How Often Should You Post on Instagram? 2026 Guide

Discover how a consistent posting frequency can serve your brand’s digital marketing goals. Learn tactics and tools to grow your Instagram audience and reach.

Finding the ideal posting frequency on Instagram is a bit of a balancing act—you want to stay top of mind with your followers, but you also don’t want to post so much that Instagram flags your account as spam.

Beyond the algorithm, you also need to consider how much time and energy you have to dedicate to the platform. Developing a consistent posting schedule that aligns with your resources is essential for cultivating scalable follower growth. Ahead, learn how to identify and implement an ideal posting frequency on Instagram. Plus, discover tips and examples from successful brands. 

How often should you post on Instagram?

Aim to post in-feed at least three to five times per week. Posting more often will increase your visibility, but with diminishing returns. 

Follower count typically increases with average posting frequency. A 2025 analysis by social media marketing platform Later found that, on average, nano accounts with up to 10,000 followers posted twice per week, micro accounts with up to 100,000 followers posted three times per week, and mid accounts with up to 500,000 followers posted five times per week. 

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri encourages frequent posting. “The more you post, the more your followers usually grow because more people discover you, more people share your content, and there’s more content to be discovered,” he says in a widely cited Instagram Reel.

There is less consensus on how often to post on Instagram Stories, but at least once a day is a good rule of thumb. Stories are primarily visible to your existing followers and don’t significantly increase your reach. However, Instagram Stories do help you stay top of mind with your current audience. And, since they disappear after 24 hours, they tend to be more casual, less edited, and easier to produce, making them an ideal format for creative experiments. 

Benefits of posting regularly on Instagram 

Regular posting pays off. Post consistently to unlock these benefits: 

• Increased visibility. A greater chance of appearing on the Explore page and reaching people who don’t yet follow your account.
• Improved discoverability. Higher placement in search results for your most commonly used keywords.
• More creative opportunities. More posts mean more chances to try new content and topics.
• Better odds of reposts. Increased chances your posts will be shared by larger accounts, potentially driving spikes in followers and engagement. 
• Sharper content strategy. More time to test means better opportunities to learn what resonates with your audience.
• Higher revenue potential. Selling on Instagram is easier when your audience frequently sees content they like, ultimately helping you make money on Instagram. 

📚Resource: 30+ Instagram Story Ideas to Boost Engagement

Tips for posting consistently on Instagram

• Start with what’s doable
• Create a posting schedule
• Repurpose content
• Schedule posts with apps

Essential advice if you’re figuring out how to use Instagram for business: Consistency is more important than volume. Here are some tips to get your rhythm going:

Start with what’s doable

Instead of diving into the deep end right away, focus on a posting frequency that makes sense for you and your business right now. That might look more like three Instagram feed posts and three Instagram Stories per week. Assess the resources you need to create content. Determine which team members to involve, what equipment and Instagram tools you need, and how long it will take to produce the content. 

Social media consultant Rachel Karten suggests identifying content that performs well and finding ways to repeat that success. “Tell the same story lots of different ways,” she says. “Try telling it in video format, try telling it in meme format. I found that the best brands actually tell the same stories over and over again in different ways on Reels.”

Create a posting schedule

Spread your posts out strategically, regardless of how often you publish them. A good practice is to schedule a post or Story for every day of the week. For example, you could post a photo or Reel to your Instagram feed on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and a Story on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Spreading posts out pleases the Instagram algorithm and sets your audience’s expectations for when new content is coming. 

Here’s how to approach building a posting schedule: 

• Brainstorm a list of ideas. Generate Instagram post ideas, drawing inspiration from competitor accounts, customer FAQs, and trending topics. Keep adding to the list as you develop more ideas.
• Map out your monthly social media content calendar. Start plotting your ideas onto a calendar, considering your resources and topics. Ensure you account for time to create and edit the posts and write the captions. 
• Test and tweak. Try this for a month, then assess how it went. If you or your team are overwhelmed, try reducing your posting cadence the following month. Most importantly, stick to a set number of posts per week. If you decide you can only manage three, that’s fine—just ensure you hit that cadence. 

And don’t forget to experiment with Instagram’s many features. Generate engagement with Instagram stickers, connect with your followers on Instagram Live, and incorporate relevant Instagram hashtags and share Instagram videos for better reach. 

The ideal time of day to post depends on post type and audience needs, but in general, these are the best times to post on Instagram:

Monday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tuesday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thursday: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Friday: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Sunday: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Repurpose content

If your content marketing strategy is multifaceted (and it should be), consider repurposing images that performed well on other platforms, or adapting blog posts into Instagram captions. You can even re-post images that you previously shared on Instagram. Photographer and influencer Ethan Barber advises that this can help fill in the gaps: “You can’t expect everyone to see everything that you post every single day. If you’ve posted it two weeks ago, and you think, ‘I don’t have anything to post today,’ guess what? Just repost the same video,” he says. 

Here’s a quick strategy for doing this: 

1. Identify your top-performing posts. 

2. Change the format (e.g., turn a Reel into a carousel or vice versa) or write a new caption.

3. Add repurposed content to your calendar.

You can also repurpose top-performing posts into Instagram Story ads, regular Instagram ads, and broader marketing campaigns.

Schedule posts with apps

Instagram allows Business and Creator account holders to schedule posts up to 75 days in advance. Alternatively, you can use Instagram management apps like Sked Social, Later, or Hootsuite to schedule Instagram posts. Creating and scheduling posts in bulk means you don’t have to brainstorm new content every day.

📚Resource: 20 Inspiring Instagram Post Ideas for New and Unique Content

How Wilderdog grew its Instagram audience

Rachel Friedline co-founded Wilderdog, a company that makes leashes, harnesses, and other accessories for dogs who love outdoor adventures. She immediately created an Instagram business account for Wilderdog, knowing it would be crucial to her social media marketing strategy.

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A post shared by WILDERDOG (@wilderdog)

Since then, the account has grown to more than 380,000 followers and has found its ideal cadence, posting in-feed at least once per day. 

Borrow these tips from Wilderdog’s posting strategy: 

• Use high-quality photos, whether they’re your own or user-generated content (UGC). 
• Post casual content on Instagram Stories to build connections with your audience. 
• Encourage your customers to tag your brand in their photos (you can add a branded hashtag in your Instagram bio). 
• Share tagged Instagram Stories and photos—particularly the funny ones or those that most encapsulate your brand. 
• Post something daily, whether it’s Instagram Stories or Instagram feed posts. 
• Identify what social media posts perform best and share more of those. 

Rachel’s biggest tip for other entrepreneurs is to keep posting and experimenting. “The culture surrounding the app seems to be changing faster than ever now,” she says. “Yes, strategize, but also be willing to change your strategy.”

Since she uses the app daily, Rachel noticed when Reels were picking up steam and posted more of them. Similarly, once she noticed posts tagged with shoppable items were doing better, she leaned into that. She built her audience by creating a consistent Instagram posting frequency and switching up content when needed. 

“By making mistakes along the way, you’re going to figure out what’s best for your company," she says. Trial and error can be an influential teacher in refining your Instagram strategy.

How often should you post on Instagram FAQ

How often should I post on Instagram to gain followers?

Aim to share Instagram in-feed posts three to five times per week and post at least one Instagram Story per day. If you have the time and resources, increase your posting frequency to multiple times a week or several times a day. Whatever you choose, stick to it—the key is to maintain a steady presence without overwhelming your audience.

Is posting two times a day on Instagram too much?

Posting twice a day can help you increase your follower count and engagement, but only if you’re posting interesting content. If increasing your posts results in a drop in quality, you may notice a corresponding drop in engagement and follower count.

How long should you wait between posts on Instagram?

The key to increasing Instagram followers is consistency, so spread out your posts over the week rather than posting all at once. That means if you’re posting three times a week, you might want to wait one to two days between posts. If you’re posting seven times a week, post once per day.