Everything You Need to Know About Scheduling Instagram Posts
Scheduling your Instagram content is key to building out your perfect Instagram strategy. We’re breaking down the reasons why you need to be scheduling your content and how it can save you a lot of time!
Posted 2 years ago
Written by
Mackenzie TaylorPosted 2 years ago
When it comes to creating content, being able to schedule the content in advance is not only a lifesaver for most (hello, have you ever accidentally forgotten to post something and had a panic attack?!) but it’ll save you time, anxiety, and will help your Instagram feed. Not sure what to look for when it comes to your Instagram scheduler? What features do you need? Need something that has an app? An automatic scheduler? Reports and analytics? Scroll through our guide to learn how to schedule Instagram posts and why it’s so important to get an Instagram Scheduler for your strategy in 2022!
Why schedule Instagram posts?
Okay, so honestly, why should you schedule your Instagram posts? When it comes to online content, being consistent is key. And having content scheduled in advance makes it easy to not miss a single day of content!
Scheduling also helps you with time management because who in the world wants to spend hours scrolling to find the perfect photo to post, edit it, re-edit it, edit it one more time just to be sure, figure out a caption that is the perfect amount of “blasé, cool, and off the cuff,” add hashtags, and THEN post? No one. That’s who. With scheduling your content, you can do all of that in the space of one day and not worry about ever missing a single thing.
Still not convinced? Let’s break it down even further:
1. Saves you time
Like we stated above, you’ll save time scheduling all of your content ahead of time. With that extra time you have, you can spend more time focusing on engaging with your followers, building your hashtag strategy (try out Flick to see how we can help with your hashtags!), and getting an undeniably cool Instagram feed curated. Being able to use a scheduler will help you focus more on your overall IG strategy and building your followers.
2. Write better and more engaging captions
When it comes to pre-scheduling your content, you have more time to think about the captions that you’re writing. Instead of trying to think of something quickly and typing out the first thing that comes to your mind or a random string of emojis (I am guilty on both counts!), you have more time to write captions that will actually engage your audience!
You’ll have more time to think about what you want your CTA to be, and how you want your audience to engage, and more time being able to write and think about your caption instead of scrambling for something on the fly.
3. More time to find relevant hashtags
The way you’re going to get better reach on your posts is by finding hashtags that are incredibly relevant to your content. If you’re not pre-scheduling your content and desperately trying to find hashtags on the go, you might not be finding the best ones for your photo or video. When you actually spend time researching and finding the best hashtags, you will see the results from your hashtags almost immediately.
With Flick, we’ll even suggest hashtags for your content that will help boost your posts and increase your reach on your Instagram account. Learn more about our suggested hashtags and discover yours with a free Flick trial.
How to schedule an Instagram post?
Now that you know the best reasons why you should schedule Instagram posts, it’s time to start scheduling! But … how? Let’s dive in…
1. Find the best time to post on Instagram
Go to your analytics on your account (either through Instagram Insights or through your Flick account) and find the best time each day to post to your feed. Is it earlier in the morning? Later at night?
Being able to optimize your posting time will help you beat the Instagram algorithm which is known to show your post to more and more people the more engagement you get when your photo is posted. So as your best shot at getting your content in front of your followers is by posting when they are most active and will like, comment, or share your post, finding out when they’re active is incredibly important to your Instagram strategy.
Remember that every day can be different when it comes to the best times, so be sure to keep tracking your insights and seeing which times of the day are working best for your content!
2. Plan your Instagram feed
One of the best things to do when it comes to your Instagram is to plan your feed. Having a curated feed is always a great idea when planning your Instagram strategy and scheduling your content will make sure your curated theme stays on brand!
Take a look at your Instagram as a whole. Do all the photos go together? Do you use similar filters or edit them in the same type of way? The best types of feeds on Instagram are ones that actually seem to tell a story or have a personal style and make sense as a whole on your Instagram feed.
Being able to use a scheduler that allows you to play around with image placement and plan out your feed ahead of time is such an important tool to have!
3. Auto Publish your Instagram Posts
Once upon a time, you weren’t able to auto-publish your posts and had to schedule content and post through a push notification. Those days are long gone and now with the handy dandy auto-publish tool, you can schedule your content to publish at a certain time and once it’s all scheduled, you don’t have to do anything else! It’s one of the best reasons to start using an Instagram Scheduler for your content. It’ll save you a lot of time and stress.
Like with all good things, there are some limitations when it comes to Instagram Schedulers because Instagram’s API will only let you do so much. Some of the limitations you’ll come across when it comes to auto-publishing are:
- Auto-publishing to Instagram is only available to Instagram business accounts. If you don’t have a business account, you’ll need to switch. Here’s how to do so.
- Instagram creator accounts cannot be auto-scheduled because they aren’t connected to Instagram API (annoying!), so you’ll have to get a push notification if you want to auto-publish.
When it comes to creating an Instagram strategy, making sure you have a scheduler in place is incredibly important. Not only will it save you a lot of time, but it will help you with engagement, understanding which of your content is doing the best, making sure you have a curated feed, and giving you more time that can be spent engaging with followers and boosting your reach.
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