Did you know that you can schedule your Instagram post?
I'm Sue B. Zimmerman, and today, I'm
going to share with you a couple of different tools
that you can use to save time and schedule your post.
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Publishing consistent, compelling content to Instagram
can be a challenge.
You can't always pause and post or post
at the best time of day.
I'm excited to share with you two
of my favorite posting tools that will
help take the overwhelm away.
The first one is Hootsuite and the second one is Later Media.
First I'm going to help you navigate the desktop features
and then I'm going to take you into the mobile app
features of each of them.
Hootsuite is a powerful tool that
helps you organize all your social platforms.
You are now looking at my Hootsuite dashboard.
Once you've authorized Hootsuite to access your Instagram
account, you will be able to pick streams
that you'd like to add.
Simply click on Add Stream.
And once you do, you want to scroll down to Instagram
so that you add the streams to the right social profile.
And as you can see, there's four tabs across the top.
Right now, we're in Stream.
So I've already clicked on all these.
I clicked on my post, my followers, my following,
my liked photos, and my schedule post,
so there's a stream for all of those.
Now, what you're looking at now is one of my scheduled posts.
So we can click into that so you can see it.
Here is the description of what I wrote.
On the bottom right, there's three little dots--
you can delete it if you decided you
don't want to post it anymore.
And then, on the bottom left, you can edit the post.
And you can make an edit as long as it's
within five minutes from the time
that you're planning on posting this.
Now I am planning on posting this
on Labor Day-- which is a holiday-- so that I am not
on Instagram that day.
I'm scheduling it at 9:00 AM.
And it's ready to go and it's all done right here.
So I'm going to click out.
And now I'm going to show you guys how to create your post.
To schedule a post, all you do is hover over Compose Message
and click on Attach Media.
You can drag your image or you can upload it
by clicking right here.
So I am going to grab an image that I have, open it up,
and I've already created what I want to say in my notes.
I copied it and I'm going to paste it right here.
You can put emojis, hashtags, and at mentions
right in your description.
May Design, I'm clicking on that,
and I want it to be Instagram, not Twitter.
So May Design has the same account on both Instagram
and Twitter, and that's why that popped up on Twitter.
So I am going to schedule it by clicking on the Calendar.
And I'm going to have this go live on my birthday--
September 6-- because I just love color and all
these Instagram images here.
So I have it on the 6th, and I'm going
to schedule it for 9:00 AM EST. I
know that's a good time for me to be posting.
And I'm going to click on AM.
And there you have it.
It's now scheduled.
Oh, I need to-- make sure that you
select on your social network that you want to post it from.
So on the left, I'm clicking on Instagram.
I could have clicked on Twitter, because I have that linked.
But make sure that you click on your network
and then click on Schedule.
And there you have it.
It's a success.
A notification's going to be sent to me on my device
when I need to push that to Instagram.
You want to make sure that you have
the latest version of the Hootsuite app
on your mobile device.
When you go into your app, click on the bottom gear
and go into notifications.
And make sure that you have your notifications-- push
notifications-- turned on for all the accounts
that you manage.
This is an image created by Hootsuite,
showing you the process of what occurs
once you've created a post that's
scheduled in the dashboard.
You're going to get a notification on your phone--
on the far left.
And then, all you're going to need to do is tap on that
and open up Instagram.
Because Instagram requires you to publish
the post through the Instagram app on your mobile device.
And to publish the post, all you have to do
is tap on the push notification.
It takes you to the post that's already
been published in Hootsuite and you can open it in Instagram.
And it automatically copies the caption.
And you're just going to double tap it to paste it
and share it.
Now, just make sure that you are logged
in to the right Instagram account,
especially if you manage multiple accounts.
So here we are back to the mobile.
And as you can see, the columns that I created on the dashboard
are here.
The one that I like to pay the most attention to is
the hashtag , Instagram for Business.
I like to see the content that other people are
posting using this hashtag.
Again, pay attention to the hashtags
where your ideal customers and clients hang out
and see what kind of content is being created.
And see how you can set yourself apart
from everyone who's doing what you're doing.
Now you're looking at my Later dashboard.
Full disclosure, though, I typically post in real time
on Instagram.
I have the time to do that and it's
part of what I love doing in my business.
But when I go on vacation or when I'm traveling,
absolutely scheduling in a dashboard like Hootsuite
or Later makes so much sense.
I'm really digging the interface here.
So as you can see, I have one post scheduled.
And I just uploaded an image that I want to drag and drop
into the calendar.
So it says Unused Image.
And I can click on this and drag it where I want it to go.
So I'm going to put this on Wednesday, September
7 at 9:00 AM.
And it automatically opens up.
And I copied in Notes and I'm going to paste my caption.
So I'm saying, I love using Later Media to schedule posts
when it's a holiday, weekend, or when I'm on vacation.
I also love using @PicsArt to create
colorful images like this.
Hashtag Instagram Expert.
On the bottom, you can see the clock
where you can schedule-- change that time.
Super easy to do.
And now, I'm just going to click Save.
Now, to add a new image, all you do--
you can go to your Dropbox folder, Google Drive,
or you can upload media right from your desktop.
I am going to grab a photo that I have for you.
Let's see-- Instagram is my jam.
Every day.
All righty.
So this one is a little off season.
I would say I want to post this in October
because it looks like it's fall.
So as that image is loading-- there
it is-- I am going to scroll over,
I'm going to click on Month, and I'm
going to go to October because I want
to have this be in October, on the 10th, when I'm actually
going to be flying to Entrepalooza to California.
I know I'm going to be on an airplane then.
All righty.
I just copied my caption from Notes.
I'm going to paste it right here.
And you can see at mentions and the hashtag.
I've scheduled it on the 10th when
I'm going to be at Entre Port's Entrepalooza
with my favorite girl boss, Sofia Amoruso.
So excited.
And now I'm going to Save this.
And it slowly spins as it's uploading in the calendar.
And then, the post is right there.
One of my favorite features of the dashboard
is the Preview tab, where you can actually preview
all of your previous posts.
So you know that, when you're going
to be uploading your image, how it falls aesthetically
in your theme.
So since I've scheduled these posts out into the future,
most likely there's going to be a lot of posts between now
and then.
But I'm doing it in the color theme
that I have of the Instagram logo.
So this is a great feature-- the Grid feature--
that I think is awesome that you should spend some time in.
Also, click into the tab where you
can view the week and the month of your post
and add accordingly.
Now, you're looking at the Later app.
And as you can see, I have two posts that are ready to go.
But if I wanted to access my media where
I've uploaded photos, I can upload more photos
by pressing on the Plus Sign on the bottom right.
Or, I can use one of these photos and create a post.
And I'm going to say, Today's my birthday!
Tell me one thing that you have learned from me this year.
Smiley face.
Next-- and now I can schedule a post right
on my birthday, September 6.
And let's have this go live at 9:00 AM.
Setting the time.
Going to press Next.
And the post has been created and ready to go.
So let's look now at the schedule post.
And it should be right there.
So you can use the mobile app to also create posts to schedule.
And you can go in there and edit them at any time.
What you need to remember is, when the post time comes,
you are going to get a push notification on your phone.
And that's when you push it to Instagram-- just
like you did with Hootsuite.
You can change the caption, you can add the hashtags,
and then it's ready to go.
Now that I've shown you how you can schedule your posts,
I want to remind you that, often, the best content to post
on Instagram is in real time.
So do your best to get ahead, but know and remember
that to share what's happening in the moment
can often be more compelling.
Let me know in the comments below if you knew
about these scheduling tools.
And be sure to grab my Instagram strategy guide--
this is where I help you get started with tips, tools,
and Instagram strategies.
And I'll see you on Instagram.