Best Time to Post on TikTok and Instagram for Business (and How to Find Yours)
Generic charts guess. Your own followers tell you. How to find your best posting time in the app, plus a 2-week test.
By the Next5 team · · 3 min read
You have seen the charts. "Post on Tuesday at 9 AM!" The problem: those charts mix millions of accounts. Your buyers are not millions of accounts. A bakery, a realtor and a gym all have different buyers who scroll at different times.
The best time to post is when your own followers are online. Both TikTok and Instagram show you that time for free.
A good starting point
If you are brand new and have no data yet, start with the times most people pick up their phone:
- Morning — 7 to 9 AM, before work and on the commute.
- Lunch — 11 AM to 1 PM.
- Evening — 6 to 9 PM, after work and dinner.
Use your buyers' time zone, not yours. If you sell to all of the US, Eastern and Central time cover most people.
How to find your best time to post on TikTok
Use a Business or Creator account
Analytics are free, but you need a Business or Creator account. You can switch in Settings.
Open Analytics
Go to your profile, open the menu, and find Analytics (it may sit inside TikTok Studio or Creator tools).
Open the Followers tab
Scroll to follower activity. It shows the hours and days your followers are most active.
Post 1 to 2 hours before the peak
TikTok needs a little time to start showing your post. Posting just before the busy hour helps.
How to find your best time to post on Instagram
Use a professional account
Switch to a Business or Creator account in Settings. It is free.
Open Insights
Go to your profile and tap Insights (or the professional dashboard).
Check most active times
Open Total followers and scroll to Most active times. Tap through hours and days.
The 2-week posting time test
Charts tell you when people are online. A test tells you when they actually watch your posts.
- Pick 3 time slots, for example 8 AM, 12 PM and 7 PM.
- Post once a day for 2 weeks. Rotate the slots so each one gets 4 or 5 posts.
- After each post, write down the views at 48 hours.
- Average the views for each slot. Keep the winner. Test a new slot against it next month.
| Slot | Posts | Average views at 48h |
|---|---|---|
| 8 AM | 5 | fill in |
| 12 PM | 5 | fill in |
| 7 PM | 4 | fill in |
Compare views at the same age. A post that is 2 hours old will always look worse than one that is 2 days old.
Time matters less than you think
A great post at a so-so time beats a weak post at the perfect time. TikTok keeps showing good posts for days. Spend most of your energy on the hook. Read TikTok hooks for small businesses for 40 you can copy. The same goes for tags: how many hashtags to use on TikTok for business shows how small that lever really is.
Questions
What is the best day to post on TikTok?
It depends on your followers. Check follower activity in TikTok Analytics. Posting every day removes the guesswork.
Does posting time matter on TikTok?
Some. It helps your post get its first views. But TikTok shows good posts for days, so the hook and the content matter more.
Should I post at the same time every day?
Yes, once you find a good slot. Being steady helps you compare posts fairly and builds a habit for your followers.
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