There are lots of good things about Instagram. Sharing your life with friends, connecting with strangers, opening your mind to new experiences, perspectives and viewpoints. All completely bloody worthless, though, if you aren’t getting any likes.
There are a few things you can do to combat that pesky three-likes-zero-comment streak, however, and they don’t all boil down to “post better pictures, mate”: according to a new analysis from scheduling tool Latergramme, there are certain times of day (and night) that result in better engagement.
In an analysis of over 61,000 posts, Latergramme found the two most successful times to post were 5pm and, perhaps more surprisingly, 2am – apparently when some of Instagram’s “most engaged users” are online. 5pm, of course, is just before people start their commute home – the perfect time to scroll endlessly through Instagram and rack up those likes.
If you’re not likely to be awake at 2am, though, no need to worry: 2am and 5pm are only averages. The analysis also revealed specific times of day that boosted engagement on each day of the week. On Sundays and Wednesdays, 5pm was the best time; on Monday, 7pm or 10pm resulted in the best engagement rates.
Tuesday’s best engagement rates were at 3am and 10pm, Thursday’s 7am and 11pm, Friday’s 1am and 8pm and Saturday’s 12am and 2am.
If you want more data on your Instagram stats, you can also switch your account from a ‘personal’ to a ‘business’ account – a move that gives you many more statistics on who’s liking and engaging with your points and when. Good to know.