By Victoria Stoklasa, CEO
Instagram, the popular photo-based social media app, is notoriously difficult to link with outside applications. The terms of use lay out a zero tolerance policy on spam--"You must not create or submit unwanted email, comments, likes or other forms of commercial or harassing communications (a/k/a "spam" to any Instagram users." As a result, it is impossible to automate any photo posts to Instagram--the creators of the app want the community to consist of genuine conversation and remain free of advertisements.
Then, Hootsuite showed up and announced that they were changing the rules of the game. Hootsuite, a popular social media scheduling tool, announced that Instagram had been integrated with their platform. They hyped the idea that Hootsuite users could now schedule posts to be sent to Instagram.
We at Bon Visto Media couldn't resist trying it out. So, we tried scheduling some image posts for a client. And...we were not impressed.
Here's how it works: The user downloads the Hootsuite app onto their phone, which allows the app to connect with Instagram. Then, the user uploads the photo the want to share onto Hootsuite, types the caption, and selects the day and time they want the post to be published. Once that time rolls around, the user gets an alert on their phone. At the time of their alert, they access the Hootsuite app, which automatically copies the photo and text for the user to then paste into Instagram and publish.
Aside from the auto-copying aspect of this process, there is nothing that truly automates Instagram posts in the way that Hootsuite automates posting to other platforms. Normally, a user can type up a month's worth of statuses or tweets, schedule when to post them, and then forget about it--Hootsuite does the posting on its own. With Instagram scheduling, the user still has to put in that effort to make sure the post is published on time.
Frankly, we at Bon Visto Media like how we've been scheduling Instagram posts:
1. We create images for the client and upload them into Dropbox, which we can then access from our phones.
2. We write the captions and the hashtags and save them in a document on Dropbox.
3. The person managing the particular Instagram profile sets an alarm on their phone to remind them to post on Instagram.
4. When that alarm goes off, the profile manager downloads the content from Dropbox and posts it on Instagram.
Just as easy as using Hootsuite, possibly even easier.
What are your thoughts on Hootsuite scheduling for Instagram? Let us know in the comments!
Instagram, the popular photo-based social media app, is notoriously difficult to link with outside applications. The terms of use lay out a zero tolerance policy on spam--"You must not create or submit unwanted email, comments, likes or other forms of commercial or harassing communications (a/k/a "spam" to any Instagram users." As a result, it is impossible to automate any photo posts to Instagram--the creators of the app want the community to consist of genuine conversation and remain free of advertisements.
Then, Hootsuite showed up and announced that they were changing the rules of the game. Hootsuite, a popular social media scheduling tool, announced that Instagram had been integrated with their platform. They hyped the idea that Hootsuite users could now schedule posts to be sent to Instagram.
We at Bon Visto Media couldn't resist trying it out. So, we tried scheduling some image posts for a client. And...we were not impressed.
Here's how it works: The user downloads the Hootsuite app onto their phone, which allows the app to connect with Instagram. Then, the user uploads the photo the want to share onto Hootsuite, types the caption, and selects the day and time they want the post to be published. Once that time rolls around, the user gets an alert on their phone. At the time of their alert, they access the Hootsuite app, which automatically copies the photo and text for the user to then paste into Instagram and publish.
Aside from the auto-copying aspect of this process, there is nothing that truly automates Instagram posts in the way that Hootsuite automates posting to other platforms. Normally, a user can type up a month's worth of statuses or tweets, schedule when to post them, and then forget about it--Hootsuite does the posting on its own. With Instagram scheduling, the user still has to put in that effort to make sure the post is published on time.
Frankly, we at Bon Visto Media like how we've been scheduling Instagram posts:
1. We create images for the client and upload them into Dropbox, which we can then access from our phones.
2. We write the captions and the hashtags and save them in a document on Dropbox.
3. The person managing the particular Instagram profile sets an alarm on their phone to remind them to post on Instagram.
4. When that alarm goes off, the profile manager downloads the content from Dropbox and posts it on Instagram.
Just as easy as using Hootsuite, possibly even easier.
What are your thoughts on Hootsuite scheduling for Instagram? Let us know in the comments!
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