Schedule Instagram.
Posts, Reels and stories.

How to schedule it

1. Connect your business Instagram account through the Facebook Page it belongs to.
2. Click New post, choose Instagram and pick post, Reel or story.
3. Add your photos or video from your media library and write your text.
4. Pick a moment, or one of the three best times Socialschedulr suggests.
5. Click Schedule. In the calendar, switch to Instagram grid to see how your profile will look.

Settings per post

Give your Reel its own cover, choose whether it also appears in your feed and add alt text for people using a screen reader. Socialschedulr checks in advance whether your photos and videos meet Instagram’s requirements, such as the ratio of a Reel. Read more in Reels, stories and Shorts.

Tips

• Plan 3 to 5 posts a week, with at least one Reel.
• Use the Instagram grid to see whether colours and photos fit together.
• Save your usual hashtags as a hashtag set, so you add them with one click.
• After a month, check Analytics to see which times work best for you.

What you need

A business Instagram account (business or creator) connected to a Facebook Page. A personal account cannot let a scheduler publish on Instagram. See Connecting Instagram.

Reels, stories and carousels

On Instagram you choose per post what it becomes:

• Photo or carousel: up to 10 photos and videos in one post. Crop them square or portrait 4:5; the latter stands out most in the feed.
• Reel: a vertical 9:16 video. Pick your own cover, so your Reel looks neat in your grid.
• Story: a photo or video that stays visible for 24 hours. Handy for today’s offer or a look behind the scenes.

Preview your feed

In the calendar you can switch to the Instagram grid view. It shows your scheduled posts above your latest real posts, exactly as your profile will look. Does a photo not fit in with the rest? Simply move it to another day.

Three ways to schedule Instagram posts

You do not always need a scheduler. There are three ways, each with its own pros and cons.

1. In the Instagram app itself. On a new post or Reel, tap Advanced settings and choose Schedule. According to the Instagram Help Center you need a professional account for this.

• Pros: free, quick on your phone, and you have every feature of the app, such as music from Instagram’s library.
• Cons: Instagram only, you schedule post by post on your phone and without a calendar overview.

2. In Meta Business Suite. Meta’s free tool for Facebook and Instagram, on your computer or in the app.

• Pros: free, Facebook and Instagram in one planner, stories too, and you can answer messages there as well.
• Cons: Facebook and Instagram only, and a client or colleague cannot approve without access to your account. See Meta Business Suite compared.

3. With Socialschedulr. Posts, carousels, Reels and stories in the same calendar as your other channels.

• Pros: LinkedIn, TikTok, X and YouTube too, an Instagram grid to preview your feed, approval through a link and your best times from your own analytics.
• Cons: paid from €19 per month (free for 3 channels), and not everything in the app is available through Meta’s official connection. Music from Instagram’s library and stickers in stories can only be added in the app.

Only use Instagram and post a few times a week? Then the app or Meta Business Suite is often enough. Schedule several channels or work with others, and a scheduler saves time.

Handy tools

In the editor you also have hashtag sets and saved text, cropping and alt text and UTM codes at hand.