The launch of a new social network is typically met with equal doses of curiosity and concern. The response to Threads was different. Brands and the social media managers that run them took to the platform with enthusiasm. Sure, there was some stress—expressed mainly in the form of overworked social media manager memes—but most seemed excited about the novelty and potential of a new platform.

Threads has generated a lot of discussion since then. What role will it play in existing social media strategies? What do consumers think about it? Does it have staying power?

Our team has spent the last six months discussing these questions while experimenting with our approach to Meta’s latest platform. Along the way, we’ve learned quite a bit and have some hot takes on what’s coming next. Let’s walk through why brands should consider a Threads profile and Meta’s future plans for the platform.

What is Threads?

Threads is a social messaging platform focused on fostering authentic conversations. Users can post and share text, images and videos to join in public discussions. Threads was developed by Meta’s Instagram team and launched on July 5, 2024.

Why your brand should consider a Threads profile

Is your audience on Threads? It’s probably likely. A lot of users have gravitated to Threads, but that’s just one reason why brands should consider using it in their social media strategy.

It’s the fastest app to reach 100 million users

Threads reached 100 million users less than a week (five days) after its launch and is the most rapidly downloaded app ever, surpassing ChatGPT. The platform hit 1 million users within an hour while ChatGPT earned the same amount within five days.

The user base will continue to grow over the next few years

In Meta’s Q4 2023 earnings announcement, Mark Zuckerberg announced Threads has over 130 million monthly active users. Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, shared the news on his personal Threads account:

You can appeal to an international audience

Along with the United States, India, Brazil, Mexico and Japan have the highest number of Threads users. If you want to appeal to an international audience, you might want to consider incorporating Threads into your social strategy. Appfigures reports Threads was the sixth most downloaded app across the world in December 2023.

Threads offers unique features

Threads will feel familiar to fans of text-based social media platforms. However, there are still differences that give the app a unique user experience.

For example, some of the network’s instant popularity can be attributed to an exceptionally simple registration process. Users are required to have an Instagram account to sign up, maintaining the same account name, username and password across both networks. Users also have the ability to cross-share content to Instagram Stories or Facebook, creating an integrated experience.

Key features as of February 2024 include:

• A 500-character limit for text
• Video posts can be up to five minutes long
• Quick follow, which allows users to follow accounts they see in their feed without navigating to their profile. Users can simply tap the plus icon in the corner of the other user’s profile picture.
• Reply controls allow users to tighten the reins on who can engage with a specific post. Users can choose between the following audiences: Anyone, Profiles you follow and Mentioned only.
• Users can mute profiles by tapping the three dot menu on a post from the Threads account they’d like to mute.
• Users can also hide words and phrases from appearing in their Threads feed by navigating to the Privacy menu and tapping Hidden words.
• Tapping the Share button allows users to share Threads to their Instagram Story or grid.
• Choose between two feed options by tapping the Threads logo at the top of the app: the For you feed displays posts from followed accounts, as well as recommended profiles. The Following feed displays posts only from profiles you follow.

How to create a Threads profile

To create a Threads profile, install the Threads app from the App Store or Google Play Store. If you already have the Instagram app downloaded, you can also search “Threads” and tap the ticket icon that appears in the search bar.

When you open the Threads app for the first time, you’ll be prompted to log in with Instagram. At this point, you can also decide whether you’d like to auto-follow the accounts you follow on Instagram, or if you’d like to select your following from scratch. Once you do that, you’re ready to start Threading.

Meta’s future plans for Threads

Since its launch in July 2023, Threads users have been dreaming up additional features for the app. Luckily, Meta’s been in the mood to grant wishes over the past few months. Mosseri uses his Threads account to confirm what’s in development for the app. According to Mosseri, there are tests for several platform updates including a trending topic feature and the ability to bookmark posts on Threads.

Other plans include direct messaging and expanded search functionality.

Aside from ongoing feature releases, Meta is also working to build Threads into the fediverse. The fediverse is a new type of decentralized social media network infrastructure that will enable people to interact with users on independent but interconnected platforms, like Mastodon for example.

Sprout Social and Threads: Sprout is testing a Meta Threads Publishing API

Meta is testing a Threads API. We’ve been working with the Meta team behind the scenes as one of the first partners to help develop and test the Threads API. As of Mar 1, 2024, all our customers can publish and schedule Threads in Sprout and we’re now beginning to test reply moderation and insights capabilities with Meta.

Even better news? In partnership with Meta, we’re officially pulling back the curtain: our Threads integration is now available in Sprout to all of our customers.

The integration enables you to schedule and publish Threads posts (text, image, carousel and video) alongside the rest of your social content in Sprout.

This means Sprout customers can build impactful social strategies on Threads with the most intuitive content planning and scheduling capabilities.

This means our customers can use features like our patented ViralPost® technology and Sprout Queue to schedule content to post at the times proven to generate engagement from your social audiences. You can also use URL tracking, the asset library, approval workflows and other Sprout features for Threads.

Manage your Threads campaigns seamlessly and evaluate how the platform contributes to your overall social strategy, so you can increase the reach of your content organically and build meaningful and long-lasting connections with your audience.

Since there’s currently no native scheduling feature in Threads, this API is a game changer for brands already using Threads or those ready to join the platform. Test it today with a trial of Sprout, free for 30 days.

Sign up for a free trial

Testing Threads: What we’ve learned since post-launch

We wouldn’t offer any advice we haven’t personally tried for ourselves. That’s why Sprout’s social team spent the last six months experimenting with Threads and exploring how it may impact the overall social media landscape. Here are some takeaways based on what we’ve learned through Sprout Social’s Threads account. Use these tips to lay the foundation for your Threads strategy.

Engagement is the big opportunity (at least for today)

Threads gained a record-breaking user base in just a few days. A near effortless signup experience combined with Meta’s influence in the social media industry made creating a profile an easy choice for brands and individuals alike.

Threads is available via mobile and desktop with a closed API. You can only view profiles and posts on desktop, but posting on the mobile version still feels personal.

A little attention from a brand can go a long way. While we wait for a native Threads analytics tool or API access—whichever comes first—we’re prioritizing quality of engagements over quantity. What we lack in concrete KPIs, we’re making up for in surprise and delight.

However, we understand that senior leadership may not be too keen on dedicating time to a network that lacks the reporting functionality needed to prove its value. If you still believe Threads is the right play for your brand, sell them on the opportunity for 1:1 connections with customers, influencers and fans.

Threads is its own thing

If you haven’t noticed yet, text-based social media is having a moment.

You can’t talk about Threads without talking about X (formerly known as Twitter), BlueSky, Spill or any of the other emerging players in the social media landscape. Naturally, a lot of the conversation veers toward comparison. It seems there can only be one network to rule them all, and people want to know who it’s going to be.

The truth is, the social media landscape is fragmenting. A few networks have turned into many, each with their unique user base and engagement norms. It’s a new era of social media, all about authenticity and community—which will look different across platforms.

Although Threads has a similar user experience to other text-based social media networks, it has a different vibe. On top of that, the Instagram team has plans to continuously release features that will differentiate Threads from other social media networks.

Let consumers show you what they’re looking for

Every social media network has its original intended use, how people actually end up using it and all the features built to connect the two.

This push and pull can be seen in many of your favorite social networks. For example, TikTok is most commonly known as a platform for short-form videos, but photo slideshows and text posts are also popular.

Threads may be synonymous with text right now, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t using it to share photos and videos. When it comes to developing your strategy, embrace variety. Share a consistent mix of content types—static images, text, video, etc.—to narrow in on what people are responding to.

Are you thread-y for a new social media network?

Threads is still becoming itself. Right now, conversations on the network feel organic. There’s an intimacy that you can only find in an up-and-coming platform. As Threads continues to expand its daily active users and influence, the atmosphere will undoubtedly change.

Threads is worth considering as a place to experiment with your brand personality. How can your business sound more authentic online? How can you make customer care interactions feel more real? These are the questions you can unravel on Threads today by experimenting.

That said, running a new brand account is no small responsibility. If you’re still on the fence, watch our webinar about the rise and fall of new platforms—our panelists share more learnings about Threads and other emerging social media.

The post Unraveling Meta Threads: What we’ve learned since launch appeared first on Sprout Social.

If you’re looking for a sign to start gathering evidence, this is it. This social media time tracker template will help you measure how much of your day goes to manual tasks.

Use this information to:

• Paint a clear picture of how much time it takes to complete routine social media management tasks, like content creation, scheduling, engagement and reporting
• Calculate the amount of time you can save with the help of a robust social media management solution
• Advocate for the resources you need to do your job more efficiently

Put concrete numbers behind the time that goes into making a high-impact social media strategy, and make a stronger case for more support in 2024. Download the template today.

The post Reclaim your day with a social media time tracker template appeared first on Sprout Social.

With the right tools, social media management becomes more manageable. You can use these tools to do everything in one place–from scheduling posts to analyzing your performance. It becomes easier to stay on top of tasks with features to collaborate with team members and set alerts.

This post rounds up some of the top social media management platforms in the market to help you decide on the best option for your team. Let’s take a look.

Table of contents:

• What is a social media management tool?
• Best social media management tools overall
• Social media management tools for agencies
• Social media management tools for small teams
• Social media management tools for dedicated platforms
• Social media management tools for publishing
• How to select the best social media management tool for your business

What is a social media management tool?

A social media management tool is a software solution that lets you manage all aspects of your social media in one place. That means you can perform multiple social media tasks without having to switch to a different platform. This includes tasks related to creating, scheduling, publishing, monitoring, analyzing, engaging and collaborating.

Most social media management tools let you manage more than one social media profile across several networks. As such, they play a vital role in executing your social media marketing strategy.

Best social media management tools to use

The best social media management tool for you depends on what you need. Factors like the size of your operation and the platforms you use will influence this decision.

Agencies may need a tool that lets them manage multiple social media profiles for their clients. Meanwhile, small teams may look for something with robust collaboration features. Others may only need a tool to help them manage a specific social media platform. On the other hand, some may want to focus on automating their publishing.

Based on these unique needs, we’ve handpicked some of the best social media management tools to consider.

1. Sprout Social
2. Zoho Social
3. HubSpot
4. Sendible
5. Pallyy
6. SocialPilot
7. Buffer
8. Keyhole
9. Sprinklr
10. eClincher
11. Tailwind
12. X Pro (formerly Tweetdeck)
13. Preview
14. PromoRepublic
15. Hootsuite
16. Coschedule
17. MeetEdgar
18. Later

Best social media management tools overall

1. Sprout Social

Can’t blame us for giving ourselves the top spot, right? Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media management tool to manage all aspects of your social media strategy.

Sprout offers integrations with all the major social networks. This includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube. So you can work across your entire presence in a single dashboard.

Plus, you can also manage reviews from sources like Google My Business, Trustpilot and Facebook. It even lets you create shoppable posts integrated with Facebook Shops and Shopify catalogs.

Sprout’s Employee Advocacy tool gives it an added advantage over other social media management platforms. This lets you create a curated feed of content for your employees to share across their social networks. So you can take your employee advocacy efforts up a notch and amplify your brand reach.

Features:

• Social media publishing, scheduling, monitoring, analytics, reporting and more in one easy-to-use dashboard
• ViralPost feature to publish your content when your followers are most likely to engage
• Smart Inbox that compiles all your incoming messages from different social media platforms
• Hashtag tracking to identify the most popular and relevant hashtags to boost visibility
• Custom URL tracking to get a more in-depth insight into how your posts are performing in terms of referral traffic and conversions

2. Zoho Social

Zoho Social is a tool that boasts features “built for every social media feed.” The platform allows you to start discussions, share reports, create team roles and encourage feedback. This makes it easy to get everyone on board with your updates, strategies and performance insights.

In addition to scheduling, the platform has its own optimized timing features similar to Sprout. You can customize your content for each network and schedule them to go out at the right time.

The platform’s Inbox keeps track of all your conversations in one place. So you don’t have to switch between multiple platforms to manage your customer interactions.

Features:

• An instant integration with the Zoho CRM and the ability to monitor customer interactions
• Social listening dashboards to track brand reviews, social mentions and branded keywords
• Ability to collaborate with teammates within the platform via chat, audio and video calls

3. HubSpot

HubSpot is a leading customer platform with powerful social media management features. Its centralized social inbox lets you keep track of all your social interactions in one place. You can further gain contextual information on these conversations with a CRM integration. That way, you have the insights to enhance and personalize the customer experience.

The platform helps you organize your efforts by tagging marketing assets and content. So you can associate your posts with specific campaigns and measure their effectiveness.

Additionally, it comes with all the essential features you need in a social media management software solution. This includes tools for publishing and scheduling as well as keyword monitoring and social media reporting.

Features:

• Keyword monitoring streams to identify important interactions and prioritize the right conversations
• AI-powered social media post generator to simplify publishing
• Best time to post suggestions to optimize scheduling

Social media management tools for agencies

4. Sendible

Sendible has done a great job of niching down for agencies and large brands. It offers client dashboards and automated client reporting features for agency users. Collaboration tools and user management capabilities make the platform ideal for multiple users.

Additionally, it offers a number of helpful integrations to make social media management as easy as possible for users.

Features:

• An all-in-one dashboard that makes it easy to see your overall social media performance at a glance
• Collaboration tools that allow your team to create content and then send it to the client or team leader for approval
• Presentation-ready reports to showcase social media ROI to clients
• A mobile app that lets you monitor and manage your social media accounts on-the-go

5. Pallyy

Pallyy is a unique social media management tool specifically targeted at agencies. This software helps agencies plan and schedule clients’ social media posts all in one place. The platform features a Kanban-style workflow and a visual planner where you can plan your grids. Additionally, you can easily access media files from the media and folders library.

Features:

• Integration with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, Pinterest and TikTok
• Visual planners make it easy to prepare content across platforms and grids, especially when aesthetics is a priority
• Folders to better organize your media files
• Shareable content calendars where clients can leave comments and approve posts

Social media management tools for small teams

6. SocialPilot

SocialPilot is a straightforward social media management solution for those just starting out. It provides all the essential publishing and scheduling features that you need in a social media tool. The platform simplifies content creation with an AI Assistant. This helps you generate engaging captions based on the latest trends and audience preferences.

SocialPilot offers in-depth analytics reports to guide better strategies. The content performance and audience insights help you understand what people are engaging with. You can analyze growth patterns to continue creating great content.

Features:

• Integration with several major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
• Ability to customize and optimize posts for multiple social networks in a single composer
• Bulk scheduling for up to 500 posts to help you save time

7. Buffer

Buffer is another social media management tool that’s ideal for small businesses and startups. It offers a completely free plan for your first three social media channels. This makes it the perfect option for setting up your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

The platform simplifies content creation with an AI Assistant that generates new ideas. It even lets you store ideas so you can build on them later. A direct integration with Canva, DropBox and OneDrive makes it much easier to import content to edit and share on social.

Features:

• Social media publishing tools that allow you to easily schedule out all the social media content you’ve created for each channel
• A social media engagement dashboard that lets you respond to all mentions or messages online in one place
• Analytics and reporting to give you a bird’s eye view of how your social media efforts are performing
• Landing page builder to create a customized experience

8. Keyhole

Keyhole is unique from most of the tools on this list in that it’s an influencer tracking and marketing software as well. It performs in-depth analytics to help you vet and compare influencers. The profile analytics help you zero in on influencers who manage to drive authentic engagements.

After your campaign goes live, the tool measures the performance of each influencer and their impact on your campaign goals.

Features:

• Automated social media reports that are shareable and presentation-ready within seconds
• Several reporting features, including brand reporting, campaign reporting, hashtag reporting and influencer reporting

9. Sprinklr

Sprinklr is a customer experience management platform with features to manage your socials. It supports your essential social publishing needs with an editorial calendar and a digital asset manager. The engagement dashboard lets you view comments, mentions and messages in one place.

A unique Sprinklr feature is the user-generated content (UGC) management capabilities. You can use it to organize content from fans and repost them to amplify brand reach.

Features:

• Sprinklr AI to speed up content generation
• Custom approval workflows to streamline team collaboration
• Customer service and consumer intelligence integrations for a unified customer experience management

10. eClincher

eClincher markets itself as a social media management platform that highlights a commitment to 24/7 customer support. Like most tools on this list, eClincher features a cross-network social publishing tool. It comes with a visual calendar, a dedicated messaging inbox and a publishing queue. Plus, it features brand monitoring across social, news, blogs and more, complete with sentiment analysis.

Features:

• Provides 24/7 customer support for its users so they can “strategize, optimize and measure ROI”
• Team collaboration with drafts, comments, notifications, tagging and assigning messages

Social media management tools for dedicated platforms

11. Tailwind

Tailwind started out as a tool to address a hole in the market for Pinterest scheduling. So it initially focused on automating Pinterest marketing for brands. It has since expanded to cover Instagram and Facebook. But the platform continues to stand out when it comes to managing Pinterest.

The visual calendar helps you plan and organize all your social media posts in one place. You can apply filters to view only your Pins to see how your Page would look. The platform then auto-publishes these Pins to catch your audience when they’re most responsive.

Features:

• Post ideas to make sure you always have Pinterest content in the pipeline
• Automatic personalized designs to create on-brand posts every time
• Hashtag finder to discover popular and hyper-relevant hashtags to boost your engagement

12. X Pro (formerly Tweetdeck)

X Pro (formerly Tweetdeck) is an X-owned management tool to monitor conversations on the platform. It gives you real-time visibility to monitor multiple timelines on a single screen. So you can easily jump in on the right conversations and engage with your audience.

Since its rebranding to X Pro, the tool is now a part of X Premium subscription. As such, you can access plenty of premium features not available to regular users. This includes the ability to share longer content and download videos among many others.

Features:

• Ability to create longer posts to share in-depth information and messages
• A dedicated Highlights tab to showcase your best posts on your profile
• Reply boost so your responses show up more prominently

13. Preview

Preview is a mobile app that lets you visually plan out your Instagram feed. The tool is perfect for creating a feed that’s based on a specific Instagram feed aesthetic. You can upload as many photos and videos into the app so you can preview your feed before you publish.

Features:

• Upload photos, videos and carousels to the Preview app to get an idea of what it would look like live on Instagram
• Schedule your content right within the Preview app so it’ll publish when you’re ready
• Plan out Reels and Stories as well as your regular Instagram feed so you know how everything will fit together

14. PromoRepublic

PromoRepublic is a unique tool on this list as it markets itself as a local marketing platform. Having a localized social media management tool makes it easier to target local audiences. You can create hyper-localized ads targeting audiences on Facebook and Instagram.

Through its local SEO tool, businesses will be able to grow foot traffic and web traffic. You can even manage customer reviews and feedback right within the dashboard.

Features:

• Best for small businesses, franchises and businesses who want to grow awareness in local audiences
• Dynamic fields to automatically localize content across thousands of local pages
• Content labeling to see what social content resonates in specific locations

Social media management tools for publishing

15. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media marketing tool with powerful publishing features. It comes with a visual calendar to plan out your content and easily fill gaps. If you ever run out of things to post, you can use the tool to generate an endless stream of content ideas. The tool even provides suggestions on the best time to post so you can schedule your posts for the highest engagement.

Check out our list of Hootsuite alternatives if you’re looking to take your social media management in a different direction.

Features:

• Publish and schedule social media posts on a variety of platforms
• Manage incoming messages and mentions and respond to them in a single inbox
• Monitor online conversations around your brand and industry to stay on top of trending topics

16. CoSchedule

CoSchedule began as a content marketing company and has since brought social media management and calendars into its fold. It helps you organize your social media publishing efforts with a social calendar to visualize your entire content plan. The Best Time Scheduler ensures that your posts go out when people are most likely to engage.

Features:

• Social Message Optimizer to craft powerful messages for your social posts
• AI Social Assistant to generate ideas and social messages instantly
• Predefined social sharing templates so you don’t have to create a publishing plan from scratch
• ReQueue automatically creates recurring social posts from your best content

17. MeetEdgar

MeetEdgar is a social media management tool that helps teams automatically curate their social media feeds. This is perfect for solopreneurs or businesses with small teams. Startups, where team members wear a lot of hats, will benefit from the features available with MeetEdgar.

Features:

• Repurpose content and give it new life by automatically republishing it at a later date
• Scheduling tools that let you set the optimal times for MeetEdgar to schedule your content
• Real-time content insights to see what performs best so you can optimize your strategy

18. Later

Later is a social media management tool that assists with publishing and content creation. You can organize your social content strategy with a visual planner and a media library. The Best Time to Post recommendations make sure that you’re reaching your audience at the right time on TikTok and Instagram.

Features:

• User-generated content discovery using tags and mentions
• Instagram Hashtag Suggestions tool to generate fresh and relevant hashtags
• Caption Writer tool to automatically craft powerful social media captions

How to select the best social media management tool for your business

When investing in a new tool for your business, you want something that adds value to your marketing tech stack. So it’s important to carefully weigh your options to ensure that you’re making the right choice. Here are some factors to help you narrow down the ideal social media management software for you.

Integration

The first thing to consider is whether it has a social media integration for the platforms you use. It should integrate with all the major networks so you can manage them all in one place.

Scheduling

Publishing is one of the most vital aspects of social media management, so you need a tool to simplify the process. Look for one that comes with features for scheduling social media posts and best time to post suggestions. Bulk scheduling capabilities are a plus if you have to schedule hundreds of posts each month.

Collaboration

Whether you work with a small team or with clients, you need a tool that supports seamless collaboration. Look for one that has a shared publishing calendar along with multi-user support and message approval workflows.

Social listening

A core aspect of social media management is being able to track and engage with relevant conversions. So you need a tool with social listening capabilities to monitor specific keywords and tags in addition to brand mentions.

AI capabilities

While not a necessity, AI marketing capabilities give you an added advantage. You can find social media tools that offer AI-powered features, especially when it comes to content creation. Being able to generate ideas and captions in an instant will help you speed up the process of creating new social posts.

Reporting

The easier it is to highlight your performance and KPIs, the better. Whether you’re reporting to clients or presenting data to stakeholders, in-depth social media reporting is a must-have.

Additionally, reporting can help highlight what’s working and what’s not in terms of your social presence. So make sure the tool can monitor the social metrics that matter most to your business.

Cost

Whether or not you can get by with totally free social media management software really depends on your business’s size and scope. For solo businesses and up-and-coming agencies, free or freemium tools might serve as a stepping stone toward paid ones.

But oftentimes, “you get what you pay for” rings true. That’s why it’s important to assess which features matter most to your business and what your non-negotiables are.

Take care to consider the overall cost of social media marketing when deciding on your budget for a social media tool.

Adaptability

Another major consideration is how well the tool can adapt to changes in your social media planning. Does it have a built-in editor in case you decide to create more visual content? Can you get hashtag ideas in case you want to start adding more hashtags? Make sure it has all the features you might possibly need so it can quickly adapt to your latest social media plan.

Scalability

One crucial factor is the ability to scale along with your needs. Almost in line with the previous factor, scalability helps you ensure that the tool can support your business growth. At the bare minimum, it should offer the option to add more users and social profiles.

Manage social media like a pro

The right tool helps you manage your social media like a pro. It streamlines publishing and allows you to manage all your social media interactions in one place. More importantly, it enables you to collaborate seamlessly with your team and clients.

After going through our list, take some time to weigh your options before you make the final move. And remember, you can get a first-hand look at Sprout’s automation, collaboration and reporting features with a free 30-day trial.

The post Top 18 social media management tools for businesses in 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

With its popularity growing exponentially with audiences of all ages and demographics, it’s crucial that businesses and brands maximize their reach on the short-form video app. One way to make that happen is by having a consistent TikTok posting schedule.

TikTok offers a free scheduling feature, but it’s limited to desktop use only. That’s where Sprout Social steps in, offering a solution for scheduling TikTok posts on both desktop and mobile.

Below we explain everything you need to know about scheduling TikTok posts—whether it’s with TikTok’s video scheduler feature on desktop or with Sprout Social. We’ll also review how Sprout’s mobile scheduler will make scheduling and publishing even more convenient.

Table of contents:

• How to schedule TikTok posts with TikTok’s Video Scheduler (desktop only)
• How to schedule TikTok posts using Sprout Social (on mobile)
• How to schedule TikTok posts using Sprout Social (on desktop)
• Tips for creating your TikTok schedule

How to schedule TikTok posts with TikTok’s Video Scheduler (desktop only)

Much to the joy of social media managers, TikTok launched their Video Scheduler back in spring of 2021 for Creator and Business accounts. This feature makes it possible to schedule content from 15 minutes to a maximum of 10 days in advance.

Here’s how you can schedule TikTok content natively:

Step 1: Log into TikTok on a web browser

The scheduler is only available on desktop, so have your computer handy. Login and click the +Upload button in the top right corner.

Pro tip: Be sure to do your research on TikTok marketing best practices before you start exploring the scheduler. Understanding the fundamentals of developing a marketing strategy for the app will set you up for TikTok scheduling success.

Step 2: Upload and prep your post

In the upload video window, you can do everything you normally do before publishing. Add captions, TikTok hashtags, mentions, choose a cover image, run a copyright check and pick your settings.

Step 3: Schedule TikTok posts

Once a video is scheduled, you can’t make edits. So take time to do a thorough typo and settings check before hitting schedule. When you’re ready, click the toggle next to Schedule Video so it turns green. Two boxes will appear where you can set your publishing date and time. The time zone defaults to your computer’s, so double-check your settings.

Step 4: Do a quick double check

Mistakes happen. Cut out Murphy’s law and make sure your content is scheduled at the right time. Find scheduled posts in the Drafts section of your Profile.

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Once you click Schedule, sit back and relax—your TikTok posting schedule has officially been created.

You’ll get a push notification when your post goes live, as long as you’ve enabled notifications.

How to schedule TikTok posts using Sprout Social (on mobile)

Only having desktop publishing natively isn’t great for those who prefer using mobile devices or need to schedule posts while on the go. But with Sprout Social, you can schedule TikTok videos directly from your mobile device.

This flexibility means you can plan and maintain content for your TikTok schedule from anywhere, ensuring you never miss opportunities to engage with your audience. The ability to create and schedule TikTok videos from the same device is also an easy way to streamline your marketing workflow.

Below we break down the steps on how to set up a TikTok Schedule on a mobile device using Sprout.

Step 1: Log into Sprout on your web browser and start composing your post

Begin by logging into Sprout Social in your favorite web browser on your desktop.

Tap the blue notepad and pencil icon in the top right to compose your post. You can also select Publishing on the left side bar and click on the day you want to post.

Pro tip: Schedule your posts within the weekly or monthly calendar to get a birds-eye view of scheduled posts across your platforms and accounts. Seeing the calendar from this perspective will prevent inconsistent scheduling or accidentally publishing overlapping posts.

Step 2: Choose the TikTok account you want to schedule a post on

You might be juggling several TikTok accounts if you work in social media marketing. Sprout makes it easy to oversee multiple accounts from a single location.

When you navigate to the New Post window, you’ll find a dropdown menu in the compose box. From here, simply click on the account you wish to post on.

Step 3: Designate specific team members to be your Mobile Publishers in the Sprout Social mobile app

Mobile Publishers are assigned to post content to Instagram and TikTok using Sprout’s mobile app. Sprout’s mobile publishing features create a workflow of scheduling your posts in the mobile app. Then, the assigned Mobile Publisher(s) will publish the content to your Instagram or TikTok account based on the time/day you specify.

Remember, your team will need to pick who’s going to publish on mobile before you schedule a post.

There are a few actions to take if you want to appear in the Mobile Publisher list in the compose window:

• Download the Sprout Social app on a mobile device
• Enable push notifications for the app
• Enable the publishing reminders option in the notification preferences screen of the app

Once you have a mobile user set up and ready to go, you can create your post by uploading a video to Sprout via desktop. Then, you can add the final touches to your post such as:

• Writing an engaging description or caption–it’s optional to include mentions and hashtags
• Choosing whether to open engagement with followers by allowing comments, duets or stitches
• Designating the Mobile Publisher for your post
• Selecting a day and time for scheduling the post

Once you’ve done all the above, you can click send or schedule.

Step 4: Open Sprout on your mobile device to finalize your post

The next step is in the hands of the designated Mobile Publisher for your scheduled post. But that’s not quite the end of it. The Mobile Publisher will finish the mobile publishing process.

First, you’ll tap on the publishing notification from Sprout that will appear at the scheduled time.

Then, you’ll be able to review the post content one last time. If no changes need to be made, tap Continue to TikTok to move forward with publishing.

You’ll then see a list of publishing reminders to review. If all looks good, simply tap Ok, I’m ready to post.

For iOS users, your uploaded video will download to your device and your caption will be saved to your clipboard. After that, the TikTok app will open.

Step 5: Use TikTok to publish your scheduled post

You’re almost there. The mobile publishing process will be completed within the TikTok app.

If you use an Android device, your video will automatically load when TikTok opens.

If you’re an iOS user, you will have to select the video from the camera roll. You’ll also have the option to polish up the video by adding any effects and options before tapping Next. After that, you will paste the prepared caption from your clipboard.

At this point, take a final review for any typos or errors. Are you happy with how your post appears? If so, tap Post to publish your video. You’re all done.

Step 6: Review your scheduled content on the go

Social media marketing moves fast, so it’s easy to schedule posts at the wrong time of day or on a completely different platform than you intended.

By having the Sprout app on your mobile device, you can check and confirm that your scheduled posts and recently published posts are perfect while on the go.

From misspelled words to overlapping postings, Sprout enables you to catch the little things before–or quickly after–they are live.

Sprout also makes it possible to add edits on the fly. This is especially helpful since TikTok’s Video Scheduler doesn’t allow changes to the video, captions or scheduled time once a post has been scheduled for publishing. So be sure to take advantage of that feature to create more time and space in your schedule for more important tasks in your workday.

Curious to see how scheduling TikTok posts on mobile will level up your social media marketing strategy? Sign up for a 30-day free trial of Sprout’s TikTok management tools to try it yourself.

How to schedule TikTok posts using Sprout Social (on desktop)

TikTok’s scheduler is great for a quick set-it-and-forget-it post. But chances are, TikTok is one of many channels you’re managing.

Using a dedicated social media publishing tool like Sprout Social empowers you to see and schedule all of your posts in one unified place.

TikTok was one of our most-requested features. And we’ve made it easy to schedule posts, with no limit to how soon or how far in the future you can post your content.

Follow these easy step-by-step instructions to create your TikTok schedule using Sprout’s desktop option.

Step 1: Log into Sprout on your web browser and create your post

Start by logging into Sprout Social in your favorite web browser on your desktop.

To create a post, tap the blue notepad and pencil icon in the top right. Or, click Publishing on the left and click on the day you want to post.

Pro tip: According to The Sprout Social Index™, the majority of content consumers think posting 1-2 times a day is the sweet spot for brands.

To avoid over-posting or double-posting, schedule in the weekly or monthly calendar view. This gives you a high-level look at your upcoming posts across platforms to avoid over-scheduling in a given day or time period.

Step 2: Select the right TikTok account

Agencies, social media managers and creators alike may be balancing multiple TikTok accounts.

With Sprout, you can manage multiple handles in one place.

Once you’re in the New Post window, select the dropdown in the compose box and choose the account you want to publish on.

If you want to repurpose your short-form video on platforms beyond TikTok, select your Twitter handles, Facebook Pages and more in that same dropdown.

Step 3: Upload your video content and prep your post

Time for the fun part. Upload the video you want to use. Then, in the compose window, polish and prep your post by:

• Creating an engaging caption
• Including any mentions and hashtags you want to use—these become interactive once your video is published
• Choosing how your audience can engage with your video—will you allow comments? Duets? Stitches?

In this step, you can also use Sprout’s unique features to keep your social campaigns and team processes organized.

For example, set a Message Approval Workflow to streamline team collaboration and communication.

Is your post part of a larger content campaign? Select a campaign to keep everything organized.

And internally tagging your content makes it easy to categorize posts based on business objectives, post themes and more.

Combined, these features help keep your TikTok marketing campaigns and cross-platform marketing campaigns visible—for you and your team.

Step 4: Choose the best time to post

Scheduling TikTok posts through Sprout enables you to publish at your preferred time. Identifying the best time to post matters, but it can also feel like a mystery.

The best posting times on TikTok for you to engage with users can vary depending on your target audience. However, below is a visualization which shows the best engagement times based on data averages collected worldwide.

Step 5: Schedule TikTok posts, or save them for later

Once you and your team are feeling good about your post, you have a few options as far as how to schedule:

• Save it, or schedule it, as a draft: Still have pending reviews? Want to keep it as a backup post or calendar placeholder? Saving your content as a draft is a great way to give yourself more editing time.
• Auto-schedule with the queue: Ready to post but don’t have a time in mind? The Sprout Queue is a feature that enables you to choose the best time to publish based on audience activity within a time window you set.
• Submit for approval: It always helps to have a second editing eye on your posts. When you set an Approval Workflow, the “schedule” button will change to a “submit” button, and you can submit your post to the approver for their review.
• Publish immediately: Ready to post right now? Select this option to send your post out into the world right away.

Step 6: Double check your scheduled content

It’s all too easy to think you scheduled a post for noon, only to realize it was published at midnight.

While TikTok’s Video Scheduler does not allow you to edit scheduled posts before they go live, Sprout does. Take some time to do a quick typo and time check.

Scheduling in advance gives you plenty of editing room while also leaving more time in your schedule to dedicate to enhancing your strategy.

Tips for creating your TikTok schedule

You’re almost ready to start scheduling. As you fill your content calendar, it’s important to think about how your TikTok schedule fits into your larger social strategy. With 39% of marketers predicting the app will be one of the platforms they use the most, refining your team and content strategy as you post is key if you want to keep up.

Here are a few tips and best practices to keep in mind:

Maintain a shared, unified content calendar

Managing multiple platforms and posts can result in a lot of moving parts and silos.

Maintain a content calendar to see your scheduled posts across all of your social platforms in one, centralized place. This keeps you organized, helps you track whether you’re over—or under—posting and creates an easy-to-share resource for your team.

Create a calendar of your own, or use Sprout’s social media calendar as an all-in-one content calendar and scheduler.

Track your best posting times

The TikTok algorithm is quite different compared to most social media platforms, so you really need to have a TikTok-specific posting strategy if you want your content to be seen on the app.

According to TikTok, recency is a factor in determining which videos show up in the coveted For You Page—one of the best places to get discovered and grow on the platform.

While it’s important to post both frequently and consistently in addition to keeping your TikTok video ideas fresh, the key is to be online when your audience is most active.

We already mentioned that Sprout has data to help identify when you should schedule posts for maximum engagement opportunities.

You can take it a step further and track your posting times. Do any of your peak times surprise you? What posting times and days can you experiment with?

You can also do this on TikTok. To identify when your TikTok audience is most active in the app:

1. Tap the three-line icon at the top right of your Profile view
2. Tap Business Suite
3. Tap Analytics
4. Tap Followers at the top of the screen
5. Scroll down to Follower activity to identify what days of the week and times your audience is most active

Your best posting times might be at odd, outside-of-working-hours time blocks—all the more reason to schedule your content ahead of time.

Set a smooth approval process for you and your team

Whether you’re a solo social media manager or part of a team, having another pair of eyes is always helpful.

Defining a structured review process for your TikTok content—and all of your content—helps maintain quality control while limiting the amount of cooks in the kitchen.

Sprout makes this easy by providing you with built-in, customizable Message Approval Workflows. Create and select different workflows for specific posts or platforms to easily streamline your approval and collaboration process.

Measure the success of your profile and posts

Measuring and tracking your TikTok marketing strategy, posts and posting times is crucial if you want to turn creative content into meaningful business insights—on TikTok, and beyond.

Regularly look at TikTok analytics to see what you’re doing right, and where you need improvement. Don’t be afraid to experiment and test until you find out what works for you.

With Sprout, analyze how your TikTok profile and content is performing—on its own, and compared to your other social profiles. Use the Cross-Network Reports like Profile and Post Performance to turn the metrics that matter most into insights that can fuel your strategy and create a deeper connection with your audience.

To truly make informed decisions and optimize your strategy, you need to analyze your TikTok performance over time—not just over days or weeks. If you are a creator beginning to see a lot of success with TikTok you may be in a position to earn money from your account.

While TikTok only offers 60 days of data, Sprout doesn’t limit your TikTok data after you’ve connected your platform. Meaning you can analyze your profile’s growth and success quarter over quarter, year over year.

Engage with your audience often

Once your posts are live, remember to regularly engage with your audience in TikTok comments.

After all, it’s called “social” media for a reason. Engaging with your audience strengthens your connection with them, and shows you’re listening.

Engaging with your audience is crucial across platforms. Streamline this process by using a tool like Sprout’s Smart Inbox to keep up with comments across TikTok, Twitter and more—all in one place.

Lighten the load and schedule your TikTok posts now

Scheduling your TikTok content ahead of time ensures your content and publishing is “always on,” while also allowing you to disconnect and sign off.

You’re well-equipped to create your TikTok schedule—now all you need is to get started, and to breathe easy.

If you’re ready to streamline your TikTok scheduling process, and your social strategy as a whole, then you’re ready for Sprout Social.

Try Sprout free for 30 days to see how it can power better insights for your social strategy and business.

The post Schedule TikTok posts from mobile and desktop appeared first on Sprout Social.

To make sure you’re consistently delivering high-quality content without overextending your team, turn to Instagram tools. There are a number of online tools available to help make processes easier than ever.

Throughout this article, we’re going to introduce you to the 20 best Instagram tools on the market and how they can help your team improve your overall Instagram presence.

• All-in-one Instagram management tools
• Instagram tools for publishing and scheduling
• Instagram tools for analytics
• Instagram editing tools for Stories and Reels
• Instagram tools for hashtags, listening and trendspotting
• Instagram tools for custom bio links

Why do you need an Instagram business tool?

There are so many things you can do inside the Instagram app—post content, leave comments, track hashtags, check insights. But there are so many more things you can do if you’re a business on Instagram by using an Instagram tool.

Imagine performing tasks such as:

• Scheduling a batch of content ahead of time
• Compiling a report of your Instagram performance (and other platforms if need be)
• Managing all comments and messages in a single social inbox
• Automating processes like direct messages, comments, following accounts and more
• Collaborating with your teammates
• Creating a landing page specific to your Instagram audience
• Editing content to level up your Instagram presence

Social media tools help you maximize efficiency, create better content and boost your ROI from your marketing efforts. Read on to decide which tools will work best for your business’ needs.

All-in-one Instagram management tools

An all-in-one Instagram management tools can help you with pretty much all things Instagram for business. Scheduling, monitoring, analyzing, collaborating and so much more. Learn more about how all-in-one Instagram tools can be game-changers for your business.

1. Sprout Social

We gave ourselves the top spot for a reason!

Sprout Social represents the best all-in-one Instagram tool for brands that are serious about Instagram growth.

Strategic scheduling. In-depth analytics. Cross-publishing and collaboration.

And that only scratches the surface. When it comes to publishing, Sprout Social is a powerhouse with baked-in features like ViralPost which allows you to schedule content at times when your audience is most likely to be engaged.

Looking to add a first comment for posts as well? Look no further. An Instagram link in bio landing page? We got it.

Coupled with a comprehensive content calendar, you can manage all of your social campaigns in a single platform (including ones beyond Instagram).

Collaboration options mean multiple colleagues and stakeholders can work within the app at the same time. Want to set up approvals or go back-and-forth with your creatives? Go for it!

Built-in hashtag and Instagram analytics and the ability to identify top-performing content are a game-changer for winning more followers and engaging the ones you have. Our platform lets you know exactly what’s working, what isn’t and where to go next with your content strategy.

You can also access cutting-edge AI tools that handle all automation tasks your team doesn’t need to worry about, so they can focus on the more important things.

You can do all of the above for your other social channels via Sprout’s Smart Inbox.

Pricing: Sprout offers a 30-day free trial. Visit our pricing page to explore all plans.

Instagram tools for publishing and scheduling

Instagram publishing tools are a must-have for brands, businesses and influencers alike.

This is especially true if you’re pushing out content on a regular basis.

The ability to schedule and queue up content is a game-changer if you’ve been stuck publishing in real-time or on the fly.

And although Instagram scheduling can be done natively, the process is a bit roundabout.

Instead, consider the value of having a central hub to plan your content calendar and execute your Instagram campaigns in one place. The tools below can help you do exactly that.

2. Loomly

Loomly’s brand success platform emphasizes approvals and workflows to streamline social publishing among teams. For Instagram specifically, Loomly is notable for its in-depth post previews, built-in first comment publishing and the ability to schedule Stories and Reels.

Simple, straightforward and affordable, the app is a no-frills tool for smaller teams and agencies looking to collaborate on Instagram content.

Pricing: Base plan starts at $32/mo for two users.

3. Sendible

Sendible is another social publishing tool with features tailor-made for agencies looking to schedule and promote social posts for clients.

The platform’s drag-and-drop functionality allows users to quickly move posts to different dates and platforms, while features like team chat and approvals make client content management a breeze. Another notable feature of the app is the ability to edit Instagram photos directly with the platform thanks to Sendible’s Canva integration.

Pricing: Creator plan starts at $29/mo.

Instagram tools for analytics

Making sense of your Instagram data is crucial to growing your presence.

You need to understand what’s moving the needle in terms of followers, comments, “Likes” and clicks. Beyond that, consider how third-party Instagram analytics tools can:

• Highlight your top-performing content (and the common threads between your best posts)
• Break down your account’s optimal posting time, publishing frequency and caption length
• Show your account’s growth rate in terms of followers and engagement, plus other Instagram insights

4. Iconosquare

Iconosquare is one of the oldest Instagram analytics tools in the book, existing well before Instagram even offered its own built-in analytics. This tool has changed and evolved just as much as the platform itself has, making sure it always has new tools and features to offer its users.

These days, Iconosquare is still considered one of the go-to Instagram analytics tools out there, giving businesses access to details like follower growth, lost followers, impressions, reach, engagement and more.

Easily create exportable dashboards and reports so you can share your data across your team and organization. Plus, take advantage of other features like publishing, monitoring and customer service.

Pricing: Single plans start at $49/month for one user. Team plans start at $79/month for up to 10 users.

5. Keyhole

Keyhole is an Instagram analytics tool that works well for any business, but especially agencies—over 100k agencies use and love Keyhole’s analytics. This is because it’s easy to monitor analytics for multiple platforms and businesses from one easy-to-use dashboard.

Easily analyze your own performance—plus keep an eye on competitors, monitor online conversations surrounding your industry and brand, and stay on top of the latest social media trends with Keyhole.

Pricing: Individual plans start at $79/month for one user. Team plans start at $149/month for three users.

6. HypeAuditor

Perfect for influencer marketing audits and assessing an account’s growth rate, HypeAuditor tracks historical data and engagement data for Instagram accounts. This tool is particularly useful for double-checking engagement rates and spotting fake influencers or sudden spikes of new followers.

Pricing: HypeAuditor asks that interested businesses book a demo to learn more and get a quote.

7. Phlanx

Phlanx is another great Instagram analytics tool for businesses working with influencers. Discover engagement rates and get audit reports for influencers you’re interested in working with to make sure the content they create can adequately reach their audience. Phlanx has an engagement rate calculator that looks at each influencer’s follower count and average like count to calculate an accurate engagement rate.

Pricing: Basic plans start at $39/month when billed annually; otherwise basic plans start at $49/month.

8. Pixlee

Primarily for ecommerce brands looking to track their UGC, Pixlee makes it easy to assess the literal ROI from your Instagram presence. Custom analytics track revenue, conversion rates, and everything in-between when it comes to customer behavior and cash flow.

Pricing: Contact company for pricing.

9. Emplifi

Emplifi, previously SocialBakers, offers a seriously comprehensive suite of Instagram analytics, allowing you to dig into specific metrics with granular reporting or benchmark your performance versus your competitors. The platform’s Stories analytics are notable, breaking down past performance to inform your future content strategy.

Pricing: Contact company for pricing.

Instagram editing tools for Stories and Reels

Creativity counts on Instagram.

Not only do your Instagram Reels and Stories need to grab your audience’s attention but also be totally unique to your brand.

If you’re only using the tools Instagram offers natively, you run the risk of publishing run-of-the-mill content despite your best efforts. This is a particular problem if you’re going hard on Stories or Reels.

From flashy filters to eye-popping effects and beyond, the following Instagram editing tools can foster creativity and make your content feel more “must-see.”

10. CapCut

CapCut offers surprisingly powerful Instagram video editing for both Apple and Android, as well as a desktop editor, totally for free. Speed controls and quick editing cuts coupled with a massive library of sounds and filters represent an awesome all-in-one tool for brands looking to step up their video marketing.

Pricing: Free!

11. Stencil

If you’ve exhausted your photo editing options and filters on Canva or just want to try out a new graphic editor, give Stencil a go. Its easy-to-use drag-and-drop functionality allows you to mock up quotes, blog posts previews or just about any other text-based post in a matter of seconds. Built-in templates for Stories are a plus for brands and influencers.

Pricing: Free plan available; full-featured Unlimited plan is $12/mo.

12. Vixer

Exclusive to Apple, Vixer is a simple tool that can help you create more stylish Instagram Reels. The app’s filters, slideshows, voiceovers, and custom text are definitely an upgrade from default Reels editing. The platform also makes it a cinch to cross-post and share your Reels to TikTok (hint: don’t do the opposite).

Pricing: Free; in-app purchases required for full features.

13. Mojo

Animated tutorials and how-tos are all the rage on social media, particularly for businesses and brands.

Mojo’s mini Instagram studio makes it easy to whip up animated Stories with customer text effects, stylish cutaways and moving backgrounds. The app’s premium version allows you to save your brand creatives for repeat Stories and provides users with fresh templates each month.

Pricing: Free; in-app purchases required for full features.

Instagram tools for hashtags, listening and trendspotting

It’s no secret that Instagram moves quickly when it comes to trends.

With dedicated hashtag and social listening tools, you can master the art of trendspotting and keep a pulse on what your followers want to see from you. Consider how the tools below can help you:

• Find fresh Instagram hashtags to extend your brand’s reach and introduce yourself to new audiences
• Craft more impactful Instagram captions that people will actually engage with
• Uncover trends and conversations related to your brand, industry and top competitors

14. Inflact

Inflact’s free hashtag generator uses advanced AI targeting to create a list of potential hashtags based on existing tags and related terms.

The tool also allows you to generate hashtags based on uploaded photos. Although the list provided can be pretty exhaustive, it’s a great place to start brainstorming potential tags to insert into your first comment on Instagram.

Pricing: Hashtag generator is free on-site; full listening and on Android and Apple devices; and hashtag features start at $54/mo (limited offer).

15. SISTRIX Hashtag Generator

This free hashtag generator allows you to input 25 queries a day for fresh hashtag ideas.

What sets SISTRIX’s tool apart is the ability to cross-reference relevant hastags to find the most appropriate for your audience. Doing so can help you refine your hashtag strategy if you’re staring at a long list of seemingly unrelated tags.

Pricing: Hashtag generator is free on-site for up to 25 queries per day.

16. Reputation

Not totally unlike Sprout’s own suite of Instagram listening tools, Reputation analyzes your mentions and customer sentiment to help you understand the crucial conversations happening about your business. For example, the app can highlight keyword terms associated with your brand and benchmark your engagement versus competitors.

Pricing: Contact company for demo.

17. Awario

Awario is an Instagram analytics tool that’s laser-focused on monitoring brand mentions and hashtags. The platform’s advanced listening features make it ideal for competitive analysis and big brands that need to respond to queries, call-outs and @mentions fast.

Pricing: $29/mo Starter plan; $89/mo Pro and $249/mo Enterprise plans available as well.

Instagram tools for custom bio links and landing pages

If you’re a business, your Instagram bio is seriously valuable real estate.

Maybe you’re trying to build your email list. Perhaps you’re an influencer or ecommerce brand pointing people to products and promotions.

Either way, Instagram by default only gives you five links to funnel your followers.

The good news is that’s a new wave of Instagram tools that allow you to:

• Promote more than five links and calls-to-action as part of your Instagram bio
• Generate stylish social media landing pages from your bio link
• Promote additional social channels and websites within your bio

18. Linktree

Big among influencers and brands alike, Linktree transforms your bio into a unique landing page that links out to relevant promotions.

The platform boasts templates specific to goals such as social selling, content marketing and audience growth. Want to promote a newsletter or send traffic to your storefront? Linktree can help point people where you want them to go.

And although the customization of your landing page might not be the flashiest, the popularity of Linktree speaks for itself.

Pricing: Forever-free plan available; Pro version with full features $9/mo. Custom enterprise plans are also available.

19. hoo.be

hoo.be is a link-in-bio tool meant for creators looking to consolidate links to their various projects. The app scores serious style points for its interface and layout, not to mention customizable branding. Trendy and exclusive, it’s the perfect Instagram tool for influencers and vloggers alike.

Pricing: Free to use.

20. Lnk.bio

Lnk.bio creates a unique and customizable space for your various promotional links. Features such as unlimited links and over 90 icons to choose from, this app is a worthy Linktree alternative for anyone who wants their bio link to go beyond the ordinary.

Pricing: Free limited plan and paid plans start at $1/mo; $10 and $25 one-time plans are also available.

Which Instagram management tools are you using?

The post 20 Best Instagram tools to level up your presence appeared first on Sprout Social.

Marketers need shortcuts. Managing different networks is demanding and it’s no surprise putting your social media channels on autopilot seems like a tempting offer. Especially for your Facebook marketing strategy—the platform giant with almost 3 billion monthly users.

But is it as good as it sounds? Could automation be more than just a passing trend?

Below we’ve combed through the fine details of Facebook automation and suggested ten tools to help you get started.

What is Facebook automation & how does it work?

Facebook automation involves using tools to manage and streamline Facebook activities, automating tasks such as:

• Leaving comments on statuses, images or pages
• Liking and sharing statuses, images or pages across your account(s)
• Inviting friends to specific pages or events en masse
• Accepting or rejecting all pending friend requests

But here’s the truth about social media automation: not everything can go on autopilot. It exists to make things easier and not to replace your personal touch.

Instead, strike a balance.

Use automation to manage routine tasks, but keep your brand’s personality alive through authentic engagement. Respond personally to complex queries and comments and share unique, humanized content that reflects your brand’s voice.

Remember, your audience values real connections. They want to interact with a brand that listens and responds genuinely, not just automated responses. Use automation smartly to enhance your presence by reducing repetitive tasks and leaving more room to make real human connections.

Benefits of Facebook automation

While social media marketers manage more responsibilities today, core tasks like scheduling posts remain the same. Automation tools are necessary to keep up with the pace of social and reduce the energy spent on these routine tasks. Here are the potential benefits of using Facebook automation:

• Boosts efficiency and productivity: While liking posts and leaving relevant comments are key to a well-functioning social presence, they’re not always considered the most important marketing tactics. Facebook automation takes care of routine messages and comments so you can focus your attention on more high-value tasks like promoting content or conducting outreach.
• Always on brand engagement: The idea of automated responses is appealing to marketers who want their business to be “on” 24/7. In The 2023 Sprout Social Index ™, 51% of consumers said that the most memorable brands responded to customers.

Automation enables you to respond to questions, comments and inquiries in a timely manner, regardless of industry or time zone, to increase engagement, reliability and customer satisfaction.

• Helps maintain a consistent presence: Batch content creation and auto-posting tools keep the ideas flowing and the updates steady. It’s much easier to stay on track when low-impact tasks, like posting, happen in the background. A consistent posting schedule keeps your brand top of mind and your audience engaged.
• Gives better targeting insights: When you automate Facebook tasks, you’re able to gather and analyze KPIs such as audience behavior, what content they interact with, etc. more easily. And since there is a lesser chance of human error, you get deeper and more precise insight. This allows you to deliver better personalized content, offers and deals to your customers and followers.

How to use Facebook automation for your brand

Think of Facebook automation, whether for chatbot marketing or customer care, as a skilled sous-chef in your brand’s social media kitchen. This prep work enables you to focus on creating the perfect dish for your audience. Let’s break down how Facebook automation improves three key areas.

Facebook publishing automation

Facebook publishing automation is like setting up a smart, self-operating calendar for your posts. It lets you schedule Facebook posts in advance to make sure your page stays active, even when you’re not available.

You pick the time and content and the automation does the posting. It’s great for maintaining consistency in your posting schedule.

But it’s not just about quantity—quality matters. Mix in live, timely posts to keep your feed dynamic and engaging. This way, you strike the right balance between automated efficiency and authentic, real-time interaction.

Facebook response automation

Facebook response automation chatbots instantly reply to common questions—think “opening hours” or “location queries.” This feature keeps your audience engaged and shows them you’re responsive whenever they need you.

The key is to identify which inquiries or comments need human attention and which ones chatbots can handle.

Quick, routine questions are perfect for bots. They offer instant help and keep your audience happy with speedy responses. But complex or sensitive topics? That’s your cue to step in. These moments need your brand’s personalized attention.

Blending automation with human interaction creates a responsive and authentic experience for your audience.

Facebook ads automation

Your Facebook advertising strategy benefits from automation too. With Facebook ads automation, you set the parameters for your target audience and budget, then let the algorithm do its magic.

It analyzes data and adjusts targeting, bidding and placement in real-time. This means your ads are always in the right place at the right time while staying within budget.

The best part? You’re still in charge. Regular check-ins and a clear understanding of your objectives ensure you maintain control over the brand message and overall campaign direction.

10 Facebook automation tools to use in 2024

So where do you even start with Facebook automation? Tools make it easier and there are plenty to choose from, including:

1. Sprout Social

At Sprout, we understand the importance of combining a holistic social media strategy with automation and AI. Our tool inherits your manual tasks in publishing, listening, analytics and customer care so your team can focus on the strategic decisions that require human insight and creativity.

Data fragmentation across multiple tools also causes communication breakdowns, resulting in a disjointed customer experience and potential loss of crucial customer information. That’s what we’ve eliminated with Sprout’s Facebook integration. Publishing features, response management, approval workflows, reputation control and even scheduling posts across multiple pages and accounts—everything comes under one roof.

Tool-switching also leads to reduced efficiency and increased response times due to constant shifts between different platforms. Sprout gives you a unified inbox to simplify your workflow so you can view all your customer interactions across your other social channels as well in a single source of truth. This ensures you never miss a time-sensitive comment or message and have a holistic view of your social process.

Our AI Assist tool generates options for your post text and tone. Create posts in bulk to speed up content creation and never fall behind schedule.

Sprout’s Optimal Send Times in Compose also identifies the best send times for posting content on a specific day.

This helping hand eliminates guesswork by offering a list of suggested times based on engagement factors, enabling you to optimize your content’s reach.

Then, Sprout brings it together with detailed Facebook analytics that provide insights into post, page and tag performance.

Track these metrics to see how your social strategy measures up against quarterly goals and pivot accordingly.

Dive deeper with competitive Facebook insights on fan growth and top posts from other pages for a comparative overview of how your presence is doing. Identify content gaps and opportunities to capture specific audiences.

A combination of all these features allows you to automate your social media marketing from start to finish and your social media marketing from start to finish and focus your efforts on creative and strategic tasks that build your brand and engagement with customers.

2. Meta for Business

Meta for Business is a native Facebook and Instagram automation tool.

Features like automated responses based on pre-set keywords and phrases make it convenient for businesses to engage with their audience without constantly monitoring their social media pages. Plus, connected scheduling for posts across both platforms saves time and effort in content distribution.

What makes Meta for Business stand out is its Advantage+ feature, which uses machine learning to optimize sales campaigns and target the most likely converters within your advertising budget.

Say goodbye to manual ad targeting and hello to a smarter, more efficient way of reaching potential customers.

3. Loomly

Loomly’s Facebook automation features are quite straightforward and make it easy to schedule and publish your posts with minimal effort.

Loomly also has approval workflows to keep your team in sync. Complementary features like commenting systems, version logs and post mockups ensure everyone approves content before it goes live.

Beyond that, Loomly also offers audience targeting and post ideas. These features work together to ensure you create content your audience enjoys. Plus, advanced analytics make pivoting your strategy that much easier.

4. Tailwind

Tailwind is primarily a Pinterest and Instagram automation tool that now extends to Facebook as well. It uses generative AI tools called Ghostwriter and Tailwind Create to generate copy and design that matches your brand.

With automation and scheduling capabilities, Tailwind takes care of posting for you at the best times for maximum engagement from your audience.

Tailwind also has a powerful hashtag finder that pinpoints popular and hyper-relevant hashtags to ensure posts receive the visibility they deserve.

Plus, with one calendar for all your social networks, streamline and organize your content across platforms to maintain a consistent brand image.

5. NapoleonCat

NapoleanCat incorporates automation at several levels.

The tool includes an AI assistant that helps with content ideation and creates engaging post captions.

NapoleonCat also recognizes how important responsiveness is and has built-in features to automatically reply to simple questions and comments and redirect issues to relevant consultants.

Overall, NapoleonCat is a conversational tool that simplifies managing social media for businesses.

6. Agorapulse

Another tool for Facebook automation is Agorapulse.

This platform offers a variety of features that streamline your workflow and have a special focus on protecting your brand’s reputation on Facebook.

Features like automatically assigning, hiding, labeling and deleting content make social media monitoring simple and fast. Like other Facebook automation tools, Agorapulse has a Writing Assistant to help improve your content.

And for those messy inbox situations, the Inbox Assistant steps in to organize and manage your incoming messages. It detects questions and assigns them to the right person, saving you time and hassle.

7. IFTTT

IFTTT is a handy tool for automating tasks on Facebook. You’ll find it user-friendly, especially if you’re not tech-savvy. It connects different apps and services (like Sprout!), so you can create custom ‘recipes.’ Sync posts, manage content and trigger actions based on your page’s activity on Facebook.

IFTTT is a bit of a generalist tool, so you need to play around with it to find the recipes that are useful for you. Plus, you need to connect different apps and workflows to squeeze the most value out of it.

8. Planly

Planly is a scheduling and automation tool that streamlines content ideation and planning for businesses and creators on Facebook.

With its intuitive interface, Planly makes it easy to create and schedule posts in advance. Then, view and manage all your content in one convenient calendar.

Planly includes features for sending auto-responses and keeping your audience engaged with pre-written comments on Facebook, although the number of auto-responses is limited.

An integrated hashtag research tool and audience insights boost content optimization. These features save time with planning and maintaining consistency with your posts on the world’s largest social media platform.

9. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo specializes in content research, analysis and monitoring.

Find trending topics, track brand and competitor performance and identify influential content creators and publications from one platform.

While Buzzsumo doesn’t offer a wide breadth of Facebook automation features, it makes up for it by providing an in-depth analysis of your page’s performance. From monitoring engagement metrics to identifying top-performing content, Buzzsumo offers valuable insights to guide future posts.

10. CoSchedule

Plan, organize and execute marketing strategies with CoSchedule.

Features include content calendar management, social media scheduling, project workflow coordination and campaign analytics. AI Social and Project Assistants speed up content ideation and generation to make sure you’re never stuck for ideas.

A highlight of CoSchedule’s automation features is its ReQueue function, which automatically republishes your evergreen content on social media and adjusts the schedule according to when your audience is most active. Automating repeating promotions like Motivation Monday also supports brand consistency and frees up time for more creative tasks.

Overall, CoSchedule is a valuable tool for streamlining and optimizing your social content efforts on Facebook and beyond.

How can your brand use Facebook automation?

As a social platform, Facebook is nowhere near a thing of the past. Your audience is very much there and very much active.

Through scheduling, analytics and content suggestions, Facebook automation tools speed up the process without sacrificing creativity.

See how Sprout compares to other social media management platforms and how it can amplify your brand’s presence across social networks.

The post Facebook automation: The ultimate guide for your brand appeared first on Sprout Social.

In fact, without continuously engaging your Facebook audience, you may lose credibility, authority and brand loyalty, on top of your reach. If the concept of maintaining a steady stream of content seems daunting, don’t worry—you have the ability to schedule Facebook posts in one of three different methods.

Automating your Facebook posts will create a streamlined process for you to focus on your overall Facebook marketing strategy. Your audience never sleeps and neither should your Facebook content.

Why you should schedule Facebook posts

Scheduling content ahead of time has a number of benefits. Discover more about why scheduling Facebook posts can be a smart productivity hack for your schedule.

Consistency

Consistency is key when it comes to social media algorithms. So ensuring your Facebook posts remain consistent is going to be an essential part of your strategy. And scheduling ensures that reliability. If your internet is down or you can’t get to your computer, a scheduled Facebook post will still publish at the right time.

Time management

Time batching is a common time management tactic that is possible when you start scheduling your social media content ahead of time. Set aside a block of time to research and plan your content ideas, a block of time to create your content and a block of time to schedule your content. You’ll find you’re much more productive than if you did each standalone post on its own.

Global reach

When you schedule content ahead of time, you can plan it for any time of the day or night, giving yourself the ability to properly reach people across a number of time zones. Instead of staying up late or setting a 3am alarm just to publish a Facebook post, reach audiences across the globe with a scheduled post.

Strategic planning

When you’re scheduling social media posts for a full month (or longer), you can make sure they support the narrative you want to convey. For example, if you’re running a limited-time offer, you could craft and schedule each Facebook post to build a sense of urgency throughout the month.

Improved content quality

If you publish as you go, there are likely to be certain times that you’re not feeling as creative as others, resulting in a poor content strategy. But if you’re time blocking and saving content creation for one of your more inspired moments, you can end up creating much more quality content—consistently.

Audience engagement

When you’re able to schedule content ahead of time and stick to a consistent plan, your audience engagement ends up increasing. Facebook’s algorithm will start to recognize that your page is a hub for regular, quality content, and put it in front of your audience, helping to boost overall engagement.

Boost productivity

Finally, scheduling content is the perfect social media tip for boosting productivity. Beyond time batching, it can free up your time so that you’re not always having to have your phone or computer ready to publish a new post. Instead of needing to make time each day to publish Facebook content, you can free up your schedule for other important social media management tasks.

Best practices for optimizing scheduled Facebook posts

There are ways to make sure your scheduled posts find the right audience and help improve your strategy. Keep these five tips in mind as you schedule your Facebook content.

Tips for choosing the right scheduling time

First things first, you need to make sure you’re scheduling your posts for the right time. Ensuring you get your content out when your audience is most active is key in reaching the most people.

Global data states that the best times to post on Facebook are:

• Mondays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

However, you should also pay attention to your specific audience. You can check out your Facebook analytics and see when your followers are most likely to be online and schedule your content around those time periods.

You can also take advantage of Sprout Social’s Optimal Send Times feature that analyzes your audience and selects the best times to schedule your content.

Maintaining brand consistency in scheduled posts

Next, it’s important to make sure you’re keeping up with your branding throughout all of your scheduled content. If you batch your content creation, this should be a simple enough process.

Maintaining brand consistency includes things like:

• Keeping a similar brand voice throughout all of your captions
• Using the same color scheme and font choices throughout all graphics
• Sticking with the same filters and effects for all videos
• Creating graphics using similar templates so everything looks cohesive

If you’re reaching a wider audience due to your scheduled content, you want to make sure that content is representative of your brand and assists with overall brand recognition.

Balancing scheduled and live content

Keep in mind that not everything needs to be scheduled ahead of time. Your company might decide to put on a last minute promotion that you want to share on social media, you might have a stroke of inspiration and want to publish something different from what you had scheduled, or you might need to share a last minute company update.

Whatever the case, understand that you don’t have to stick to one extreme or the other—all scheduled content or none of it. You can still make last minute changes, switch up your content and share live posts when they come to you.

If you do, just make sure you’re not publishing a live post around the same time as a scheduled post is going live. Be sure to readjust your schedule to make room for your new content.

Avoiding over-scheduling

Don’t go crazy scheduling content—there is such thing as too much of a good thing, and you don’t want to end up with 5+ posts each day. Though many brands do post 4-5 times per day on Facebook, you don’t need to over-schedule. This can dry up your well of content ideas more quickly and annoy your audience if they see too much content from your brand.

Instead, come up with a scheduling plan that makes sense for your business, your content creation load and your audience—and stick with it.

Track analytics and engagement

Finally, pay attention to your Facebook analytics and overall audience engagement. Although global data and your insights can give you a good idea as to when to start scheduling, keeping up with your analytics can show you which types of posts and which days/times garner you the most engagement.

Use this data to inform and adapt your Facebook strategy. This can improve your overall Facebook organic reach, engagement and other important metrics.

How to schedule Facebook posts

You can schedule posts for your Facebook page using either the Meta Business Suite (formerly known as Creator Studio) or a third-party scheduling platform (like Sprout Social).

Schedule posts with Meta Business Suite

Step 1: Start by logging into your Facebook account. Head to your Facebook Page, then switch profiles so you’re managing your Page. In the left hand sidebar, click on Meta Business Suite.

Step 2: Click on the Planner tab in the main dashboard to see your content calendar, then click Schedule post.

Step 3: Create your post and select which account (either your Facebook or Instagram account, if you have them connected—or both) you want it to publish to. Add your photo or video, input your caption, preview your post, then scroll down to select a date and time to publish your content.

That’s it! You now have a scheduled post. Repeat the steps above to schedule additional posts.

How to schedule Facebook posts with Sprout Social

Here’s how to create scheduled Facebook posts with Sprout:

1. Click the Compose icon to open the Compose window.
2. Click the Profile Picker to select the Facebook pages for your post.
3. Create your post.
4. Select Specific Days & Times from the When to post dropdown, then choose.
5. The date and times for your post.
6. Optionally add more scheduled times.
7. Click Schedule.

Schedule Facebook posts with the Sprout Queue

What do you do when you have meaningful Facebook content, but don’t need to publish at any specific date or time? Use the Sprout Queue.

You can build your Sprout Queue to fill engagement gaps throughout the day with content around product tips, links to thought leadership articles or industry news.

Choose the number of posts per day, your date and times and Sprout will do the rest. To set up your Sprout Queue setup, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Publishing tab.
2. Click Sprout Queue.
3. Click Compose and create your post.
4. Choose Auto-schedule with Sprout Queue from the When to post dropdown.
5. Select Queue Next at the first possible time slot or Queue Last to move the post to the end of the queue.
6. Click Queue or Submit for Approval to schedule your content.

Configure your queue timeline

Sprout’s suite of social media publishing tools places the content in the Queue Timeline for you to choose a specific time or date. There you can identify your publishing time gaps and plan your content.

You can configure this feature to run during specific times or dates. This makes it simple for social media managers to post during the best times to post on Facebook. Select various post times for each Facebook Page.

Sprout’s Queue even makes it simple to see your daily post times throughout all your different social media profiles.

Take advantage of ViralPost

ViralPost is Sprout’s tool for publishing at the most optimal times. Configure ViralPost in your Sprout Queue to publish your queued content at optimal times for audience engagement (only available in Standard Plans and above).

When you use ViralPost, it analyzes your audience’s usage and engagement patterns to determine the optimal times to publish content on your Facebook page.

To configure your ViralPost settings, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to your Publishing settings.
2. Click Sprout Queue.
3. Click Edit for the profile you want to configure ViralPost for. The Configure Queue Settings popup opens.
4. Select ViralPost for the Scheduling Method.
5. Choose whether you want to set your schedule by Individual Day or Weekdays/Weekends.
6. Select the number of times you want to post for each day of the week.
7. Select the time range for your post.
8. Click Save.

Add Facebook content to the Sprout Queue

It’s always best practice to queue content when it’s top of mind. Draft a message directly from Compose, share content you found on the web with Sprout’s Chrome Extension or add content to the queue directly from the RSS Reader. Whichever type of content you wish to publish on your Facebook page, our tools will suit your needs.

Pro Tip: Add content anytime, from anywhere by queueing content from Sprout Social’s web, mobile or browser extension apps.

Share your calendar

Last but not least, once you have your content in order, easily view, share and collaborate on your content calendar. Sprout’s Publishing Calendar gives you insight into your publishing schedule and more.

Here’s how to view and share your calendar as a PDF:

1. Navigate to the Publishing tab.
2. Click Calendar.
3. Choose List, Week or Month.
4. Select your Date Range, Profiles and Content Types.
5. Click Share.
6. Click Download PDF.

Simplify your Facebook post scheduling

The post How to schedule Facebook posts: 3 strategies in 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

However, there still needs to be a human element to your Instagram strategy. Instagram automation can alleviate some of the repetitive tasks while allowing your social mean more time to develop creative campaigns. To help you find the right balance, we’ve put together a guide discussing what Instagram automation is, what can be automated and several tools to help you get started.

Let’s dig in.

What is Instagram automation?

Instagram automation refers to the use of third-party software to manage your account, carry out tasks and/or interact with users without a human present.

Simply put, Instagram automation tools can be put into two buckets:

1. Services that effectively “take control” of your front-facing interactions with users such as likes and comments
2. Tools that automate Instagram behind the scenes, taking care of tasks such as publishing, reporting and analytics

But does Instagram automation make your business look lazy? We say no—but only if you do it right. As with any other tool or strategy, there are pros and cons to weigh in how your team will implement automation.

Here are some pros and cons to help you decide if you want to start automating certain tasks on Instagram.

Pros:

• Save time on smaller, tedious tasks. Growing an Instagram presence organically definitely requires a combination of time and strategizing. Instagram automation tools can pick up some of the slack trimming, down time spent on tedious tasks.
• Grow your follower count faster. Automation undoubtedly helps you boost your follower count. Simply spending time on the platform and interacting with accounts in any way, shape or form will set you up for more engagement by default.
• Uncover important insights about your audience. There’s no doubt that automation tools help you learn more about your target audience. From breaking down what hashtags people use to suggesting accounts to follow, bots encourage you to take a deeper dive into your audience’s preferences.

Cons:

• Instagram isn’t a fan of automation “hacks.” Instagram has a history of taking action against  tools that they consider spammy. The platform wants its users to engage authentically and organically, so Instagram put together limits and penalties for tactics they see as potentially gaming their algorithm. More on this in the next section.
• Poor automation looks spammy. People can spot a bot at a glance. Automating likes and comments is a recipe for a potential social media crisis. Brand accounts should emphasize human interactions and avoid anything that looks spammy.
• Potentially miss out on important customer interactions. The more you automate on Instagram, the fewer opportunities you have to interact with followers and customers. You can’t provide personalized service with purely automated interactions. Instead, only automate aspects of your Instagram account that encourage you to spend more time with your followers.

Is Instagram automation allowed?

As we’ve discussed, there are pros and cons, but those are subjective. Let’s talk about legalities—or at least, what abides by Instagram’s Community Guidelines—so your account doesn’t get penalized.

The short answer is yes, Instagram automation is allowed. The long answer is that certain types of automation cheapen the experience and make your business look bad online. And some types of automation can even get your account banned.

First, let’s talk about the good kinds of automation—the kinds of automation that can assist your social team and improve your strategy.

What can be automated on Instagram?

If you’re interested in using automation to your advantage, here are a few tasks on Instagram that you can get some robot help with.

• Likes: Set up a bot with a group of hashtags so the bot can like posts you say are relevant to your brand.
• Comments: Similarly, a bot can also leave social media comments—on your posts and others. Sprout Social’s Saved Replies and Asset Library are a perfect example of this.
• Follows and unfollows: Follow and unfollow relevant and irrelevant accounts, respectively. This can help you grow your own follower count.
• Direct messages: Send and respond to DMs with the help of a bot. You can even set bots up to send messages to people who comment on your posts with a trigger word.
• Scheduling and publishing: Scheduling Instagram posts is a form of automation—an essential form that every social media team needs.
• Reporting: Automation tools can also help you monitor your Instagram analytics with insights and reports showcasing your performance.

Things you need to be wary of are engaging too much too quickly—faster than a human typically could—or Instagram could put a limit on your account. Buying likes and followers is also frowned upon. And you’ll want to avoid working with bots and tools that don’t have access to Instagram’s API as they’re not considered legitimate Instagram partners.

9 Instagram automation tools to streamline your work

Want to get started with basic—and allowed—Instagram automation? These nine tools can help give you a head start.

1. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media management tool that helps with a number of automation aspects and making Instagram management as seamless as possible for your team. Sprout can assist with a number of tasks, like publishing, response management, productivity tools and analytics. Through automation and other Sprout features, your team can effectively plan, post and manage your Instagram campaigns.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• Auto-responders and suggested replies in DMs
• Hashtag discovery
• Sourcing UGC

2. SocialPilot

SocialPilot is an Instagram automation and analytics tool that helps brands streamline their Instagram strategies. Access features that help you publish content, engage with your audience, view analytics and more. This software allows you to schedule up to 500 posts at once, whether on Instagram or another platform. And the option to save evergreen content and responses for frequent reuse helps social teams respond faster.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• AI caption generation
• Reporting
• Watermarking

3. Kicksta

Kicksta is an AI-based tool dedicated to helping Instagram users grow their followers. Its AI tool focuses on leaving authentic comments and engagement on other Instagram accounts in order to help you grow your following—without buying followers. You provide the guidelines for who to engage with based on a list of competitors, brands and influencers with similar audiences, then Kicksta does the hard work.

Instagram automations available:

• Comments
• Likes

4. Nitreo

Nitreo is another Instagram automation tool focused on helping brands get more followers on Instagram. Nitreo’s tool also engages with real accounts, helping you to keep up Instagram engagement and remain an authentic online presence without ending up with thousands of bot (or bought) followers.

Instagram automations available:

• Comments
• Likes
• Story views
• Profile visits

5. Tailwind

Tailwind is an Instagram automation tool that focuses more on scheduling and publishing—but takes a unique approach. This tool is only available for Instagram and Pinterest, ensuring its services are catered to specific needs in the market.

Instagram automations available:

• Post idea generation
• Copy generation
• Graphic and design generation
• Hashtag discovery
• Publishing and scheduling

6. NapoleonCat

NapoleonCat is a social media management tool focused on helping brands engage with and support their online customers. Get this tool’s help with moderating and responding to comments and messages, scheduling out your content in advance and generating useful analytics reports.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• Comment moderation
• Auto-responses for both comments and DMs
• Reporting

7. Inflact

Inflact provides an entire suite of tools that can be used for Instagram automation. From interacting with other accounts to publishing content, Inflact offers an intuitive dashboard for accessing all of its useful features.

Instagram automations available:

• Send bulk DMs
• Follow and unfollow
• Likes
• Hashtag discovery
• Scheduling and publishing

8. Iconosquare

Iconosquare is another option for social media managers looking for a range of features dedicated to Instagram automation. Use this tool for scheduling, monitoring analytics, social listening and more.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• Reporting
• Unread comment/mention discovery

9. OnlySocial

OnlySocial is another useful option for Instagram automation and management. One of its top features in regards to automations is the ability to create Instagram messenger chatbots so that followers can message you and easily get helped by a customer service or sales chatbot.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• RSS feed auto-publishing
• Instagram messaging chatbot
• Reporting

Are you using Instagram automation the right way?

There’s plenty to automate on Instagram, granted you let a human take the reins.

If you’re looking to speed up your Instagram growth via automation, your head is in the right place. After all, marketers should always look to add tools to their toolbox in order to engage with more customers.

To learn more about how Sprout Social can help with your Instagram automation journey, request a free demo.

The post Instagram automation: Strategy and tools to do it right appeared first on Sprout Social.

Learning how to schedule Instagram posts in advance helps free up your social media team to do other important tasks, like strategy building, content creation, community engagement and more.

Throughout this article, we’re going to talk about the different ways you can schedule your Instagram content, the benefits for doing so and a few great scheduling tools to keep in your arsenal.

Table of contents:

• How to schedule Instagram posts from the Instagram app
• How to schedule Instagram posts from Meta Business Suite
• How to schedule Instagram posts using Sprout Social
• Benefits of scheduling Instagram posts
• Tips for scheduling posts on Instagram
• Instagram scheduling tools to use

How to schedule Instagram posts from the Instagram app

After years of users asking for it, Instagram finally added in-app scheduling near the end of 2022. Users are able to schedule up to 25 posts per day and up to 75 days in advance. Keep in mind, only business profiles have access to this feature. Personal profiles are unable to schedule content.

Follow these steps to get started:

Step 1: Open your Instagram app and tap the + at the bottom of the screen or swipe the home feed to the right to create a new piece of content.

Step 2: Select Post or Reel, depending on the type of content you’re creating.

Step 3: Either take a photo or record a video using the in-app camera or upload one from your camera roll.

Step 4: Add any stickers, effects, etc., then add your caption.

Step 5: Tap Advanced Settings at the bottom of the screen.

Step 6: Toggle the Schedule this post option on, then select your preferred date and time from the menu that appears.

Step 7: Go back to the previous screen and tap Schedule.

How to schedule Instagram posts from Meta Business Suite

You can also use the Meta Business Suite to schedule your Instagram content. First, connect your Instagram Business Account to your Facebook Page so you can access both from the Meta Business Suite.

Then follow these steps:

Step 1: In Meta Business Suite, click Create post or Create reel.

Step 2: Specify which Instagram account you want to share your post or reel to. It may also include your Facebook Page—it’s up to you whether you also want it to post to your Facebook Page or only to Instagram.

• Step 3: Upload your media, then write out your caption. Be sure to include your mentions and hashtags (you can even save hashtags to reuse in your content). You can even geotag a location if you wish.
• Step 4: Toggle the Set date and time option on, then select your preferred date and time. Click Active times to access a popup showcasing some of the upcoming times that your audience is active.

Step 5: Once you’ve selected your time, click Save then click Schedule.

How to schedule Instagram posts using Sprout Social

Scheduling Instagram posts natively is straightforward, but how about when you have a larger social strategy across multiple platforms to plan and schedule?

With a dedicated social media publishing tool like Sprout, you can do so much more. Cross-posting. Team collaboration and permissions. In-depth analytics. The list goes on.

We make it so easy to upload to your feed, add a Carousel or Story imagery, finalize your content and schedule it whether you’re on desktop or mobile.

Below is a precise, step-by-step process of how to schedule Instagram posts on Sprout.

Step 1: Open your Sprout Social calendar

The first thing you need to do is open Sprout Social to the calendar menu. You can view this as a list, week or monthly calendar. Next, it’s time to choose the image(s) or video to post. If you’re not 100% sure what you should publish, check out our in-depth guide on Instagram post ideas.

Step 2: Compose your Instagram post

Click the pencil/paper icon in the top right corner of your screen. Choose your Instagram account to get started composing your new Instagram post.

Upload your photo or video, input your caption and hashtags, tag users and more.

Step 3: Select your preferred date and time

Scroll down in the Compose interface to the When to post section. Choose your preferred date and time—or select the Optimal Send Times option to see when Sprout Social says your audience is most likely to see your content.

Step 4: Stage your post for scheduling

After your content is edited and approved, you can click Schedule to add it to your calendar, or move the post to Draft, Queue or Submit for Approval. Let’s take a look at each option:

• Schedule: Use the schedule feature when you want to publish your Instagram posts at a specific time. This is great for when you’re launching an Instagram contest and want the post to go live right when it starts. It’s also helpful if you’re scheduling an Instagram post as a part of a larger campaign, and need content to go out at a specific time of the day. Plan finished content for the future and see your scheduled posts in Sprout’s Publishing Calendar.
• Draft: Not sure if your post is ready to go live quite yet? Want to create multiple “backup” Instagram posts for the future? Draft is a great spot to park your unfinished content or items that still need approval.
• Queue: The Sprout Queue is ideal for edited posts ready to go live—especially if you’re not sure when to post your content. When you queue your Instagram posts, Sprout picks the best time to publish within the window you specify.
• Submit for Approval: Choosing an approver ensures your content is properly edited, grammatically correct, timely and on-brand. Select specific approvers to review your content before it goes live.

Benefits of scheduling Instagram posts

Businesses have begged for scheduling features on Instagram for years. But why are so many marketers eager to queue up their content? Below are some of the biggest benefits of scheduled Instagram posts.

1. Develop a more comprehensive content strategy

Food for thought: Different types of content (think: carousels, images, Stories and Reels) all receive different rates of engagement. This means brands need to diversify their content strategies and not just post the same type of content over and over.

When you schedule posts on Instagram, you give yourself time to actually assess your content calendar.

And when you don’t have to rush to publish Instagram posts, you have time to gather the various assets you need to create fresh, compelling content.

Want to spend a few days workshopping a storytelling post or editing a video? No problem.

2. Free up your schedule to interact more with followers

If nothing else, scheduling Instagram posts can free up some serious time in your schedule. That means more opportunities to interact with followers and reply to comments.

Even the best Instagram scheduler can’t do the legwork of building relationships with customers. When you stick to a social media post scheduler consistently, you can dedicate more time to engagement.

3. Better time management means higher quality posts

Think about the effort that goes into any given post or campaign.

Writing captions. Tweaking images. Tagging. And that doesn’t even scratch the surface.

Writing Instagram posts last-minute is a recipe for burnout. By scheduling posts on Instagram, you can batch your time appropriately and craft more meaningful posts.

4. Create seamless marketing campaigns beyond Instagram

Your social media campaigns shouldn’t be siloed.

From organic and paid social to email and beyond, all of your channels should be on the same page in terms of creatives, landing pages and promotions. This creates a better customer experience.

Through social scheduling, you ensure that your posts fire off at the right time. If you’re using a social media management tool such as Sprout Social, you can actually sync all of your social channels (think: Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest) so you don’t have to publish manually or in real-time.

5. Encourage collaboration and brainstorming

Again, scheduling encourages brands to begin working on posts well in advance.

This means marketers and colleagues have time to hash out the best captions and creative assets.

Useful for both social teams and marketers looking for feedback from clients or influencers, collaboration and Instagram scheduling go hand in hand. Coupled with a social media approval process, it’s a cinch to get multiple sets of eyes on your content before it goes live.

Tips for scheduling posts on Instagram

We’ll say it again: You can’t just queue up your posts months or weeks in advance and expect your Instagram to grow on autopilot.

Below are some key considerations for brands looking to leverage Instagram scheduling for the first time.

1. Optimize your post timing to maximize engagement

A nice added bonus of scheduling is that your business isn’t beholden to “business hours.”

Based on our research on best times to post on Instagram, there’s a correlation between time of day and engagement:

Although these numbers aren’t the be-all, end-all of follower activity and vary based on your time zone, they’re eye-opening in terms of when the average Instagram user is active:

Marketers using Sprout social as their Instagram scheduler can increase engagement with our ViralPost algorithm that optimizes post timing. Rather than guess or decide when to post via trial and error, you’ll know exactly when to post, based on real follower engagement data.

2. Take extra care when crafting your captions

It’s no secret that Instagram captions represent valuable real estate when it comes to engagement.

They shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought. For each post, consider:

• Which hashtags are you using? How many? Are they in your first comment (see below)?
• Do you need to tag any accounts?
• Did you write an appropriate call-to-action?
• How does this caption compare to your most recent one(s)?

Much like your content strategy needs to be diverse, the same rings true for your Instagram captions.

When you schedule posts in advance, you have time to put your captions under the microscope and ensure there’s some variety. Likewise, you can confirm that you’re using the right hashtags and aren’t missing any key details before your post goes live.

3. Keep a close eye on your content calendar

Piggybacking on the point above, scheduling based on a defined content calendar encourages both variety and consistency in terms of your posts.

As you queue up your posts, ask yourself:

• Are we hitting the appropriate publishing frequency (think: daily, four times a week)?
• Is there enough variation in our content schedule (think: video versus carousel versus photo)?
• How are we promoting this content to encourage engagement (think: Stories, questions in CTA)?
• Are there opportunities to cross-post this content to other networks (like Facebook)?
• Have the appropriate stakeholders reviewed this post before it goes live?

The answers to all of the above ensure more thoughtful, goal-driven posts that are poised to perform well. Below is a quick snapshot of what a content calendar looks like in the Sprout app:

4. Block off time to engage with customers

Despite popular belief, scheduling Instagram posts doesn’t make your presence more “passive.”

Quite the opposite, honestly.

Yet again, scheduling frees up your schedule to interact with customers in real-time.

Mind your notifications and make sure your comment section never gathers cobwebs. Be proactive and make a point to respond to social customers ASAP for the sake of satisfaction and loyalty.

5. Know when to hit “pause” on your scheduling

Whether due to a brand emergency or a bigger crisis management effort, sometimes you need to put a stop to your scheduled content.

Failure to do so could come off as insensitive or result in otherwise poor engagement when your followers’ minds are elsewhere. For example, publishing promotional content during certain holidays, on somber occasions or in the wake of tragedies is not the best for your brand’s reputation.

This speaks to how Instagram scheduling is so much more than putting your brand on autopilot. As a side note, Sprout has built-in features to pause scheduled posts and resume them when the time is right.

Instagram scheduling tools to use

Third-party tools can make Instagram scheduling even easier than the in-app tool. Additional apps allow you to schedule content to multiple social media platforms at once, have additional features and can help with your overall social media management, from automation to analytics. Here are three tools you might consider.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social’s Instagram scheduling tool is a great option to consider when looking to schedule social media content ahead of time. Not only can you schedule content on a number of platforms—Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, YouTube and more—but you can also get access to optimal scheduling times, create a collaborative process with your team and analyze your post performance.

Meet Edgar

Meet Edgar is an automated scheduling tool. The way this software works is you’ll upload your Instagram post creative and set a category, then the automation creates various content and schedules it for you. Essentially, Meet Edgar makes sure you never run out of content, even when you haven’t scheduled anything new.

SocialBee

SocialBee is another great scheduling tool, this time with an AI generation feature. With SocialBee, you can let AI generate your captions for you, making your strategy more efficient. Upload your visuals and let the AI take over from there, crafting your caption and scheduling your post.

Learn how to schedule posts on Instagram today

The post How to schedule Instagram posts: Your complete guide for 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

That’s where Twitter scheduling comes in.

Scheduling Twitter posts ensures that your content is published when your followers are more likely active and can significantly improve your Twitter engagement and reach. It also ensures you don’t have to be “on” at all times of the day to manually Tweet when your audience is most active.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the importance of scheduling Twitter posts and why it makes sense for your Twitter marketing strategy—plus a few key scheduling tips. And to help you get started, you’ll also learn how to schedule Tweets—with and without Sprout Social’s powerful scheduling tool.

Table of contents

• Benefits of scheduling Tweets
• How to schedule Tweets on Twitter
• How to schedule Tweets using Sprout Social
• How to schedule Tweets on mobile
• How to view scheduled Tweets
• How to schedule multiple Tweets
• Tips for scheduling Tweets

Benefits of scheduling Tweets

Why should you care about scheduling posts on Twitter, and why does it matter for your Twitter marketing? Let’s break down the reasons why scheduling Twitter posts makes sense for businesses.

1. Improves organization and productivity

Scheduling Twitter posts ahead of time allows you to organize your Twitter publishing efforts so you can remain productive during the day. For example, if you have to Tweet multiple times throughout the day, scheduling Tweets means you can continue your daily tasks without interruption.

With Twitter scheduling, you can dedicate a couple of hours each day or week to schedule your content in batches. This keeps you and your content organized well ahead of time and helps maintain productivity.

2. Helps maintain your posting schedule

Planning and scheduling your Tweets can be useful if you’re trying to establish or maintain a content calendar. By planning out Tweets for the week or month ahead, you have the opportunity to create a consistent posting schedule where there’s no risk of forgetting to send out a Tweet at a certain time.

So rest easy knowing you can publish your Tweets based on your pre-planned schedule, whether it’s around a specific campaign or seasonal content.

3. Ensures consistent cross-platform messaging

If your social media strategy involves sharing a similar message across all your social media accounts, Twitter scheduling simplifies the process, ensuring your cross-platform messaging is cohesive.

This also makes sense when you’re managing multiple Twitter accounts. By using a social media scheduler, you can schedule your posts to go out at the same time across all social media channels to maintain consistency.

4. Allows you to run tests on optimal send times

Schedule Tweets to go out at different times throughout the week to find out which timing works best for your audience. You might be surprised to discover when your audience is most active. Using Sprout’s research on the best time to post is a good starting point but can vary based on your industry or audience.

5. Helps you target different time zones

Scheduling Twitter posts also makes sense when you have to target audiences in specific locations. You can schedule your Tweets to go out at the optimal send times for different time zones.

This improves your chances of reaching the right target audience at the right time no matter where they live. This goes back to finding the best time to Tweet according to your audience, and testing on social media can help.

How to schedule Tweets on Twitter

Twitter has its own in-app scheduling tool—currently available only on desktop—that makes it easy to schedule one Tweet at a time.

Step 1: Select the Tweet Composer

Head to Twitter.com with your Tweet idea. Click inside the Tweet Composer to get ready to Tweet.

Step 2: Write out your Tweet

Compose your Tweet. You can add media (like an image, video or GIF), add a poll, add an emoji or tag your location.

Pro Tip: If you include an image or GIF in your Tweet, add a description to it for accessibility.

Step 3: Click schedule

Click the icon of a calendar with a click in the bottom right corner—this is the scheduling option.

Step 4: Select your schedule date

Input the date and time you want your Tweet to go live. With Twitter’s tool, you can schedule Tweets out as far in advance as 18 months. Once you’ve chosen the correct date and time, click Confirm in the top right corner.

Step 5: Click schedule

You’ll see a small snippet above the Tweet confirming the date and time it will go live. Click Schedule to finish scheduling and add it to your queue of Tweets.

How to schedule Tweets using Sprout Social

The native Twitter scheduler is a great tool for the platform, but if you have to manage brand accounts across various social media platforms, it’s nice to have something more comprehensive. Sprout is a robust social media publishing platform that you can use to schedule your posts for Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok and more.

Using Sprout, you can schedule your social posts weeks and months ahead. And since you can visualize your posting calendar, it’s much easier to work on campaigns and promotions. The tool even lets you schedule recurring posts to simplify your planning and productivity.

Here’s how you can use Sprout to schedule Twitter posts.

Step 1: Click on the blue compose button

From the Publishing dashboard, click on the blue Compose button at the top right-hand corner of the screen. This will open up a New Post window, where you can write out your Tweet.

Step 2: Compose your Tweet

If you’ve connected multiple Twitter profiles to Sprout, choose the Twitter profile where you want to publish your Tweet from the Profile Picker drop-down menu at the top. Then compose your Tweet, including images and/or videos as well.

Step 3: Click the “When to post” option

Under your post in the Composition window, you’ll find a When to post option next to a drop-down menu. Click on the drop-down button and select a Specific date and time.

Step 4: Choose the date(s) you want to publish

Select the date(s) and time(s) when you want your Tweet to publish. If you’re not too sure about what time to schedule your posts, select Use Optimal Times, and Sprout will provide you with options for the best time to post based on your Tweet performance history. You can also select multiple dates and times for recurring Tweets.

Step 5: Click schedule

Once you’re done, simply click the Schedule button. And that’s it! You’ve scheduled your Tweet using Sprout.

How to schedule Tweets on mobile

It’s just as easy to schedule Tweets via the Sprout Social mobile app. Start by downloading the app from the App Store or Google Play Store and log into your Sprout Social account.

Then follow these steps.

Step 1: Tap “Compose”

Tap the Compose icon in the bottom right corner of your calendar.

Step 2: Type out your Tweet

Type out your Tweet and add any additional media.

Step 3: Tap “Schedule”

Tap Schedule from the top dropdown menu, select your preferred date and time, then tap Save.

How to view scheduled Tweets

Looking back at your currently scheduled Tweets can help you make sure that you haven’t left any out from your planned content calendar. You also may want to go back and edit or reschedule your scheduled Tweets if a new promotion suddenly comes up and you need to create new content.

How to view scheduled Tweets on Twitter

To view any Tweets you’ve scheduled through Twitter itself, click the schedule icon again. There’s a link at the bottom of the popup for Scheduled Tweets. Click this.

You’ll be taken to your Drafts section, which has two tabs: Unsent Tweets and Scheduled. You can view all of your scheduled Tweets and click on any you might need to edit, reschedule or delete.

How to view scheduled Tweets in Sprout Social

After scheduling your Tweets using Sprout, you can view them in the Publishing Calendar. There are a number of different ways you can view these Tweets, depending on what makes the most sense for your needs.

List view

Here, you can view your scheduled posts in list format in order of when they’ll go out.

Week view

Or you can use the week view to visualize the posts you’ve scheduled throughout that particular week. The weekly view also helps you visualize the post volume for the current and upcoming week, and what order posts will be published, in case you want to make some adjustments.

From here, you can easily switch things around by moving the cards. For instance, if you see that you have too many Tweets going out on Tuesday, you can drag one of the cards to schedule the post for another day of the week.

Month view

If you select the month view, you can visualize your publishing schedule for the entire month. You’ll be able to see how many posts you have scheduled on a certain day and on which platform. This is a great way to review your monthly publishing calendar and find out if there’s any need for adjustments, especially based around different marketing campaigns or holidays.

How to schedule multiple Tweets

If you have a lot of Tweets to schedule, the idea of sitting at your desk and scheduling one by one likely seems like a bit of a nightmare. Luckily, with Sprout’s bulk scheduling capabilities, you don’t have to worry about that.

When creating your content, do so in a spreadsheet. You can use either Excel or Google Sheets, but if you’re incorporating emoji into your Twitter content, you’ll want to opt for Google Sheets to avoid formatting issues.

You’ll need to format your spreadsheet with the following column headers:

• date: In dd/mm/yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy format, depending on your import preferences.
• time_24hr: Place in 24-hour format. Each of your Tweets must be scheduled at least 10 minutes apart from each other as well as at least 10 minutes after the time you’re uploading your spreadsheet to Sprout.
• message_text: Your Tweet content. Remember that it must be less than 280 characters—unless you’re subscribed to Twitter Blue where you get up to 4,000 characters. If you need to include a link, paste it into this column.
• public_image_url: If you’re adding an image to your Tweet, use this column to paste the link to your public image URL. Consider uploading it to your CMS and grabbing the link from there.

Once you’ve completed your spreadsheet, export it as a CSV. Then you’ll head to the Publishing dashboard in your Sprout Social account before clicking to the Calendar view. Then click the three dots to access Bulk Post Import.

Once you click that, you’ll be taken to the Import Posts dashboard so you can drag and drop your CSV to upload your Tweets. Select your Twitter account then make sure you have the correct date format based on how you formatted dates within your spreadsheet.

Then click Start Import to begin importing your newly scheduled Tweets.

If there are any issues with some of your Tweets, you can download a CSV of any that weren’t able to be imported so that you can fix the formatting errors and re-upload the remaining content.

This makes it incredibly easy to schedule an entire month’s worth of Twitter content at once, without having to spend your entire day scheduling Tweet after Tweet.

Tips for scheduling multiple Tweets

Ready to start scheduling your Tweets? It can be such a huge time-saver that we highly recommend it. But first, here are a few tips to help make scheduling as easy as possible.

Identify how often you should post

Before you start creating and scheduling your Twitter content, identify how often to post. While our overarching recommendation is 3-4 Tweets per day, you should also pay attention to your historical data to see how many Tweets get you the best reach and engagement.

You can then stick to this number of daily Tweets as you create and schedule your content. This ensures you’re sticking with the number that generates the best results.

Review your scheduled Tweets

After a day of scheduling—or even if you used the bulk scheduling option—always go back to review your scheduled Tweets. By reviewing your calendar, you can double check that you haven’t missed any content or double-posted any content, eliminating potential errors.

Check analytics regularly

While scheduling Tweets can be a huge time-saver, that doesn’t mean you get to neglect other parts of your Twitter strategy—including monitoring your analytics. Keeping an eye on your Twitter analytics can help you make sure your strategy is still working, that you’re posting the right frequency and amount of Tweets and that your engagement isn’t dropping.

The post How to schedule Tweets: Your brand’s complete guide in 2023 appeared first on Sprout Social.