Many social media managers and Instagram account holders have been asking Hootsuite when they will be able to schedule Instagram posts within this great web tool. We’ve had the ability to schedule posts for all the other major social media platforms. With the rise of Instagram popularity, this feature has been needed.
The solution given to us by Hootsuite is not perfect, but it’s something. We can now schedule Instagram posts – BUT – at the time the post is to go live, the user will get a notification on their phone that it’s time to actually go and publish the post. We will need to remember that the post is only scheduled in Hootsuite, it must be published on your device/phone. It’s important to remember to schedule posts when you’ll be available to actually publish the post. Here’s a link to the Hootsuite/Instagram Quick Start Guide PDF.
If you’re a like me, a social media manager, you’ll also need to remember to be aware which account you’re signed into because the account you’re signed into will be the one to get the post published to! The software doesn’t distinguish accounts, it only knows that when the time comes, it sends the notification from Hootsuite to your phone. There is the further limitation when using Instagram that you are unable to switch accounts (wouldn’t that be nice), you need to make sure you’re in the correct account. Some social media managers will carry multiple devices in order to avoid doing this.
There are quite a few steps to take to get connected from Hootsuite to your phone and I have a link to the Hootsuite website. If you work with more than one Instagram account, you can set multiple accounts up from within Hootsuite.
My Hootsuite/Instagram Experiences
I went through all the steps and then set up a post but received no notification. I’d recheck settings and then try again – nothing! I searched and read and looked at all the settings several times. When I carefully reread the instructions I saw I needed to check for notifications on the Hootsuite App, on my phone, not the Instagram app. Opening the Hootsuite app, I found several notifications I had set up from my desktop Hootsuite. Seeing the notification pop up on my phone is not happening, I need to go to the Hootsuite app on my phone and then I see them.
Instagram App Not Copying & Pasting my Text
Then I went to publish my app to Instagram and unfortunately, when I got in the Instagram app and clicked the ‘crop’ at the top, the app said it had to close. After I rebooted the phone, then I was able to publish – but the pasting of my text from the desktop Hootsuite app didn’t make it over into the Instagram app. I’ll keep trying. The instructions to say to tap in the caption area and then tap again.
It’s been a bit frustrating getting through all the steps and instructions and not being able to get my pre-written text over into the Instagram app like it’s supposed to. Hopefully, they are working on making the process smoother for us.
What’s your experience with this app? Were you able to publish with no problems? Please leave a comment.