Posting Time and Instagram Reel Performance

Based on @thorfinn_wisdom's content

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Intro

This analysis investigates how posting time (weekday and hour of day) affects the performance of motivational reels from @thorfinn_wisdom. The dataset covers 196 videos, and the metrics analyzed are:

• Video Plays (total play count, including replays)

Confidence intervals shown in the boxplots represent the variability of performance across videos. Wider intervals suggest higher variation in outcomes, while tighter distributions indicate more consistency.

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Video Plays by Weekday

Observations

• Friday stands slighlty out, although the number of views seems to be quite consistent across all the weekdays.
• Weekends (Saturday and Sunday) show lower medians and higher variability, meaning some videos perform well, but consistency is lacking.
• Thursday and Saturday perform moderately but not exceptionally.

Confidence Intervals

The boxplots show tight clustering of most weekday plays ranging from 0-500 views, making it hard to draw any strong conclusions

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Video Plays by Hour of Posting

Observations

• Peak posting hours appear around 5–9 and 17–20, with sharp increases in play counts relative to other times.
• Late night and early morning (0–4) posts perform inconsistently, often with wider variability and some outliers but low medians.
• Midday hours (11–15) tend to underperform compared to morning or evening slots.
• A wave trend seems to be present with two peaks at 6 and 18.

Confidence Intervals

The variability is highest around 4 and 8–11, reflecting both potential for very strong videos but also inconsistent outcomes with outlier videos. Evening hours (21–23) show strong and relatively more reliable performance.

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Video Views (Unique Audience)

While the patterns are broadly similar to video plays, unique views highlight that replay-heavy hours (like early morning) may not translate into larger reach. Instead, evening slots consistently drive both higher views and higher engagement, aligning with typical audience activity patterns.

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Conclusion

The results suggest that posting time significantly affects reel performance:

• Best times to post: Mornings (8–10) and evenings (8–9), where both plays peak strongly.
• Worst times to post: Midday (11–15) and early mornings (0–4), where both views and plays are lower.

Recommendation

For influencers, the strategy should be to **focus on posting aroun 5–9 and 17–20. Avoid midday uploads, as they consistently underperform. By doing so, creators can maximize engagement (plays), leveraging audience activity cycles more effectively. Saturday and Thursdays could also be deprioritized compared to other weekdays, although the differences are marginal.