How to Tell When Your Instagram Followers are Online

Knowing when your Instagram followers are most active and scrolling is key to maximizing engagement on your posts. This blog post will guide you through using Instagram Insights to determine when your followers are online and how to use this information to schedule your posts for peak engagement.

Why Does Timing Matter?

Before diving into the steps, let's quickly recap why timing is so crucial. Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes content that gets quick engagement. This means that if you post when your followers are most active, you're more likely to receive likes, comments, and shares shortly after posting, which can increase your post's visibility and reach.

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Step 1: Access Instagram Insights

To start, you'll need to access Instagram Insights. This feature is available to all business and creator accounts on Instagram. If you haven't switched to a creator account yet, now is the time! Here’s how to access Insights:

1. Go to Your Profile: Tap the profile icon in the bottom right corner of the Instagram app.
2. Open Insights: Tap the three horizontal lines in the top right corner and select "Insights" from the menu.

Step 2: Analyze Your Audience

Once you're in Insights, you’ll want to focus on the “Total followers” section, which provides detailed information about your followers.

1. Go to the Most active times Section: Scroll allll the way down to the “Most active times” section.
2. View Active Hours and Days: Here, you'll find two tabs – "Hours" and "Days." The “Hours" tab is where the magic happens. It shows you when your followers are most active on Instagram each day, especially if you tap 👆 the bar columns on the graph.

Step 3: Identify Peak Activity Times

In the "Active Times" section, you'll see data displayed in two formats:

1. Hours: This graph shows you the average number of followers active at different times of the day. Look for peaks where the bars are the highest – these are your prime posting times.

2. Days: This graph shows the days of the week when your followers are most active. Combine this with the hourly data to find the optimal days and times for posting.

Step 4: Experiment and Adjust

While Insights gives you a good idea of when your followers are online, it's important to experiment with posting at different times and monitor the results. Here’s how you can fine-tune your strategy:

1. Post at Different Times: Try posting at the times suggested by Insights over a week or two.
2. Track Engagement: Use the Insights tool to track how well your posts perform at different times. Pay attention to metrics like likes, comments, shares, and overall reach.
3. Adjust Accordingly: If you notice that posts at a certain time consistently perform better, adjust your posting schedule to focus on that time.

Step 5: Use Scheduling Tools

Once you've identified your optimal posting times, use a social media scheduling tool to ensure your posts go live at the right moment, even if you can't be on your phone. Tools like Later, Buffer, or Hootsuite allow you to schedule posts in advance, so you never miss your peak times.

How to Decode the Most Active Times

I was curious to see what time I should post on Monday and here is what the Most Active Times chart looks like for @thewinfieldcreative.

Based on the chart, it is better to post around 6 AM, rather than the standard recommended 9 AM time. This time is what I like to call "capturing the early birds." Because my target audience is women-owned, small business owners, this data makes sense. Typically, they are awake earlier, usually with family priorities before starting work, so their scrolling time happens before the kids wake up.

Posting at 9 AM is still okay, because it is peak engagement time, but I may miss out on a few followers, and I prefer for my posts not to be saturated in the sea of posts landing on the newsfeed at that time.

When looking at your own data, be sure to take a step back and put yourself in the viewer's shoes. Ask yourself, "If I was a [insert target persona here], when would I have time to be online?"

Conclusion

Understanding when your Instagram followers are online is a game-changer for boosting your engagement. By using Instagram Insights to analyze your audience’s activity and experimenting with different posting times, you can ensure that your content is seen by the most people at the best times. Remember, consistency is key, so once you've found your sweet spot, stick with it and watch your engagement grow!

Happy posting! 📸