Ever wished you could schedule Instagram posts? While there’s no scheduling option directly on Instagram, there are lots of third-party apps available that will let you queue up your posts ahead of time.
There are a variety of new and time-tested tools that make it easy to schedule Instagram posts. The only requirement is that you set up a business profile on Instagram (or convert an existing account to a business one).
Why Schedule Instagram Posts?
One of the best ways to use Instagram to boost your business is to post regular content. But you don’t want to come off as spammy by flooding your feed with new posts too often either. By integrating a content calendar using an Instagram scheduler into your marketing strategy, you can ensure new content is posted to your feed on a regular basis.
Having a rich assortment of ever-updating Instagram content will also improve the look of your website and show off your range of work. (Just make sure to pick an online portfolio website that can feature your Instagram feed.)
Automating Instagram posts offers another major benefit: it makes it easy manage your Instagram and post at the best times. Choosing the right time to post can determine whether people see your content or miss it completely. Having a tool that will automatically post to Instagram means you can ensure your posts go up at the best time of day and day of the week, even when you’re not free to make the post yourself.
So—can you schedule Instagram posts? Well, if you’re looking to grow your following on Instagram, these Instagram tools are worth checking out. We’ve selected scheduling tools that provide something special, whether it’s a unique feature, good value, or ease-of-use. All of them are free or at least have free trial periods available, so when you see one that appeals to you, you can give it a try without making a commitment. Now, let’s get to the best Instagram post schedulers!
1. Later
Later features a visual content calendar to help automate Instagram posts, and it enables you to see what your Instagram feed will look like in advance. It’s also easy to import your images and videos. You can simply drag and drop them, or sync your files from your phone, desktop, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
You can sign up for a free account and manage up to 30 Instagram posts per month. The free account also lets you manage posts for your accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest (with a limit of one account per platform). In addition, scheduling Instagram posts with Later includes some basic Instagram analytics.
If you want to be able to schedule more than 30 Instagram posts, check out the plus plan ($9 a month). It allows up to 100 scheduled posts per month, and includes a variety of other features. Some of them include additional analytics, and the ability to schedule multiple images and videos for a single post.
2. Buffer
Buffer offers a straightforward solution for scheduling Instagram posts, along with posts on other social platforms. Buffer bills itself as a full-fledged social media management (SMM) platform, so there are plenty of additional tools here to explore when you’re ready. They include analytics, push notifications and team management capabilities.
Bonus: scheduling Instagram posts with Buffer has been praised for its simplicity. The fact that Buffer isn’t bogged down with unwanted features makes it definitely worth a look if ease-of-use is a big selling point for you.
Buffer’s free plan is a little limited, as you can only schedule 10 Instagram posts per account at a time. But it will allow you to manage up to three accounts on various social media platforms.
The least expensive Buffer plan is $15 a month; this ups the scheduled post limit to 100 posts per account, and enables you to manage up to eight accounts. There’s also a seven-day free trial for the paid plans.
3. Social Report
Social Report is an all-in-one tool for planning, scheduling, posting, monitoring, and analytics.
While some tools on this list are Instagram-specific, Social Report works for a number of social networks—including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and more. It also features integrations with MailChimp, Google Analytics, Shopify, and WordPress, so you can use it alongside other platforms.
Social Report really shines when it comes to analytics. If you’re looking to do a deep dive into what content performs—and why—you can create detailed custom reports to see what’s working and what’s not.
If you’re less familiar with social media management platforms, Social Report also offers free training, has thorough tutorials, webinars, and friendly support staff to offer demos.
4. OnlyPult
OnlyPult is a scheduled posting service made specifically for publishing to Instagram. So while you won’t get the added convenience of being able to also manage your accounts on Twitter or Facebook, OnlyPult excels at what it’s made for: scheduling Instagram posts.
While some other tools have restrictions on posting multiple images or Instagram stories, scheduling Instagram posts with OnlyPult includes all of that. The OnlyPult Instagram scheduler also has a “first comment” feature that allows you to schedule the first comment along with your posts.
Seven-day free trials are available. The most affordable plan is $10.50 per month; it provides unlimited posting (including videos, stories, and multiple-image posts and stories) and analytics for up to three Instagram accounts.
One unique feature that OnlyPult is known for makes it easier to add hashtags to your posts. There’s a “My Tags” section that saves hashtags for you, so you don’t have to copy and paste them. It also includes a list of commonly used hashtags to choose from.
5. Zoho Social
Zoho Social is a SMM tool for managing accounts on multiple platforms, tracking keywords, scheduling posts, and letting you collaborate with a team. It can be used for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ pages.
There’s a 15-day free trial when you sign up for Zoho Social. After the trial ends, you can access a lot of features with the standard plan ($8.33 per month). That plan enables you to manage one account on all of the platforms listed above. Scheduling Instagram posts with Zoho Social also gets you basic analytics, collaboration capabilities, and scheduling of up to 350 posts.
A cool feature offered by Zoho Social is it has some automated tools that can put analytics to work for you. For instance, if you’re trying to decide the best time to schedule Instagram posts, the SmartQ feature uses a predictive engine to show you times when your followers are most likely to see them. It can show you the best times in the next seven days, or on a specific date you choose.
You can also set your target audience, including choosing a specific geographic location. SmartQ then presents the best times to post in a dropdown menu, and you can click on the time you want your content to go live.
6. Iconosquare
Iconosquare is a SMM tool for Instagram and Facebook. Scheduling Instagram posts with Iconosquare means easy uploading, a visual content calendar, and the ability to save hashtags and captions. It also provides a preview of what your Instagram feed will look like once your scheduled content gets posted.
What makes Iconosquare special is the detailed analytics it offers as well. So while you’re auto-posting on Instagram, you can get a lot of analytics info at the same time. Some of the data it provides includes community growth, follower demographics, and post performance. Iconosquare can also give you detailed information about competitors or similar accounts so you can benchmark yourself against them and discover what’s working and what isn’t.
This Instagram scheduler is a bit pricier than most of the other tools listed. The most affordable plan is their pro option, which is tailored to small businesses and costs $29 a month. You can get a 14-day free trial to see if the detailed analytics are worth it for you.
7. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is another SMM tool that enables scheduling Instagram posts, along with posts on other platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn. Similar to Iconosquare, it offers a complete solution with detailed analytics and comprehensive scheduling features.
Hootsuite also offers a browser extension that lets you easily schedule any content you come across while browsing the web.
You can sign up for a free Hootsuite account that lets you manage three social media profiles and schedule up to 30 posts at a time. If you want some additional features—including more detailed analytics, and the ability to schedule posts in bulk—the most affordable plan is $29 per month.
Another nice thing about scheduling Instagram posts with Hootsuite is that there is a 30-day free trial for the paid features, so you can test them out before deciding if you want to cough up any cash.
8. Crowdfire
Crowdfire is a robust SMM tool featuring a wide range of options for scheduling posts to social media. It can be used to publish content to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
Scheduling Instagram posts with Crowdfire can actually create posts for different platforms—you can create a single post and Crowdfire will automatically customize it for each site. Then you can schedule it to post to all your accounts simultaneously.
You can also allow Crowdfire to automate Instagram posts to drop at the best possible times. In addition, Crowdfire provides you with a Queue Meter that rates how active your Instagram profile is going to look over the next week, and helps you decide if you have enough content scheduled or not.
Just like Hootsuite, this tool offers a free version that you can use indefinitely; however, its features are limited. The free plan enables you to schedule up to 10 posts at a time per account. While it does let you make multiple-image posts, it doesn’t include bulk scheduling of posts or support for posting video.
However, their “Plus” plan is affordable, at $7.48 per month. It includes scheduling for up to 100 posts per account, much more detailed analytics, and video posting support.
9. Postcron
Postcron is an SMM tool that makes it easy to schedule posts for all your social media accounts. It can be used with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest. Scheduling Instagram posts with Postcron is super-simple, according to many reviewers.
For example, even the most basic Postcron plan includes a bulk uploader feature that’ll enable you to upload up to 1000 posts at once using an Excel or Google Docs file. It also includes an option to automatically watermark images. These features can really help you reduce your workload if you want to schedule a ton of content at once. Note, however, that it doesn’t offer much when it comes to Instagram analytics.
Postcron offers a free version that is limited to managing up to six accounts with a maximum of 10 scheduled Instagram posts. But it doesn’t cost much to get access to Postcron’s more advanced features. The most affordable plan is its pro option, which costs $8 a month. It will let you manage up to 10 social media accounts, with a maximum of 200 scheduled posts at any time.
Looking for more ways to improve your Instagram prowess? Check these out:
Is Landscape Photography the Secret to More Instagram Followers?
Snap, Post, Like—Talking with the Biggest Names of Instagram
3 Easy Ways to Protect Your Instagram and Stop Hackers
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