The Instagram algorithm changes frequently. In this September 2021, when is the new best time to post on Instagram?
We based on research of over 35M feed posts (excluding Reels and IGTV) from Later to give you the answer.
Here, we found the average perfect time to publish Instagram content for every weekday and some locations!
The New Best Time to Post on Instagram in September 2021
The best time to post on Instagram in September (in local time) is 6 AM. Surprise!
The best weekdays to publish your Instagram posts are Saturday and Sunday. These days get the highest engagement rate occurring for posts that are published on Sunday at 6 AM.
Meanwhile, posts published on Wednesday from 10 AM to 4 PM and Thursday from 9 PM to 11 PM get the lowest amount of engagement on average. Then, these are the worst weekdays to post on Instagram.
The New Best Time to Post Each Day
The best times to post on Instagram per day in September 2021 are:
- Monday: 5 AM
- Tuesday: 6 AM
- Wednesday: 6 AM
- Thursday: 5 AM
- Friday: 6 AM
- Saturday: 6 AM
- Sunday: 6 AM
The New Worst Time to Post Per Day
The worst times to publish Instagram posts per day in September 2021 are:
- Monday: 2 PM
- Tuesday: 1 PM
- Wednesday: 10 AM
- Thursday: 11 PM
- Friday: 9 AM
- Saturday: 8 PM
- Sunday: 4 PM
So… What Does This Tell Us?
You may feel quite surprised to see the best times to publish Instagram posts were so early in the day.
In the past, we believed that publishing when your audience was most active was the best strategy. While this does appear to have a positive correlation, it’s not the only impact that influences engagement.
We know that Instagram’s algorithm takes timeliness into account, but maybe not as much as it did in the past. Instagram suggested that the number of engagements in the first 30 minutes of publishing does not determine a post’s ranking in the Home Feed.
So the pressure of publishing your posts at the moment most of your audience is active has been less important. Instead, an “early to rise, early to post” engagement strategy became more effective.
By posting earlier in the day, accounts take advantage of less competition (globally, most posts are shared between 9 AM-1 PM every day), while also tapping into traffic from users during their first scroll of the day — even if that’s a few hours after the post was published.
By being one of the first to publish every day, you’re giving your content the great opportunity of showing in front of your audience, no matter when they are personally most active on the app.
Instagram itself (and the way we use and engage with content on this platform) has changed significantly over the last year, so it’s a great time to adjust your content strategy.
The New Best Time to Post based on Location
Another element that can have an impact on the average best time to publish your Instagram posts is location.
Different regions have different audience behaviors and can be heavily influenced by time zone overlaps.
For instance, New York is 3 hours ahead of California — but accounts based in New York will likely still have followers spread across both regions.
Here are the best times to post in local times with a range of time zones:
- (Western) – US and Canada: 12 AM-6 AM
- (Central) – US and Canada: 6 AM-8 AM
- (Eastern) – US and Canada: 4 AM-9 AM
- South America: 4 AM
- UK: 4 AM-6 AM
- (Western) Europe: 6-8 PM
- (Eastern)Europe: 5 AM-7 AM
- Africa: 6 AM
- South Asia and the Middle East: 3 AM
- East Asia and Southeast Asia: 11 PM-4 AM
- Australasia: 11PM – 2AM
These stats are a good starting point for you to try. If you want to get more engagement, it’s better to find your personalized best times to post based on your specific audience.
By doing this, you can actually win the algorithm to boost your reach and get more likes and followers!