Instagram Now Allowing Apps to Auto Post Content
The latest news is that Instagram is now allowing businesses to auto post content to Instagram. This is a huge benefit to brands and individual and one that businesses have been crying out for some time. It's also a smart move from Instagram to get more businesses to switch over to a business account and introduce them to their advertising platform.
So What's New? This is exciting news because previously social posting tools could only let you schedule content to Instagram but not post content. The app would then need to send out a push notification to your mobile device to remind you to post at the time you wanted. Now with social media scheduling tools like Hootsuite and Tailwind you have the freedom to create all your content in advance so you can upload, set your schedule and forget. This functionality is only available for business accounts to auto post images using approved App's and not on the Instagram platform itself.
Instagram made this announcement on their developer's News page on January 31 2018,
"Instagram Graph API: Features The following features are now available for Instagram business profiles:
Content Publishing Beta [NEW] - Available to Facebook Marketing Partners and Instagram Partners only. Post an image to Feed with or without a caption"
How do you know if you are safe and if you are using an Instagram approved app? Auto-posting with a non-approved service was never and is still not allowed by Instagram and could get your account closed. Make sure that you are with an approved Instagram partner. To be sure here is a link to Facebook Marketing Partners and Instagram Partners.
Here are some of apps that now have access to the API.
Tailwind Trusted by over 20,000 brands Tailwinds lets you automatically schedule and post on both Pinterest and Instagram. Tailwind is available for individuals, businesses and also allows social media management companies to manage multiple accounts. Tailwind is probably the best value for money plus they are real experts on visual content, plus you can try them for free without a credit card. You can schedule us to 100 pins on Pinterest and 30 posts on Instagram before deciding if the paid plan is right.
Let' have a look at what you can do.
Instantly create the optimal posting schedule based on audience engagement, virality, traffic and more}
Effortlessly schedule multiple grams or pins at once with bulk upload and our Browser Extension for Chrome, Firefox and Safari
Schedule repins directly from Pinterest
Shape your editorial calendar with simple drag-and-drop control
Track repins, likes, comments, traffic and revenue on scheduled posts over time.
Tailwind's other great features
One of Tailwind's other great features is it's #Hashtag suggestion tool to use as you craft your posts. At the moment it's the only app that offer this feature.
Hashtag research can time consuming but it is so important as it's the best way to organically grow your reach on Instagram.
The Tailwind's Hashtag Finder works by letting you select a single hashtag and then recommends others related to it. With just one click, you can add any recommended hashtag to your post, and the Hashtag Finder will instantly refine its recommendations to provide you with even more tags!
And even better you could save lists of your favorite hashtags in Tailwind and add them to your posts in a single click. you can save yourself hours by always having your favorite hashtags at your fingertips! You can Pre-save formatting, contest rules, stock text for campaigns, emojis as well.
Plus! The color coding system gives you a way to compare different hashtags to each other so that you can easily decide between them. It guides you towards using the "Good" and "Best" hashtags (tags where you're likely to get the most traction), and lets you know when a hashtag is "Niche" or "Competitive". Pretty cool heh!
Hootsuite
Hootsuite was the leader in implementing the new API.
“The scheduling and publishing of Instagram content has been the number one request for our 16 million customers,” said Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes, in a statement. “Now, they can manage large volumes of content, multiple team members and multiple Instagram accounts with ease and security. Hootsuite is excited to partner with Instagram to make this happen.”
Hootsuite's pricing plans are very reasonable, particularly as you can post to other platforms as well. Here's how to you can start publishing your posts for Instagram on Hootsuite.
Other Apps with automatic posting to Instagram are
Agora Pulse
Sprout Social
Socialflow (implemeting at present)
So is this the new's you have been waiting for? Is this going to be a game changer in your Instagram strategy? Have you already started using one of the App's and if so, How are you finding it? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
