Posting Directly to Instagram

1. Set up your Instagram Business Profile

If you haven’t already converted to a Business Profile on Instagram, now’s the time! You will only be able to post directly to Instagram with a Business Profile but not to worry, it will only take a minute of your time to convert your current profile.

Image source: Facebook

Simply navigate to the cog wheel icon on your Instagram profile screen and then select “Switch to Business Profile.” Note that at this stage, you will be asked to link your Instagram profile with the Facebook Page for your business.

Bonus: Switching to an Instagram Business Profile gives you access to valuable information, such as detailed post analytics and the ability to add more details (like email and phone number) to allow your followers to further connect with you.

Want a little visual guidance? Walk through the process with these simple instructions from Facebook.

2. Connect your Instagram Business Profile to the platform.

Once you’ve converted your profile:

• Log into your platform account and click on the social tool
• Navigate to the ‘+Services’ tab.
• Select ‘Add Services’.
• Click on the Instagram logo.
• Choose the ‘Instagram Business Profile’ service.
• Continue with authorizing your account and … voila!

Note: The new Instagram API is connected to Facebook so make sure that you are logged into the right Facebook account while connecting your Instagram Business Profile. 

To ensure that the image is published, make sure it is under 5MB when posting from the platform and has a maximum resolution of 1920×1080. This falls under the image requirements for Instagram Business set by Facebook. 

What if I want to schedule videos?

As mentioned above, the new Instagram API currently only supports publishing one image at the time in formats .jpg or .png. If you are looking to schedule videos, it’s possible with our other Instagram service, called ‘Instagram Post’.

With this service, you can schedule posts as you would for any other network but you will receive a push notification and email at the time of publishing. The caption with hashtags will be automatically copied into your clipboard and you will have the chance to edit the photos or video with Instagram’s editing tools.

Should I schedule the same post to Instagram and other networks?

While Instagram does offer the option to automatically share your posts to Facebook and Twitter, we would recommend not to do this, and instead customize content for each social network. The social tool has recently released Smart Posts, a feature that allows you to schedule your social media posts to all key networks in the same window, while customizing your copy and hashtags for each individually to boost organic engagement.

Other useful Instagram resources

Want to know more about creating and maintaining a winning approach to Instagram? With over 500 million daily active users, Instagram is the place to visually showcase what sets your brand apart. It’s a place to educate your audience or wow people with your products. In many cases, Instagram is a way to give people an authentic, behind the scenes look at your business and why they’d want to work for you.