Keeping an eye on your followers lets you better tailor your posts. For example, learning how to see when your followers are most active on Instagram will help you understand when the best time to post is.
In this guide, we’ll teach you how to check your followers’ online status and post at the right time.
How To See When Your Followers Are Most Active on Instagram: Step-by-Step Guide
The “official” way to check your followers’ activity is through your Insights. This metric is different from the activity status and is only available for professional accounts. However, you can simply switch your account type and check.
Here’s how to do that and access better Instagram Insights:
- Click on your profile pic (or the person icon) in the bottom right of your feed.
- Tap the three horizontal lines in the top left to access Settings and Activity.
- Click Account Type and Tools, then tap Switch to Professional Account.
- Fill in your profile’s details, select Business or Creator, then close the app.
- Relaunch Instagram, go back to your profile, and click the horizontal lines.
- There should be an Insights section in your settings. Tap Total Followers.
- Scroll to Most Active Times; this shows when your followers are online.
You can also customize the timeframe here for more specific details. This includes data from the previous week or the past month.
Why Your Instagram Posting Times Matter
Knowing how to see your followers’ most active times has a number of benefits. If nothing else, it gives you a better idea of your current audience. This alone will help any IG strategy. With this in mind, here’s why you should figure out your ideal posting times:
- Reach more people: Getting more eyes on your content is reason enough, especially if you’re promoting a product or event. You’ll need as many viewers as possible here.
- Burst of engagement: Posting at the right time of day means more likes. This lets your posts perform well in the app algorithm. They’ll then be more visible on the Insta feed.
- Get on the Explore page: High engagement also helps you reach the IG Explore page. This shows your posts to users who haven’t followed you, letting them find your profile.
- Consistent posting: Knowing when to post lets you put together a posting schedule. By sticking to this, you’ll show your fans when to expect a new post from your page.
- Loyal audience: Adding to this, consistency builds trust with your fans. They’ll trust you to be active at certain times. You can use this to fit in with your audience’s routine.
- Crossing time zones: Do you have fans and followers all over the world? Knowing how to see when people are most active on Instagram lets you slot into several time zones.
- Tracking trends: Some trends live and die in a matter of days, if not hours. This means you’ll likely have one chance to join a challenge — you need to time it right.
What Affects Your Instagram Audience Active Time?
Generally speaking, evenings are the best time to post. This is because people are home from work or even winding down for the night. They’ll likely be scrolling their phones and catching up on their social lives. 6-9 p.m. is a good range to target.
Learning how to see what time your followers are on Instagram may tell a different story. This is because every audience is different. This even extends to your niche. Some sectors are more active throughout the day, and some prefer using it late at night.
For example, fitness Instagrammers often do early morning workouts. This means they might be checking Instagram a lot earlier than other types of accounts. On the other hand, restaurants are usually open late. Their employees might not check Insta at all until 10 p.m.
Always adapt your schedules and content strategy to fit your audience. In fact, your audience is likely to change over time. Keep checking when they’re most active. Even the day you post on could affect how your posts perform.
Should You Follow IG’s Insights?
You may start out thinking, “I should know how to check my followers’ active time on Instagram.” This can definitely give you a lot of good data to pull from. But it won’t tell the whole story. It also won’t automatically mean that you get the most likes at this time.
You’ll still need to experiment with your posting times. A piece of content could thrive during IG’s recommended time, and another could easily flop. This can be a sign that the first post was just better. But it might mean you’d get more Insta engagement if you posted at another time.
For example, Instagram sometimes shows the morning as a very popular time. But users may just be casually scrolling at this time, not leaving likes or comments. Your followers might also be commuting and unable to pay too much attention. They may also only have a few minutes to check Insta.
Experimenting with your Instagram audience active time involves a lot of trial and error. It might help to only change your post times once a week and see if there’s a difference. If there is, try it for a few weeks and check for any long-term boosts.
When Should You Post Insta Stories?
The type of content you’re sharing is also a factor, especially with Instagram Stories. These are only visible on your profile (or the feed) for 24 hours. According to Rival IQ, brands post roughly 13 stories per month. But you don’t have to take this as a benchmark. Several stories a day could help you build up your online presence.
There’s no reason you should stick to posting one story per day. You can share one in the early morning, then one every few hours until the night. Some users will view your stories throughout the day, while others will watch them all at once. But now there’s usually always a drop-off after the first story “frame.”
Stories are a chance to connect with your followers in an informal way. You can post polls and then share the results in a follow-up story hours later, for example. This content format doesn’t suffer from the same scheduling concerns as regular feed posts or Reels.
However, stories do display in a specific order. For profiles who interact with you often, you’ll be at the top of their queue. This means your posting schedule can affect who sees your IG stories. Your strategy must bring your Instagram Reels, posts, and stories together.
4 Ways To Maximize Your Insta Engagement
Posting times aren’t the only secret to getting high IG engagement. There are a number of other tricks that can boost your content and your profile. These tips will let you make the most of your current audience and grow it further. Here are four ways to help your Insta thrive.
1. Use Different Formats
According to a study by Socialinsider, carousels get more engagement than other IG posts. This is because they can include several photos or videos. You’ll have more chances to earn your followers’ likes this way. High-quality carousel posts when people are active could deliver even better engagement.
2. Engage With People
If you engage with your mutuals, they’ll likely return the favor. This can mean sharing their posts to your story or even turning notifications on for their account. You could also reply to comments that your followers leave. This encourages them to leave more on future posts.
3. Consult Marketing Experts
Marketing involves dozens, if not hundreds, of factors working at once. You might do everything right and still not get the growth you’re after. Listen to interviews from marketing pros working in your niche. You can also reach out to your marketing hero for specific profile advice.
4. Add Captions
If your posts are more accessible, people will be able to engage with them easier. Captions help you connect with deaf followers and even users on their commute home. Anyone who can’t listen to a Reel or story might skip it. Captions will keep attention and promote engagement.
How to Reach an International Insta Audience
Instagram isn’t just for your country. In fact, some of your most devoted followers might be from other parts of the globe. Your marketing efforts should always take this into account. If you have a sizeable audience in different time zones, try to find a posting schedule that suits everyone.
Of course, this isn’t always possible. Your European followers may still be at work when Americans wind down for the evening.
In response, you could always set up extra posts specifically for global audiences. Insta lets you schedule your posts, making it easy to reach other time zones. It’s possible that these will be the first posts your “local” followers see the next morning. Some brands even set up new pages for international viewers. This also lets you target these followers more precisely.
Frequently Asked Questions
[FAQ] How do you see your Instagram followers’ activity?
If you have a professional account, you can check when your followers are online. Access your settings, go to Insights, and click on Total Followers. This shows when they’re most active.
[FAQ] Is learning how to know when my followers are active on Instagram worth it?
Yes. It may not be the only factor in your posting times. But it lets you know exactly when there’s an audience for your next Insta post.
[FAQ] Who are my most active Instagram followers?
The best way to answer this is to see who engages with your Insta posts. The people who leave the most likes and comments are sure to be your most active IG followers.
[FAQ] Can you see who views your Insta profile?
No, you can’t. You can only see who interacts with your posts or views your stories. Any apps or tools that claim to offer this are lying.
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