they are most active on Instagram, everything is automatically generated for every user.

Best Time to post Instagram Videos in 2024

Videos are the leading type of content on Instagram today.

So, taking into consideration when to post videos on Instagram is very important.

Videos need a longer span of attention,

so the best time to post them is between 11 AM to 2 PM or when people are enjoying their lunch.

Another good time is between 7-9 PM when people are off to work, scrolling their phones on the subway, etc.

More detailed for each video content, here are the best times to post Reels, Stories, and go on Live on Instagram.

Best Time to Post Instagram Reels in 2024

Instagram Reels are known for their benefits to growing both your followers and engagement.

It is even proven to give 300% more engagement than any other Instagram video content.

Thus, setting the posting strategy for Reels is essential, unless you can’t get optimum benefits from them.

Isn’t it such a waste when you have the best Reels ideas but you post at the wrong time?

From now, upload your Instagram Reels on Monday to Thursday at 9 AM and 12 PM as those are the peak times to gain the highest engagement for the short-form video feature.

Reels are the best thing to gain higher reach but don’t get too obsessed.

Posting Reels every day is good but no more than one Reel per day.

Know when the best time to post Reels is and how often should you leverage the feature for your business.

Best Posting Time for Stories & Going Live on Instagram

Instagram Stories is also an excellent feature to increase your audience engagement.

Stories are believed to bring 2-3 times more engagement so knowing the best moment to post is also very important.
The 15-second Stories are best to be posted on Monday to Friday from 11 AM to 2 PM.

While going Live on Instagram takes more time than posting Reels and Stories.

It’s okay to make use of lunchtime to gather and interact with your audience at 12 PM.

But for me, instead of smashing into people’s tight break,

it’s better to take free time where people can spend more time watching your Live.

And the best time for Instagram Live to enhance engagement is after office hours, from 7 PM to 9 PM.

It’s the time when people take a rest after working all day & enjoy the evening leisure time.

They definitely have time to watch your entire Live.

Best Times to Post on Instagram by Industry in 2024

The best time to post based on days in a week, checked.

Best posting time for videos on Instagram, checked.

Now it’s time to know the best moments to post on Instagram for any specific industry.

Here are the most common industries and their best posting times on Instagram.

  • Media & Entertainment: Tuesday 1-5 PM, Wednesday, 11 AM, Thursday 8-9 AM
  • Food & Beverages brands: Monday 9 AM to 2 PM
  • Restaurants: Wednesday 10-12 AM
  • Professionals, Influencers, & Creators: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 9 AM to 10 PM
  • Consumer Goods: Sunday 3-4 PM
  • Tech content & IT Brands: Wednesday 8 AM & Friday 10 AM
  • Travel & Tourism content: Wednesday 12 AM
  • Finance content: Wednesday 8 AM
  • Healthcare brands: Monday 9-10 AM
  • Education brands: Friday 4-5 AM

Those are the most ideal time for brands & businesses to gather much better engagement.

Remember that those are the times when engagement peaks.

You can also leverage the moment right before or after peak time, they still have lots of engagement but not as good as the rush hour.

Also, take some notes to avoid Saturdays & Sundays.

Those are the worst times for each industry as they generate only a little engagement, except for Consumer Goods.

Best Times to post on Instagram by Location

Another thing you must pay attention to consider the best posting time on Instagram is the time zones.

This is important because it will be trouble when you post and target a certain region of your audience while they are sleeping.

Different areas have different prime times & time cycles,

so you need to take some notes of the moment when they are the most crowded on Instagram.

Here are some region’s best times to post on Instagram.

Region / CountryBest Instagram Posting Times by Location (EST)
East & Southeast Asia6-8 AM
Australasia11 PM -12 AM
Western Europe4-6 AM
Eastern Europe5-7 AM
Middle East4 AM
Africa2-3 AM
The United Kingdom3-4 AM
South America5 AM
US+Canada Central10 PM – 12 AM

Knowing when to post on Instagram is basically considering all the insights.

Meaning, you must understand the global best time trends, the best time to post videos,

the specific-industry best times, and the best times based on time zones.

That’s exactly the best formula to kick off your engagement.

The Worst Times to avoid Posting on Instagram in 2024

Now you know the best times to post on Instagram every day of the week.

Aside from recommending posting on the best times, people also remind you not to post on the worst times.

Truth is, there is nothing like “worst times”, except you know the exact time when people are asleep and not active online.

Best times are actually a spectrum, where you can get the lowest to the highest engagement at a certain time.

Worst times are not an exact science and some industries may have their own best times as I explained before.

It’s okay if you don’t post at the exact time in the range of the best time.

You can still choose the moment where it still gives you good results.

One thing is for sure: never post at a time when it generates very little engagement.

Here are the times you should avoid posting on Instagram each day:

Day of The WeekTimes You Should Avoid Posting on Instagram
Monday2 PM
Tuesday8 PM
Wednesday7 PM
Thursday11 PM
Friday9 AM
Saturday8 PM
Sunday4 PM

Why is it important to post at the Best Times on Instagram?

To get the highest results as many as possible.

On Instagram, you are not the only one in your niche who fights for the audience’s attention.

There are a lot of competitors and you should have the best posting strategy to steal the show:

Gain maximum engagement & new followers.

Engagement is one of the main purposes of many businesses coming to Instagram to open more sales opportunities.

Let me explain further the importance of knowing the best time to post on Instagram

Identify the best time to post on Instagram to boost engagement

What will happen if you go fishing in a lake when the fishes are still not hungry?

Yup, the possibility of going home with a fish in hand is very small.

That’s the perfect analogy for using the best time to post on Instagram.

Know when the fish are the most crowded so that you can bring home a lot of catch.

By posting at the right time, you increase the possibility of your post getting more likes, comments, and shares.

Consider the best time so you can gain the greater number of engagements ever for your post.

Know the best posting time on Instagram to gain new followers

Not only high engagement but learning the best time to post also helps you to get more followers.

There is a big possibility that the users interacting with your content will be curious about your account.

First thing, they will scroll through your account, see your Feed, and end up pressing the follow button.

This is a huge chance.

That’s why setting the best time for your posting strategy will open wider opportunities to gain new followers.

Learn Instagram’s best posting time to increase website traffic

If you run a blog/website and need to drive traffic, posting at the right time is the best way.

Create content that makes the audience curious about your products on your website,

And you can gain massive traffic from the crowds.

There is also another funnel, where the users are curious about your account, they can click the link on your bio.

Whether it’s because of the content or the users’ “curious” journey,

Posting at the best time on Instagram helps you increase traffic to your website.

Is there actually a Best Time to post on Instagram?

Nope.

The global best times concluded by scheduling tools are extracted from some brand’s content that produces high engagement at certain times.

So, basically, they are not the “best time” for you.

But the universal best times can benefit businesses to set their default posting strategy,

especially when they are new to the game.

The global best times help you set a successful strategy to post on Instagram based on some previous high-performance content from brands. 

However, established brands & businesses already build their own audience that develops different unique user behavior.

They have their own time and crowd.

This is called your personalized best time to post on Instagram.

If your audience already shapes a certain behavior pattern (when they are the most active online),

Then applying your own best time to post on Instagram will be more effective than adhering to global best times.

Why should you know your own Instagram’s Best Posting Times?

It is a lot more effective.

As I said before, each brand has its specific audience behavior.

They have different audience compositions, times when they are most active online, time zones, etc.

Then the right time to post when the audience is the most crowded is also different.

The distinction makes the global best times, which are based on stranger content, irrelevant.

The research is not based on your account performance,

so it is less accurate to determine your best time to post on Instagram.

Otherwise, the research based on your own high-performance content will be both accurate and effective for your business.

So, learning your specially-made best posting time is very important.

This is a must and you should start finding your best time soon.

Unless you want stagnant growth for your Instagram business.

6 Tips to find the Best Time to post on Instagram for your brand

Now you know the importance of knowing your own best time,

But you don’t know where to start?

Here are 6 easy ways to find your own best posting time on Instagram.

1. Use Instagram analytics to understand your audience

Very important first step: peeping into your Instagram analytics.

This is where you can reveal everything about your audience.

From your audience’s location, age, gender, and many more.

An Instagram profile's audience top locations and age range on from analytics
The young adults from Paris are your top audience! Make sure you take advantage of this stat 😉

To access this feature, your account must use creator mode or business.

Here is the step to look into your audience’s insights:

  • Tap the three lines icon at the right top of your profile page.
  • Choose Insights.
  • Tap Total Followers.
  • Or simply tap the Insights Menu on your profile page and choose Total Followers.

The built-in analytics from Instagram directly scrap the data from your account,

so it is very accurate to represent your audience stats.

Try to understand every single data from it and draw a conclusion.

Based on the image, the audience is mostly based in Paris and with an age range between 25-34 years old.

These stats can help you consider when to post based on your top audience’s location & time zones

Plus how you address them in your content considering the age range and gender.

2. Pay attention to when your followers are the most active online

People nowadays have spent more time on social media than a few years back.

Global internet users spend an average of 2 hours & 22 minutes online every day.

Two hours is a broad period of time to take people’s attention in just only minutes.

So, to not miss the chance, you must find out at what time your audience is the most active online.

Targeting tech people who are active almost every day is completely different

from travel enthusiasts who actively engage only on Wednesdays.

Just look at the insights on Instagram’s audience section.

You will be given stats of hours and days of your audience’s most active times.

The audience most active times by hours from an Instagram user
The weekend’s late night is your audience’s favorite moment to scroll Instagram.

This is very important because you need to know the exact time when your audience gathers the most.

As marketers, you don’t want to post at 7 AM when your audience is still sleeping and just started scrolling Instagram at 10 AM, right?

3. Post your Instagram content on your audience’s time zones

Now it’s your turn to pamper your audience.

After inspecting your audience stats and their most active moments, you need to start posting on their time zones.

Let’s say you are a Korean brand, but most of your audience is from Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries, and only a few Korean users.

Rather than focusing on the Korean time zone,

you will benefit more if you post to your dominant audience’s time zones.

Don’t forget to also look out for the region’s best time so you can gain maximum exposure.

4. Analyze your high-performance content using Instagram analytics

The second step is reviewing your content that performs well.

Which ones generate the most impressions? At what time did you post them? What do the numbers tell you about your content performance?

Those questions can lead you to know when your audience engages the most with your content.

A quick step: choose your content with many likes and tap the Insights.

Reels insights content interactions from an Instagram user
A zero-comment Reel can reach more than 2000 people. Never underestimate its power 😉

But if you want to check the overall performance:

  • Go to the Insights menu on your profile page.
  • Scroll until you find the Content You Shared
  • Inspect every single post’s insights you have made, impressions, reach, likes, comments, etc.

Instagram analytics is basic yet powerful.

It has native data and you should make use of its insights to set your best posting time strategy.

To draw a conclusion, you have to do it alone as Instagram only provides no more than raw data.

5. Check on competitors’ Instagram Post Timing

Being in one industry, your competitors might do the same thing:

experiment what’s the right time to post on Instagram.

Try to monitor what they are doing and get inspiration from it.

One thing for sure: never post on the exact hour mark (:00).

Many brands have done scheduling on time so it’s better to avoid tight competition.

You can easily check on your competitors’ movement using Social Listening in scheduling tools.

6. Use an Instagram scheduling tool to know your best posting time

Doing research is not easy, it needs effort and discipline.

Posting at such an irregular time every day is also confusing.

If you want a solution for this, you can use an Instagram scheduling tool.

Many Instagram schedulers recommend the best time to post based on your content performance,

So, you can skip these steps and go straight scheduling your posts.

By scheduling your posts, you can upload your content without worrying about missing the optimal time.

Also, you will only focus on posting content just one time: early in the morning or at night.

It just looks ridiculous to wait until 10.13 AM to avoid other competitors posting.

If you have a better solution, then why not?

With a scheduling tool, just set and leave, and your posts will be uploaded at the exact time you want.

If you need a simple yet powerful scheduling tool at an affordable price, you can use Pallyy.

If you have more budget and need more analytical tools, like Social Listening, Sprout Social is the best choice to start.

Keep Monitoring & Adjusting to find the Most Optimal Time for your Instagram Publications

Here we are at the final section of the complete guide on the best time to post on Instagram in 2024.

So, do you necessarily need to find the best post timing on Instagram?

Absolutely. It helps you ‘catch’ more engagement and gain new followers.

But most importantly, the best of the best time is your own personalized best time.

It provides more accurate audience insights and brings you more targeted results.

To find your own best posting time, just follow the tips I have told you in the previous section.

But if you find it hard to do your own research, you can use a better solution like scheduling tools.

Is an Instagram scheduler necessary?

Maybe not if you have a small account or want to manage your post by yourself directly with the app.

But if you manage a larger account and need efficient scheduling, using an Instagram scheduler is the best option.

Pallyy & SproutSocial are the best solutions for content creators & companies who need to schedule their posts in the most effective way.

Posting at the right time is good, but don’t be too obsessed.

Always test & try based on your audience and keep learning.

So, are you ready to leverage your best time in 2024 to post on Instagram?

Do you have another tip to find personalized best times? Let us know in the comments section 😉

When should I post on Instagram in 2024?

Wednesday at 11 AM. The best posting time is in the Morning to Afternoon or 10-12 AM, when everyone is at their final task before going to a lunch break. While for the days, you better post on Weekdays: Monday, and Thursday. Wednesday. For a more accurate time, you can do your own research to find your personalized best time to post on Instagram as every business has different audience behavior.

Should I post every day on Instagram?

If you have many contents to share, yes you can, but not on the weekends. It’s better than bulking your posts in one day because Instagram might think you are a spammer. Highly recommended posting strategy: one day one content. And no more than 3 content per day. Make sure to post at an optimal time of the day to gain massive engagement.

Is it better to post on Instagram in the morning or at night?

Generally, posting your content at night is a big no-no to get the highest attention from your audience. Most studies suggest posting on Instagram from mid-morning to early afternoon. However, the rule can change if you apply your own personalized best time. It might be best for you to post at midnight as most of your audience is in another country with a different time zone.

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