How to post instagram stories on hootsuite
How to Schedule Instagram Stories in 2022 [4 Simple Steps]
If you’re using Stories as part of your Instagram marketing mix, you’ve probably wondered: Can you schedule Instagram Stories?
Well, great news — the answer is yes! You can now create, edit, and schedule your Stories in advance using the Instagram Story scheduler in Hootsuite or Facebook Business Suite.
In this post, we cover the benefits to scheduling Instagram Stories rather than publishing them on the fly, like:
- saving a ton of time
- making it easier to customize Stories with editing tools and templates
- avoiding typos and autocorrect mistakes
We also walk you through the exact process of how to schedule Instagram Stories.
Step 1: Create your Instagram Story
Step 2: Preview your Story and add interactive elements
Step 3: Schedule your Story
Step 4: Finalize and publish your Story
Download your free pack of 72 customizable Instagram Stories templates now. Save time and look professional while promoting your brand in style.
Is there an app for scheduling Instagram Stories?
You can’t schedule Stories ahead of time directly within Instagram. But you can use the Hootsuite mobile app or desktop dashboard to schedule Instagram Stories. As of May 2021, it is also possible to schedule and post Instagram Stories via Facebook Business Suite.
Not a big reader? We don’t judge. Watch this video for an easy, visual demonstration of how to schedule Instagram Stories — or keep reading.
How to schedule Instagram Stories using Hootsuite
Because of an Instagram API limitation, third-party apps and software can’t publish directly to Instagram Stories.
This means once you create and schedule your Story, there are just a couple extra steps to take directly within the Instagram app. But don’t worry — the whole process is very quick and easy.
Here’s exactly how it works.
Before you start, make sure you’re using the latest versions of both the Hootsuite* and Instagram apps.
You can create and schedule Instagram Stories on your desktop, but you’ll need both mobile apps to complete the publishing process.
*Instagram Stories scheduling is available to Professional users and above
Step 1: Create your Instagram Story
1. From the Hootsuite dashboard, click the drop-down arrow next to the green New Post button and select New Story.
2. In the Post to field, choose which Instagram profile(s) you want to share the Story to.
3. Drag and drop up to 10 images and videos for your Story into the Media area, or click Select files to upload. Or, click Open Media Library to create a Story using free stock images or image assets from your Enterprise content library.
Keep in mind that each image file can be a maximum of 5MB, and videos can be a maximum of 60 seconds long. You can always change the order in which your photos and videos appear in your story. Simply drag-and-drop them into the correct in the list on the left of your dashboard.
4. Click Edit Image under each file to prepare your Story assets using the Hootsuite image editor.
5. In the Transform menu, click Story under Instagram to crop your photo to the correct size.
6. Apply any other edits to customize your image using filters and the Adjust and Focus tools.
7. Get creative with frames, stickers, and the brush tool, and add your overlay text. Keep in mind that stickers and text you apply with the image editing tool are not clickable in Stories. You’ll add hashtags, links, and other interactive elements in a later step. When you’re happy with your image, click Save.
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Step 2: Preview your Story and add interactive elements
1.
Use the preview pane on the right to check your Story components and make sure everything looks great.
2. If you want to add links, hashtags, or other interactive text components to your Story, type them into the Clipboard text box. This will save the text so you can easily copy and paste it when you’re finalizing your Story in the Instagram app.
3. If you have not already set up the mobile notification workflow, click the bell icon and complete the steps as prompted. You’ll only have to do this the first time you schedule a Story. Remember that you cannot use the direct publishing option with Instagram Stories because Instagram does not allow it.
Step 3: Schedule your Story
1. Click Schedule for later
2. Select your date and time and click Done.
3. Click the green Schedule button to schedule your Story.
Download your free pack of 72 customizable Instagram Stories templates now. Save time and look professional while promoting your brand in style.
Download the templates now!
Step 4: Finalize and publish your Story
The Hootsuite app will send you a push notification on your phone when it’s time for your Story to go live. From here, you can publish your Story in just a few clicks.
1. Tap the notification to open a preview of your Story, then click Open in Instagram. This will open the Instagram app. Important: The Story will post to whichever account is signed in. If you have more than one Instagram profile, make sure you are signed into the right one.
2. In the Instagram app, tap the camera icon in the top-left corner, then tap the gallery icon in the bottom right. The images and videos you prepared for your Story will appear as the most recent items in your camera roll.
3. If your Story includes multiple photos and videos, tap Select Multiple, then select all the components of your Story and tap Next. If your Story includes just one photo or video, simply tap that item.
4. You can now add any interactive text components to your Story. All the text you entered in Hootsuite has been copied to your clipboard, so you can simply paste it into the correct location. For example, to add your hashtag text, either add a hashtag sticker or open a text box, then tap-and-hold and select Paste to paste in your text.
5. If you want to make further edits to your images, you can use Instagram’s stickers, drawing tools, and filters. When you’re finished, tap Send To. This is a good chance to double-check that you’re signed into the right Instagram account by looking at the profile picture.
6. Tap Share next to Your Story to publish your Story.
Watch the video below to see the whole Instagram Stories scheduling process in action.
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How to schedule Instagram Stories using Facebook Business Suite
If you have a Business account on Instagram, you can use Facebook’s native Business Suite to craft and schedule Instagram Stories.
Facebook Business Suite is a handy tool if you’re only posting to Facebook and Instagram — but most social media marketing pros can save a lot of time and energy using a social media management tool and handling all social channels from a single dashboard. A tool like Hootsuite will help you schedule content to Facebook, Instagram (including posts, Stories, and Reels), TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest from one place.
If you choose to schedule your Instagram Stories using Facebook’s native solution, sign in to your account and follow the steps below.
Step 1: Navigate to Business Suite
Go to your Page and pick Business Suite from the menu on the left side of the screen.
Once you’re in, select your account from the drop-down menu in the top left corner of the dashboard.
Step 2: Start drafting your Story
You can do this from 3 spots in the dashboard:
- the Posts and Stories item in the menu on the left side of the screen
- the Create Post button in the menu on the left side of the screen
- the Create Story button in the center of the dashboard
Once you click on one of these options, a Story creator window will pop up.
Here, select the account you want to share your Story to, and upload an image or video to start working on your Story.
The Story editing options in Business Suite are quite limited compared to what you can do in the Instagram app or Hootsuite. You can only crop your media file, and add text and stickers.
Step 3: Schedule your Instagram Story
Once you’re happy with your creation, click the arrow beside the Publish Story button for scheduling options.
Click Schedule Story. Then, pick a date and time to post your Story.
Once you save the date and time, click Schedule Story, and you’re done! Your Story will be automatically posted to Instagram at the specified date and time.
You can confirm that your Story has been scheduled by navigating to Posts and Stories, then Stories, then Scheduled.
This is also where you can manage your post — reschedule it, publish it immediately or delete it from your pipeline.
6 reasons to schedule Instagram Stories
1. Save time
Learning how to schedule Instagram Stories saves you a ton of time and makes sharing Stories much less disruptive to your workday. Instead of having to create and post Stories on the fly multiple times per day, you can sit down and prepare your Stories for the week all in one go.
When it’s time for your scheduled Stories to go live, you can push them out with just a couple of clicks.
Of course, you can also share live Stories in between your scheduled ones if you want to update your audience on something happening in the moment.
2. Upload Instagram Stories from your desktop or laptop
How many times have you had to send a photo or file to your phone just to post it on Stories? And then dig around in your camera roll trying to find the right posts in the right order?
When you use an Instagram Story scheduler, you can eliminate this step. You can upload your Stories files directly from your desktop or laptop.
When it’s time for your Story to go live, the components automatically appear in the right order at the top of your camera roll, ready to go.
3. More editing options
When you use Hootsuite to schedule Instagram Stories, you gain access to all the editing tools built into the Hootsuite dashboard. That means you can create Stories with fonts, stickers, and frames that are not available within the Instagram app. You can even upload your own stickers to give your Story a unique look and feel.
And, as we mentioned in the last point, you can do this editing on your desktop or laptop. You can use a full-size keyboard and monitor to fine-tune your edits, giving your greater creative control.
4. Cultivate a consistent look and feel with templates
Using Instagram templates is a great way to create consistent Story posts that align with your brand’s overall look and feel. Templates are especially useful when you’re sharing non-visual content like text, quotes, or links to your blog posts.
The challenge is that many Instagram templates require you to use a computer-based software program like Adobe Photoshop to create your posts. And getting your finished posts from Photoshop to your phone for posting is a tedious process.
The ability to upload your posts directly from your computer makes it much easier to work with templates. That means you’re more likely to incorporate these valuable tools into your Instagram Stories posts.
New to templates? We’ve created a whole post on how to use them that includes a set of free Instagram Stories templates to get you started.
5. Avoid typos and broken links
Typing with your thumbs is not the best way to create pristine content. Never mind when autocorrect gets involved.
Scheduling your posts in advance gives you the chance to plan your text and links more carefully. Type your captions on a proper keyboard. Run them through a spelling and grammar check program. Test your links. See what other posts are being shared for the hashtags you plan to use.
It’s always a good idea to give yourself time to walk away from your content for a minute and then read it again with a fresher set of eyes. (Or even get a colleague to have a peek.) That’s tough when you’re posting on the fly. When you’ve scheduled Stories, you can review them in the Hootsuite planner at any time before they go live.
6. Encourage engagement
Once you’ve mastered how to schedule Instagram Stories, you’ll likely find you’re posting more Stories, and more consistently. When your audience knows what kind of content to expect from you, and when to expect it, they’re more likely to watch your Stories and engage.
Ready to start scheduling Instagram Stories and save time? Use Hootsuite to manage all your social networks (and schedule posts) from a single dashboard.
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Easily create, analyze, and schedule Instagram posts, Stories, and Reels with Hootsuite. Save time and get results.
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How to Schedule Instagram Stories: A Quick Guide [2022]
Instagram Stories are an excellent way to engage with your followers, improve brand sentiment, and even drive traffic to your business website (formerly via swipe-up links and now through link stickers).
But with all the creative possibilities, posting Instagram Stories on a regular basis can be strenuous and time-consuming — especially if it’s a major part of your social media marketing strategy.
To reduce the time and effort that goes into posting Stories, you should consider scheduling them. (Yes, it is possible to create, edit, and schedule Instagram Stories ahead of time using Hootsuite or Meta Business Suite.)
In this article, we’ll go over two methods of scheduling Instagram Stories. We’ll also discuss the reasons why you should schedule Instagram Stories instead of publishing them on the go.
Free download: Professionally designed, fully customizable Instagram ad templates. Click and get them now!
Is there an app for scheduling Instagram Stories?
Instagram doesn’t let you schedule Stories directly in the app. But you can use third-party tools like Hootsuite to schedule your Instagram Stories. It’s also possible to schedule Stories in advance using Meta’s desktop dashboard, Facebook Business Suite.
How to schedule Instagram Stories using Hootsuite
In general, third-party social media management tools can’t publish Stories directly to Instagram because of an API limitation. But don’t worry, there is a workaround you can use — we’ve outlined the details below.
Note: Before you begin, ensure that you’re using the latest versions of both the Instagram and Hootsuite apps. While you can create and schedule Instagram Stories on your desktop, you still need both mobile apps to finish the publishing process.
If you’d prefer to watch a video walkthrough, we’ve got you covered!
Step 1: Create your Instagram Story
- In the Hootsuite dashboard, click the drop-down arrow beside the green New Post button.
Select New Story.
- In the Post to section, select the Instagram profile(s) you want to publish the Story on.
- Drag and drop up to 10 photos and videos for your Story into the Media section. If you don’t want to drag and drop, click Select files to upload. Or click Open Media Library to create an Instagram Story with free stock images or images from your Enterprise content library. Each image file should be 5MB in size (maximum) and videos can last up to one minute. You can always switch up the order in which your images and videos appear in your Story. Just drag and drop them in the correct order on the left side of your dashboard.
- Click Edit Image under each file to make edits to your Story assets vis Hootsuite’s image editor.
- Navigate to the Transform menu and click Story under Instagram to crop your image to your desired size.
- Use filters and the Adjust and Focus tools to further edit your Story assets.
- Use stickers, frames, the brush tool, and overlay text to give your Stories some character. Don’t forget that stickers and text are not clickable in Stories.
Hashtags, links, and other interactive elements are clickable, and you’ll apply them in a later step. When you’re done, click Save.
Step 2: Preview your Story and add interactive elements
- Check your Story components and ensure that your Story looks great with the preview pane.
- To add hashtags, links, or other interactive components to your Story, type them in the Clipboard text box. This will store the text so that you can copy and paste it when you’re concluding this process in the Instagram app.
- Click the bell icon to set up mobile notifications. You only have to do this the first time you’re scheduling a Story.
Step 3: Schedule your Story
- Click Schedule for later.
- Select the date and time you want the Story to go live and click Done.
- Click the green Schedule button to schedule your Story.
Step 4: Finalize and publish your Story
When it’s time for your Story to go live, the Hootsuite app will send you a push notification. Once you receive it, follow these steps to publish your Story.
- Click on the notification to open a preview of your Story. Then select Open in Instagram to open the Instagram app. Note: The Story will post to the Instagram account that is signed in. If you have more than one Instagram account, ensure that you’re logged into the right one.
- In the app, click on the camera icon in the top-left corner of the screen. Then click on the gallery icon in the bottom-right. All the photos and videos you made for your Story will show up as the most recent items in your camera roll.
- If your Story has multiple images and videos, click on Select Multiple.
Then select all your Story components and click Next. If your Story has just one image or video, just click on that item. - Now, you can add interactive elements to your Story. Since all the links, hashtags, etc. that you entered in Hootsuite have been copied to your clipboard, you can just paste them into the right location. For instance, to add your hashtag text, just open a text box or hashtag sticker, tap and hold, and select Paste to paste your text.
- To make further edits to your Story assets, you can use Instagram’s filters, stickers, and drawing tools. When you’re done, click Send To. Note: Look at the profile picture to double-check that you’re publishing the Story to the right Instagram account.
- Click Share next to Your Story to publish your story.
To learn more about the process of publishing Instagram Stories with Hootsuite, watch this video:
Note: Scheduling Instagram Stories on Hootsuite is available to Pro, Team, and Enterprise plan users.
How to schedule Instagram Stories using Facebook Business Suite
If you have an Instagram Business account, you can use Meta’s native Business Suite to create and schedule Instagram Stories.
Meta Business Suite is a great tool to use if you’re only posting to Facebook and Instagram. But if you’re using other social media networks, you’ll be able to save more time and energy using a social media management tool that lets you handle all your social channels from one intuitive dashboard.
A social media management tool like Hootsuite will enable you to schedule content to major social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube from one place.
Here’s a comparison between Hootsuite and Business Suite:
If you decide to schedule your Instagram Stories with Meta Business Suite, log into your account and follow these steps:
Step 1: Go to Meta Business Suite
Visit your Facebook page and pick Business Suite from the menu on the left side of the screen. When you get in, select your account from the drop-down menu in the top-left corner of the dashboard.
Step 2: Start creating your Story
You can start crafting your Story from three sections in the dashboard:
- the Create Post button in the menu on the left side of the screen
- the Posts and Stories item in the left side of the screen
- the Create Story button in the center of the dashboard
When you click on any of these options, a Story creator window will popup. In the window, select the account you want to publish your Story on, and upload a photo or video to start making your Story.
The editing options in Business Suite are limited compared to the ones in Hootsuite or the Instagram app. In the Business Suite, you can only crop your media file, and add stickers and text.
Step 3: Schedule your Instagram Story
When you’re done crafting your Story, tap the arrow beside the Publish Story button to see scheduling options. Tap Schedule Story, and pick a date and time to post your Story.
After saving the date and time, click Schedule Story, and that’s it! The Story will be automatically posted at the time you selected.
Navigate to Posts and Stories. Click Stories and Scheduled to confirm that your Story has been scheduled.
In this area, you can manage your Story — publish it immediately, reschedule it or delete it from your lineup.
6 reasons to schedule Instagram Stories
1. It saves time
Scheduling Instagram Stories helps free up time for you to do other things that drive real results, like crafting your next social media campaign or engaging with your audience.
Instead of ideating, creating, and posting Stories repeatedly every day, you can give yourself a few hours to prepare and schedule all your Stories for the week in one go.
When the time comes for your scheduled Stories to go live, you can publish them with a few clicks. You can also mix live Stories with your scheduled ones if you want to give your audience updates on something happening in real-time.
2. You can upload Instagram Stories from your desktop or laptop
When creating and publishing Stories with a smartphone, you can easily get confused about the right order of the photos and videos that make up a particular Story.
But when you use a third-party tool or Meta Business Suite to schedule Stories, you can upload your Story files directly from your computer. When the Story is about to go live, the components will automatically appear in the right order at the top of your camera roll.
3. There are more editing options
When you use Hootsuite to schedule Instagram Stories, you get access to all the in-built editing tools in the Hootsuite dashboard.
These editing tools can help you get creative with fonts, frames, and stickers that are not available in the Instagram app. You can even use your own stickers to create unique-looking Stories.
Because you’re doing this with a desktop or laptop computer, you’ll have better creative control over your Stories.
4. You can build a consistent brand aesthetic with Instagram templates
Instagram templates are a great resource to create Story posts that align with your brand’s overall aesthetic. They’re especially useful when you’re posting non-visual content like quotes, texts, or blog post links.
The problem is that most Instagram templates require you to use software like Adobe Photoshop to craft your Instagram posts. And the process of transferring your finished posts from Photoshop to your phone for publishing can be tedious.
Uploading your Stories directly from your computer makes it a lot easier to work with Instagram templates. This means that you’ll be able to use templates for your Story posts.
If you’re new to Instagram templates, check out this Hootsuite post on how to use them (and get some free Instagram Stories templates to get you started).
5. You’ll avoid typos and broken links
Typing the text that you’ll publish alongside your Stories with your thumbs can cause you to make mistakes, especially when autocorrect is in the mix.
Scheduling your posts ahead of time gives you the time to plan your social text and links. Type your captions on an actual keyboard. Proofread them with a spelling and grammar check app. Check the other posts that people are sharing for the Instagram hashtags you want to use.
You can even save your work in Drafts and come back later to look through it again with a fresh perspective. You could even get a pal to take a look. That can’t really happen if you’re posting on the fly.
6. It’s a way to encourage engagement
When you’re familiar with scheduling Instagram Stories, you’ll start posting more Stories, more consistently.
When your audience knows the kind of content you post and when you post it, they’re more likely to watch your Stories and interact with them.
If you’re ready to save time by scheduling Instagram Stories, check out Hootsuite. You’ll be able to work on your Stories and manage your Story assets from a single, intuitive dashboard. Try Hootsuite for free today.
How to Schedule Instagram Stories: Step by Step Guide | Advertising
If you're using stories as part of your Instagram marketing mix, you've probably wondered: Can Instagram Stories be scheduled?
Well, great news - the answer is yes! You can now create, edit and schedule your stories in advance with the Instagram Story Planner in Hootsuite or Facebook Business Suite.
In this post, we're going to look at the many benefits of scheduling Instagram stories rather than posting them on the fly. for example:
- saving a lot of time
- Making it easy to customize stories with editing tools and templates
- avoiding typos and autocorrect errors
We'll also detail how to schedule Instagram Stories.
Let's get started.
Is there an app for scheduling Instagram stories?
You can't schedule stories directly on Instagram. But you can use the Hootsuite app or the toolbar to schedule Instagram stories. As of May 2021, it is also possible to schedule Instagram stories through the Facebook Business Suite.
How to Schedule Instagram Stories with Hootsuite
Due to Instagram API restrictions, third-party apps and software cannot post directly to Instagram Stories. This means that once you create and schedule your story, there are only a couple of extra steps left to take directly from the Instagram app.
If you've ever used the mobile notifications workflow to schedule posts on your Instagram feed, you already know how. If you're used to directly posting your posts to Instagram, the process will look a little different.
Here's how it works.
Before you start, make sure you're running the latest versions of both Hootsuite* and the Instagram app.
You can create and schedule Instagram stories on your desktop, but you'll need both mobile apps to complete the posting process.
* Schedule Instagram stories available for professional users and above [19659020] Step 1: Create and schedule your Instagram story
1. On the Hootsuite toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the green New Post button and select New Story .
2. In the Post to field, select which Instagram profiles you want to share the story on.
3. Drag up to 10 images and videos for your story to the Media area, or click Select files to upload.
Or press Open media library to create a story using free stock images or graphic assets from the corporate content library.
Please note that each image file can be up to 5 MB and video up to 60 seconds.
You can always change the order in which your photos and videos appear in your story. Just drag and drop them to the desired location in the list on the left side of the control panel.
4. Click Edit Image under each file to prepare the Story resources using the Hootsuite image editor.
5. In the Transform menu, click Story on Instagram to crop the photo to the desired size.
[19659002] 6. Apply any other changes to adjust the image using the filters and tools Adjust and Focus .
7. Get creative with frames, stickers and the brush tool and add overlay text.
Be aware that stickers and text that you apply with an image editing tool cannot be clicked on in Stories. At a later stage, you'll add hashtags, links, and other interactive elements.
When you're happy with your image, click Save .
8. Use the preview pane on the right to check the history components to make sure everything is in order.
9. If you want to add links, hashtags, or other interactive text components to your story, enter them in the Clipboard text box. The text will be saved so you can easily copy and paste it when you're finalizing your story in the Instagram app.
10. If you haven't set up a mobile notification workflow yet, click the bell icon and follow the prompts. You will only need to do this the first time you plan your story. Remember that you can't use the direct post option for Instagram stories because Instagram doesn't allow it.
Click Schedule Later select a date and time and click Done . Press the green button Schedule to plan your story.
Step 2: Complete and publish your story
When it's time to publish your story, you will receive a push notification from the Hootsuite app. From here, you can publish your story in just a few clicks.
1. Tap the notification to open a preview of your story, then click Open on Instagram . The Instagram app will open.
Important: The story will be published to any account you are logged into. If you have multiple Instagram profiles, make sure you're signed in to the correct one. [19659002] 2. In the Instagram app, tap the camera icon in the upper left corner, then tap the gallery icon in the lower right corner.
The images and videos you have prepared for your story will appear as the latest in your camera list.
3. If your story includes multiple photos and videos, click Select multiple then select all components of your story and click Next . If your story only includes one photo or video, just tap that item.
4. Now you can add any interactive text components to your story. All the text you entered into Hootsuite has been added to the clipboard, so you can simply paste it where you want. For example, to add hashtag text, either add a hashtag sticker or open the text box, then press and hold and select Paste to paste the text.
5. If you want to make further changes to your images, you can use Instagram stickers, drawing tools and filters. Press 9 when done0039 Send . This is a good chance to double-check that you're signed in to the correct Instagram account by looking at your profile picture.
6. Click Share next to your story to share your story.
Watch the video below to see the entire Instagram Stories scheduling process in action.
How to schedule Instagram Stories with Facebook Business Suite
If you choose to schedule your Instagram stories with Facebook's own solution, sign in to your account and follow the steps below.
Step 1. Go to Business Suite
Go to your page and select Business Suite ] from the menu on the left side of the screen.
Once logged in, select your account from the drop-down menu in the upper left corner of the window
Step 2: Start writing your story
You can do this from 3 places on the toolbar: menu on the left side of the screen
After you click one of these options, the story creation window will appear. Here, select the account you want to share your story with and upload an image or video to get started on your story.
The story editing options in Business Suite are quite limited compared to what you can do in Instagram or Hootsuite. You can only trim the media file and add text and stickers.
Step 3: Schedule your
story When you're happy with your creation, click the arrow next to the Publish story button to select your scheduling options.
Click Schedule history . Then choose a date and time to post your story.
After saving the date and time, press Schedule history and you're done!
You can confirm that your story is scheduled by going to Messages and stories then Stories then Scheduled .
Here you can also manage your post - change the schedule, publish it immediately or remove it from your pipeline.
The Benefits of Planning Instagram Stories
Time Savings
Learning how to plan Instagram Stories will save you tons of time and make sharing stories a less disruptive work day.
Instead of creating and posting Stories on the fly multiple times a day, you can sit down and prepare your Stories for a week at a time.
When it's time to publish your planned stories, you can push them with just a couple of clicks.
Of course, you can also share live stories between scheduled ones if you want to keep your audience informed about what's happening at the moment.
Download Instagram stories from your computer or laptop
How many times have you had to send a photo or file to your phone to post it to Stories? And then digging through your camera roll, trying to find the right publications in the right order?
When you use the Instagram Story Planner, you can skip this step. You can upload story files directly from your desktop or laptop. When it's time to publish your story, the components will automatically appear in the correct order at the top of your film, ready to go.
More editing options
When you use Hootsuite to schedule Instagram stories, you have access to all the editing tools built into the Hootsuite toolbar.
This means you can create stories with fonts, stickers, and frames that are not available in the Instagram app. You can even upload your own stickers to give your story a unique touch.
And, as we mentioned in the last paragraph, you can edit them on your computer or laptop. You can use the full-size keyboard and monitor to fine-tune your edits, giving you greater creative control.
Create a consistent look and feel with templates
Using Instagram templates is a great way to create consistent Story posts that match the overall look and feel of your brand. Templates are especially useful when you're sharing non-visual content such as text, quotes, or links to blog posts.
The problem is that many Instagram templates require you to use a computer program such as Adobe Photoshop to create your posts. And transferring ready-made messages from Photoshop to your phone for publication is a tedious process.
The ability to download messages directly from your computer makes it much easier to work with templates.
This means you are more likely to include these valuable tools in your Instagram Stories posts.
Not familiar with templates? We've created an entire post on how to use them, which includes a set of free Instagram Stories templates to help you get started.
Avoid typos and broken links
Thumb typing is not the best way to create pristine content. . It doesn't matter when autocorrect is turned on.
Planning publications in advance gives you the opportunity to plan text and links more carefully. Type signatures on the correct keyboard. Run them with a spelling and grammar checker. Check your links. See what other posts are being posted for the hashtags you plan to use.
It's always good to give yourself time to step back from your content for a minute and then read it again with a fresher eye. (Or even ask a colleague to take a look.) It's tricky when you're posting on the go. Once you've scheduled Stories, you can view them in the Hootsuite scheduler at any time before they're published.
Encourage participation
Once you learn how to schedule Instagram Stories, you will likely find that you post more stories more consistently. When your audience knows what content to expect from you and when to expect it, they are more likely to watch your stories and engage.
If you're using stories as part of your Instagram marketing mix, you're probably wondering: can you schedule Instagram stories?
Well, great news - yes! You can now create, edit and schedule your stories in advance with the Instagram Story Planner in Hootsuite or Facebook Business Suite.
In this post, we will talk about the benefits of scheduling Instagram stories instead of posting them on the fly, for example:
- saving a lot of time
- Making it easy to customize stories with editing tools and templates
- Prevention of typos and auto-correct errors
We'll also detail how to schedule Instagram Stories.
Not a big reader? Watch this video for an easy and visual demonstration of how to schedule Instagram Stories:
Download your Free Pack of 72 Custom Instagram Stories Templates now0144 . Save time and look professional by promoting your brand in style.
Is there an app for scheduling Instagram stories?
You cannot schedule stories directly on Instagram. But you can use the Hootsuite mobile app or desktop dashboard to schedule Instagram stories. As of May 2021, it is also possible to schedule and post Instagram stories through Facebook Business Suite.
How to schedule Instagram stories with Hootsuite
Due to an Instagram API limitation, third-party apps and software cannot post directly to Instagram Stories. This means that once you create and schedule your story, there are only a couple of extra steps left to take directly from the Instagram app. But don't worry - the whole process is very quick and easy.
Here's how it works.
Before you begin, make sure you are using the latest versions of the Hootsuite* and Instagram apps.
You can create and schedule Instagram stories on your desktop, but you will need both mobile apps to complete the posting process.
* Schedule Instagram Stories is available for professional users and above
Step 1. Create your Instagram Story
1. In the Hootsuite toolbar, click the dropdown arrow next to the green New Post and select New Story .
2. to Post to select which Instagram profile you want to share the story on.
3. Drag up to 10 images and videos for your story to the Media area, or click Select files to upload. Or click Open Media Library to create a story using free stock images or graphic assets from your corporate content library. Keep in mind that each image file can be no more than 5MB and video no more than 60 seconds. You can always change the order in which your photos and videos appear in your story.
Just drag and drop them to the desired location in the list on the left side of the toolbar.
4. Click Edit Image under each file to prepare the Story resources using the Hootsuite image editor.
5. in Convert Menu , click Instagram Story to crop the photo to the size you want.
6. Apply any other adjustments to adjust the image using the filters and Adjust and Focus tools.
7. Get creative with frames, stickers and the Brush tool and add overlay text. Keep in mind that stickers and text that you apply with the image editing tool cannot be used in stories. At a later stage, you'll add hashtags, links, and other interactive elements. When you're happy with your image, press Save .
Step 2 Review your story and add interactive elements.
1. Use the preview pane on the right to check the components of the story and make sure everything looks great.
2. If you want to add links, hashtags, or other interactive text components to your story, enter them in the Clipboard text box.
This will save the text so you can easily copy and paste it when you complete your story on the Instagram app.
3. If you haven't set up a mobile notification workflow yet, click the bell icon and follow the steps as suggested. You will only need to do this the first time you plan your story. Remember that you can't use the direct post option on Instagram Stories because Instagram doesn't allow it.
Step 3. Schedule your story
1. Press Schedule for later
2. Select a date and time and press Done .
3. Click the green Assign button to schedule your story.
Step 4: Complete and Publish Your Story
The Hootsuite app will send you a push notification on your phone when it's time to publish your story. From here, you can publish your story in just a few clicks.
1. Click the notification to open a preview of your story, then click Open on Instagram . This will open the Instagram app.
important: The story will be published in the account you are logged into. If you have more than one Instagram profile, make sure you are signed in to the correct one.
2. In the Instagram app, tap the camera icon in the upper left corner, then tap the gallery icon in the lower right corner. The images and videos you've prepared for your story will appear as the most recent in your album.
3. If your story includes multiple photos and videos, tap Select multiple , then select all components of your story and tap Next . If your story only includes one photo or video, just tap that item.
4. Now you can add any interactive text components to your story. All the text you entered into Hootsuite has been copied to your clipboard, so you can simply paste it where you want. For example, to add hashtag text, either add a hashtag sticker or open the text field, then press and hold and select pasta insert your own text.
5. If you want to make further changes to your images, you can use Instagram stickers, drawing tools and filters. When you're done, tap Send . This is a good chance to double check that you're signed in to the correct Instagram account by looking at your profile picture.
6. Click Share next to your story to share your story.
Watch the video below to see the entire Instagram Stories scheduling process in action.
How to schedule Instagram stories with Facebook Business Suite
If you have an Instagram business account, you can use Facebook's own Business Suite to create and schedule Instagram stories.
Facebook Business Suite is a handy tool if you only post on Facebook and Instagram, but most social media marketers can save a lot of time and energy by using a social media management tool and managing all social channels from a single control panel.
A tool like Hootsuite helps you schedule content for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest from one place.
Here's how Business Suite compares to Hootsuite:
If you choose to schedule your Instagram stories with Facebook's own solution, sign in to your account and follow these steps.
Step 1. Go to Business Suite
Go to your page and select Business Suite from the menu on the left side of the screen.
Once logged in, select your account from the drop-down menu in the upper left corner of the toolbar.
Step 2. Start writing your story
You can do this from 3 places on the toolbar:
- "Messages and Stories" in the menu on the left side of the screen.
- Create Post button in the menu on the left side of the screen
- Create Story button in the center of the toolbar
Once you click on one of these options, the story creation window will appear. Here, select the account you want to share your story with and upload an image or video to get started on your story.
The story editing options in Business Suite are quite limited compared to what you can do in the Instagram app or Hootsuite. You can only trim the media file and add text and stickers.
Step 3: Plan Your Instagram Story
When you're happy with your creation, click the arrow next to the Post Story button to set up a schedule.
Press History schedule . Then choose a date and time to post your story.
After saving the date and time, click History Schedule and you're done!
You can confirm that your story is scheduled by going to Messages and Stories , then History , then Planned .
Here you can also manage your post - move it, publish it immediately or remove it from your pipeline.
The Benefits of Planning Instagram Stories
Save Time
Learning how to schedule Instagram Stories will save you tons of time and make sharing stories much less disruptive to your work day.
Instead of creating and posting stories on the fly multiple times a day, you can sit down and prepare your stories for a week at a time.
When it's time to publish your planned stories, you can publish them with just a couple of clicks.
Of course, you can also share live stories between scheduled ones if you want to let your audience know what's happening at the moment.
Download Instagram stories from your computer or laptop
How many times have you had to send a photo or file to your phone to post it to Stories? And then dig through your camera roll, trying to find the right posts in the right order?
When you use the Instagram Story Planner, you can skip this step. You can upload story files directly from your desktop or laptop. When it's time to publish your story, the components will automatically appear in the correct order at the top of your film, ready to go.
More editing options
When you use Hootsuite to schedule Instagram stories, you have access to all the editing tools built into the Hootsuite toolbar.
This means you can create stories with fonts, stickers, and frames that are not available in the Instagram app. You can even upload your own stickers to give your story a unique touch.
And as we mentioned in the last point, you can do this editing on your desktop or laptop. You can use the full-size keyboard and monitor to fine-tune your edits, giving you greater creative control.
Create a consistent look and feel with templates
Using Instagram templates is a great way to create consistent Story posts that match the overall look and feel of your brand. Templates are especially useful when you're sharing non-visual content such as text, quotes, or links to blog posts.
The problem is that many Instagram templates require you to use a computer program such as Adobe Photoshop to create your posts. And transferring finished posts from Photoshop to your phone for publishing is a tedious process.
The ability to download messages directly from your computer makes it much easier to work with templates.
This means you are more likely to include these valuable tools in your Instagram Stories posts.
New to patterns? We've created an entire post on how to use them, which includes a set of free Instagram Stories templates to help you get started.
Avoid typos and broken links
Thumb typing is not the best way to create clean content. It doesn't matter when autocorrect is enabled.
Planning publications in advance gives you the opportunity to plan text and links more carefully. Type signatures on the correct keyboard. Run them through a spelling and grammar checker. Check your links. See what other posts are being posted for the hashtags you plan to use.
It's always good to give yourself time to step away from your content for a minute and then read it again with a fresher eye. (Or even ask a colleague to take a look.) It's tricky when you're posting on the fly. Once you've scheduled Stories, you can view them in the Hootsuite scheduler at any time before they're published.
