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Planoly offers a sleek way to manage content, but for many users, the cost can start to outweigh the convenience. From disappearing social media posts and broken scheduling features to billing issues and unresponsive customer support, more users are finding themselves...
Aug 13, 2025
It’s no secret that social media favors visual content. Because of that, Instagram remains a critical medium for marketers. Instagram allows you to share engaging photos of your business and connect with costumes while pursuing new audiences. Whatever your business goals, Instagram offers tons of opportunities to help your brand grow. You’ve got a ton of Instagram tools to choose from—use them to tighten up your content game, see what’s working, and actually get people talking.
But it’s not just enough to post awesome images on Instagram.
Timing is crucial on Instagram because of how the platform’s algorithm works. You might have an absolutely killer post planned. But if it’s sent at the wrong time when your followers aren’t active, no one will see it. What’s worse than that? (Hint: nothing.)
We want you to avoid that feeling. The only way is to know the best times to post on Instagram. This article will help you schedule your posts at the optimal time to maximize engagement, expand your reach, and grow your brand.
Let’s get started.
In 2025, the best time to post on Instagram is on Mondays from the late morning til the early afternoon. Early evenings (between 6 PM-9 PM) can also be effective.
The research in this blog comes from data compiled from several of the largest social media studies available. But remember that there’s not one specific time that’s best for everyone.
Your results may vary depending on your industry and audience. So you’ll want to make sure to pay attention to what resonates with your followers and when it makes an impact.
Here are the best times to post on Instagram each day of the week:
The best days to post on Instagram: Mondays through Thursdays
The worst days to post on Instagram: Saturdays
You may be able to get away with following these broad recommendations for when to post on Instagram. However, there’s a lot of power in recognizing what’s going on in your specific industry.
Try to align your posts with peak activity for your audience. It’s the most strategic way to create greater visibility for your content and boost engagement.
Here are the best times to post on Instagram based on industry.
Educational content tends to perform best during working hours and in the evening—times when people are most ready to engage their brains and do some learning.
Sharing helpful study tips, thoughtful industry insights, or inspiring success stories can connect with your audience as they look to grow both personally and professionally.
Even if you aren’t a school or university, you can benefit from following these times if your company provides a lot of training in professional spaces (e.g. Coursera, Project Management Institute, etc.).
The best times to post on Instagram in the education industry are:
The best days to post on Instagram for education: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays
The worst days to post on Instagram for education: Sundays
Customers today often engage with food brands through online orders, apps, and delivery services. Social media platforms like Instagram make it easy for followers to see these elements in action-not to mention show off the yummy goodness restaurants make every day.
Add to this that whenever you see a post about food and you’re hungry, you want to eat now, right? That’s why posting on Instagram at the right time is vital. A well-time post just might mean a few more orders on your mobile app.
The best times to post on Instagram for the food and beverage industry are:
The best days to post on Instagram for the food and beverage industry: Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays
The worst days to post on Instagram for the food and beverage industry: Sundays
As the lines between traditional and social media blur, citizens turn to social media for news. A strong social media presence becomes a necessity for government agencies and elected officials.
Posting on Instagram allows you to communicate critical information to the masses, generate conversation around key issues, provide educational resources, and more.
When government entities use social media thoughtfully and intentionally, it can strengthen community relations and foster public trust.
Government departments can also focus on digital recruitment through social media by bringing in more awareness when job positions need to be filled.
An example would be the official jobs page of the State of Connecticut on Instagram, which alerts residents when the state has open positions they need to fill.
The best times to post on Instagram for government officials are:
The best days to post on Instagram for government officials: Wednesdays, Thursdays
The worst days to post on Instagram for government officials: Sundays
If you are in the healthcare or wellness industry, you can leverage Instagram to educate your followers, help simplify the complexities of the medical world, promote programs, and much more.
Like any social media strategy, the ultimate goal is to build trust and connection. It’s just as vital as ever to do that in the healthcare field.
Take advantage of posting at times when followers are ready to plan their week or day, or at times when they are more motivated to be active.
The best times to post on Instagram for hospitals and healthcare are:
The best days to post on Instagram for hospitals and healthcare: Tuesdays, Thursdays
The worst days to post on Instagram for hospitals and healthcare: Sundays
Having a social media presence, even for regulated industries, is crucial, especially with many users flocking to social media for customer care. The financial services industry is no different.
Businesses within the industry can use Instagram to humanize their brand with relatable content, share edutainment Reels, and promote financial literacy with engaging infographics and stories to simplify complex topics.
On Instagram, the financial services industry sees high optimal send-time engagement during weekdays, mainly Mondays and Tuesdays, during the early afternoons.
Nonprofit organizations don’t do social media marketing with the same goals as a for-profit company. These groups don’t sell products online. Instead, they use Instagram to gather a community around a common mission.
Nonprofits can use Instagram to raise awareness about their cause, fundraise, share about an event, or highlight a success story. Just like a business, nonprofits thrive on relationships and every post should be designed to enhance your relationship with your followers.
The best times to post on Instagram for nonprofit organizations are:
The best days to post on Instagram for nonprofits: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
The worst days to post on Instagram for nonprofits: No days stand out, though Sundays get the least amount of engagement.
If there’s one industry that appears to live and die with marketing on Instagram, it’s retail. Nearly 12% of Americans have browsed for products on Instagram and almost 6% of consumers buy products on Instagram each month.
Nearly every stage of the customer journey happens online and social media is an integral part of that journey. Retailers can post on Instagram to showcase products, carry out influencer campaigns, share promotions, or run flash sales.
It’s probably not a shock that your followers seem to shop around the clock. For that reason, you’ll want to experiment widely.
The best times to post on Instagram for retail companies are:
The best days to post on Instagram for retail: Mondays, Wednesdays
The worst days to post on Instagram for retail: Saturdays
The travel industry is all about inspiration. And Instagram is where wanderlust begins. Whether it’s a photo of a dreamy beachside villa or a clip of a mountain sunrise, your audience is scrolling for their next adventure.
That means timing your posts to hit when people are planning trips or daydreaming during work hours can make all the difference. Think lunch breaks, early evenings, and weekend afternoons when travel content can spark action.
The best times to post on Instagram for travel & hospitality are:
The best days to post on Instagram for travel and hospitality: Sundays
The worst days to post on Instagram for travel and hospitality: Saturdays
While Instagram might not seem like an effective medium for legal professionals, many firms are starting to see the value in maintaining a consistent presence. Posting mid-morning during the workweek aligns best with audience behavior in this industry.
For firms investing in broader law firm marketing, aligning social content with other digital efforts can help create a more cohesive online presence.
The best times to post on Instagram in the legal industry are:
The best days to post on Instagram for legal: Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
The worst days to post on Instagram for legal: Weekends
We’ve given you a lot of data about the best time to post on Instagram. But there’s still something to be said for doing the hard work to figure out what works best for your brand.
Here are five simple ways to find your best time to post on Instagram.
Instagram Insights gives you detailed analytics about when your followers are most active. You can see data broken down by day and hour, helping you pinpoint high-traffic times.
Keep an eye on engagement trends for your top-performing posts, too. This is a great starting point to build a posting schedule that fits your unique audience.
If you have a business or creator account, Instagram Creator Studio offers a more in-depth look at your performance. It includes metrics on reach, impressions, and engagement by time of day.
The interface is user-friendly and perfect for brands managing multiple posts. Use it to test different time slots and track what works best.
Sometimes, the simplest strategy is just asking. Use Instagram Stories to run polls or question boxes like, “When do you usually scroll Instagram?” or “What time do you like to see new content from us?”
Not only does this give you valuable insight, but it also boosts engagement in the process.
Data is helpful, but trial and error is where you’ll find your real sweet spot. Try posting at different times and track the results over a few weeks.
See which posts get the most likes, comments, and shares, then adjust accordingly. Every audience is different, so don’t be afraid to mix it up.
Once you’ve found what works, take the guesswork out of posting with Planable.
Just like email marketing platforms streamline your monthly newsletter, Planable helps you plan, preview, and schedule your social content in advance so you always hit that perfect posting window.
Planable also allows you to collaborate with your team, share feedback, and get approvals all in one place.
You can use Planable alongside other task management tools that make handling your social media schedule easier. This could be a tool for team collaboration, integration tools like Zapier, or analytics tracking tools.
We’ve talked all about the best times to post on Instagram. Knowing the worst times can be just as valuable. Research shows there are a handful of times when content consistently underperforms.
The absolute worst time to post on Instagram is when your target audience is not on their phones. This is true whether you’re running a small business or a giant corporation.
If you’re wondering about a worst specific time, here are two times to stay away from:
But aren’t weekends when people have time to be on social media? As we’ve already shown, most people spend time on Instagram during the weekdays.
Weekends are not great for posting because followers may be doing recreational activities, spending time with family, or binge-watching Netflix. As a good rule of thumb, whatever you want to post on Saturday or Sunday can wait until Monday.
Building relationships with clients in person teaches you about their interests and habits. In the same way, engaging with your followers will help you learn when they’re active, what they like, when they engage, etc.
As always, be sure to check out your Instagram insights to find what resonates with your audience and when they are active. A social media management tool like Planable can also help with this and show you how to leverage your analytics.
In this article, we’ve been talking about the best time to post on Instagram. What about Instagram Reels? Reels are simply short-form videos (typically anywhere from a couple of seconds to a minute long).
Use Reels to go behind the scenes (like in the Apple reel above), share tips and how-tos, or hop on popular Reels trends to boost engagement.
Because they are short, Reels are easily consumed and a favorite among Instagram users, making them a must in your Instagram marketing strategy.
Reels typically get great engagement during the mid to late-morning hours, even into the early afternoon:
We recommend you play around with the times you post reels. Pay attention to which posts get the most views, comments, and shares.
Keep in mind that the quality of the video, the content it contains, and how engaging the first few seconds are all impact how well your Reel performs.
Wondering how to get more followers on Instagram? Instagram can be an incredible tool for your business. But you can’t just post on a whim. When you strategically schedule posts at the best time for your industry, you’ll boost engagement, gain new followers, and drive traffic to your website.
Planable can help you build scroll-stopping content in no time and tell you the best time to post every day. Plan, approve and schedule all your Instagram content with our simple, intuitive tool. Sign up today – it’s free to get started!
Founder of SERPManiac, an agency focused on helping brands scale their organic growth with content marketing and SEO services.
She is a quoted contributor in online publications like Business Insider, Fox Business, Yahoo Finance, and the Huffington Post. She also owns CollectingCents, a personal finance blog that she grew from the ground up.
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