Social media marketing is an ever-changing game, no matter what platform you use. Marketing tactics evolve along with social media platforms. You’ll need to stay on top of the latest algorithms to get as many eyes on your posts as possible which can be overwhelming if you’re active on several platforms.
Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, but it’s undergone some algorithm changes over the years that might leave you wondering what the best posting strategy is. After all, it’s not enough to have beautiful photos in your feed; you need to know when to post them, too.
Here are the most up-to-date stats on the best days to post to Instagram in 2020.
What Are the Best Days to Post on Instagram in 2020?
The best days to post on Instagram in 2020 are between Tuesday and Friday if you’re looking for organic reach through likes and engagement. These weekdays tend to fluctuate closely to one another, but Wednesday and Friday are usually the leaders in engagement, with Wednesday having the most engagement.
According to Sprout Social, 60% of Instagram users log in at least once each day, meaning that the platform has some definite activity every day of the week.
But think about it: When do you usually sign on a social network to browse, like, and comment? Probably during the weekdays rather than the weekends when you tend to be busier, right?
Most Instagram users feel the same way. It’s hard to say why mid-week Wednesday takes the cake, but it consistently offers some of the best times to post to Instagram to boost engagement.
What Are the Worst Days to Post on Instagram?
Both weekend days tend to have lower engagement than weekdays on Instagram, but Sunday is even slower than Saturday. Saturday has some okay posting times during the afternoon, but it’s still a relatively low engagement day for Instagrammers.
That doesn’t mean you need to avoid posting on the weekends! As we know, creating consistent content is what’s most important to increase followers and engagement on the ‘Gram. But you might want to save your very best content for key posting days and times.
Are Times as Important as Days?
Actually, the time of day you post may be even more important than the days you post to Instagram. As we said, there are plenty of people on Instagram every day. No matter what day you post, you’ll probably get at least some engagement from your followers.
But timing is everything. And, of course, each day of the week has its best times to post!
Generally, posting to Instagram during midday hours – 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.– works best. However, it seems that people like to check Instagram right when they wake up and get ready to start their day, because 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. is also a high-engagement time on high-engagement days, Tuesday through Friday.
On Mondays, anywhere in the typical work-hour range of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. can get you some engagement, but try to get as close as possible to common lunch break times of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
On weekends, you’ll want to wait a little later to send your posts out to Insta-world. Late mornings on Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. are best, while Sunday engagement is at its peak between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
What About Videos and Stories?
The great thing about Instagram Stories is that anything you post to them stays there for 24 hours. So, any day and time is fair game, right?
Not really, Again, you want to make sure as many people see your story as possible, so you’ll want to add it on a day that’ll happen. It’s a good idea to avoid weekends due to lower engagement. Posting your stories in the late morning or early afternoon when many are on lunch breaks can help them get noticed.
The same is true for videos. Most people don’t watch videos at work, so stick to hours on weekdays outside of regular business hours – or during lunch breaks – to upload your video content.
Taking Your Niche and Audience Into Consideration
Now, here’s where you need to break it down even further. Knowing what days and times people are generally most active on Instagram is great. But knowing when your audience is active on Instagram and using that to your advantage directs even more engagement your way.
Consider this: A stay-at-home mom will have different hours of logging onto social media than a lawyer.
If you’re marketing to a lawyer, you might find that 5 a.m., 12 p.m., and 6 p.m. posts get the most engagement. That’s when they’ll sign on before and after work and on their lunch break. A mom, however, might be up at 2 a.m. for early-morning feedings, check Instagram again at 9 a.m. after dropping the kids off at school, and browse again at 9 p.m. when the kids are in bed.
These are two different audiences that have two very different social media times. In other words, you won’t find a specific answer for your niche without doing a little research.
Instagram has built-in analytics, known as Instagram Insights, for business accounts, which will give you a glimpse into your audience and when they use the app. You can also experiment with day and time combinations to see what spikes engagement the most for you.
The more you know about your audience and when they frequent Instagram, the better it is for your engagement. But did you know that you can also put your growth on autopilot? Install the Instagram follow button, an easy-to-use tool that can grow your audience right from your website by enabling your website visitors to follow you on Instagram with just a single click.
Or if you’re looking to grow your Instagram audience check out our post on Instagram giveaways to learn more about all aspects of giveaways including creating a great giveaway contest caption.
Beyond that, if you’re looking for even more ideas on how to grow your Instagram following, we’ve also created a series of free Instagram resources, including: our guide to the Instagram message limit for text, our guide on how to how to share to Instagram, and our guide to make your Instagram profile picture fit.
