When is the best time to post on Instagram in Australia?

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in Australia.

As of 01 December 2022, 57.7% of all the internet users in Australia actively use Instagram. Brands who know the best time to post on Instagram Australia are one step closer to reaching the 13.62 million Australians who actively use Insta (Source: "Australia Social Media Statistics" & Our blog about Australian social media statistics).

As the second most popular social platform for posting in Australia, Instagram is second only to Facebook. Meta owns both companies, further proving its dominance in the social media industry. To put context on its pervasiveness, it’s useful to know Instagram has the same audience size in Australia as LinkedIn and TikTok combined.
Instagram has the fourth most popular app in Oz. With so many active users, it’s critical for brands to know the best time to schedule their Instagram posts so they can:

• enhance engagement rates
• increase follower counts
• reach their target audience
• drive ROI for social media marketing.

Perhaps the most interesting insight into Instagram audience behaviour comes directly from Instagram itself.
Internal data supplied by the social network in October 2019 reveals 90% of people on Instagram follow a business. That converts to a lot of opportunity for brands, especially when you consider that as of October 2022, there are currently 2 billion monthly active users on Instagram.
By comparison, LinkedIn reached 822 million registered users in the first quarter of 2022 (16 million in Australia) but doesn't report how many of them are active.

With the Instagram algorithm changing without notice, savvy brand marketers can improve their follower count by regularly reviewing their analytics. Using trending Australian hashtags is a well-known tactic for Instagram accounts, but posting at times when your audience is active on the social media platform is just as important.

Tip: These are the best times to post on TikTok. If you are posting from South Africa, take a look at the best time to post on Instagram in South Africa.

Content

• Best times to post on Instagram Australia

• Driving Instagram engagement in Australia

• Try Meltwater’s Social Media Publishing Platform today!

Best times to post on Instagram Australia

The time frame with the highest follower volume of active users on Instagram in Australia, by day:

We’ve pulled analytics from Meltwater's social media scheduling tool to determine when Aussies are most likely to be active on the channel. Brands can use this information to drive ROI and create a schedule for the best time to post Instagram Australia content.

This information helps you better understand the right time, the right day of the week, and even the right posting schedule for your influencer strategy. A social media scheduler helps you automate your posting process to improve your social media management efforts.

Let's look into what this data is based on:

Mini case study for Australian Instagram user activity

Here’s a typical example of what engagement looks like when you analyse hour-by-hour activity throughout a week.

The following graph shows analysis of a national Australian brand with multiple Instagram accounts. They use Instagram to promote their products, drive Instagrammers to a strategic blog post on their corporate website, or tap into their target market using Instagram influencers.

Because the company is headquartered in Sydney, the time zone for this example is AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time).

We’re able to show when your audience is online:

You can see in the graph the drop-off is much more gradual on the weekend, showing people are online at different times than on weekdays.

The number of followers online at each hour throughout the day illustrates that people are least likely to be using Instagram during the weekends. (It’s safe to assume they’re spending time on the weekend to create Instagram content for posting during the week.)

The ideal time for brands to make Instagram posts is when Instagram users are out in force.

The time frame with the highest follower volume of active users, by day:

• Monday:           9 p.m. - 13,491
• Tuesday:          9 p.m. - 13,271
• Wednesday:     9 p.m. - 13,223
• Thursday:       10 p.m. - 13,123
• Friday:            10 p.m. - 12,656
• Saturday:        10 p.m. - 12,325
• Sunday:            8 p.m. - 13,090

What are important Instagram posting insights for Australia?

• The least favourable times to post in Australia are mid-mornings.
• The worst time to post on Instagram in Australia is at 10:00 a.m. It’s a dead zone every day of the week.
• The peak time to reach your active follower audience is Monday evening, followed by mid-week evenings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
• Audience engagement is more likely to occur during off-work times because many people use Instagram when they’re relaxing.
• The most consistent engagement occurs in the evenings, for all seven days of the week.
• Engagement begins to pick up while people are on their lunchbreak and climbs steadily throughout the afternoon and evening.
• Peak times for Instagram posts are between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
• Engagement levels peak earliest on Sunday evening, possibly because people swap Instagram Reels and Instagram Stories for bedtime stories ahead of a new working week.
• If you look at optimal times to post on Instagram in the global market, 5 a.m., 11 a.m., and 2–3 p.m. time slots come out on top. Thursdays are the best day of the week to post.
• If you narrow it down to B2C companies, good times to post are Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. which are prime time slots for shopping. If you’re a retail business owner, it’s worth posting an eye-catching photo of your best-performing products to appeal to your target audience.
• Media companies have the most success posting to Instagram on Friday at 9 a.m. Users are planning their sports viewing and entertainment for the weekend.
• Non-profit companies have entirely different times to drive Instagram engagement with their audience. Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., and Sunday at 9 a.m. are best times for posting.
• Healthcare companies have the most success posting on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
• The right time to post for Higher Education is Monday at 8 p.m.
• Tech companies should schedule Instagram posts on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Driving Instagram engagement in Australia

One way to improve engagement and increase the number of Instagram followers interested in your brand is to work with Australian (Instagram) influencers and Instagram content creators as part of your social media marketing strategy.

Each influencer can provide keen insight on when they get the most engagement with the social network. Many of these power users of Instagram have great ideas about how to best use Instagram Stories and Reels to meet your marketing goals.
They should be able to back up their recommendations with proof using Instagram analytics from their Instagram Insights account.

Tip: Check out the Top Australian Instagram Influencers to start your search for the ideal partner for your brand.

Why the Instagram algorithm is important for engagement

Instagram says their goal is to make the user experience relevant and inspiring. They use the ever-changing algorithm to make the experience better by analysing what you’re posting and determining who gets to see it.

The algorithm influences what your followers see by:

• Making original content a priority by recommending it in places like the Reels tab and Feed. Original content is something you filmed or created yourself, or content that has not been previously posted on Instagram.
• User signals from posts they have engaged with before, other people they follow, and their activity and engagement rate in the app. Every Instagram user can provide feedback on content they enjoy by tapping the “...” on recommended Posts.

Try Meltwater’s Social Media Publishing Platform today!

The best time to post on Instagram Australia is going to be slightly different for each brand. It’s important to understand where your click-throughs are coming from and what posting time returns the best results.

As Twitter becomes mired in controversy and TikTok is coming under threat of government bans, Australian brands can turn to Instagram for a hassle-free social media platform. 

Meltwater's social Media Publishing Platform lets you take control of your content scheduling with an all-in-one platform to manage your brand’s presence across all its social accounts, in the same tool that provides your social analytics and PR coverage monitoring.

Why not request a demo to see how it can work for your brand marketing team? Get in touch with Meltwater Australia by filling out the form below to learn more.