Every respectable social media agency in Florida knows that posting times on social media greatly differ from business to business, brand to brand, industry to industry, and social channel to social channel. Still, if you are curious about when to post on Instagram and to get a better understanding of maximizing the potential of the channel, you’ve come to the right place.
We here at Rosy Strategies understand that you want to engage with your followers on Instagram and want to know the best times to post on IG. In this article, we’ll help you find out just that.
Instagram, the Engagement Powerhouse
Instagram was and has been a commanding presence in the social media landscape as it’s a powerhouse for creative ideas, engagement, and improving reach with smart and intuitive strategies.
Still, when to post on Instagram to get the most out of your content? Experts would simply say that you need to post or go live when your audiences are active. It’s pretty apparent, blunt, and bland.
We think that you deserve a more specific answer, right?
The Best Time to Post on IG
So, what’s the best time to post on Instagram? The short answer is from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST. Still, this is what the statistics say. In reality, the question of “when to post on Instagram” will be different for everybody, just as we’ve talked about above.
That said, every business should experiment a bit to find out the best times and days to post on Instagram for them. To be honest, this can be a little tricky, so we’ll share with you some of our knowledge so you can start conducting your own experiments on the subject.
Best Times to Post on Instagram: Why Does It Matter?
To put it simply, finding out your best posting times will help you to pique interest in your content, gain new followers, and point them to your products/services; eventually, this will help them call you or purchase from you.
Knowing the best posting time will also enable you to expand your reach. When people have engaged with content similar to yours, your latest content will appear on the top of their feeds when posted at the right time. That said, your recent posts will also have a higher chance of appearing, and your channel and content, in general, will also have a higher chance of showing in people’s feeds who have interacted with similar content and businesses lately.
Use Analytic Data
There are several sources where you can access crucial engagement data. For starters, the dedicated IG mobile app may help you find your users’ most preferred posting times, locations, and other data, which can help you determine the best times to post on IG.
On that note, you may also access Instagram Creator Studio, where you can actually see when your followers are on the platform.
Inspect Your Feed
If you are looking for the best time to post on Instagram, you can take a more methodical approach and scroll through your own feed. Examine your posts and see which ones got the most engagement: comments, shares, likes, and more.
If you see a pattern regarding day and time, chances are you’ve managed to find your best posting time right there.
On that note, you can also go a step further: inspect the type of content you’ve posted. Was it just a simple picture? A reel? A live session with behind-the-scenes material? Knowing the type of content your audiences resonate with may also help you maximize your potential.
Experiment With Posting
As stated already, the best time to post on IG will be different for every business. That’s why it’s essential to test and experiment constantly. So far, your analytics might have given you a good idea about when your followers are online, so now it’s up to you to check out different posting times to identify the best — not just the best days to post on Instagram but the best hours.
That said, choose a specific period when you know that most of your followers are on the platform and start posting at different times within that timeframe for at least a week or two. Make sure to track both positive and negative differences in your engagement rates.
Going with the 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. frame we’ve established earlier, you can start with posting at a different hour every day or every other day. Then, take a look at your feed and take note of any significant differences in your engagement rates.
Better yet, you can stick to one schedule for a week and then move everything for an hour later next week. Be patient and thorough.
Experiment With Different Schedules
Chances are, you already have weekly or monthly content calendars ready, maybe even already scheduled, ready to go live while you are focusing on your business or coming up with new content ideas for your channels.
Consider mixing things up a bit. Maybe your post is overpopulating your followers’ feeds, and they’ve grown tired of seeing only you. While this may sound hard, quality, in most cases, will be better than quantity. That said, if you are posting twice or three times a day, start with rescheduling your posts and letting one go live each day. As mentioned above, you should experiment and test different configurations by posting once every two or three days.
Chances are, even if your content is pure quality, it will go unnoticed if you are overdoing it. Be patient a bit, and make your followers wait for your next post.
Maybe It’s the Content…
If you’ve religiously studied the best days to post on Instagram, followed every piece of advice, and studied every insight and metric, and you’re still getting zero engagement, chances are, you might need to improve your content a bit.
Maximizing the quality and effectiveness of your posts and content is a whole other topic, but there are a few things we can share with you on the go.
For starters, always make sure that the photos you use are top-notch. The captions should be engaging, captivating, well-written, friendly, and even funny when necessary. Also, IG was always heavy on visuals, but photos aren’t the only type of media people consume on it. Embrace video, for instance. Reap the benefits of IG stories and reels.
Reinspect your content if you have your posting times optimized but the results are still lacking.
If You Need a Boost
Getting posting times right can take a while to get the hang of. It can also be a bit frustrating, especially if it takes up too much time and prevents you from focusing on your business; that’s where professionals such as us come in. We are seasoned social media gurus who understand the intricacies that go into finding the best posting times and content strategies for each business and social media channel. We can help you maximize your social presence and boost the engagement of your brand across the board.
Interested? Give us a call today.