When to post on Instagram?

If we were in the Templar era we could say that this would be the Holy Grail.

Everyone is looking for it, those who know it don’t say it and guard it jealously.

But the truth is that no one knows. Most likely not even Instagram.

In this article I will try to bring some order and I will try to make you understand some concepts.

When is it best to post on Instagram?

There is no best time to post on Instagram.

Or rather… there is no one time that is the same for everyone. But there may be some times that are more suitable than others, which are different from profile to profile, and are influenced by two factors.

1. Habits

In the process of growing an account, dynamics are created over time that are unique to each of us. And I’m talking about the way you’ve accustomed your community to how and when to receive your content.

Creating a habit is not to be underestimated, because it generates expectation in people. That is, if they are used to receiving your content on Wednesday and Friday evenings at 7.30pm, every week they will go, even unconsciously, in search of your content.

If you suddenly decide to change days and post on Monday and Thursday mornings, your community will be disoriented. And you will most likely go through an adjustment period where a new habit will have to be created.

2. How your audience is made up

The second reason is that it depends on the composition of your audience.

I’ll explain. If you have a very niche profile, it could be that your audience has times when they are physically busy (work?) and can’t watch your content.

This is why it is important that you thoroughly understand your audience and the times in which they are most active on Instagram (information that you can also obtain on Not Just Analytics Business )

Likewise, the times when your community is most active may vary based on where they live. So, if you have an international profile, the times that are best for you to post based on your schedule may not be the same as the times for most of the people who follow you. So, even in this case it is important to know the geolocation of your followers.

In summary: each profile has its own best times, which depend on how it has accustomed its audience and when people can take advantage of its content.

How do I go viral?

If we were all rich, automatically no one would be richer.

Likewise, if the magic formula for going viral was known, automatically no one would go viral anymore.

From my point of view the formula of virality is too complex to describe. And even if it were to be discovered… it would take the algorithm a second to change and make it unusable again.

The reality is that virality happens the moment Jupiter aligns with Mars. That is, when a series of favorable circumstances occur simultaneously.

What we can do is try to recognize some of these circumstances and try to replicate them, in the hope that the past outcome will reoccur again.

In summary: it is not (just) the time of publication of a post that makes it viral, but a combination of many factors.

I will probably write an entire article just for this concept of virality, as it is not my intention to dwell on it in this article.

So are you percolating me or can you actually tell me when to post on Instagram?!?

I’m getting there now. But first it was really important that you understood that:

1. Each profile has its own time to post.
2. Finding out the answer is not a viral post what you will get.

A couple of weeks ago we released a new feature on Not Just Analytics Business that helps you understand when to post.

The article I’m writing right now was born thanks to this function.

How does it work?

We cross-referenced the data that Instagram provides us on when your followers are online, with the average reach data that your posts published in the past obtained (the yellow circles you see in the image)

The first thing I did after we created it was what anyone would most likely do at first glance: look where the biggest circle was and publish on the same day, at the same time.

MISTAKE!

Obviously the post I published didn’t get the same results as the previous one.

Why?

I hadn’t considered one fundamental thing: THE CONTENT!
(Do you remember the concept of virality that I explained above?)

I made the big mistake of publishing a post expecting the same results as the previous one, without taking into account the conditions that had occurred in the past, the topic, the images and the description of the post!

And this is where the light bulb went on for me.

Look at the medium circles, and avoid the small ones. 

Conclusions

Any app or site that helps you figure out when to post, whether Not Just Analytics or not, doesn’t help you go viral. This is not what you should expect when using these tools. Virality is too complex to predict.

You need them to help you gradually increase the average coverage of your posts and to ensure that when you publish a piece of content (after having dedicated some time to it) no one gives a shit!

1. There are no magic formulas that solve problems for you without effort
2. Help yourself, God helps you.

If you already use a system that provides you with this data, try applying the system I just told you about and let me know how it goes in a month!

If you already have a Not Just Analytics Business plan , know that you already have this feature activated.

If you’ve never tried Not Just Analytics Business, well… I’d say it’s time to start doing it!