This is the best time to post on Instagram

(The no bullsh- guide)

Trying to suss out when to post on social media (so, you know, your content is actually going to be seen) is like reading hieroglyphics off the bloody ancient pyramids, isn’t it? Instagram have a shtty little area of insights which tells you a white-lie (more on that later) and aside from that? Nope. You’re on your own sister. 

Well, you’re not now! Over the years I’ve cracked this code and - drama aside - when you know this, it can really help your reach.

Oh and one little asterisk I’ll add here before we well and truly dive in*, I’m going to quote the sht out of Instagram for this one.

The reason I say that… a lot of the social media advice that’s out there, it isn’t 100% accurate. There are a lot of people on Instagram who quote their truth as facts, and it’s a bit of a slippery slope. I’ve been doing this long enough to show my receipts though (10 years and counting) so we are going IN on this one!

“Ok, letssssss go” (said in TikTok voice)

Timing is a huge deal

Why?

We want as many people as possible, within your audience, to see your post in the first few hours. It gives Instagram a signal that people like it, which then increases your chance of being seen elsewhere (the Reels tab or Explore). 

I’ll link this Instagram article as it really dives into detail about this - I know, this is getting G-E-E-K-Y already (I’m singing this like YMCA, just as a heads up haha). In this post from Instagram’s blog, it states how they rank in-feed posts. I’m totally going to give you the Cliff Notes here, but it’s worth reading with a cuppa when you get the chance. Instagram say:

“We start by defining the set of things we plan to rank in the first place. With Feed and with Stories this is relatively simple; it’s all the recent posts shared by the people you follow.”

Later in the article, they say: (They look at) “information about the post. These are signals both about how popular a post is – think how many people have liked it – and more mundane information about the content itself, like when it was posted, how long it is if it’s a video, and what location, if any, was attached to it”

This is the sort of thing I do, by the way. Read articles - take their sources - and run like the fking wind with it. 

The biggest mistake I see around finding the right time to post is by JUST going off what insights tells us. I see this on Instagram ALL the time, but honestly…

Don’t do it!

This is probably the only time you’ll see me write this because HELLO, I love insights. Romeo + Juliet = Laura + Professional Dashboard. 

But, this is one of the few parts of insights that I’m absolutely convinced isn’t fully accurate. Instagram mention all the time in their resources that some stats are estimated and yeah, I’m pretty sure this is one of them.

To find this area of insights:

-> Dive straight in and head to “Insights” (on your account menu, on your profile page. It’s a few options down)

-> “Total Followers”

-> “Most active times” (at the bottom)

… what you’ll see, when you scroll through the days of the week, is that the times don’t really change. Do I think that from Tuesday to say… a Sunday, the way people use Instagram is different? Yes. 

So take this with a pinch of salt. 

It’s a good base, but I use this method instead.

How to find the best time to post

Finding the best time to post is a completely personal thing so from one account to another, so I’d try this for each of your accounts:

1️ - Look at the location/time zone of your majority % audience (Insights - “Total Followers”)

2️ - Then, look at the location/time zone of your secondary audience (and your third most popular audience by country, if it has a high %) and then I literally plant it onto a map and see where everybody is. I need that physical reference in front of me - I’m 100% one of those people, but feel free not to do the whole Clip Art vibe thing like I do!

3️ - Cross reference that with the average age of your followers (further down on the “Total Followers” page) and think about their habits/lifestyle. Could they be at school or college? Work? (Basically, when is their potential downtime?). We’re using educational guess work here, but if you haven’t done a customer profile for your audience yet, this is a good time to start thinking about it too.

4 - Using insights, I then choose the best time for my audience based on their location and potential lifestyle.

5- The next step is about you - think about what time of the day you could consistently post in, for at least a couple of months (if I wanted to post at lunchtime each day, personally I know I’d never do it. Sandwiches come first).

6 - On some accounts it’ll be easier to pick a time than others so as a final step, I then cross reference it with the time shown in that slightly dodgy part of insights, if I need one final nudge in helping me choose a time.

I give myself a consistent 90 minute - 2 hour window to post in. The more consistently you post within your time frame, the most your audience will begin to recognise when you pop up on their screens (and Instagram like that too).

And the best bit?

Instagram have an in-app scheduler, which is basically your back-up plan to posting at a time that works for you and your audience.

As soon as you can build a routine for yourself with Instagram though, consistency becomes way easier. It’s something I chat about a lot in my 1-2-1 calls because consistency is HARD, but it’s the way you can show up for your audience and build trust with Instagram.

If you have any questions about this, DM me anytime!