Learning how to schedule Instagram posts in advance is the easiest manner to save fourth dimension on the platform and so that you tin can focus on what matters.

The more complex your Instagram marketing efforts are, the more helpful a scheduling tool becomes. This is truthful whether you own a small business organization or manage a global team. Consistent, high-quality content is easier to plan, craft and share when you automate some of the grunt work.

In this commodity, nosotros'll become through how to schedule posts on Instagram, including the best Instagram scheduling tools for Business, Creator and personal accounts.

Visual learners: Watch this video for demos of how to schedule Instagram posts and Stories with Creator Studio and Hootsuite. Everyone else: keep reading.

Bonus: Download our complimentary, customizable social media agenda template to easily plan and schedule all your content in accelerate.

How to schedule Instagram Posts (for Business accounts)

Can you schedule posts on Instagram Business? Yous certain can!

Brands with business profiles can utilise third-party apps like Hootsuite toschedule posts across multiple social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest.

You can schedulefeed posts, Stories, carousel posts, and Instagram ads with Hootsuite.

Earlier you start, make sure to switch to an Instagram Business or Creator account — it's free, and it only takes a minute. If you'd rather stick to a personal account, nosotros accept a section for you coming up.

If yous're using Hootsuite, information technology'southward easy to link your Instagram account. From the Hootsuite dashboard:

  • Click your profile icon in the bottom left corner
  • Next, click Social Networks and Teams
  • Select + Private Network in the bottom-left corner
  • Cull Instagram from the list of networks, and so click Connect with Instagram
  • Input your business relationship credentials

Add Instagram business profile to Hootsuite account to schedule Instagram posts

For more details on this process, bank check out our very thorough assist article.

two. Etch your Instagram postal service

In your Hootsuite dashboard, click the Create icon, so select Mail.

Compose Instagram post in Hootsuite dashboard to schedule Instagram posts

In the Postal service To field, cull your preferred Instagram account from the list.

Select preferred Instagram account from list to schedule Instagram posts

At present get ahead and upload your visuals (or select them from your content library). You'll besides want to write an engagement-driving caption, add your hashtags, tag relevant accounts, and add your location.

Your draft volition show up as a preview on the right.

Hootsuite upload visuals or select from content library to schedule Instagram posts

If y'all haven't already prepared your image for Instagram, information technology's easy. Click Edit Epitome to ingather your visual to the required attribute ratios (that is: 1.91:1 or four:five), filter it, and otherwise perfect it.

Bonus: Download our complimentary, customizable social media calendar template to easily plan and schedule all your content in accelerate.

Get the template now!

Even if you're a one-person team, don't skip this pace. Instagram is an image-focused platform. Nailing your Instagram aesthetic is primal to winning over your audience.

Edit Instagram image to required ratios and add filters when scheduling Instagram posts

3. Find the all-time time to post

Posting at the correct fourth dimension tin assist yous reach your audience when they're online. Plus, early on engagement tells the Instagram algorithm that people like your content (a.chiliad.a. gives information technology a nudge to surface it in more users' feeds).

Hootsuite'south All-time Time to Publish characteristic shows you lot your all-time time to post on Instagram based on your posts from the past 30 days. It groups posts by weekday and hour to identify when your posts had the highest impact, based on boilerplate impressions or date rate.

To notice your best times to post, salvage your post draft and follow the instructions below:

  1. In the left-manus side card, click Analytics.
  2. Then, click Best time to publish.
  3. In the dropdown carte at the top of your screen, select the Instagram account you're posting to.

Y'all will come across a heatmap highlighting your best times to post (based on your business relationship's historical operation). You can switch between two tabs: "Build awareness" and "Boost engagement" to detect the time that will work best for your specific goals.

Find the best time to schedule Instagram posts

4. Schedule your postal service

All right, at present comes the easy part. ClickSchedule for Subsequently in the bottom right, and select the date and time you'd like your post to go live.

If you skipped the step to a higher place and didn't go to analytics to wait upward your best times to publish, you will run across a couple of recommended posting times once yous select a engagement. You can pick one or manually set a time.

screenshot showing the feature in Hootsuite to help schedule Instagram posts

That's it! Yous tin can review your scheduled posts in the Hootsuite Planner, and edit them in that location before they go alive, as well.

Wait for scheduled post to be published to Instagram

How to schedule Instagram posts (for personal accounts)

Finally, let's take a look at how to schedule an IG post for those of us using personal profiles.

If your Instagram profile is neither a creator nor a business organisation account, don't worry. You tin can even so schedule your posts; at that place are but some extra steps involved. In brusque: Hootsuite sends you a mobile push button notification at the scheduled fourth dimension, which reminds you to log in and tap publish.

1. Add your Instagram profile to your social media management platform

For self-evident reasons, we'll pretend that your preferred management platform is Hootsuite. From the Hootsuite dashboard:

  • Click your contour icon in the bottom left corner
  • Next, click Social Networks and Teams
  • Select + Private Network in the bottom-left corner
  • Cull Instagram from the list of networks, and then click Connect with Instagram
  • Input your account credentials to integrate the accounts.

You're also going to want to set upward the ability to use mobile push notifications. Follow these steps on your phone:

  • Download the latest version of the Hootsuite mobile app onto your phone
  • Open the Hootsuite app, tap your contour icon in the upper left corner, go to Settings, then Notifications
  • Find your Instagram profile in the listing and ensure Ship me a Button Notification is on

two. Compose your mail service

Y'all know the drill: write a skilful caption, utilise the correct hashtags, tag relevant accounts, and add your location.

If you want to level upwards your posts, cheque out our listing of Instagram marketing tips. Or else read upwardly on the latest Instagram trends in 2022.

3. Schedule your postal service

The cardinal difference between business and personal accounts? Posts scheduled for a personal account don't publish automatically. Instead, yous'll become a mobile notification.

You'll still want to cheque your Instagram analytics and make sure y'all select the best time to postal service.

Go ahead and option your time and appointment, then clickSchedule.

Schedule Instagram posts for non-business profiles

iv. Publish your mail

When the time comes, you lot'll receive a push notification on your phone to remind you to post to Instagram. Annotation that this is substantially the same process for scheduling your Instagram Stories (no matter what kind of business relationship you have).

The process for posting looks something like this. The Hootsuite app will take intendance of most of the work, merely you need to open up Instagram, paste your caption in, select your photograph, et cetera. Not tough brain piece of work, but requite yourself 5 minutes to triple-check that everything'southward correct.

Publish Instagram post to non-business profile using Hootsuite

And voila! You've washed it!

How to schedule Instagram posts with Creator Studio

Can you plan your Instagram feed on Facebook? You sure can — if you have a Business or Creator profile on Instagram. Facebook'southward native Creator Studio allows you lot to craft and schedule Instagram posts from your computer.

Annotation that while Creator Studio is a handy Facebook scheduler for Instagram,information technology'due south currently not possible to mail service or schedule an Instagram Story from Creator Studio. To do that, yous'll want to check out our post on how to schedule Instagram Stories.

In full general, Creator Studio is a practiced tool if you simply want to schedule Instagram and Facebook posts (and don't heed not being able to schedule Stories). But most social media pros tin can save a lot of time and energy using a social media direction tool and treatment all social channels from a single dashboard.

A tool similar Hootsuite will help y'all schedule content to Instagram and Facebook pages, also as TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest, all in 1 place. Here is how Creator Studio compares to Hootsuite:

comparison of Hootsuite and Creator Studio

To schedule Instagram posts from your computer using Creator Studio, follow these steps:

  1. Link your Instagram account to Creator Studio.
  2. Click the Create Post button.
  3. Upload your visuals (photos or videos — you lot can upload multiple files to create a carousel mail).
  4. Craft your post (write your explanation, add together emojis, mentions and hashtags).
  5. Click the arrow beside the blue Publish button, and select Schedule.

Using Creator Studio to schedule Instagram posts: Step 2

That'southward it! Now you can lean back and check your DMs.

What about cross-posting?

If you'd like to streamline your process even further, you lot can also consider cantankerous-posting.

Cross-posting is the process of sharing like content beyond multiple social media channels. Information technology's a handy choice for businesses with smaller budgets and less time to personalize content.

Y'all can utilize cross-posting (via Hootsuite or Facebook Creator Studio) to prepare Facebook to post to Instagram. It'south not e'er the best selection for truly engaging content, though.

We've got more than details in our in-depth guide to cross-posting. If yous're serious about scaling your Instagram marketing efforts, yous've got meliorate options.

Best practices for scheduling Instagram posts

If you lot're ready to take the plunge and get real efficient with your posting habits, these tips volition assist keep y'all ahead of the game.

one. Post at the best time

In general, posting when your followers are online is key. That's because the Instagram algorithm prioritizes recency. This means that, generally, a newer postal service will show up college on your followers' newsfeed than an older one.

That'due south i reason why simple cross-posting may non work. Your audience on Facebook may exist active from 6-10PM on weeknights, just browsing Instagram from 1-4PM.

The right Instagram analytics tool will tell you lot when your audience is most likely to be online and/or engage with your postal service.

For the Hootsuite social media team, that fourth dimension is8AM-12PM PST, or 4-5PM PST on weekdays.For you, it might be different.

Luckily,Hootsuite's Best Time to Publish feature tin can show you your best time to post on Instagram based on your posts from the by 30 days. It groups posts by weekday and hour to identify when your posts had the highest touch on, based on average impressions or engagement rate. Then it suggests the best times for you to post moving forward.

Followers online by hour for Instagram in Hootsuite's Best Time to Publish feature

It will also suggest time slots that you haven't used in the last xxx days so that you can milkshake upwardly your posting habits and test new tactics.

2. But don't schedule likewise far in advance

If we learned anything in 2020, it's that the earth is changing faster and faster. That's why automating Instagram posts is a footling more nuanced than "set it and forget it."

When it comes to Instagram scheduling, going much further than a week in accelerate tin kickoff to increase the take a chance of something going sideways. You don't want to crusade a social media crisis for your brand by posting something insensitive. If something unexpected happens, you may need to pause your posting calendar entirely. You lot might even need to  use your social channels to communicate through a crisis.

Our advice: keep your finger on the pulse, and stay nimble.

3. Be ready to press suspension

If you practise schedule your posts far in advance, it's not the cease of the earth. Sometimes you need a full two weeks of holiday!

Just make sure you're using an Instagram scheduler that allows y'all to press suspension on all upcoming content if a crunch or emergency suddenly occurs.

With Hootsuite, pausing your scheduled social media content is as simple as clicking the pause symbol on your organization's profile and so entering a reason for the suspension. (This is actually one of our favorite Hootsuite hacks.)

Use the pause button in Hootsuite dashboard to pause scheduled Instagram posts

Source: Hootsuite

4. Don't get spammy

Yep, the miracle of Instagram scheduling means you can now increase your quantity of posts without sacrificing quality. Just should you?

The short answer is "perchance." The long reply is "peradventure, if yous can maintain consistent quality at that stride over the long term."

Consistency matters more than frequency when information technology comes to engagement. Remember that the algorithm prioritizes good relationships: if your followers are engaging with your Instagram content, the algorithm will show more than of information technology to them.

5. Optimize and edit

No matter how busy you lot are, make sure you take a fresh await at that re-create earlier it goes live.

And for big teams with a lot of moving parts, an internal multi-stage approving system is ideal for preventing a gaffe.

Only though words are important to any social media post, visuals are key on Instagram. Go yourself an Instagram scheduler that allows you lot to edit your photos in the same dashboard you publish from. It'll relieve you much more than time and ensure that your images are fully optimized before posting.

Shout out to Hootsuite'due south image editor, which can crop your image to the right size for any social network. It likewise has an extensive filter library (useful for those of us who would rather exit photograph editing upwards to the professionals). Spotter the video below for a preview of the tool.

vi. Clarify and arrange

At present that you know how to schedule posts on IG, you've got time to take a wait at the big pic.

Are yous creating content that works for your audience? What'southward earning likes? What'due south falling flat? Cull your preferred Instagram analytics tool and get-go exploring.

Apply Hootsuite to schedule Instagram posts at the best fourth dimension, respond to comments, track competitors, and measure functioning—all from the same dashboard you employ to manage your other social networks. Outset your free trial today.

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