Social media is at the top of the list when creating connections and building relationships come to mind. With the evolving world around us, it’s as important as ever to stay connected and share your message, and Instagram is our favorite way to do this. Creating valuable content only reaches its full potential when it’s presented to your audience at the perfect time and with the most eyes on it possible.
One billion people, give or take, have an Instagram account and over half use this popular platform every single day. The opportunities are endless and should be utilized to the fullest extent on this social media site.
According to our partners Sprout Social and their data from their large customer base, the best day to post is Tuesday between the hours of 11 am and 2 pm along with Monday – Friday at 11 am. This is when users are most active on the platform.
Here’s a visual for a more in-depth look at which days have the highest and lowest engagement.
This is only part of the answer to the question “what time should I post on Instagram” as another crucial factor is involved in this answer to increase your engagement. Utilizing the insights tool on the platform is a great way to see when your particular audience is most active. Experimenting with posting at these times and identifying what received the most engagement will set you up for success in this department.
So now that you have an idea of the best times to get your content in front of your audience, let’s discuss how to get it seen even further. Hashtags are a sure way to attract users who are likely to be interested in your brand. Don’t just shoot for the stars when developing your hashtag strategy, but create a thoughtful way to get your brand seen by the right eyes.
Using an average of 20 hashtags is a solid strategy to get you in front of users who actually want your content delivered. This should be a mix of five types and the first is location. Starting local with your town name is a good bet and you can branch out as necessary. Branded is the second on the list and this includes hashtags that are unique to your own – you guessed it – brand. Industry buzzwords are also good attention seekers as this will draw a specific crowd interested in what it is you do. Community hashtags are used to connect you to like-minded individuals who do what you do and can relate to your brand. Trending hashtags may be competitive but if your post shows up in the feed, you can bet it will have plenty of eyes on it, creating some great opportunities for your brand.
Check out IG’s tag search tool and do a little research to see which hashtags people are searching for. Try to find the goldilocks area here – not too many posts so yours doesn’t get diluted and not too little because no one is searching for it. Find the middle ground so your content has its best shot to be presented.
Upon trial and error, our team has discovered that adding hashtags in the caption has proved to be more successful than having them in the comments. Doing your own study can determine what works best for you.
We understand the hard work and passion behind your brand. Let it have its best chance possible by sticking to these guidelines of the best times to post and how to choose hashtags. These tips combined with the valuable content you already created will undoubtedly let your brand stand out from the competition.
