Pros and Cons of Using Instagram Schedule Notifications

Which is better for your business: scheduling a post directly onto Instagram without requiring any delays or confirmation, or receiving Instagram schedule notifications from an app letting you know it's time to post?

There are several tools available to help you manage your Instagram accounts. Some, such as Tailwind and AgoraPulse, will allow you to schedule and post directly to Instagram set-it-and-forget-it style. Others, such as CinchShare (and, depending on your settings, AgoraPulse) allow you to schedule a reminder, at which time they will send you a notification to manually post.

At first glance, it might seem more beneficial to go with a service that offers set-it-and-forget it features. But, it turns out that after Instagram allowed for direct publishing from third-party schedulers, a lot of Instagram users actually preferred receiving Instagram schedule notifications to remind them to post manually.

Pros and Cons of Using Instagram Schedule Notifications

Pros:

• You can still save time by batching your posts without losing the ability to do a last-minute check / edit before posting.
• You can still have and access Instagram's built-in filters on your photo.
• You will know exactly when your post was published, so if anything else comes up you can make adjustments.
• It can serve as a reminder to engage with your followers at the same time.
• You'll realize faster if you happen to run out of scheduled posts and need to batch more (hey, things happen!)

Cons:

• If you don't answer the notification, or if it comes at a bad time, then nothing gets posted.
• Every time you receive a notification, there's an increased chance at getting distracted from the task in front of you.
• There is some extra time involved; and even if that extra time is just a few minutes, it can really add up over the week depending on your posting frequency.
• The more notifications you get from different sources, the more “notification-deaf” you can become and the higher the chance that you will miss or ignore them.

But which system is better?

It's not a question of better, but rather a question of need and where it fits into your strategy. Like we always say: the tool is not the strategy.

Put together your Instagram strategy, then find the tool (or tools) that will help you carry it out in the most efficient manner.

If you want to keep all the control in your hands for every post, look for a tool that offers Instagram schedule notifications. You'll still be able to leverage all the same advantages of other tools, such as batching your graphics and posting in a more efficient schedule, but you won't have to worry about some glitch in the software messing things all up for you.

Tools that offer Instagram schedule notifications:

• CinchShare
• AgoraPulse
• Hootsuite

If, on the other hand, you prefer to save even more time, then direct publishing may be the best option for you.

Some Things to Keep in Mind About Scheduling Posts to Instagram

No matter which method you choose, there are a few things you will want to take into consideration before you begin scheduling your posts to Instagram

1. Scheduling your posts, either with notifications or directly, will help you be more consistent with your posting, but consistency is only half the battle. You will still need to log in regularly and engage with your audience to grow on Instagram.
2. You need to have a business account on Instagram to be able to schedule anything.
3. Currently, videos and images can be scheduled to your Instagram feed, while images (not videos) can be scheduled to your stories with certain tools. And only a few tools have the ability to schedule carousels.
4. No tool that is authorized by Instagram will ask you for your password. If you find a tool that asks you to store your Instagram username and password (rather than connecting with Instagram or using Instagram to log in) then there is a chance they are not using the application interface (API) correctly and could result in more errors.

As direct sales consultants, we are constantly on the lookout for any new tool or technology that can make our life easier. Anything that can streamline our workflows and help us work smarter. And because social media is such a large part of our success in both our personal and professional lives, it makes sense to want to find the tools that can help us maximize our presence there.

Just don't go for a tool that has all the bells and whistles for the sake of having the bells and whistles. Sometimes the simplest is still the best.

#EmpowerSocial