Welcome to our Instagram Academy. Today’s subject: scheduling Instagram posts.
In earlier lessons (if you missed them, they are all in our Instagram Academy) we covered plenty of Instagram subjects: how to improve your Instagram profile, how to grow your Instagram followers, when to post on Instagram, how much to post on Instagram, how Instagram for business works and much more.
Use of the Instagram platform (on desktop too) has been growing exponentially for some time.
This photo-led social network is to all intents a marketing tool: companies large and small already use it, working with influencers who bring them further visibility.
And you? Want to start making money on Instagram? Already using Instagram for business?
Did you know you can get more out of your Instagram work by scheduling posts?
Good — if you need to know more about how to schedule and which scheduling tools you need, read on.
We will go straight to scheduled Instagram posts and the Instagram scheduling tools available.
Did you know you can schedule Instagram posts from a PC and also from Android, as well as iOS?
3, 2, 1…
Let’s start.
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Here we are, gradually going deeper into this subject: scheduling Instagram posts.
If you are thinking of making money with Instagram, and therefore using it as a marketing tool, you should know there is plenty of work to do.
Instagram allows post scheduling, but not through its own platform.
You should know that scheduling posts on Instagram saves you time. What do I mean?
I mean that running a business Instagram profile, or running one professionally, takes a great deal of time, patience, consistency, attention, creativity and quality.
The first thing to do before scheduling posts on Instagram is to switch to a business profile. Go to Settings, where you will find the option, and you are ready to start. (PS: if you need more on this, don’t miss our lesson on Instagram for business.)
As we said, posting on Instagram means dedicating many hours a day to your profile. To save time and do everything at once, there is the option of scheduling Instagram posts.
So you can prepare content to post on Instagram and publish it using scheduling apps and software for managing your Instagram profile.
Scheduling Instagram posts: Later
Does the name ring a bell? Or not?
The software now called Later used to be Latergramme.
This is certainly a tool for scheduling Instagram posts that will be useful if you want to start using Instagram for business.
Let’s take a closer look.
Later lets you run your social networks better, and it is not difficult to use.
One important note: Later is free software for scheduling Instagram posts, and you can use it to schedule from a PC, from Android and from iPhone.
With Later you can:
- upload photos from your PC or your phone;
- save time by scheduling Instagram posts in advance;
- preview what you have scheduled for your Instagram profile;
- manage more than one account;
- get a notification before an Instagram post publishes.
That way you can spend your week on other work.
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Buffer
This is another tool that supports Instagram post scheduling.
When Buffer launched it scheduled posts for Facebook and Twitter, but since mid-2016 you can schedule for Instagram too, as well as LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+.
This free app for scheduling Instagram posts lets you plan and monitor your Instagram marketing.
You can add the photo, the caption and the location, and set a reminder to publish on Instagram videos and multi-image posts at the times you prefer.
Buffer is perhaps more useful on a PC, but try the various options and find what works best for you.
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Sprout Social and Iconosquare
Sprout Social and Iconosquare are useful tools for monitoring social media in real time.
But what else?
Sprout Social tracks and analyses your social media activity, as does Iconosquare — and both also let you schedule posts on Instagram.
What is worth knowing?
The first (Sprout Social) gives you a 30-day free trial, after which you choose between three paid plans that are fairly expensive, starting at 99 dollars, while Iconosquare is cheaper and offers a high-quality service.
With Iconosquare you can decide whether to get a notification before posting to Instagram, or turn on automatic publishing.
With automatic publishing you no longer have to think about it — the tool handles everything.
Want your Instagram profile to take off?
Want to grow your Instagram followers?
Want to make money on Instagram?
Want to turn your Instagram around?
We can help.
Schedugram for scheduling Instagram posts
Here is another tool for creating scheduled Instagram posts.
This scheduling tool gives you a 7-day free trial.
With Schedugram you can upload images, videos, carousels or stories for your Instagram account. Schedugram offers a good service, because not all Instagram scheduling tools allow that.
You can also decide whether to publish immediately or schedule automatic publishing on Instagram.
Through this app you can run several Instagram accounts.
HopperHQ
This Instagram post planning tool is a complete Instagram marketing solution.
Hopper works on desktop and mobile and operates without sending the user notifications.
You can preview your posts to see how other people will view your content, save drafts if you are not sure about publishing something, and organise yourself well with a calendar.
If you want to try it there is a 14-day free trial, then a monthly or annual subscription.
It is a fairly cheap service.
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Crowdfire
Crowdfire is a tool that lets you run several networks at once and create content suited to one network rather than another.
You can find out which content is relevant to the subjects you care about and share it to keep interest in your profile up.
One interesting feature is being able to create quick posts to share, drawing on updates from your websites, favourite online stores and so on.
You can also schedule Instagram posts that publish themselves.
Happy with what you have read?
All that is left is to start using them and find the one that suits you best.
Good luck.
Conclusion
In the previous lesson you discovered that there are tools for analysing an Instagram profile and that using them matters a great deal if you use Instagram for business.
Beyond that, if you have an Instagram business account it is also worth considering scheduling your posts. That saves time, and you can decide whether to use scheduling tools that notify you when it is time to post on Instagram, or ones that let you publish automatically.
We have gone through the best Instagram scheduling tools — now it is your turn to try them.
We will see you in the next lessons, where we will go deeper into other Instagram subjects you are sure to find interesting. Stay tuned and keep following your favourite Instagram Academy.
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