Top Rated Instagram Advertising Agency
in Australia

Let’s put it this way – Instagram has some 800 million users. So, if you want to reach and engage your consumers where they are spending time, you need to be advertising on Instagram. Better yet, studies show users are 58x more likely to engage with branded content on Instagram compared to Facebook.

And over one-third of Instagram users have used the platform to purchase a product online. With such an enormous base of regular, engaged users who are ready to buy, Instagram is one of the best digital platforms for your advertising spend.

This is probably one of the top 3 questions we get contently. So here goes….

What Time Of Day To Post On Instagram To Reach Your Customers

Did you know that 1 in 2 people use Instagram to discover new brands? Couple that with the fact that Instagram recently surpassed the 2 billion user mark, and it just goes to show how powerful the platform. But to truly unleash Instagram’s revenue-shifting potential, you have to reach your followers first — and that means knowing the best time to post on Instagram so they see you.

So here’s the million-dollar question: when’s the best time to post on Instagram?

In this guide, we break down:

• The best Instagram posting times by day, week, location, and industry.
• How to test the best posting time for your audience
• How to win back time with post scheduling
• How to increase your organic engagement on Instagram with posts, stories and reels

By the end, you’ll be a social media pro who knows exactly how to make Instagram work harder for your business.

When is the best time to post on Instagram?

According to Sprout Social, the best time to post is during the middle of the day on Tuesday between 11AM and 2PM CDT (or between 4AM and 7AM AEDT).

Meanwhile, Later conducted deep research into more than 35 million global Instagram posts and found the highest average engagement on Instagram was on Sunday at 6AM in the local time:

Hootsuite’s experts, on the other hand, say the best time to post is on Wednesday at 11AM. According to Hootsuite Analytics, users are most likely to interact with content in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week:

Last but not least, Influencer Marketing Hub found the best times to post were either Wednesday at 11AM, 2PM to 3PM on Thursday, or 10AM on Friday.

Unfortunately, there is no definitive ‘best’ time to post on Instagram. Various social media management platforms have all reported different findings based on their analysis of Instagram engagement.

Best time to post on Instagram by time of day:

Early morning between 6AM – 7AM

Most users hop on social media as soon as they wake up in the morning, which is why this is one of the best times to post on Instagram. Regardless of whether it’s a weekday or weekend, the bulk of surveys into Instagram engagement found that activity on the platform starts to pick up around 6AM to 8AM.

Lunchtimes between 11AM – 12PM

Lunch breaks are by far the most popular time to post during the day. Why? Because people like to scroll through social media and check out Instagram Ads while eating their lunch or waiting to pick up their food. The ideal posting time on the majority of weekdays falls between 11AM and 12PM, right as users are starting to head out from the office.

Evenings between 10PM – 11PM

While we technically should avoid our phones right before sleep, a significant chunk of Instagram users still browse their feed as part of their pre-bedtime routine. 10PM on Tuesday or Sunday is the sweet spot if you’re going to be posting at night, as well as 7PM on Monday evenings.

Best time to post on Instagram by day of the week:

Alongside the best universal time to post on Instagram, the highest engagement rate for Instagram posts differs depending on the day of the week.

On weekdays, the most engagement occurs either first thing in the morning, during the middle of the day when users are scrolling through on their lunch break, or in the evening just before bedtime.

Best time to post on Instagram on Monday

The best time to post on Instagram on Monday is generally first thing in the morning at 5AM or in the middle of the day between 11AM and 12PM. This is when most of your followers will likely be catching up on the latest from their friends, family and influencers over the weekend, which means more opportunities for engagement.

Best time to post on Instagram on Tuesday

On Tuesday, the best time to post on Instagram is either at 6AM or in the middle of the day between 11AM and 2PM. The great thing about Tuesday lunchtimes is there’s a larger window of opportunity to post long-form content, such as IGTV or Instagram Live videos.

Best time to post on Instagram on Wednesday

If you want to reach and engage as many users as possible on hump day, the best time to post on Instagram Wednesdays is at 6AM or between 11AM and 12PM. However, even if you post outside of those hours, you’re still likely to get a decent chunk of likes, comments and shares: Wednesday has the longest duration of consistent engagement of any day in the week, with good performance on posts shared from 6AM until 11PM at night.

Best time to post on Instagram on Thursday

With the weekend in sight, most Instagram users have a shorter lunch break on Thursdays. This makes the perfect time to post on Instagram on Thursdays is either at 11AM, although engagement still remains pretty high between 10AM and 4PM.

Best time to post on Instagram on Friday

Unsurprisingly, Instagram users are fairly active on the platform on Fridays. The prime time to post on Instagram Friday is Friday morning between 11AM and 12PM, but engagement stays fairly consistent between 7AM and 5PM. On the flipside, it’s best to avoid posting in the evening after 5PM: Friday nights have the lowest engagement rate of any day of the week.

Best time to post on Instagram on Saturday

Saturday is the second-worst day of the week to post, but that doesn’t mean your content will go unnoticed. While overall engagement tends to dip compared to weekdays, Instagram users still spend time browsing during the day—especially in the late morning and around lunchtime. Based on data and trends, the best time to post on Instagram Saturday is generally between 10AM and 1PM, when user activity sees a modest spike.

To determine the best times to post on Instagram on Saturday for your specific audience, it’s important to review your account’s insights and engagement metrics regularly. While general guidelines are helpful, understanding the best times to post on Instagram on Saturday depends on your followers’ habits, location, and time zone. Over time, you’ll start to notice patterns in how your content performs. By tracking this data, you can discover your own personal best times to post on Instagram on Saturday, helping you improve visibility and connect with your audience when they’re most active.

Best time to post on Instagram on Sunday

Instagram engagement is at its lowest on Sundays — so if there’s any day you should press pause on your posting, this is it. However, if you do want to post, the best time to post on Instagram on Sunday is either between 9AM and 4PM or just before bedtime at 10PM.

Worst time to post each day:

Later also rounded up the worst times to post based on days of the week. If you want to get the most engagement on your content, avoid these Instagram posting times:

• Monday: worst day to post at 2PM
• Tuesday: worst day to post at 1PM
• Wednesday: worst day to post at 10AM
• Thursday: worst day to post at 11PM
• Friday: worst day to post at 9AM
• Saturday: worst day to post at 8PM
• Sunday: worst time to post at 4PM

Best time to post on Instagram by location

Your location can also significantly impact the ideal time to post on Instagram.

If your audience is based in the same time zone, this isn’t too much of a hassle — all you need to do is figure out when they’re most likely to be on Instagram and tailor your social media strategy to suit.

But if your audience is based in a different time zone or you have a global audience in multiple time zones, you need to take this into account when planning your posts. The last thing you want is to schedule a post for the 6AM AEST time zone when the bulk of your audience is based in Perth, and vice versa.

Users can also have dramatically different Instagram habits and behaviours, depending on where they’re located.

For example, Instagram posts in the Pacific typically have higher engagement rates in the evenings, while Instagram posts in the US have higher engagement rates in the mornings.

According to Later, here are the best times to post for different time zones:

• US and Canada (West Coast): 12AM-6AM
• US and Canada (Central): 6AM-8AM
• US and Canada (East Coast): 4AM-9AM
• South America: 4AM
• United Kingdom: 4AM-6AM
• Western Europe: 6-8PM
• Eastern Europe: 5AM-7AM
• Africa: 6AM
• South Asia and Middle East: 3AM
• East Asia and Southeast Asia: 11PM-4AM
• Australasia: 11PM – 2AM

Best time to post on Instagram by industry

Do different industries have different best times to post?

You bet they do.

Some industries see higher engagement in the mornings, while for others user activity spikes at night.

Understanding the best time to share a post for your industry is essential if you want to get the most out of your Instagram account.

So what’s the best time for each industry to post on Instagram?

Best time to post on Instagram for IT and tech companies

• Best day to post on Instagram: Monday
• Best time: Monday between 10AM – 10PM
• Most consistent engagement: Monday to Friday between 8AM – 6PM
• Other good times to post: Monday between 11AM – 12AM, Monday between 8PM – 9PM, Tuesday between 11AM – 12AM, Thursday between 12PM – 1PM, Friday between 11AM to 12PM

Best time to post on Instagram for restaurants and cafes

• Best day to post on Instagram: Monday
• Best time: Monday between 9AM – 1PM
• Most consistent engagement: Monday between 9AM – 1PM
• Other good times to post: Tuesday between 10AM – 2PM

Best time to post on Instagram for non-profit organisations

• Best day to post on Instagram: Wednesday
• Best time: Wednesday between 10AM – 6PM
• Most consistent engagement: Monday to Friday between 11AM – 8PM
• Other good times to post: Wednesday between 5PM – 6PM, Thursday between 11AM – 5PM

Best time to post on Instagram for the healthcare industry

• Best day to post on Instagram: Monday or Tuesday
• Best time: Tuesday between 8AM – 12PM or 5PM – 8PM
• Most consistent engagement: Sunday between 8AM – 9AM
• Other good times to post: Monday between 9AM – 10AM, Monday between 2PM – 3PM, Monday between 5PM – 6PM, Tuesday between 8AM – 9PM, Sunday between 8AM – 9PM

Best time to post on Instagram for educational institutions

• Best day to post on Instagram: Friday
• Best time: Friday between 4AM – 5AM or Thursday at 2PM
• Most consistent engagement: Friday between 4AM – 1PM
• Other good times to post: Thursday between 2PM – 3PM

Best time to post on Instagram for entertainment brands or the media industry

• Best day to post on Instagram: Tuesday
• Best time for media companies to post: Tuesday between 1PM to 5 PM
• Other good times to post: Wednesday between 11AM – 12PM, Thursday between 8AM – 9AM

Best time to post on Instagram for travel brands

• Best day to post on Instagram: Thursday
• Best time: Thursday between 7AM – 8AM, Monday between 11AM – 4PM

Best time to post on Instagram for B2B brands

• Best day to post on Instagram: Monday
• Best time: Monday between 4PM – 5PM

Best time to post on Instagram for financial institutions

• Best day to post on Instagram: Wednesday or Friday
• Best time: Wednesday or Friday between 10AM – 4PM

Best time to post on Instagram for consumer goods brands

• Best day to post on Instagram: Weekdays
• Best time: Monday to Friday between 9AM – 5PM

Best time to post on Instagram for non-retail e-commerce brands

• Best day to post on Instagram: Weekdays
• Best time: Monday to Friday between 4PM – 9PM

Does it matter what time you post on Instagram Reels?

Here are the best times to share your Reels, broken down by day of the week:

• Monday: 5AM, 9AM and 9PM
• Tuesday: 1AM, 3AM and 8AM
• Wednesday: 6AM, 7AM and 10PM
• Thursday: 8AM, 11AM and 6PM
• Friday: 4AM, 12PM and 2PM
• Saturday: 10AM, 6PM and 7PM
• Sunday: 6AM, 7AM and 3PM

Ever since it launched in April 2021, Instagram Reels has been picking up in popularity — particularly given the rise of TikTok and other short forms of video content.

Sharing Reels and Instagram Stories can have a huge impact on your brand’s visibility and overall engagement rates, which is why most brands should aim to post between 4-7 Reels per week.

But if every Instagram account is posting an average of one reel every 1-2 days, that’s a WHOLE lot of content that users have to sift through.

That’s where having a social marketing strategy on posting times can make all the difference.

How to find the best time to post on Instagram through testing

We’ve gone through the peak times of day and the best day of the week to post on Instagram, and how engagement rates vary based on your location and the industry you’re in.

These are a great starting point, but the truth is it’s going to be different for every brand.

That’s where you need to do some sleuthing to find the optimal times to post for your brand and your audience.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it.

1. Open up Instagram analytics (a.k.a. Instagram Insights)

Instagram’s native insights are the perfect place to find basic information on your followers, such as their demographics, where they’re located, and — you guessed it — their most active times.

Simply log onto Instagram on your app and navigate to Insights > Audience or hop into your Instagram Creator Studio dashboard. Scroll down and you’ll see your audience’s most active times like so:

You can break this customer data down by hours in the day, or by days of the week.

2. Start A/B testing your posting times

Once you have a baseline established for when your audience is online, it’s time to start testing. Your best bet is to begin with the window of the day where your audience is the most active — i.e. 8AM – 1PM between Monday and Friday — then schedule different posts at different times within this window.

For example, you might choose to schedule Monday’s post at 8AM, Tuesday’s at 9AM, Wednesday’s at 10AM, and so on.

After you’ve done this in the first week, switch up the posting times in your second week. You might instead choose to reverse the order and post on Monday at 1PM, Tuesday at 12PM, Wednesday at 11AM…you get the idea.

This process will take a few weeks, but it’s worth it to figure out what works best for your Instagram followers.

3. Track your results

Tracking is arguably THE most important part of your A/B testing.

Without it, you don’t have a point of comparison to see which time works best.

Set up an A/B testing spreadsheet for all of your posts published, and use it to track your likes, comments, shares, and saves:

At the end of the testing phase, you should start to see clear patterns emerge as to when you should post for maximum engagement with your followers.

How to schedule Instagram posts using the most popular scheduling tools

The beauty of having your brand on Instagram is that there are plenty of posting and content marketing related tools to automate the posting process. These allow you to schedule your content in advance and build up your posting consistency to stay top-of-mind with followers.

Thankfully, this process is incredibly simple to do using the most popular scheduling tools: Sprout Social, Later, and HootSuite.

Note: Auto-publishing scheduled posts are only available if you have an Instagram business account. If you have a personal account you’ll need to go via the notification publishing route.

With notification publishing, your scheduling platform will send a push notification to your phone once it’s time to post. After that, you’ll be able to send your content to Instagram to publish.

Using Sprout Social

Scheduling Instagram posts on Sprout Social is a pretty straightforward process.

Just log on and navigate to Sprout’s Publishing toolset, and upload your image or video. After this, you’ll be able to edit the image and compose a caption to accompany the post, as well as tag any users who might be featured in your content.

When you’re happy with your post, select which of your Instagram accounts you want to post to. You’ll be presented with five options:

• Draft
• Queue
• Schedule
• Submit for approval
• Send

Hit ‘Schedule’ and select your desired time. Once it’s time to post, you’ll receive a mobile notification to send your scheduled content to Instagram.

Using Later

Posting on Later is equally as simple as posting on Sprout Social.

Just navigate to the Quick Scheduler Tool, select your time, then drop your posts into the calendar:

Depending on your type of profile, you’ll either receive a notification when it’s time to publish, or your post will automatically be published at the scheduled time if you have a business Instagram account.

Using Hootsuite

Head into your Hootsuite dashboard and click the Create Icon, then select Post:

From here, you can select the account you want to post to, upload visuals and compose copy:

You’ll also be able to see a draft of your post as a preview on the right;

Once you’re happy with your post, select the time that you want to post and click “Schedule”. You’ll be able to see all of your upcoming posts as well in Hootsuite’s Planner:

3 tips for increasing organic Instagram engagement

1. Adapt your posting schedule so it makes sense for your Instagram audience

If your Instagram Insights don’t line up with the times above, don’t worry — stick with the insights that are sourced directly about your users.

You can also use your social media scheduler to find more information about your Instagram account audience and see how your posts are performing at different times of day.

For example, HootSuite also has a ‘Best Time to Publish’ feature that will show you the ideal time for an Instagram post based on your unique audience and historical post performance over the past 30 days:

Likewise, Later has a “Best Time to Post” feature that highlights the top 7 posting times for your target audience based on your best-performing posts from the past month.

2. Experiment with different content formats

On top of when you post, what you post has a significant impact on how much engagement your posts get.

Don’t be afraid to mix up your Instagram post content to see what works best for your specific audience.

Do they prefer an Instagram post that features a photo with text? Videos? GIFs? Short captions? Captions with quotes?

Add a column in your Instagram engagement testing spreadsheet to track the performance of different types of social media posts, and you’ll quickly start to see some interesting trends emerge.

Don’t forget to create compelling content for Reels and Instagram Stories either. In a survey by Omnicore, more than half (58%) of Instagram users say they’re more interested in a brand after seeing it in their Stories.

Best of all, you don’t need to be a graphic designer to do any of this.

There are plenty of digital marketing tools you can use to create eye-catching Instagram content that will drum up more comments and saves. These also come in handy if you want to create Instagram ads to reach even more people on the platform.

3. Get to know the Instagram algorithm

All social media platforms have an algorithm — and if you want to succeed on Instagram, you need to know how it works.

While Instagram used to be a chronological feed, it now relies on an algorithm to determine which posts come up first.

There are four factors that go into ranking posts in the Feed and Stories:

• Information about the post, such as how many people have liked it or when it was posted.
• Information about the person who posted, such as engagement rate and degrees of separation between the account and the user.
• User activity, including the type of content that person normally engages with or the brands they like to hear from.
• The user’s history of interacting with someone, as this shows Instagram how interested the user is in seeing content from that account.

Instagram then calculates a score of interest, which determines how likely someone is to interact with that content if it appears in their feed. The posts with a higher score will be displayed first in the feed, while those with a lower score appear further down in the feed.

Instagram also considers the likelihood of someone interacting with a post as part of its feed ranking.

These interactions are:

• Time spent reading or watching the post
• Likes
• Comments
• Saves
• Taps on profile

For IG – is it better to post at night or in the morning?

When deciding whether to post on Instagram at night or in the morning, the best choice depends on your audience and their activity patterns. Generally, morning posts (between 7 AM and 9 AM) can be effective because users check their feeds as they start their day. On the other hand, night posts (between 7 PM and 10 PM) often see high engagement as people unwind and scroll through social media.

To find the best posting time for your specific audience, use Instagram Insights to track when your followers are most active. Testing different times and analyzing engagement rates will help determine whether morning or night posts work better for your content strategy.

What is the Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2025?

Determining the best time to post on Instagram in 2025 involves understanding user habits and engagement patterns. A key factor is understanding the best time to post on Instagram in 2025 to reach your target audience effectively. Research suggests that the lunch hour, typically between 12 pm to 2 pm, is a prime window for posts, as many users check their feeds during this break.

However, the optimal posting time can vary based on your audience’s activity, so it’s important to experiment with posting during different times of the day. While some may find success posting in the morning or late at night, each Instagram account has its unique engagement patterns. Tracking your analytics is crucial in identifying your personal best time to post on Instagram in 2025 for maximum reach and interaction.

Dominate Instagram, skyrocket sales

Here’s the bottom line: engagement compounds on Instagram, so it’s important to put yourself in the best position possible by posting at the right time for peak engagement.

This creates a snowball effect with your posts. Once you start to get more engagement, this will lead to your post being shown higher in the Instagram feed, which leads to more engagement — and so on.

And the more people that are seeing and engaging with your brand, the more you’ll grow your reach.

But it’s not just about the number of people who see your post.

You need to reach the right people for Instagram to have a tangible impact on your business. That’s where having a social media advertising strategy can make all the difference.

With Instagram Advertising, you’ll grow your leads and sales; not just your followers and likes.

Want to take your Instagram strategy to the next level with social media advertising ads? Claim your free website audit and 6-month game plan from our top SEO agency experts today, and we’ll show you precisely how to use Instagram to crush your revenue goals though a focused approach to your online digital marketing.

There’s no actual “Instagram Ads Manager”, but there are two ways to create an Instagram ad campaign:

1. Using Facebook Ads Manager
2. Promote posts within Instagram

First, let’s look at Facebook Ads Manager.

Facebook Ads Manager is the one you use when you want to run ads on both Facebook AND Instagram.

This is an incredible powerful platform for advertisers as it lets you pinpoint and customise audiences. Once your ads are live, you can deep-dive into how your ads are performing.

For the purposes of this guide, we’ll assume you already have a Facebook page and access to Facebook Business Manager. If you don’t, Hootsuite has a great step-by-step guide.

Now, follow these steps to crate your Instagram ad.

1. Link your Facebook Business profile to your Instagram account

Go to your Facebook page to Facebook Business Manager and click on the top left-hand menu.

Click Business Settings> Instagram Accounts.

Click Add.

In the pop-up box, add the details of the Instagram account.

Save the changes.

Now the fun begins – it’s time to create your Instagram Ad.

2. Choose your objective

Go to Facebook Ads Manager and click Create.

Choose how you want to create your ad campaign – Guided Creation or Quick Creation.

Choose Guided Creation if…  you want detailed instructions on how to create the campaign.

Choose Quick Creation if… this isn’t your first rodeo and you want greater control over your ad.

Now, choose your ad campaign objective from the list provided:

img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1234″ src=”https://www.onlinemarketinggurus.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/purpose-of-an-instagram-campaign-on-ads.png” alt=”” width=”512″ height=”231″ />

Here’s a quick guide to ad objectives:

Awareness objectives:

• Brand awareness: Show your brand to users who haven’t heard of you.
• Reach: Show your ad to as many users as possible for your spend.

Consideration objectives:

• Traffic: Drive clicks to your website
• Engagement: Increase comments, likes, shares, event responses and offer claims.
  
• App installs: Encourage users to download your app.
• Video views: Increase the amount of views for a video.
• Lead generation: Gather lead data from those who click on your ad.
• Messages: Encourage users to send a message to your business.

Conversion objectives:

• Conversions: Increase sales and sign-up conversions.
• Catalog sales: Show ads for products on your Facebook catalogue.
• Store visits: Direct users to your physical store locations.

Let’s say you choose Conversions.

Next, name your campaign.

3. Identify your audience

Now for the really important part. Who do you want to target?

Be specific. You can tap into Facebook’s targeting tools to pinpoint your audience by a wide range of options.

To see what’s available, go into the Detailed Targeting dropdown and click Browse.

Step 4: Select your ad placements

Next, decide where your ads will appear.

Automatic Placements means your ad will be shown to your audience where they will perform best, in Facebook’s view.

Or, click on Edit Placements for the full range of options.

Step 5: Set your budget and schedule

How much you want to spend on your ad campaign and how long will it run for?

Again, you have a few options here.

To set a maximum daily spend, choose a Daily Budget.

If your ad has a set lifespan (for example, the sale runs for four weeks), choose Lifetime Budgeting.

Instagram Ads work in the same way as Facebook Ads. Costs depend on your budget and whether you select Manual or Automatic bidding.

So, your Instagram Ad will never cost you more than you have to spend.

Pro Tip:

Instagram ad costs are typically slightly higher than Facebook ads – even when you’re hitting the same target audience. The reason is simple: Instagram ads typically see 10 times the engagement of a Facebook ad, which means a much higher chance at converting the user.

6. Create your ad

This is the part where you choose your ad format.

Then, follow the steps to complete your ad:

• Add media (pictures or videos)
• Create your ad copy
• Add the website URL
• Choose your call to action

Finally, add your tracking.

The Facebook Pixel is super important if you want to see how your ad performs and how your audience interacts with your business after clicking on your ad.

Click Confirm– you’re done!

Now you know how to create an Instagram ads, you need to make sure your campaigns perform to their maximum potential.

That’s where our advanced Instagram advertising tips come in.

1. Switch up your ads

People quickly get tired of the same pictures and videos on Instagram.

The solution is to switch up your ads regularly to prevent ad fatigue.

This also helps you learn which ads perform best, which leads us to…

2. Test EVERYTHING

Want to create the perfect Insta ad? It doesn’t happen overnight!

You need to test out every element of your campaign to find the perfect combination of elements: caption, format, audiences, images, call to action…the list goes on.

Then, measure the performance of the ads in Facebook Ads Manager.

You might find that one audience drives a 15x cheaper CPC. And within that audience, one specific Instagram ad achieves a 5x higher click through rate (CTR).

Now, you can shift your budget to your winning combination.

3. Focus on the first few seconds

With Instagram ads, the trick is to grab the user’s attention immediately and make your message super clear.

This is even more critical for Stories ads.

Why?

Because photo ads only last 5 seconds, video ads for up to 15 seconds and users can’t return to them later.

So you need to ensure users instantly understand what your ad is about and why it matters to their life.

Take a look at this ad from Mountain Bikes Direct:

It has all the right elements: strong visuals, clear messaging and a compelling call to action.

4. Make it feel exclusive

People want things that are reserved for a few or that are in limited supply and high demand.

It’s human nature.

Or, as it’s now known, FOMO.

Use the law of exclusivity in your Instagram ads.

Make your users feel like they are missing out on something incredible.

Like this one from Calm:

5. Measure everything and use the data to make better ad decisions

The only way you can know if certain ads work better for your audience is to measure it.

You might be surprised at what you find.

For example, did you know that static image ads can outperform videos at a much lower cost?

By measuring your ad performance, you might find out that promoting image posts directly from Instagram performs better for your goal.

Also, sometimes videos are not the best performers. But you only know if you track your cost per click and cost per acquisition metrics.

PRO TIP: Remember to measure Dark Social – that is, when people share content through private channels like email and instant measuring.

You should probably review: When is the Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2022?

When running Instagram marketing campaigns, advertisers can choose different bidding models based on their goals. Cost Per Click (CPC) refers to the amount you pay each time a user clicks on your ad, making it ideal for driving traffic to your website or landing page.

On the other hand, Cost Per Engagement (CPE) measures the cost of interactions such as likes, comments, shares, or saves, which is useful for boosting engagement and brand awareness. Choosing between CPC and CPE depends on whether your focus is generating website visits or encouraging audience interaction with your content.

With five different ad types to choose from, which will be the most successful Instagram ads for your brand?

It comes down to your GOALS.

Know what you want to achieve from your Instagram campaign.

Let’s say you’re trying to increase sales rapidly, Collection ads or Stories ads may be the best option for your brands.

Collection ads let you directly sell products, while Stories ads are great for one-time promotions that get in front of users instantly.

What if you want to increase brand awareness?

Photo or video ads are a great option as you can use captivating content to engage like-minded users.

The bottom line?

Be clear on your goal and choose the right ad type to match it.

For most users, the Instagram app is easier and more convenient to use than the website. The app is designed for mobile devices and offers the full suite of features, including posting photos and stories, sending DMs, accessing Reels, and using interactive tools like filters and stickers. The Instagram website, while useful for browsing, liking, commenting, and even managing your account, has limited functionality—especially when it comes to posting content or using creative tools.

If you’re managing Instagram on the go, the app is usually the better option. However, for businesses or creators working from a desktop, the web version can be handy for scheduling posts or reviewing insights—especially when paired with tools like Meta Business Suite.

Instagram advertising is incredibly effective for Australian businesses when executed correctly. With over 9 million active Australian users, Instagram offers a massive audience for businesses to reach, engage, and convert. The platform’s advanced targeting features, like demographics, interests, and behaviour-based targeting, allow businesses to connect with highly relevant audiences.

When combined with visually engaging content, Instagram ads can drive not only brand awareness but also measurable results like website traffic, leads, and sales. Additionally, Instagram’s diverse ad formats—such as Stories, carousel ads, and video ads—give businesses a variety of ways to engage users, which can significantly improve campaign performance.

In short, Instagram advertising is a powerful tool for growth, particularly for businesses looking to connect with a younger, trend-savvy audience, build brand loyalty, and drive conversions. When paired with a well-optimised strategy, it can deliver a strong return on investment and contribute to sustainable business growth.

Instagram advertising offers a powerful way to reach potential customers, increase brand awareness, and drive engagement. With features like Instagram Explore, your business can appear on users’ explore pages, making it easier for people who aren’t already following you to discover your Instagram account and learn more about your product or service.

There are several Instagram ad formats to choose from, including Instagram video ads, carousel ads, and story ads, all designed to engage users in different ways. Whether you want to showcase a product launch or highlight your services, Instagram video ads are a great way to visually captivate your audience.

To run Instagram ads, you’ll need to set up a business account on Instagram and connect it to your Facebook Ad Manager, where you can create and manage your campaigns. Ad Manager allows you to choose from various types of Instagram ads, set a daily budget, target specific demographics, and track performance.

Additionally, adding a call to action button on your ads can encourage users to take immediate action, whether it’s visiting your website, signing up for a newsletter, or purchasing a product. With these options, Instagram advertising helps businesses effectively reach and engage with a highly targeted audience.

Instagram has five ad formats:

• Stories ads
• Photo ads
• Video ads
• Carousel ads
• Collection ads

That’s take a closer look at the types of ads on Instagram:

1. Stories ads

Stories Ads appear between other users’ Stories as full-screen, vertical ads. So when you watch them, all you see on your screen is the content.

This is a fast-growing ad format for one simple reason:

500 million Instagram users view Stories every day, meaning you have the potential to reach a massive audience.

When one Instagram Story ends, the next one begins. So, it’s an easy way to get in front of people while they are actively engaged with Stories.

Not only can you target your audience, you can also choose how often they see your ad.

All the usual Instagram Stories features are available too, like adding text, filters and video effects to create creative promotions that look and feel like your normal posts.

That’s the brilliant thing about Stories ads – it’s difficult to tell them apart from organic content. Especially if they’re targeted properly, as that means they will blend in as part of the user’s interests.

The call to action is a swipe-up feature that takes the user directly to visit your website or landing page. Like this example:

The best way to use Stories ads is for limited-time offers and promotions, because Stories expire after 24 hours.

2. Photo ads

Photo ads are what you use when you want to showcase products and services through stunning images.

This type of advertising on Instagram is especially effective if you’re already using eye-catching visual content that’s getting noticed on your organic feed. Use Instagram photo ads to reach even more people who don’t yet follow your Instagram account.

Think brand awareness.

The example below is a stunning photo ad by an Australian tourism site, which purely aims to drive more followers to their profile.

3. Video ads

Video is exploding and trending in social media and Instagram is no exception.

When Instagram introduced videos, more than 5 million were shared in 24 hours.

In fact, user-time spent watching videos was up more than 80% year-over-year on the platform in 2017.

That’s why Instagram makes it easy for advertisers to use video for advertising gain.

Get creative to really stand out on the feed, like this one by Oreo.

In this example, Bankwest uses video for a competition – which is more impactful than a simple picture.

4. Carousel ads

Carousel ads are the ones where users can swipe through a series of images or videos. These are highly popular for ecommerce brands.

Online retailers use them with call to action buttons to drive users directly to the ecommerce site to buy the product.

The brilliant thing about Carousel ads is that you can use them to dive deeper into a single service by breaking it up into 10 images/videos.

Take a look at this one by Inside Vancouver. It tells a story with beautiful images, which leads you to the call to action button – enter the competition.

5. Collection ads

Instagram Collection ads are a pretty new addition to the platform, introduced in 2018.

Here’s how Instagram describes them:

“You can use collection to visually inspire and help your audience discover, browse and purchase products. Tell an integrated story with a product or lifestyle focus, through video, images or both.”

But this skims over the true advantage of this ad type: users can purchase products directly from the ad.

You can also set up ads directly from your Instagram profile. If you have an existing post that’s performing well, you can promote it to other target audiences.

Simple as that.

This lets you reach even more users really easily without going through Facebook Ads Manager.

There’s another benefit too.

A study by Hootsuite found that content that receives paid promotion has a big effect on search rankings.

How big?

It almost DOUBLES the performance of content that’s just posted and left alone.

Here’s how you do it.

Choose your post and click on Promote.

If prompted, log in to your Facebook account.

Then, select your goal.

Choose where to send people.

Do you want to drive more users to your profile, website or direct messages?

If you choose your website, it will automatically draw the URL form your profile.

Edit this to send users to a specific landing page.

Now, select your target audience.

Instagram can target your ad to people who are like your followers. Or you can enter your own targeting options to create a custom audience.

Finally, select your budget and duration.

Click Create Promotion and you’re done!

Like most things in life, the best results are achieved by professionals. That is why you should opt to hire an agency vs doing and managing your own ads on IG.

Hiring an expert Instagram advertising firm is essential for maximising your ROI and achieving the best possible results. While Instagram offers powerful advertising tools, running successful campaigns requires in-depth knowledge and experience. An expert firm brings a deep understanding of the platform’s algorithms, advanced targeting options, and best practices, ensuring your ads reach the right people with the right message at the right time.

A professional agency will create and optimise campaigns tailored to your specific business goals—whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating leads and sales. They’ll also continuously monitor campaign performance, making real-time adjustments to improve results.

An experienced Instagram advertising firm knows how to create engaging, visually compelling ads that resonate with your audience. With their expertise, you can save time, avoid common pitfalls, and ensure that every dollar spent is contributing to your business growth. Plus, you’ll have access to data-driven insights that allow you to make informed decisions and achieve long-term success.

The great thing about Instagram advertising is that it can cost as much or as little as your budget allows. You can drive significant results with minimal ad spend, so long as you take full advantage of the impressive targeting capabilities.

Need some real numbers to play with? Expect to pay anywhere from $0.20 up to $5 for a click. But our advice is to think about it from an ROI point of view.

Because users are 2.5x more likely to click on Instagram ads than ads on any other social media platform, your budget can deliver much more exciting results than other platforms. Work with our Gurus to squeeze the best return from your Instagram advertising budget.

How long it takes to roll out your Instagram advertising campaigns depends on whether you’re working solo or with an agency. Launching an Instagram advertising campaign might be simple in theory, but without the help of an experienced agency, it can prove stressful and difficult to get the results you deserve.

You need to work out the right audiences, nail your ad creatives and craft a solid targeting approach. And it doesn’t stop once your campaign is live: you need track data and gather insights to continually fine-tune and test new ad creatives, audiences and targeting approaches for even better results.

Does your team have the time and experience to achieve this? If not, you’ll wind up wasting more time trying to set things up than doing the fine-tuning and testing needed to deliver real conversions. Work with us and we can get you started within days. We use our proven formula for success to roll out your campaigns quickly and seamlessly. No need to stress about ticking the right boxes – we’ve got it covered. Give us a call to see how we can help your business succeed.