Instagram Reels have been poised for the enormous growth of brands and influencers’ content strategy in 2023. And even if you’ve been on the platform for a while, building a following and a community, you may be wondering “When are the perfect times to post on Instagram Reels in 2023?” Of course, if you’ve spent any amount of time in social media marketing, you know that finding just the right time to post content isn’t easy. To be sure, there are tons of stats available for just about any social media platform you can think of, but trends can change daily.
Moreover, getting a lot of likes, shares, and comments for a specific content format on a specific day of the week at a specific time doesn’t mean that every post you share is going to go viral. The Instagram algorithm favors your timing to publish Reels as much as it favors consistency. So, you need to pay more attention to the best time to post Reels on Instagram. We also include some other important stats that will help you post at the right time on Instagram in this guide.
Choosing the single best time to post on Instagram Reels can be tough, but here’s what we found from analyzing more than 100,000 short-form video content posts to find the best engagement rates updated for 2022.
Monday: 5 AM, 9 AM, 9 PM
Tuesday: 1 AM, 3 AM, *8 AM
Wednesday: 6 AM, 7 AM, 10 PM
Thursday: 8 AM, *11 AM, 6 PM
Friday: *4 AM, 12 PM, 2 PM
Saturday: 10 AM, 6 PM, 7 PM
Sunday: 6 AM, 7 AM, 3 PM
Times marked with * had particularly high levels of engagement.
Perfect Times to Post on Instagram Reels in 2022
Creating high-quality content that resonates with your target audience should be your very first priority. However, you also need to know when to post your content so you’re more likely to engage your audience when they’re active on Instagram or every social media platform. First, let’s ask yourself two questions to find the perfect time to post content:
1. Where Is Your Audience Located?
Thanks to Instagram’s reach, Instagram Reels has a global user base. For example, the United States has 130 million Instagram users, India comes in with 100 million, and Brazil rounds out the top three Instagram-using countries with 91 million. However, there are still hundreds of millions of Instagram users spread all around the world.
These numbers matter because where your audience is located will impact not only the type of content you produce but also when you should post your content in the first place. Time zones will have an enormous influence on peak hours within a certain geographic location.
However, how do you use this information to find the perfect time to post on Reels?
Start by finding out where your followers are. With a creator or business account on Instagram, you’ll have access to Instagram Insights that will show you thewhichies or countries your followers come from. To view Insights, open Instagram, go to your profile and tap Insights.
Fr,om there, tap on your total followers:
The next screen is your Follower Breakdown. Scroll down a little to Top Locations. It defaults to cities, but you have the option to change it to countries with a tap.
Now you know where most of your followers are from!
Next, tap on Account:
Now, scroll down to the bottom and you’ll find the option to switch to a business account or creator account. If you already have a business or creator account, you’ll get an option to switch back to a personal account.
2. What Time Is Your Audience Awake?
Now that you know where your audience is located you can know when they’re most likely to be awake. This part is admittedly a bit messy and can be made a lot easier with an Instagram analytics tool.
Without an analytics tool, it’s a matter of working with time zones. If your audience is primarily located in Thailand and India, you’ll only have about an hour and a half to worry about; with audiences across North America and the UK, on the other hand, you’ll need to plan and schedule your content around an eight hour time differeight-hourwhat we mean by “messy?”
With an Instagram business account, you’ll have some scheduling functionality. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to Reels. And, unlike Instagram Stories, there aren’t any scheduling tools around just yet that you can use to automatically post Instagram Reels.
The solution is to build a content calendar that covers the biggest geographic areas and time zones your fans come from. If you have audiences in countries with large time differences this can be hard to maintain, but it’s the only way to do it as of this writing.
Perfect Time To Post On Instagram During Covid-19
We bonus you with special stats about the best times to post on Instagram that can help you deal with this awful time.
1. Best Day To Post On Instagram
Tuesday is the perfect day to publish posts on Instagram as the users are active and engage with several content for almost 13 hours in the day (from 8 A.M. to 9 P.M.).
2. Worst Day To Post On Instagram
Sunday is the worst day to post on Instagram as it’s mostly a day for Instagram users to take a rest and stay away from social media. You won’t be able to boost reach and engage with your target audience on Sunday since they would love to spend time relaxing that day.
3. Best Time To Post During Covid-19
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increased Instagram usage during weekdays, which was rare when people had to work in the office. So, during the COVID-19 pandemic, once or twice Instagram posts per day are enough to gain engagement for your account.
Once you’ve figured out the perfect times to post on Instagram Reels in 2022, you’re ready to leverage these other six ways to grow your following and boost engagement with this feature.