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Scheduling posts on Instagram will free up time for other marketing tasks like engagement, content creation, and planning.
And that’s why you’re looking for the best way to schedule Instagram posts.
Of course, many Instagram post scheduling options exist.
But the best option for you will depend on your needs.
No worries, I’ll walk you through all the scheduling options to take your Instagram productivity to the next level.
Let’s dive in.
Why schedule posts on Instagram?
Here are 5 reasons to schedule posts on Instagram:
- Save time: In less than an hour, you can schedule Instagram posts for 2 weeks. This means more time for other activities without derailing your Instagram strategy.
- Prevent Instagram time drain: While you won’t freely admit it at a dinner party, how many times have you gone on Instagram to publish a post only to first spend 30 minutes gulping content from your favorite accounts? Scheduling posts allows you to eliminate potential distractions that are often irresistible.
- Collaborate with team members: If you work in a team, you may need a second pair of eyes to see or approve your posts. With scheduled posts, every important collaborator can review and suggest changes before posts go live.
- Improve publishing consistency: If you only think of Instagram post ideas when it’s time to publish a post, you’ll often hit creative blocks. However, you can brainstorm posts for a few weeks in one sitting if you schedule posts.
- Plan Instagram grid: What impression do you want to leave on your Instagram profile visitors? By scheduling a few posts, you can determine how your Instagram grid will look. And you’ll find the Instagram grid preview of scheduled posts in some social media management tools.
With these potential benefits of scheduling posts on Instagram, let’s see methods you can use to schedule posts from today onwards.
How to schedule posts on Instagram with the native mobile app
Instagram allows you to schedule posts and reels through the mobile app.
To qualify for this, you need a professional Instagram account. In fact, you need a professional account to get the best out of Instagram scheduling, no matter the scheduling tool you prefer.
Once you have a professional account, follow the process to create an Instagram post. Click + at the bottom of your Instagram app.
Then, select the media file you want to use in your post. Once you do this, click Next.
On the next page, you can add filters to your media. Then, click Next once you’re done.
The next page provides the caption box and other settings. After entering your caption, scroll down the settings and select Advanced settings.
On this page, toggle on Schedule this post and select the time you want the post to go live. Instagram allows you to schedule 25 posts in a day.
While Instagram claims you can schedule up to 75 days in advance, I couldn’t go beyond 28 days in the setting.
After setting the date and time, click Done and the back arrow to return to your post.
Click Share to schedule your post.
After scheduling posts, how do you keep track of your schedule?
Go to your Instagram profile and click on the 3 lines at the top right corner. Then, select Scheduled content on the next page.
Doing this will show your scheduled posts.
Alternatively, start the post creation process. Now, you’ll see a Scheduled tab. If you click on it, Instagram will show scheduled posts.
While the Instagram mobile app may be the easiest scheduling option, its limitations can hold back your publishing efforts.
For example, you can’t schedule Stories with this method. If you want to schedule Stories, the Instagram mobile app will probably be insufficient.
If you also do most of your social media work on desktop, moving files and texts to your phone just to schedule Instagram posts is tiring.
If these limitations are deal breakers, let’s explore the other options.
How to schedule posts on Instagram with Meta Business Suite
The Meta Business Suite lets you schedule Facebook and Instagram posts from your desktop. You can also schedule Stories.
For me, it also has a better interface than Instagram’s mobile app.
But to use the Meta Business Suite to schedule posts on Instagram, you have to grant permission to the admin of the connected Facebook page. Facebook will take you through the steps if needed.
To schedule a post, click Create Post, Create Reel, or Create Story.
Doing this will take you to the post creation interface.
Here, you can select the pages you want to publish to, add your media file, and write captions.
If your image has a warped aspect ratio, Facebook will prompt you to adjust the image to Instagram’s aspect ratio standards. But beyond the crop tool, there are other image editing tools.
In the caption editor, you can add hashtags, smileys, or a location.
Below the caption box, toggle on the Scheduling options to set a time and date. Meta allows you to schedule for up to 29 days in advance.
In addition, you can schedule posts for active times. Click Active times in the scheduling section, and Meta will suggest the best posting times in the coming days based on your audience’s most active times.
After setting a date and time, click Schedule.
From the scheduling section, Meta will take you to the Planner and show your scheduled post on the calendar.
On another note, you can download the Meta Business Suite mobile app if you want to perform these tasks on your smartphone.
I think if you work solo and only publish content on Facebook and Instagram, the Meta Business Suite should meet most of your scheduling needs.
However, if you need to collaborate with team members and schedule posts on other social media platforms, you may have to go with a social media management tool.
How to schedule posts on Instagram with social media management tools
While Meta provides 2 free options to schedule Instagram posts, it lacks other features you may need for your day-to-day social media management activities.
Features like:
- Collaboration with team members
- Integrations for media design or discovery
- Scheduling on multiple social media platforms
- AI caption generator
To get these features, in addition to scheduling Instagram posts, use a social media management tool.
How?
Let me walk you through how to use 3 social media management tools to schedule posts on Instagram.
Note: Before you use any tool to schedule posts, you have to connect your professional Instagram account(s) to it.
These tools allow you to schedule Instagram Feed post, Reels, and Stories.
Schedule Instagram posts with Vista Social
Vista Social, with its extensive features, is one of the best social media management tools.
And one of its features is robust social media scheduling.
To access this feature, click Create on Vista Social’s dashboard, calendar, or sidebar.
Doing this will take you to the post editor. In the editor, you’ll see sections like your social media accounts, caption box, and post preview.
Here, you can enter your caption. But if you need inspiration, click on the AI icon to launch the AI assistant.
Then, enter a prompt to get caption ideas. Once you get a caption you can use, insert it into the editor. From here, you can shape the caption to your taste.
There are also hashtag suggestions based on the topic of your post.
But what if you need to add images or videos?
Vista Social provides many options for this. You can upload files from your computer, a URL, Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. You can also find images on Unsplash, Pexels, and Giphy.
But even more, you can design your media right in Vista Social. For example, the Canva integration allows you to design images for Instagram posts.
Once you have the content pieces for your post, you can see an Instagram post preview. If you want to publish on multiple social media platforms, Vista Social allows you to adjust your post for each platform.
In terms of scheduling your social media post, Vista Social provides 4 options:
- Save draft
- Add to queue
- Schedule
- Publish now
You can select any of these options and save your post.
If you work with team members, you can leave notes for them in the post editor and send posts to them for approval.
Of course, these are just Vista Social’s features relevant to scheduling. You can read my Vista Social review to learn more about the tool.
Schedule Instagram posts with ContentStudio
To schedule an Instagram post with ContentStudio, click on Compose at the top of your dashboard and select Social Post from the options.
Doing this will load the composer interface. Next, write your caption and select your Instagram post type.
If you need help with captions and images, click the AI icon to launch the AI caption writer.
In the AI caption writer, you can select a predefined prompt or describe your idea. There are also options for the number of words, voice tone, hashtags, and the number of variations to generate.
For images, you can write a prompt, select dimensions, and the number of images.
Once you’re done with the setup, generate your captions and images. You can then insert them into the editor.
But if you want to create your images, integration with tools like Canva and Vista Create lets you design images without leaving ContentStudio.
Moving on, content curation is another excellent feature that can supply endless content ideas. You can search about various topics to see content that exists online.
Once you’re done, you can view the post preview. Here, you can also adjust the post for each social media platform.
After this, ContentStudio provides 4 scheduling options:
- Publish
- Schedule
- Send post for approval
- Save as draft
ContentStudio also recommends the best time to post, so you can schedule your post to this time. If you want to publish the post repeatedly, toggle on the Repeat Post option and select the number of repetitions and intervals.
Overall, ContentStudio provides many options for scheduling posts and collaborating with team members.
For more information about the tool, read my ContentStudio review.
Schedule Instagram posts with Later
While Later lacks robust collaboration features, it’s probably the best social media management tool if you’re a solo content creator.
To schedule an Instagram post with Later, click Create Post or drag a media file from your library to a day in your calendar.
Doing any of these will launch the post composer. Here, you can upload media and enter captions.
Later also has an AI caption writer that can give you some captions to work with. All you have to do is describe the post and select a tone.
From the results, you can insert your favorite caption into the editor. If you have saved captions, you can pick one of them too.
Then, Later provides hashtags suggestions based on what your post is about.
Below the caption box, there are options to add the first comment and location.
You can also add a link in bio. Later’s link in bio tool lets you mirror your Instagram grid and send followers to important website pages.
Beyond the AI caption writer, Later has an Ideas section where you can get post ideas for up to a month. All you have to do is enter your business description and Later will whip up ideas.
Once you finish setting up your post, you can schedule it. Later suggests the best time to publish your post for optimum performance.
To learn more about what Later offers, especially for creators, read my Later review.
If you want to explore more options beyond these 3 tools, check out my guide on the best social media scheduling tools.
Best practices for scheduling posts on Instagram
1. Understand your scheduling needs
Why?
Your scheduling needs will determine the solution that works for you.
Do you just need to schedule a few posts throughout a month or schedule posts while working with a team?
Do you need a content calendar to organize your scheduling?
These needs will direct how you approach scheduling on Instagram.
2. Use the right Instagram scheduling tool
Put simply, the right Instagram scheduler for you is the one that meets your needs.
That can be the Instagram mobile app or Later.
Look at your needs and then pick the tool that meets those needs.
3. Create a content calendar
A content calendar provides an overview of your posts for a month. This overview can help organize your publishing efforts for this period.
Then, a calendar encourages consistent publishing on Instagram.
With a calendar, you can schedule content for a few weeks into various slots.
If you need one, see my guide on how to create an Instagram content calendar and a template you can use.
4. Schedule for the best time to post
The best time to post is usually when your audience is on Instagram. Publishing posts at this time increases the chances of engagement.
You want your posts to go live when your followers are on Instagram.
You can find the time your followers are online on Instagram. Visit your Instagram profile and click on Professional dashboard below the bio. Then, select Total followers to see your audience’s most active times.
However, if you use a social media management tool, most of them recommend the best time to publish posts.
5. Engage with responses
Followers can drop comments on your posts when they go live.
Scheduling should be no excuse to ignore your audience. So, set aside time daily or a few times weekly to respond to comments on your posts.
Some tools allow you to respond to these comments without going on Instagram.
6. Know when to pause schedule
If a hurricane has just swept through an area your ideal buyers live, it’s the wrong time to publish a post promoting a product discount (except you sell emergency supplies).
In such a situation, you should pause your schedule and write a heartfelt message to the affected people.
While a schedule helps you plan, you should be agile enough to pause it when necessary.
So, your Instagram schedule should never be set-and-forget-it.
Conclusion
Scheduling posts on Instagram can save you a lot of time to spend on other profitable activities.
However, you only get the best results when you schedule Instagram posts the right way.
That is, pick the right tool for your needs and follow the best practices.
Now, follow one of the methods to schedule posts on Instagram today.
Samuel writes long-form guides to help businesses and entrepreneurs achieve better results from their marketing activities. He also writes for marketing and SaaS companies that want more leads and customers. Get in touch with him to discuss your content needs.