In this blog, you will find the necessary steps to publish content and schedule posts on Instagram from Hootsuite.
Ok, team, we were almost in 2020, and this means that knowing how to schedule posts on Instagram is not only a plus but a non-negotiable skill.
Whether you have a business account, a creator account, or are developing your brand, using a tool to schedule your Instagram posts is one of the best ways to reclaim your time and creativity.
This article will walk you through the steps and best practices for all three types of Instagram accounts. In this way, you can see the concentration on what matters most to your company.
Table of Contents
Five benefits of scheduling your posts on Instagram
How to schedule posts on Instagram if you have a business account
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Table of Contents
Five Benefits you will get when Scheduling your Posts on Instagram
1. You save your Precious Time
Your secure calendar is already packed with activities. Instead of having to constantly interrupt your workday to schedule your next Post – and have to do this every day, at a time that works best for your audience – a scheduling tool allows you to plan.
Set aside a few hours at the beginning of each week to gather all the visual assets that accompany your posts. Also, use this time to write effective copy for each of them. Then upload all this content to your social media calendar. Now you can relax knowing that this content will reach your followers at the exact moment.
2. Perfect your Aesthetics
On Instagram, more than on any other social network, brands go out of their way to create a strong image. It doesn’t trouble if you are an influencer living on the beach or a startup focused on cutting edge technology. Your posts’ colour, composition, and tone need to feel genuine and so unique that they are immediately recognizable.
Of course, easier said than done.
By putting together multiple posts in the same batch, it will be much easier to maintain a consistent look for your brand. Besides, by viewing the publications on your calendar, it will be easier for you to identify when any of them present an off-brand aesthetic before you publish it. It generates a negative impact on your interactions.
3. Stop Switching Between Screens
You may think that I am an “old millennial”, but sometimes working on a single computer is easier. Especially when the videographer decided to pass the videos to you in .zip and the celebrity you are working with only approved two of the twenty-four photos (which were almost identical) from the shoot.
A scheduling tool for Instagram lets you drag and drop your visual assets directly from your desktop onto your calendar. It’s easier to identify those misspellings and typos on a single screen.
4. Get more Followers
Every time you post on Instagram, you increase your brand’s visibility, both for your existing followers and potential followers. Each Post has the potential to go viral and could even appear on Instagram’s Explore tab. At the very least, people will find your profile thanks to the hashtags you include.
Scheduling your posts in advance is a humble trick that will benefit your Instagram hashtag strategy. If you always use the same thirty (and irrelevant) hashtags in all your posts, this will not earn you points with the algorithm. However, with an Instagram scheduling tool, you can adjust your tactics in advance.
5. Increase your Interactions.
Don’t ignore your followers. Give them what they want.
One of the modest and most effective ways to get more likes on Instagram is by posting when your followers are online. Of course, if your statistics indicate that your followers are in Japan or New Zealand, they likely connect at a time that is not convenient for you (if you want to achieve a balance between your work and personal life).
It is where scheduling tools come in to save the day.
Let’s see what you have to do exactly to schedule your posts on Instagram. We have a certain preference for Hootsuite, of course, so this is the tool we’ll show you how to use next:
How to Schedule Posts on Instagram if you have a Business Profile
If you are a retailer, have a local business, brand, organization, or service provider, you probably already have a business profile on Instagram.
Step 1: Change your Instagram Account to a Business Profile
Even more important, this is the only type of account on Instagram that allows you to publish and schedule posts directly from Hootsuite.
To change your account, open the Instagram app on your phone and follow these steps:
Click on the hamburger icon.
Select the Settings option.
Click Account.
Select Switch to the business account.
Select the Company option and follow the instructions.
Take into account that you will have to connect your Instagram account to your Business Page on Facebook to complete the process.
Step 2: Add Your Business Profile on Instagram to your Social Media Management Platform
If you’re using Hootsuite, it’s pretty easy to link to your Instagram account.
Click on your profile icon in the superior right corner.
Select Manage social networks.
Click + Private Network in the lower-left corner of the dashboard to add Instagram.
Or, if you’re part of a larger team: Click the Manage option next to your organization’s name and click Add Social Network or Add Shared Network to add this profile to an organization.
Select Instagram and then click Connect to Instagram.
Enter the details to log into your account.
To enable direct publishing, you will also need to add the Facebook page associated with your account to Hootsuite.
If you need more details on how to set up your profile, check out this article.
Step 3: Compose your Posts
Now comes the fun part.
Click New Post and select Instagram from the list that appears.
Upload your photo or videotape (you can also crop, add filters, and edit them in Hootsuite).
Write an attractive description for your Post.
Add hashtags, tags, and location.
Review your Post in the window that appears on the right side.
Step 4: Schedule your Post
When you click the Schedule for later option (instead of choosing Post Now ), you can select the day and time you want to post.
The Hootsuite scheduling tool automatically suggests the best time to post for you. However, to better understand the habits of your audience, you can use Instagram statistics.
Pro tip: Don’t miss our awesome complete article with the best times to publish according to your industry.
Step 5: Wait for your Publication to Appear on Instagram
That’s all! Welcome to the world of Instagram programming.
How to schedule posts on Instagram if you have a personal account
Not everyone has or needs a business profile on Instagram. If your presence on Instagram is more about connecting with your audience, rather than strict metrics like conversions and clicks, this is a good reason not to use a business profile.
(Currently, Instagram already has a third option: the creator account, which we will cover in the next section.)
If you have a personal account, the Instagram API will not allow you to publish the posts that you have scheduled directly, so we will show you how to configure a workflow with mobile notifications.
It means that after assembling your posts, you need to schedule a reminder via push notification. When it’s time to post, you’ll receive an alert on your phone to remind you to click the “post” button.
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