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Instagram, like social media marketing in general, is an ever-evolving ecosystem.
And getting the best Instagram engagement depends on the industry in which you create content for your audience.
On top of that, achieving the most effective Instagram content strategy can take a lot of trial and error.
When creating content, do your best to create the best images, create engaging copy, and find the right hashtags.
So, when you put all this work into a post, all you get is five likes and a bunch of spam comments.
How can you improve your Instagram content strategy?
During my time as a social media manager, I spent countless hours on research and my own trial and error.
As a result, I’ve put together some tips and insights on the best times to submit.
This guide will give you background information and specific post times to increase engagement rates and connect with your audience on Instagram.
When are Instagram users most active?
First – remember that there are many time zones in the world. So, knowing which part of the global audience you are trying to reach is important, because the following are based on their specific time zone.
(I’ll get into the story about Instagram Insights.)
Once you’ve decided that— think logically about what people do every day.
Most of the time, when people wake up, they check social media and spend a few minutes or more scrolling through their news feed or watching Instagram Videos.
So, around 7-8 am is a good time to post in the morning.
Another time when people are often on their phones is during their lunch break. Advertising around 11-1 pm, when people are breaking for lunch, can ensure that your ad is closer to the peak of their meal.
Remember, as more and more people work from home now, it’s often said to come with more flexibility.
People also scroll through social media right after work or before bed.
Although this is not a peak posting time for most days, on Sundays, the peak time is from 6-8 p.m.
So, basically, you have these three parts of the day to post: when people start their day, during lunch, in the evening or before bed.
But the caveat here is that delivery times depend on the audience’s age, demographics, and industry.
That’s especially true for evening ads, so you should do some research on your market before becoming an evening advertiser.
The best times to post on Instagram
We have discussed different time zones in the world; for this article, we will focus on the Eastern Time zone.
You can start by using these times as an initial guide, then adjust your posting time according to your time zone and student life activities.
Another important thing to mention is that the Instagram algorithms focus on promoting new posts, so it is important to try to find when your users are active.
So, let’s break down the delivery dates and times:
- Monday: 6am, 11am, 1pm
- Tuesday: 8-10am, 2pm
- Wednesday: 9-11 a.m
- Thursday: 11am-2pm, 7pm
- Friday: 10am-12pm, 2-4pm.
- Saturday: 8-11 a.m
- Sunday: 6-8 p.m
Warning Times To Avoid
Let’s get back to what people do.
Weekends have lower participation levels, but don’t count them all. Saturday can be a good time to post if you post at the right time.
Brands that offer consumer goods will see great deals on Sunday evenings.
But Sunday is thought to be the worst day to post, because people are downsizing or preparing for the week ahead. So, of course, you spend less time scrolling through social media.
But, as I said before, you can find some decent entry levels on Sunday evening.
And Mondays – boy, don’t we all hate Mondays?
As the days of the week go by, you’ll likely see higher notification levels today, as people get into their routines for the work week.
Best times to post Funny on Instagram?
Living in the TikTok era means that video content is on the rise.
If you want to engage your followers through Instagram Stories, try posting these moments:
- Monday: 6am, 10am, 10pm
- Tuesday: 2am, 4am, 9am
- Wednesday: 7am, 8am, 11pm
- Thursday: 9am, 12am, 7pm
- Friday: 5am, 1pm, 3pm
- Saturday: 11am, 7pm, 8pm
- Sunday: 7am, 8am, 4pm
Hootsuite also offers delivery Monday through Thursday from 9 am-12 pm
As I said, this can be trial and error – it depends on your industry and target market.
How often do you post?
It depends on two reasons.
First, do you have enough product photos, content, and ideas to post twice a day or week?
The goal here is to post regularly; Don’t frustrate your followers, or they will lose interest and stop following.
On the other hand, don’t put information out there for posting all the time. Instead, spend time implementing a content strategy based on customer journeys.
It may take more time on the front end but less stress and headaches on weekends.
That way, you can spend more time managing social media and engaging with students and less time worrying about how much information is out there.
If you don’t have many post ideas, try to post three times a week.
Then you can adjust after a month or so to see how the post schedule is working for you and the brand.
How to find the best times to post?
While I’ve laid out a foundation for when to start sending ads, it’s time to consider some tactics to get noticed while your audience is online.
First things first, your Instagram Insights.
Instagram Insights
First, set up your account as a business or creator – check out Instagram Insights.
If the account is not set up this way, you can click on the previous links to set up the account.
Once you build your following to 100 or more, you can see demographics – including the age, gender, and location of your followers.
Instagram Insights also gives you the ability to filter out top performing posts.
So you may ask yourself, what is going on here?
Is it a high quality image? Post time? Maybe copy and hashtags? Or a mixture of all of these?
That way, you can create similar posts in the future.
It’s also important to note that some parts of the content will not perform well, while others will.
Analyzing your content and posting times makes it easier to see what works and what doesn’t.
Using Different Tools
You can also use other tools like Brandwatch or Iconosquare to view analytics and organize posts.
If you still post on Facebook, you can also use the Meta Business Suite to organize and analyze posts across both platforms in one place.
Using the content management platform or analyzing Instagram Insights you can easily adjust the posting times to the time zones of your audience and tailor your content to your audience.
Or, if you’re not attracting the right audience, you can use Insights to change your strategy.
Check out the competitors’ content
Another thing you can do is check the content of your competition. For example, are their ads doing well on Sunday 2 pm or is it better for them?
Doing this will also help you motivate yourself for the things you want to celebrate.
Instagram Content Strategy
Now that you have all the tips to get your posting time right, it’s time to start creating or editing your Instagram content strategy.
This process should be flexible and progressive, so patience is key.
The important thing is to be consistent. Submit regularly and check back to see how your posts are doing.
Over time, the more information you have, the more accurate your Insights will be to analyze your Instagram posting strategy. Then, you can change your content strategy based on your systematic analysis.
Ultimately, you and the brand must decide what success looks like.
Maybe it’s more interesting, informative, engaging, or general brand awareness.
One last thing to keep in mind when creating your content strategy is holidays.
Does the brand want to offer those dates, promote them, or avoid them altogether?
Final Thoughts
As you can see, it can take a while to figure out the best times to submit.
But when you do, you can set up an effective Instagram content strategy that meets the brand’s goals.
While posting times are an important part of overall engagement, you should still choose the right hashtags, images, and copy for your posts – and pay attention to promotional ads, as they can affect your visibility on of Insights.
Ultimately, you need to balance all these variables to grow your follower base and increase engagement.
Other resources:
Featured Image: Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock
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