Earlier, scheduling posts for Instagram was only possible with the help of Instagram reminders feature, where you had to create and schedule a post in SocialPilot and then a push notification would be sent to your phone requiring you to then post the content yourself.
But in April 2018, Instagram listened to the prayers of every social media marketer and launched its Graph API which allows third-party social media management tools to enable their users with the scheduling and automated posting feature for Instagram.
Fortunately, SocialPilot’s integration with Zapier – a business partner of Instagram – allowed us to provide the Instagram direct posting functionality to our users. Now with SocialPilot, using the Zapier integration, you get effortless functionality to schedule and post automatically on Instagram without dealing with mobile notifications.
To know how to schedule posts through both of the features read the below doc:
So, even after this major leap in scheduling technology, why do we still keep the Instagram reminder option?
Because a lot of social media marketers still prefer Instagram reminders over direct posting, for it gives them last-minute editing options through the Instagram application.
Also, direct posting has its own limitation in terms of the type of post it can schedule for Instagram.
Still reluctant about Instagram Reminder posting? Allow us to change your mind!
We have created this blog to showcase the benefits of Instagram reminders and the reasons to choose Instagram reminders over direct posting.
Instagram Direct Posting VS Instagram Reminders
The Instagram direct posting is a big time saver feature for brands catering to different time zones. But still, we can’t overlook its limitations of allowing direct posting for only certain types of posts and accounts.
Limitations of Instagram Direct Publishing
Instagram’s API only allows direct posting for:
- Single images with or without caption
- Business profiles
But don’t worry, for any of your created posts in SocialPilot not published through direct posting, will be shared through Instagram reminders. Once your scheduled posting time comes around, we will send you a notification on your mobile device via the SocialPilot app installed in it.
Moreover, you can use in-app editing features, such as filters, photo tags, locations, and polls of Instagram on your scheduled posts or stories.
Lets’ see the type of post you need to publish through Instagram reminders:
- Carousel posts
- Video posts
- GIF posts
- Instagram stories
Also, using Instagram reminders you can post content on Personal, Business, and Creator accounts.
Which approach is better?
So which approach works best for your brand? – Instagram direct posting or Reminders.
No one is a sure winner here, at least not until Instagram introduces some massive overhaul in its direct posting API to give third-party tools more publishing options.
Until then, the better approach depends on your Industry, posting habits, and time-zones.
Social media marketers do love the set-it-and-forget-it feature of direct posting. Also, one of the major cornerstones of Direct posting, for brands catering in different time zones is not to share a post by themselves in the middle of the night.
Still, the benefits of Reminder postings are not that elusive. A lot of social media marketers tout for the Instagram reminder feature, which helps them in making sudden changes in their post content saving them from any faux pas.
Here are the testimonials of brands and marketers using Instagram reminders post in their advantage:
“I prefer Instagram reminder scheduling posting. Some of our client’s social channels act under strict guidelines that do not allow any comments to be on. So to turn the comments completely off we need to be ready as soon as the post goes live to manually shut comments for that post off. Reminder scheduling is like an alarm clock for your Instagram post that allows you total control from the moment it goes live” – Madeline James, Pascale Communications
“You make a post ahead of time and you don’t know what the climate is like when it actually goes live. I’ve seen other companies make huge mistakes like that, so you can’t let something go ahead without having final input on captions, hashtags, etc. not to mention actual content. It’s just more prudent for the time being.” – Sandra Hurley, Operation manager at Hayden Girls
Reminder posting helps our post’s tone and content match the current vibe and take into account any surprising new stories that might make our posts seem insensitive.” – Christopher Prassad, Marketing manager, JookSMS
6 reasons to use Instagram reminders over Direct posting?
So let’s take a look at the list of advantages that Instagram reminder gives you over direct posting.
1. Instagram’s In-app editing feature
Instagram’s in-app-editing has a separate fan base. SocialPilot’s integration with Canva does allow you to create amazing images while scheduling for direct posting. But, Instagram’s native editor has its own set of aesthetics such as filters, effects, and other editing options that you can only use while scheduling reminders.
Instagram’s native editor lets you:
- Crop your images
- Add tons of dynamic filters and colors
- Adjust brightness, contrast, warmth, saturation and much more
- Do advance editing with options such as Vignette, tilt-shift, and fade.
Also, it gives you one-click access to native apps like Layout and boomerang.
2. Dynamic Stories
The Instagram reminder is a clear winner here because you can only post your scheduled stories through push notification. With 500 million stories being created every day, you don’t want to jump on the bandwagon unprepared.
Thanks to Spark AR studio the native story composer has unending availability of effects and interactive AR filters coming out every day. So using Instagram reminders of your scheduled stories through SocialPilot, you can further edit images and videos in Instagram’s native story composer making your content a dynamic experience for users.
Instagram’s native story composer lets you:
- Add shopping tags
- Create polls
- Ask questions
- Add dynamic stickers
- Use AR filters
- Add music tags
- Attach Mood-altering filters
And much more…
3. Publish Multiple Post Types
Apart from stories and single images, Instagram reminders let you publish a variety of different posts such as video, GIFs, and carousel posts that you cannot publish through direct posting.
Besides, running your campaign without using different post types on a visual-oriented platform is not a smart decision. This is one of the major reasons to choose the reminder posting over the direct one.
4. People and Location tagging
Adding a location in your post is important in order to be found by users looking for you. Statistics showed that posts with tagged locations generated 79% more engagement than posts without any location tag.
Location is also useful in attracting customers who are trying to find something nearby related to your business.
Account tagging, similar to location tags, helps you reach more audiences and create better brand relationships. When you tag another brand or profile in your posts, followers of that account can easily see you in the “ Photos of you” section of the brand profile, which in turn increases the chance of relevant exposure..
With Direct posting, you can’t add location and tag people in your content. Only Reminders provide you that option because of the last-minute editing through the Instagram app.
5. Multiple checkpoints
One of the most embarrassing act you can commit for your brand is to mess up it’s social media post. That’s why we recommend checking your post once, twice, and even thrice to avoid any faux pas.
It could be anything, spellings or grammar mistakes, auto-correct situation, or irrelevant and insensitive content due to the ongoing scenarios.
Multiple checks are not only important to avoid mistakes, you could always find the inspiration to add something, unseen at the time of scheduling. Seeing your posts in a different format could tingle your imagination to add more content or new hashtags.
Luckily, the route of Instagram reminders takes you through multiple checkpoints. First, at the time of scheduling and then right before you are posting it, leaving very little space for errors.
6. Schedule for Personal or Creator Instagram accounts
Transitioning to the Instagram business account is not everyone’s’ cup of tea. If your Instagram aim is more inclined towards connecting with your audience than metrics such as profile conversion and interaction, it’s better to skip the transition from personal to a business account.
But here’s the catch, Instagram’s direct posting API doesn’t allow third-party apps to schedule posts for Personal accounts. That’s where Instagram reminders come to your rescue.
Not only personal accounts, but you can also schedule posts for Creator accounts with Instagram reminders.
Conclusion
So now you know that choosing the right scheduling option depends on your business, target audience, and posting habits.
Surely, some marketers would prefer direct posting over reminders at any hour but extra control over your content until it goes air will be a cornerstone for other marketers.
Also, the reminder posting is a no-brainer when it comes to scheduling the multiple types of posts and stories but direct posting is a must for brands looking to expand their business and exposure in different time zones.
Luckily it is not a matter of choice for you in SocialPilot. We give you the options of set-it-and-forget-it direct posting as well as the reminder push notification at once.
It’s up to you to choose whichever option works best for you.
