Are you an entrepreneur? Do you own a business that you promote on Instagram? Then, learning how to schedule Instagram stories is crucial to promoting your brand and business. That is why today, I’ll be guiding you on how to schedule Instagram stories.
Instagram stories is presently one of the fastest-growing media through which enterprenuers and businesses all over the world use in promoting their brands because over 400 million people watch Instagram Stories every day and if you are not still convinced about why you need to learn how to schedule Instagram stories, I’ll be giving you a few reasons why you should.
As an entrepreneur, time is your greatest asset so learning ways to save time can become beneficial to you. Hence, a detailed guide on how to schedule Instagram stories can help you to save time and with proper planning and optimization, you’d be able to get more views.
Secondly, preparing the contents for your stories by planning ahead of time will help you create better stories rather than doing them on the go at different intervals during the day. I’m sure at this point, you can now see the importance of knowing how to schedule Instagram stories. With that in mind, I can now move into today’s topic.
How to Schedule Instagram Stories
Sadly enough, as at the time of this writing, irrespective of the huge benefits you stand to gain from scheduling your Instagram stories, this feature is still not available on native Instagram, so you’d have to rely on external tools to get the job done. But even that is not a disadvantage as I will be introducing you to the best apps to Instagram schedule Instagram stories.
Best Apps to Schedule Instagram Stories
There are a lot of apps out there that you can use to schedule Instagram stories, however, not all of them actually do get the done. A good number do, thou not efficient enough in carrying out the task. That is why after alot of research I have come up with a few apps that will do the job just fine and these apps are:
- Later
- Hootsuite
- Buffer
Later
Later (formally known as Latergramme) being one of the best apps you can use to schedule your Instagram stories and posts. It also spreads its wings across Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest i.e., you can also use the app to schedule content in those social media platforms.
Later partnered with Instagram and as such, they ensure the safety of your account with them. Just like Instagram, Later is visually inclined in that with later you have to upload an image before adding a text. Later lets you store your graphic images in a media library allowing you to be able to show details about each image you have used, distinguish used media from unused media and also lets you add media notes.
Later offer two main services: free and paid. With the free service, you’d be able to schedule 30 posts on your feed but sadly that is as far as the free goes, you’d be required to subscribe (paid service) if you want to schedule Instagram stories and also cross-post it with Facebook. Interestingly, with higher pricing subscriptions you would be able to keep track of your Instagram comments and also respond to all of them with built-in conversation modules.
Later Pricing
Later subscriptions can only be made on a monthly and yearly basis. In total, Later has 5 paid plans with 1 free plan. If you opt for the yearly plan for any of their 5 plans you’d be given a 17% discount.
Free: for the free package, you will be entitled to the following privileges:
- 1 social media account per platform.
- 1 user.
- 30 Instagram posts.
- You would be able to schedule photos and upload photos to the media library.
- Basic Instagram analytics.
- Can search.
- Can Repost UGC (user-generated content).
Plus: the plus package costs $9 per month. Its privileges are quite similar to that of the free package with a few exceptions. I will be listing the exceptions below:
- 100 Instagram posts.
- Can schedule photos and videos.
- You would be able to upload unlimited photos and videos to the media library.
- Can schedule Instagram stories and multi-photo posts.
- Basic and Pro Instagram analytics.
Premium Business: this plan from later cost $19 per month. After subscribing to this plan you’d be entitled to the following privileges:
- 2 social media accounts per platform.
- 2 users.
- 250 Instagram posts.
- Can schedule photos and videos.
- You would be able to upload unlimited photos and videos to the media library.
- Can schedule Instagram stories and multi-photo posts.
- Hashtag suggestions.
- Basic and Pro Instagram analytics.
- Can search and repost UGC.
Starter Business: this subscription plan will cost you $29 per month. The offers are also similar so I’ll be listing the exceptions:
- 3 social media accounts per platform.
- 3 users.
- Unlimited Instagram posts.
Brand Business: this subscription would cost you $49 per month. As usual, I will only list its privileges that differentiates it from the other packages and they are:
- 5 social media accounts per platform.
- 5 users.
App Features
The following features I will be listing are things you’d be able to do on your Instagram stories.
- You can tag products on the story.
- Analyze story performance.
- You can add links.
- Can crop and resize photos (it can even crop and resize photos down to a 9:16 ratio).
- Choose a time and date for your story.
- Can add stickers, texts, location, hashtags, etc.
- Has a reminder and auto-posting application.
- Plans stories visually.
Additionally, it also allows you to schedule posts directly on your feed. These are the features that have made the app stand out amongst other apps.
How to Schedule Instagram Stories (Using Later)
To be able to schedule Instagram stories using the later app, follow the steps outlined below:
- Drag and drop stories on the storyboard tool.
- Rearrange them to fit the order and look you desire.
- Crop and resize the images to fit Instagram’s 9:16 ratio.
- You can choose to add links or captions to your scheduled photos which will be copied to your device when it’s time to post. To know if your post is engaging, create trackable links for Instagram stories to monitor traffic sales and also sales from Instagram.
- Select time and date from the drop-down menu beside the save story button.
- Finally, when it’s time to post you’d receive a notification.
Once you are done with vital steps, (this means you can also plan around within the app to familiarize yourself with more of its functions) your stories will be downloaded to your phone and your captions and links would be saved to the clipboard making it easy to post in seconds and in turn save time.
With the above steps, you should be able to learn how to schedule Instagram stories and also post them using the Later app.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that helps users with simple stuffs like curate cool content, managing team members, measuring ROI, and also scheduling posts and stories. However, we won’t be going over the other things you can be able to do with Hootsuite hence, I will be limiting myself to teaching you how to schedule Instagram stories using Hootsuite.
Hootsuite was launched as far back as 2008 as a way to manage multiple social media accounts but during that time it functioned mainly as a tweet scheduler but over the years they have improved significantly by adding more social media services and right now you can use Hootsuite as a Facebook scheduler, Pinterest scheduler, and Instagram scheduler.
If you are still not convinced about why you should use Hootsuite, that is I will be giving you reasons why Hootsuite is a great app for scheduling Instagram stories. Hootsuite saves time which is a core fundamental purpose of all story scheduling apps. Secondly, you’d be able to upload Instagram stories from your computer. Thirdly, when using Hootsuite to schedule Instagram stories, you’d be privileged to have access to all the in-built editing tools that can be found in the Hootsuite dashboard.
Hootsuite Pricing
Just like “Later”, Hootsuite majorly has two subscription plans: free and paid plans. The free plan only allows a single user to have a dashboard for three (3) different social media platforms. Additionally, when using the free package, you can set up a social media posting schedule with up to 30 messages scheduled in advance. Now, let’s dive into the features you stand to enjoy when you subscribe to the different tiers of their plans.
Professional: This plan goes for $19 per month. When using this plan you’d be privileged to enjoy the following core benefits:
- 1 user.
- 10 social media accounts.
- Schedule unlimited posts and stories.
- Access messages in one inbox.
- Schedule posts and stories in advance.
- Schedule multiple posts and stories at a time.
Team: This plan costs $99 per month. The plan has some similar features to the professional plan hence I’ll be listing the exceptions:
- 3 users.
- 20 social media accounts.
- Manage team access and roles with permissions.
- Assign posts (stories inclusive) or comments to team members.
Business: This plan goes for a whopping $599 per month. Since its features bear similarities with other packages, I’ll be listing the exceptions below:
- 5+ users.
- 35 social media accounts.
- Review messages before they publish.
- Extend the functionality with premium apps.
- 24/7 priority support.
Enterprise: According to Hootsuite, a custom solution applies to the Enterprise package as it does not have a fixed price, this is because it has its own pricing structure. The features listed below are the privileges you’d enjoy if you subscribe to the Enterprise plan:
- Unlimited users.
- 50 social media accounts.
- Schedule unlimited posts and stories.
- Access messages in one box.
- Schedule posts and stories in advance.
- Schedule multiple posts and stories at a time.
- Manage team access and roles with permission.
- Review messages before they publish.
- Extend the functionality with premium apps.
- 24/7 priority support.
- Receive quarterly business reviews.
- Promote unlimited posts.
- Report on team performance.
- Custom solutions.
When you opt-in for the Professional and Team subscription plans you will be given a 30-day free trial while for business and enterprise you’d be given a demo.
How to Schedule Instagram Stories (Using Hootsuite)
Before you’d be able to use Hootsuite in scheduling Instagram stories kindly ensure you are using the latest version of both Hootsuite and Instagram apps. Also, note that scheduling Instagram stories is only available to professional users and above. Once you have both requirements in place, follow the steps below to able to learn how to schedule Instagram posts using Hootsuite:
- From your Hootsuite dashboard, go to the drop-down menu arrow next go to the green New Post button and select New Story.
- Select the Instagram profiles you want to stories to in the Post to the field.
- You can now drag and drop up to 10 images and videos for your story. You can also use the Media Library to create a story using the free stock images. Ensure the images are not above 5MB and the videos not more than a minute long.
- You can edit each image by selecting Edit Image.
- Next, go to the Transformation menu and select Story under Instagram to crop your photo to the correct size.
- Once you are done with all the necessary edits, select Save.
You can also add links, hashtags, or even texts to your story by simply typing them in the clipboard text box. This saves your texts so you can easily when finalizing your story in the app. Do not forget to tap or click on the bell icon if you haven’t because if you don’t you won’t be able to receive notifications from the app.
Finally, select schedule for later then you choose the date and time, once you are done select Done. Afterward, select the green Schedule button to schedule your story.
The above actions are usually carried out on a computer and when it’s time to post, the app sends them to your device for posting but before that, you are usually notified.
With the above steps, you should be able to learn how to schedule Instagram stories and also post them using the Hootsuite app.
Buffer
Buffer is a software application designed to manage social media networks by providing users a means to schedule posts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and even Google+ (Google Plus). The app can be used to analyze results and also engage with the community. This great app is owned by remote company Buffer Inc.
Buffer is another Instagram scheduling app that you can use in learning how to schedule Instagram stories which lets you post your stories with confidence. This is another great app I’m so excited to talk about because with this app you can easily rearrange and preview your stories ensuring they are in their right order before posting. You can also use the app to prewrite your captions to avoid spelling errors and also have the images and videos sent to your phone when it’s time to post.
Another advantage of using the buffer app is that it saves time, just like the others. Buffer makes the process of scheduling posts and stories simpler and at the same time can also be used to track the performance of your post on not only Instagram but also Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
Buffer Pricing
Just like the other plans, the buffer also has both free and paid plans.
Free: The buffer free plan costs you absolutely nothing. If you are okay with this plan, you’ll be entitled to the following privileges while buffering under this plan.
- 1 user
- 3 social media channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel.
- You can directly schedule your posts and stories.
- Create a posting schedule.
- Tailored posts for each social network.
Pro: this plan would cost you $15 per month. This plan is similar to the free plan in some aspects so I’ll be listing the features that tell them apart.
- 1 user.
- 8 social media channels and 100 scheduled posts per social media channel.
- Custom video thumbnails.
- Instagram first comment.
- Instagram tagging.
- Calendar view.
Premium: This plan goes for $65 per month. As usual, I’ll be listing the uniqueness of this plan from the others only.
- 2 users.
- 8 social media channels and 2000 schedule posts per social channel.
- Instagram hashtag manager.
- Instagram stories.
- Instagram shop grid.
Business: This plan costs $99. Since most of the plans are similar to the other plans listed above, hence I’ll be showing its peculiar features.
- 6 users.
- 25 social media channels and 2000 scheduled posts per channel.
Also note that while using buffer, if you opt for an annual you’ll be given a 20% discount.
How to Schedule Instagram Stories (Using Buffer)
To be able to post Instagram stories using buffer you’d have to at least subscribe to the premium package to gain access to this feature. Follow the steps below to learn how to schedule Instagram stories using buffer:
- Open the Stories
- Select Add to Story to open the story’s composer.
- Select Add Media Files to upload your story images and videos. Note that you can upload up to 10 media files.
- Arrange your story in the order you’d like it to be posted.
- You can now add notes to each uploaded media. Once the notes are added when it’s time to be posted the notes added will be saved on your clipboard for easy posting.
- Preview your story. This is a crucial stage and it is done to ensure everything is in its right order and it is arranged the way you want it before proceeding.
- Finally, schedule your story by using the Schedule Story button to open up the time and date picker.
When the due date and time comes for your story, a notification will be sent to your mobile device.
With the above steps, you should be able to learn how to schedule Instagram stories and also post them using the Buffer app.
Instagram Post Scheduler
The purpose of scheduling your post as a brand or company cannot be overemphasized and is in no way different from the reasons why you may want to schedule your stories.
There are lots of apps that can be used for scheduling Instagram posts asides from the aforementioned apps since they can also perform the same functions. If you are looking for other apps you can use to schedule your Instagram post, then I’ll be glad to introduce you to a few.
- Sprout Social.
- Combin Scheduler.
- Sked Social.
The above apps are in no way lesser than the previously mentioned apps as they are equally great tools to use when scheduling Instagram posts.
There you have it, the above contents contain my list of the best apps you can use to educate yourself on how to schedule Instagram stories.