IInstagram is the marketing world’s Swiss Army knife; it’s basically got something for everyone and is used by everyone from Fortune 500 companies like KFC to promote their new chicken sandwich to your cousin Derek, who’s really into kombucha brewing methods. (Seriously, over a billion people are scrolling Instagram monthly.) If you’re releasing a new product or promoting a class, whatever, you’ve probably whipped up a marketing campaign, dreaming up unique content ideas to grab attention, but many times, crafting a content plan feels like building IKEA furniture with no instructions. Planning a single post can suck up hours of your life — and that’s before you even think about engagement. You didn’t sign up for a full-time job in the “what should I post today” panic, but here you are.
As a content creator, the great news is that you can slash your time investment with Instagram Automation tools that schedule content in advance, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business.
Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first:
Can You Schedule Posts on Instagram?
Totally. Various social media tools, including features that schedule content on profiles, are designed to help marketers automate their Instagram content ideas and strategy.
Using an automation tool, you can schedule the following types of Instagram posts:
- Carousel posts
- Stories
Why Bother Scheduling Instagram Content?
It saves time
Social media marketing usually feels repetitive, especially with time-sensitive content. Say you’re posting new content once per day. That could mean posting on Instagram for at least an hour. That’s an hour away from basically, life.
Picture the cosmic harmony of getting all your content scheduled in one peaceful flow. You spend a chill half-day creating, then — like the universe itself — your posts just roll out through the week while you vibe on other, higher-level tasks. We’re going all hippie here, so we’re just gonna roll with the vibe: For small business owners, this is pure groovy magic. Use that free time to connect with your people, tune into the numbers, or, you know, manifest more marketing magic. No more scrambling for last-minute posts — just pure, zen-like social media mastery. 🌼✌️
Keeps you consistent
Instagram’s algorithm favors recent content, making regular posting a key strategy. When your audience expects consistent content, scheduling becomes a crucial tool to meet their expectations.
It’s easy for things to fall through the cracks. A few days off for vacation in Tahiti or a busy week that prevents you from posting could cause your Instagram content to fall on the back burner. Scheduling content in advance prevents that from happening.
Most Instagram scheduling tools let you preview your profile masterpiece before it hits the grid. And let’s be honest — a feed that looks like a work of art (with a consistent vibe) can be the difference between someone smashing that “Follow” button or ghosting you forever. First impressions, baby.
You’ll get more followers
Some scheduling platforms work by posting content at your optimal posting times, ensuring your content reaches your audience when they’re most active. This feature boosts exposure, engagement — and follower count.
The result? Content gets posted to your Instagram profile when your audience is active, which leads to exposure, engagement, and followers.
How to Schedule Instagram Posts
Scheduling your Instagram posts is like putting your growth on autopilot. It’s your secret weapon to keep the content rolling while you’re out living your best life.
Here’s a five-step guide to scheduling your content, plus recommendations for Instagram scheduling tools that can post content on your behalf.
- Create an Instagram business account.
- Curate your content.
- Find your optimal posting time.
- Write your caption and choose hashtags.
- Pick an Instagram scheduling tool.
1. Create an Instagram business account
The first step in scheduling Instagram content is to create a business account before connecting it to your business’s Facebook page (if you haven’t already done so).
An Instagram business profile differs from a personal account. It gives you access to more Instagram features, including audience insights. Instead of guessing the best time to post, you’ll see in-depth analytics to track your scheduled content performance according to your audience’s activity.
2. Curate content
The next stage is to curate the content you’ll schedule to your account.
The best type of content to post on Instagram depends on your audience. Some examples include:
- Behind-the-scenes photos
- Custom graphics
- Product tutorials
- User-generated content
- Reposted influencer posts
- Recorded or live video
3. Find your optimal posting time
We’ve touched on the fact that the timing of your scheduled Instagram posts matters. Scheduling content to go out when your audience is online improves your content’s chances of getting seen.
Research shows the best time to post on Instagram is between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays. (Heads up: Time zones are a major detail here. Prime posting time for you might be totally off for your followers across the globe. So, while you’re sipping your morning coffee, they could be enjoying their after-dinner drink.)
Your audience might be opening the Instagram app when they’re off work, on a lunch break, or relaxing on the weekend.
The only way to figure out your optimal time is to test it using automation tools to analyze the success of previous posts.
4. Craft your caption, tag accounts, and choose hashtags
Once you’ve built up a library of shareable Instagram content, create a unique caption for each image or video. There are no best practices for writing an effective Instagram caption. Test out the following tactics and report on their success:
- Using emojis
- Long versus short captions
- Adding a call to action (CTA) for people to engage
Think about any influencers you want to tag in your account, too. Since influencers connect with large audiences, connecting with an Instagram influencer has many advantages. Getting their attention to your scheduled post could result in them sharing your content with their audience, which is good for any Instagram influencer who could be considered part of your target audience.
You should also choose a handful of Instagram hashtags at this point. Users can follow hashtags without following an account. So, select the ones your target audience follows and use your scheduling tool to add them to the caption or as the first comment.
5. Choose an Instagram scheduler
Now that you’ve planned your Instagram content, it’s time to start scheduling!
Here are four of the best Instagram scheduling tools, with guidance on how to use each.
Facebook Creator Studio
Facebook owns Instagram, so most features available inside an Instagram business account, including content scheduling, are managed through Facebook’s Creator Studio.
Here’s how to use it to schedule Instagram feed posts.
- Connect your business’s Instagram account to Creator Studio.
- Hit “Create Post” and choose “Instagram Feed.”
- Create your content: Upload the image, write a caption, and include any hashtags you want to share with the scheduled post.
- Choose the dropdown arrow beside “Publish” and press “Schedule.”
- Choose a date and time for your scheduled Instagram post to go live.
Pricing: Free.
The only downside to Creator Studio is that you can only schedule Instagram feed posts. To schedule Instagram Stories, you’ll need to use a third-party app.
Buffer
Buffer connects with various social networks so you can schedule content in advance, including Instagram posts and Stories.
Here’s how to schedule Instagram feed posts in Buffer.
- Download Buffer’s iOS or Android app and create an account.
- Connect your Instagram business account.
- Find the Queue section of your Buffer dashboard.
- Hit “Create New Post.”
- Drag-and-drop your Instagram content, including the caption, hashtags, and photo.
- Hit “Schedule post.”
The process is slightly different to schedule an Instagram Story. Limitations on Instagram’s application programming interface (API) mean you’ll need to set a reminder to post your content (Instagram Story) inside the mobile app, which will sit there waiting for you to hit “publish” when the time comes.
Pricing: Free plan and 14-day trial available. Paid plans start at $15/month.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is another excellent social media management tool for scheduling posts for your Instagram profile.
Here’s how to use it.
- Create a Hootsuite account and connect your Instagram business profile.
- Find the “Create New Post” button in the app sidebar.
- Under the “Post to” field, choose your account.
- Upload the image you want to schedule alongside its caption.
- Choose a date and time to schedule the Instagram post.
- Optional: Use the AutoSchedule tool to add the planned content to your queue.
Pricing: Starts at $49/month for one user. Free 30-day trial available.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social has an Instagram integration that acts as a content scheduler, but unlike Creator Studio, Sprout Social has a feature that makes it easier to schedule Instagram Stories.
Limitations on Instagram’s API mean Sprout Social can’t automatically post Stories on your behalf, but you can build workflows to create Instagram Stories on your desktop. The tool will then send that Story to your mobile app, ready for you to hit “publish.”
(Sprout Social also works with other social profiles, including LinkedIn and Facebook Pages.)
Pricing: Unlimited Instagram scheduling starts at $99 per user per month. A free 30-day trial is available.
Best Practices for Instagram Scheduling
Create a queue for scheduled content
We all know it’s important to post Instagram content when your audience is online. But instead of keeping a mental reminder of your optimal posting times (and remembering to check in to see if they change), most platforms can do this for you.
Some social media scheduling tools — including Buffer, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social — create queues based on your Instagram account’s optimal posting times. Any new content added to the queue will be scheduled at those peak times.
Don’t schedule too far in advance
It’s easy to get carried away with auto-posting content to your Instagram profile as a content creator. After all, it’s recommended to post between one and three Instagram feed posts per day and another two to five Stories.
But be wary of scheduling Instagram content too far in advance, especially with sensitive content. Sociocultural events may occur, and even with a strong content plan, scheduled content could come across as insensitive.
Aim to schedule a month’s content at most, but always be ready to pause.
Plan the visuals
Did you know that over 50% of Instagram users visit the Explore tab monthly?
That’s why the visual aspect of your scheduled Instagram posts is so important: You need to stand out against the other images and videos on the Explore tab to boost your reach, engagement, and follower count.
Most Instagram scheduling apps have a content calendar view. Some tools (like Tailwind) store templates to keep your scheduled content on brand.
Report on results
The purpose of scheduling your Instagram content is to increase your likelihood of reaching more accounts and convincing them to follow you. Ultimately, this helps build an audience of Instagram followers to promote your products and services.
So, checking your Instagram Analytics frequently is good to see whether the scheduled content is heading toward those goals. Keep an eye on metrics like:
- Impressions: the number of times your post was shown.
- Engagement rate: the percentage of people who see your post and engage with it — either by liking, commenting, bookmarking, or sharing it with a friend.
- Follower growth: the number of new people following your business’s Instagram profile.
The Instagram Insights tab can provide you with this information; Manychat’s third-party social media analytics tools can break down the data for you and consider the results when scheduling future Instagram content.
Start Automating Your Instagram Marketing Strategy
Scheduling content for your Instagram account is a superb way to start with Instagram Automation.
But what happens when many new people start conversations with your account?
Around 50% of user-to-business messaging starts from Stories, so if you’re scheduling that type of content, expect a rise in the number of messages coming to your Instagram Inbox.
With Manychat, you can set up an Instagram Automation workflow that handles customer convos like a pro — giving real-time answers to FAQs and keeping the chatter going across multiple channels. It’s like having a 24/7 assistant, minus the caffeine breaks.
If you’re considering the ways you can level up your social media presence with automating your DMs, scheduling posts in the future or just seeing more people react to that killer Instagram Story, Manychat can help. Download it free today. We’re all-in on helping people crush their Feeds.
