Doing Business on Instagram, The 5 Best Instagram Schedulers, and More

Why Instagram?

• These days, Instagram is commonly the #1 social media platform for businesses, simply because all of the social media statistics make it pretty clear that it’s the top choice for consumers.
• Instagram is one of the top social media platforms for small businesses to grow your audience, engage and increase revenue.
• Instagram has more than 500 million daily active users and over 1 billion monthly active users. With such a large audience, there’s no doubt your business needs to be on Instagram!
• Instagram’s 2019 internal data found that 90% of users follow a business on the platform. 
• 200 million+ Instagrammers visit at least one business profile daily.
• 60% of people say they discover new products on Instagram.
• As people begin to spend more and more of their time online, if your business has a presence on Instagram you’ll need to find time to create content to keep your audience engaged.

Contents

1. Why Instagram 
2. Social Media Scheduling 
3. Instagram Scheduler Reviews 
4. Other Notable Instagram Tools & Techniques

Social Media Scheduling

Key Benefits of Scheduling Instagram Posts

1. Save time & improve workflow efficiency: Would you rather spend 30 minutes every day rummaging through your photos, creating a caption, adding hashtags, and more? Or spend 1-2 hours in one day to schedule your Instagram posts for the entire week? Schedule an entire content calendar at once as opposed to daily. 
2. Increase post engagement: Rather than publishing late or at random times, you can schedule your content to distribute during peak user engagement. Scheduling Instagram Posts allows give you the opportunity to create better captions. A good Instagram caption can be the difference in whether someone engages with your post or clicks on the link in your bio.
3. Plan a beautiful Instagram feed: When someone new lands on your profile, you only have a few seconds to grab their attention and convince them to follow your account. A curated look and feel of your Instagram profile is one of the best ways to get more followers.
4. Generate brand awareness: Scheduling content ensures a consistent posting cadence, which means more opportunity for Instagrammers to see your posts.

How to Schedule Instagram Posts:

1. Create & Curate Your Instagram Content. When strategizing content pillars specific to your company, consider your brand values and the key message points you want to get across. 
2. Plan the "look" of Your Instagram Feed. Decide on an Instagram aesthetic. Visually plan your Instagram feed. When it comes to your Instagram feed’s visual appearance, cohesion and consistency are paramount for success.  
3. Optimize Your Captions & Hashtags to get more engagement.
4. Determine the best times to post on Instagram. From your Instagram Business Profile on your mobile device, simply tap Insights > Total Followers. Scroll down, and you’ll find a section for Most Active Times (i.e., when your followers are most active). 
5. Find and use the best Instagram Scheduler.
6. Schedule & Auto Publish Your Instagram Posts.
7. Use Bio Link Tools like Linkin.bio, Shorby.com or Linktr.ee to Drive More Sales and Traffic.

What is an Instagram Scheduler?

An Instagram Scheduler is an application that allows you to schedule your posts and will automatically post the content at the specified date & time. There are numerous Social Media Scheduling Platforms available to you. To outpace competitors and keep your brand top-of-mind, scheduling your Instagram content is essential. Found below is a list and review of the 5 most popular and reputable. 

As you’re evaluating the various platforms, remember that there isn’t one right choice for everybody. Each tool offers different benefits and interfaces. Determine your requirements to find the tool that’s best for your unique needs and situation. Regardless, whichever option you select, the ultimate benefit is keeping your Instagram profile up to date without the hassle of responding to smartphone reminders and posting from your phone on the fly. 

Instagram Scheduler Reviews 

1) Later (formerly Latergramme)

Supported Platforms:

• Instagram [primary]
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest

Cost: Later offers a free plan that caps your number of social profiles and posts. Paid plans begin at $12.50 USD/per month. View Pricing & Features. 

Review of Later: 

• Later, is trusted by an astounding 4 million people, is an official Instagram partner, and is used by some of the world's top brands, agencies and influencers.
• Started out as a dedicated Instagram scheduling app and is the best Scheduling Tool for Instagram. 
• In terms of functionality for that platform, Later doesn’t disappoint. Later throws most of its energy and attention into planning, managing, and scheduling content for Instagram. 
• Later also offers a companion mobile app. 
• Later won me over with their Interface and Media Library. 

Main Features of Later:

• Easy-to-use scheduling and analytics. Media Library, Conversations, Analytics, and integration with Linkin.bio (i.e. helps sell your Products), Hashtag Suggestion, Quick Schedule, Saved Captions, and Bulk upload multiple posts. 
• Direct image and video publishing to Instagram
• Shoppable Instagram feeds through Linkin.bio.
• Saved captions for easy re-use. 
• Plan in Calendar view
• Preview posts with Visual Instagram Planner. This preview feature allows you to see the big picture and plan out the aesthetics of your feed before posting them to Instagram.
• The ability to find user-generated content and save it to your own library. Collect Media via Mentions, Profile Tags, and Hashtags. 
• Collect Content > Add from URL is able to scrape the images off a webpage. 
• Type in a hashtag and Later comes up with a list of 20+ related hashtags to tick and insert into your caption. 
• Unlimited media is supported on each plan and you can upload media directly from Dropbox or Google Drive.

2) Buffer

Supported Platforms:

• Twitter [primary]
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Cost: Buffer offers a free plan that covers three social media accounts, 10 scheduled posts and one user, but paid plans start at $15 USD per month. View Pricing & Features. 

Review of Buffer:

• Buffer is another one of the top social media scheduling tools. It doesn’t place as much emphasis on the visual elements and bells and whistles, but it’s a solid option for people who want one place to schedule content and monitor the results.
• Some important functionality is missing from the platform itself – notably the bulk upload feature. However, a third-party app called BulkBuffer can be used for this.
• I've used multiple Instagram Scheduler Tools. During testing, I experienced a better impression of Later than I did of Buffer.  

Main Features of Buffer:

• You can schedule to Instagram and other popular networks. You have the option of adding to a sharing queue or scheduling posts to be published at specific times. Simply connect your social networks and decide how often you want to publish, and when you want to publish – then start uploading your content.
• Buffer offers both a browser extension and a mobile app so that you can schedule social media content anytime and anywhere.
• Visual Instagram Story planner. 
• Hashtag Manager. 
• Shop Grid: The scheduling tool also boasts features for e-commerce businesses like Shop Grid, a shoppable landing page for your link in bio. 
• Buffer has the ability to schedule your first comment. 
• Basic analytics and a few other basic features are included on most plans.

3) HootSuite

Supported Platforms:

• Twitter [primary]
• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest

Cost: Paid plans begin at $29 per month. View Pricing & Features.

Review of HootSuite:

• HootSuite is another household name in the world of social media scheduling tools. Hootsuite has been around for more than a decade, and according to the platform, it’s got 18 million customers to show for it. 
• HootSuite’s browser extension and mobile app make it easy to do so from wherever you are.
• Another cool feature of HootSuite is that it empowers you to find relevant content that you can share or repost. You can search by hashtag, location, or keyword to find existing posts that you can curate and share to your own account.
• It feels like HootSuite offers fancy things, but misses the mark on the basic essentials. It’s also the oldest product in the sector, and so it carries a a bit of legacy user experience compared to more modern tools.

Main Features of Hootsuite:

• When it comes to Hootsuite’s Instagram tools, you can plan, schedule, review, and publish content directly to your Instagram Business Profile from the desktop and mobile app. You can also monitor social conversations and track post-performance. 
• Bulk upload and schedule hundreds of social media posts all at once. Includes the features of uploading, editing, and scheduling social media posts in CSV format.
• Social media analytics reporting.

4) Sked Social (formerly known as Schedugram)

Supported Platforms:

• Instagram [primary]
• Facebook 
• Twitter
• LinkedIn 

Cost: Free 7-day trial and plans start at just $25 per month. View Pricing & Features.

Review of Sked Social: 

• Formerly known as Schedugram, Sked Social is one of the original Instagram scheduling tools.
• Sked Social has a beautiful visual planner that will ensure you maintain a beautiful aesthetic in your feed.
• In terms of look and feel, Sked Social is most similar to Later. Drag-and-drop your content in a visual grid planner, manage multiple Instagram accounts, and use in-app image editing tools on desktop and mobile. 
• If you’re part of a large team then you’ll be familiar with how costs can blow out when tools like to charge ‘per seat’. Thankfully this isn’t the case with Sked Social, you can have as many team members on the account as you like without the price increasing.

Main Features of Sked Social: 

• Easy scheduling.
• Drag and drop visual grid planner.
• Bulk uploading.
• Calendar view.
• Analytics.
• Free link in bio tool (Sked Link).
• Location & Product tagging.
• Hashtag manager & Hashtags in first comment.
• Enables you to upload, schedule and automatically post video content to your Insta story.
• Suggestions of the best time to post as well as what hashtags to use that will ensure you get the most engagement possible. 
• Powerful photo editor to crop and add text / filter / overlays on your pictures. 
• Mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices.

5) Tailwind

Supported Platforms:

• Pinterest [primary]
• Instagram

Cost: Plans begin at $9.99 per month. View Pricing & Features.

Review of Tailwind: 

• If you’re actively using Pinterest for your small business, then you should know that Tailwind is the most popular social management tool for Pinterest out there.
• Tailwind also helps you optimize your Pinterest and Instagram posting schedules. On Pinterest in particular, Tailwind SmartLoop will reshare your top Pinterest pins at optimal times for engagement.
• Tailwind for Pinterest and Tailwind for Instagram are two different products.

Main Features of Tailwind: 

• Direct Instagram publishing for single images and videos. 
• Bulk upload and schedule your Instagram post using the drag and drop tool.
• The Smart Scheduling tool can automatically suggest the best time to schedule your posts. By posting at the optimal time when most of your audience is active, this will maximize your reach and increase post engagement.
• Plan your Instagram feed through 9 grid preview. 
• Aside from the scheduling functionality, Tailwind offers strong Analytics functionality such as profile metrics, trend reporting, discovering content, monitoring comments, and virality & engagement benchmarks.
• It has a Hashtag Finder that will recommend you the hashtags to be used in your posts.
• Drop pre-saved lists of hashtags into posts.
• Smart.bio — a link in bio tool that provides a free branded landing page for a shoppable Instagram feed and automated link updating.  
• You can also schedule Instagram posts automatically during peak engagement times using its SmartSchedule feature. 

Direct Scheduling Requirements

For 3rd party apps to do Direct Scheduling, your Instagram account must be Business type. Facebook owns Instagram and wants a connection. You need to have a Facebook Page (rather than just Profile) and have your Facebook and Instagram accounts linked. Otherwise, apps may allow you to Schedule but require you to publish the post by sending you a Reminders via Push Notification. 

See Also: 

• How do I convert my profile to a Facebook Page?
• How do I connect my Facebook Page and Instagram account?

Final Thoughts: The 5 Best Instagram Scheduler Tools for 2021 Compared

Instagram is a gold mine for businesses that know how to leverage the platform. Scheduling Instagram posts in advance will allow you to create higher quality content quicker and outshine your competitors

Other Notable Instagram Tools & Techniques

Download Instagram Images 

• DownloadGram - Instagram photo, video, IGTV, and Reels downloader
• iStaunch - Instagram Photo Downloader - Download Instagram Photos

Instagram Hashtag Tools

• Photerloo Instagram Hashtag app offers a unique AI-driven approach to finding hashtags.
• RiteTag offers instant hashtag suggestions for images and texts on desktop and mobile. Based on real time hashtag engagement.
• All-Hashtag is a simple hashtag generator tool that works by a keyword search.
• Top Instagram Hashtags for Gaining New Followers (Article)

Hashtag Tips

• Instagram allows for 30 hashtags to be used on each post. You should aim to use a mix of popular hashtags (which many people browse), and less popular hashtags that you stand a chance of get a spot in "Top Posts" for.
• It's good to know the top accounts in your area of interest. Find a handful of popular accounts within in your niche. Take note of the hashtags they used in their last few posts. You can cross-reference which hashtags their recent posts do and do not use compared to your own. 

How to Put Links on Instagram

1. Put a Link in Your Bio. Use an Instagram Bio Link Tool (see below).
2. For Instagram posts, you cannot create a clickable link. However, you can either put one in the picture itself or say in your post description that there is a link in your profile. This is good because in the Bio you can have a clickable link and it also brings them to your profile (i.e. entice them to Follow and see more of your posts).
3. Post and highlight a story with your URL.
4. If you’re really trying to promote a website or link somewhere through your Instagram, the best way is Instagram’s advertising platform or negotiate sponsored posts on Instagram Influencer pages.

Instagram Bio Link Tools 

• Linktr.ee (Free or $6/month for Pro)
• Shorby.com ($12+/month)
• Linkin.bio (included w/ Later; great for selling Products)

Instagram Optimization & Growth Tools

• Ninja Outreach is an influencer research and outreach platform with strong Instagram research functionality.
• ShortStack.com makes it easy to run hashtag and comment to enter contests on Instagram.

Instagram Analytics, Monitoring and Reporting Tools

• Awario is a best-in-class social media listening tool that allows you to track mentions, uncover growth opportunities, and monitor your competitors on Instagram, and other social networks. There’s a reason why all big brands use social media listening tools – it helps them find opportunities to grow, support customers, and solve potential PR problems before they actually become a problem.
• Social Insider is a powerful analytics platform that allows you to gather insights from your own profiles, and your competitors’ Instagram profiles. Facebook pages, YouTube profiles, Twitter profiles, and LinkedIn company pages are also supported.
• Iconosquare is a pioneer of Instgram analytics. It allows you can monitor your competitors, hashtags, profile activity, and more. You can also monitor your engagement, follower growth and find which post types perform best, along with plenty of other useful data. It also offers an automatic scheduler with extra add-ons such as an integrated media library (to store your content), a social media calendar, and the best time to post feature, which has yellow stars showing the most optimal time to post to get maximum engagement.

See Also 

• Instagram for business: Marketing on Instagram | Instagram for Business
• Instagram for Business: Marketing Your Business on Instagram | Facebook for Business
• Find a Partner: Finding the right partner can help accelerate growth

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