As Instagram has grown it’s become an integral marketing channel for more than 5 million businesses worldwide1.
But as a busy social media manager, it can be difficult to find the time to consistently post to Instagram.
This is where scheduling comes in.
Learning how to schedule Instagram posts is one of the biggest time savers and productivity hacks for social media managers today. And what’s more, scheduling your Instagram posts has many benefits.
Studies have shown that consistency is key to growth on Instagram, so scheduling your Instagram posts and ensuring regular updates can be a win-win situation—both boosting your reach and engagement as well as saving you valuable time throughout the day.
This guide will explain exactly how to schedule Instagram posts (and how scheduling can benefit your business).
Let’s dive in
Buffer for Instagram now comes with direct scheduling! Schedule single-image posts or set reminders to post videos and multi-image posts at your best times to grow your Instagram following. Learn more today.
Note: We are rolling out this feature to all users throughout the week of March 19 to March 23. Look for it in your Buffer account soon!
3 benefits of scheduling your Instagram posts
1. You can save time
Crafting and posting the perfect Instagram post can be time-consuming — especially if you’re creating your posts on the day you want to publish them.
However, scheduling your posts ahead of time might be a better, productivity-boosting way to create and share your Instagram content. By batching your work, you can avoid the costs associated with multitasking and context switching.
According to research shared by Inc., multitaskers take 50 percent more time to complete a single task and commit 50 percent more errors2. By spending an hour or two creating and scheduling your posts for the week ahead, you can save a ton of time and keep a consistent quality across the board.
With Buffer for Instagram, you can now schedule single-image posts directly from desktop or mobile (with a few limitations). For any other scheduled Instagram posts, we’ll send a reminder notification to your mobile device to finish the post when the time is right. This approach can free up so much of your time to focus on the many other tasks social media managers must tackle daily.
2. Ensure you’re posting consistently
Consistency plays a key role in social media success. When you’re consistently and frequently publishing new content, your audience will learn what to expect from your and when it’ll be posted.
For example, every night the NBA shares a round-up of the latest scores from around the league and because I know when to expect this, I open up Instagram to check the results every morning when I start my day:
Keeping a consistent schedule makes sure you maximize engagement without hitting any lulls or stretches without updates.
A few years back, Union Metrics put together data on brands and Instagram and it found that most brands post to Instagram daily — the average was in fact 1.5 posts per day. Another interesting learning from Union Metrics’ study was that there was no correlation between increased frequency and lower engagement, so brands that posted multiple times per day didn’t notice any negative effects.
The lesson here is that consistency is key for Instagram success. By scheduling your posts ahead of time you can ensure your profile is always filled with fresh new content.
3. Create and upload content from your desktop
Smartphones are becoming awesome tools for creating content, but sometimes, especially if you’re a social media manager, it can be easier to prepare and schedule all of your content on a desktop computer. One of the advantages of scheduling your posts in the web app is that you’ll have access to images of videos that might not be on your phone.
Most Instagram scheduler tools, Buffer included, enable you to create your posts on your desktop before publishing on mobile.
With Buffer for Business you can also check exactly how your Instagram profile gallery will look once you’ve published your scheduled posts:
Scheduling direct posts vs scheduling reminders
In some exciting news, you can now schedule certain types of Instagram posts directly from third-party apps like Buffer to Instagram.
For any of your scheduled posts that Buffer can’t share directly, we’ll let you know…
