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Guide to automate Instagram: Schedule your videos and posts
Maintaining a constant frequency of publication on Instagram and also doing it in your best hours are two key points of the content strategy on Instagram. Because ultimately, what you are looking for is to have more visibility and grow your profile. So what tools can I use to automate Instagram? Can I get analytics and reports without problems? How can I save time by leaving my profile programmed. We are going to solve all your questions in this guide to automate Instagram so that you are safe and can schedule certain tasks.
Why automate Instagram?
The answer is very straightforward: automating and scheduling posts on Instagram allows you to save time to dedicate yourself to other tasks. So it increases your productivity and the confidence that your profile is always active.
There is a big difference between having to enter your profile to publish and interact every day, and leaving your publications scheduled once a week and entering your profile just to encourage conversation with your audience.
What can be automated on Instagram?
Instagram allows you to automate only certain posts: single images and videos in the feed.
This limitation is established by Instagram itself with the API (application programming interface) to prevent you from automating these publications: reels, carousels or stories, from an external tool. If Instagram discovers that you are using programming tools that don’t comply, your account can be disabled!
What tools can I use to program Instagram?
Only those tools that comply with Instagram’s policy. That is, those that do not ask for passwords and usernames, but only request for Instagram permissions so that you can access the tool.
You are the one who is already connected and can enable permissions. Never trust apps that force you to log in with your Instagram username and password.
If you look at Metricool, you will realize that we never ask for your data but instead redirect you to the Facebook platform so that you are the one who enables the permissions.
How to automatically publish my posts on Instagram?
Now that you know the benefits of scheduling and automating Instagram and the tools that help you achieve it, it’s time to see the step by step of how to publish automatically to grow your profile and optimize your time.
1 Plan your weekly posts ahead of time
The best way to organize your publications is to do it with time, planning is your best ally. To do this, always have a list with ideas, comments from your clients or frequently asked questions handy. Besides being a great source of information, they always help you have fresh ideas. Say goodbye to the dreaded blank paper.
In addition, this planning can be done directly on Metricool’s Instagram planner, so you do not leave anything to improvisation, when you plan in advance you can download the calendar and review it with your colleagues or superiors.
And, best of all, you can plan Instagram, but you can also use the same publication for other social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google My Business) and schedule it from Metricool.
2. Discover your best hours
In addition to planning and knowing what you are going to post on Instagram, it is necessary to know when it is best to do it.
To do this, from the Metricool planner you can discover those hours in which most of your followers are active. This way you multiply the possibilities of making your publications skyrocket.
You can see your best hours more precisely by enabling the active followers function. With it, Metricool offers you a percentage of active followers in each time slot, which helps you decide when is the best time to publish.
To automate your publications from the planner, simply select the best hours by clicking on Instagram icon on the top-right side and check the hours with the darkest hue. Those time ranges mean when your publications will have better results.
You just have to click on the calendar planner or new post to start scheduling your posts.
Write the content, upload your image or video and enable the auto button. So you can automate your posts on the Instagram feed.
3. Add links to your Instagram posts [SmartLinks Metricool]
Metricool allows you to schedule, plan and even automate Instagram. Also, it offers the option to add clickable links to all your publications.
Yes, as you heard it!
From the Metricool menu, you can find the SmartLinks feature, where you can create your own link to add to the Instagram bio. With SmartLinks, you can create a personalized page where you can add buttons to drive the user to the landing pages of your business.
Plus, you can add images or videos with clickable links and even post that has been already published on Instagram.
Another reason to schedule your Instagram post with Metricool, to save time and also get more traffic to your website
Another reason to schedule your Instagram post with Metricool, to save time and also get more traffic to your website.
4. Automate the publications allowed by Instagram and for the rest use push or email notifications
As you know, Instagram offers different content formats to share on your account. However, Instagram only allows you to auto publish images and videos in the feed.
We have already seen how you can automate it directly from the Instagram planner.
All Metricool’s plans, even our Free plan, include the auto publish feature.
Now you have to take into account these guidelines that Instagram itself has established:
1. Only business accounts can publish automatically.
2. Content creators cannot access this functionality but they can program through push notifications or via email.
3. The only content allowed to automate are single images in JPEG and Videos in Mov or MP4 format.
4. The rest of the content such as reels, stories or carousels can be programmed through push or mail notifications.
5. Add the cover for your video
If you schedule a video on Instagram from Metricool, you can add the cover of your video as if you were publishing it on the Instagram platform itself.
The process is straightforward. You just have to choose the video to upload and toggle the ‘auto publish’ button on. Once you do so, you will see a window with your video and from there, you will be able to select the frame you want to display as the cover.
6. Create a list with your evergreen content to share them at different times
Another great benefit of automating Instagram with Metricool is that it allows you to create content autolists with various publications to share them on Instagram automatically.
You can schedule this content periodically, preferably content that has been successful on your profile or that never expires. Another way to keep Instagram active.
7. Reply to your comments on the post from the tool
You can also save time by replying to comments on your posts directly from Metricool. The process is not automated but it allows you to have all your comments in one place.
8. Analytics and reports
And finally, there is no use in automating Instagram if you don’t monitor how your strategy is working. Obtain all your Instagram analytics at a glance from the Metricool dashboard and create monthly reports to share with your team or clients.
When choosing a tool to automate Instagram it is important that you evaluate if it offers you all the necessary functionalities to carry out a winning marketing strategy and that it also complies with Instagram’s policy.
If you want to choose with no fear!