How to schedule Stories to multiple Instagram accounts?

Instagram Stories have become an integral part of social media marketing strategies, allowing brands and individuals to share content that engages their audience. 

However, consistently posting Stories can be time-consuming and challenging, especially for busy marketers and content creators who often manage multiple Instagram accounts. 

What if you could plan and publish engaging Stories to multiple accounts in advance, freeing yourself to focus on other aspects of your strategy? Well, you can! 

This guide will walk you through the process of scheduling Instagram Stories, helping you maintain a consistent presence on the platform without the daily hassle of manual posting.

Can you schedule a story on Instagram?

Yes, there are multiple options available to schedule Instagram Stories. 

Instagram offers a basic scheduling function within the Meta Business Suite. However, it comes with significant limitations:

• Once scheduled, there’s no way to edit your Story content.
• Instead of automatic publishing, Instagram merely sends you a notification at the chosen time to remind you to manually post your Story.
• You cannot schedule Stories on multiple Instagram accounts with the native scheduler. 

These limitations make the built-in scheduling feature impractical for most users.

This is where social media management tools like ContentStudio come in. It offers robust scheduling capabilities, allowing you to create, edit, and publish your Stories well in advance, ensuring a consistent and well-planned Instagram presence across multiple accounts. 

How to schedule Instagram stories using ContentStudio?

ContentStudio is a unified social media management tool that allows you to plan, create, and schedule your Instagram stories with ease. It streamlines the process of scheduling Instagram stories. Hence, you can plan your content calendar and publish at optimal times.

Follow these steps to schedule your Instagram Stories using ContentStudio.

Step 1: Sign-in or Sign-up on ContentStudio

First, you’ll need to have a ContentStudio account. 

If you already have one, simply sign in with your email and password or through Facebook, Google, or X. 

If you don’t have an account, you can quickly sign up for a new account on the ContentStudio website.

Step 2: Connect your Instagram accounts

Click on your profile picture in the dashboard and open Social Accounts. 

Under the Instagram section, choose to Connect your Instagram profiles.

Select the profile(s) you want to connect with ConentStudio. 

Once your Instagram business profiles are connected, they will show up under the Instagram section on the Social Accounts page. 

Step 3: Open Post Composer to create your Instagram story 

Once your Instagram account is connected, the next step is to upload and schedule your Instagram story. 

First of all, you have to upload the content for your Instagram story if you already have it on your computer. 

Hover over the Compose option in the navigation bar and click on Social Post. 

The Post Composer will open up where you design a new Instagram story by using ContentStudio’s integrated tools like Canva, VistaCreate, or PostNitro. 

Select the Story mode in the Post Type

Add the images, videos, or any content you want to post on your story and select the profiles in the left bar to schedule posting to multiple Instagram accounts. 

After you have finalized the content of your Instagram story, click on the Schedule radio button and choose a suitable date and time at which you want to post your Instagram story. 

Click on the Schedule button to complete the process and ensure ContentStudio posts your story at the selected time. 

Benefits of scheduling Instagram Stories

Scheduling Instagram stories offers numerous advantages, making it an essential practice for businesses and influencers who want to maintain a strong and consistent presence on the platform. Here are some key benefits:

1. Consistency

By scheduling your stories, you can ensure that your content is posted at optimal times, even when you’re busy or unavailable. This helps maintain a consistent posting schedule, which is crucial for keeping your audience engaged.

2. Time management

A significant benefit of scheduling stories is that it helps with overall content planning. You can batch-create and schedule multiple stories for multiple accounts in one go, saving time and effort compared to posting manually every day.

3. Better planning

With the ability to schedule stories, you can plan your content strategy well in advance. This helps in aligning your stories with your overall marketing campaigns, product launches, or special promotions.

4. Analytics and optimization

Tools like ContentStudio provide analytics and insights into the performance of your scheduled stories. This data helps you understand what works best with your audience. So you can optimize future content for better engagement.

5. Increased engagement

Scheduling stories ensures that you post when your audience is most active, which can lead to higher engagement rates. Posting at the best times increases the chances of your stories being viewed and interacted with.

6. Reduce stress

Knowing that your stories are scheduled and will be posted automatically reduces the stress and pressure of remembering to post manually. Therefore, you can have more time to dedicate to creating quality content and engaging with your audience.

6 tips to schedule Instagram stories

Mastering the art of scheduled Instagram Stories takes more than just the mechanics. Here are some pro tips to elevate your strategy and maximize engagement:

1. Follow a theme: Create a cohesive look and feel by planning a theme for your Stories across a specific period. This could be a color palette, a specific topic, or a recurring character.
2. Use story templates: Utilize pre-designed templates to streamline content creation and maintain a consistent visual style.
3. Integrate calls to action: Don’t rely solely on visuals. Use engaging text overlays and calls to action (CTAs) to prompt viewers to swipe up, reply, or visit your profile.
4. Spark curiosity with teasers: Utilize scheduled Stories to tease upcoming events, product launches, or new blog posts. This builds anticipation and keeps your audience engaged.
5. Use built-in tools: Take advantage of ContentStudio’s integrations with design tools like Canva, VistaCreate, and PostNitro. These tools allow you to design appealing and professional stories directly within the platform.
6. Track & analyze scheduled Stories:  Once published, track the performance of your scheduled Stories within ContentStudio’s analytics. Monitor key metrics like reach, impressions, and completion rates to refine your strategy over time.

By following these tips and leveraging the power of scheduling tools like ContentStudio, you can transform your Instagram Story game from reactive to proactive, fostering a thriving and engaged audience.

Conclusion

Staying ahead of the curve is crucial in today’s competitive social media landscape. Scheduling your Instagram Stories with a tool like ContentStudio empowers you to create a strategic and consistent content calendar for multiple accounts, saving you time and boosting engagement.

Remember, successful Stories are captivating, informative, and strategically timed. You can enhance your Instagram presence by following the tips discussed above. 

FAQs

Does Instagram allow scheduling?

Yes, Instagram has limited built-in scheduling features. It is recommended that you use a comprehensive social media management platform like ContentStudio to enjoy its scheduling and analytics features.

How to set Instagram story time?

For optimal scheduling, consider using a social media management tool like ContentStudio. These tools allow you to upload your Story content (including videos) and choose the exact date and time for automatic publishing.

Why should I schedule Instagram stories?

Planning and scheduling your Instagram posts with ContentStudio will help you keep your audience engaged through consistent posting. Creating a comprehensive content calendar also helps you in saving a lot of time.