How to Schedule Instagram Stories For Free in 2024?

Instagram stories are one of the most used social media features nowadays.

As reported, the stories’ views are overcoming the views in the feed, and now all major users post more stories than photos in their feed.

Why? Because it’s very raw, people expect authenticity and engage more, feeling closer to the creator.

If you are one of the users who constantly publish stories or an agency that doesn’t want to miss some of the promotions or campaigns for their clients, using a tool to schedule Instagram stories is a must.

Can you schedule Instagram stories with an app?

Yes, finally! Social media managers can use their favorite social media publishing tools to schedule Instagram stories, too.

The API to publish and schedule Instagram stories from third-party apps was recently published, allowing users to strategically plan and post stories in advance. Now, if you use an Instagram scheduler like Feedlink, Buffer, or Hootsuite, you will be able to schedule stories, along with Reels and other Instagram posts. Utilizing a media library within these tools is beneficial for organizing and managing content for Instagram Stories, ensuring a consistent and engaging narrative.

Additionally, the free Meta business suite allows you to schedule Instagram stories. You can do most of the scheduling on Facebook and Instagram but not on other platforms.

How do I schedule a story on a desktop?

The Instagram app doesn’t currently provide an option to schedule or publish Instagram stories on a desktop. For that matter, it’s best to use a scheduling tool like Feedlink and schedule all your Instagram stories on a desktop.

How to schedule Instagram stories with Feedlink

Feedlink is a larger link in bio builder but also has a built-in free Instagram stories scheduler that helps users schedule Instagram stories ahead of time.

Here are the steps to schedule an Instagram story with Feedlink:

Step1: Sign up for Feedlink and go to Publishing

You can sign up for Feedlink for free and set up your account in just a few clicks. Once you log in, you can schedule and publish Instagram stories or posts by navigating to the Publishing menu.

Step 2: Connect your Instagram account

In publishing, click New post, and on the post creation page, click on Choose account.

Here, click Connect Account and provide the required permissions to the Facebook page that is connected with the Instagram account where you want to schedule the stories. Here, you can choose to post on multiple Instagram accounts from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Upload an image or video

Once you choose the Instagram profile where you want to publish, click on the Media icon and upload the photo or video Instagram story. You can preview the story in the left hand area of the screen.

Step 4: Set up a date and time

Click on the Schedule button, and from the calendar, choose the time and date. Once you are finished, just click Schedule.

Your post will appear in the queue, where you can see all scheduled stories, and can also make edits. The stories will auto-publish at the time and date you’ve selected.

Whatch the video below to learn how to schedule Isntagram stories with Feedlink:

https://feed.link/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/schedule-instagram-stories.mp4

In summary, here is what you can do with the Instagram scheduling features in Feedlink:

• Schedule and publish to multiple Instagram accounts
• Schedule and publish of Instagram Reels
• Schedule and publish Instagram posts
• Schedule and publish Instagram stories
• Use a free AI caption generator to write post captions.

How to schedule Instagram stories with Meta business suite

Meta Business Suite is the native tool built by Meta to help social media managers easily plan and schedule content on Facebook and Instagram.

It is free to use, but limited only on these networks. Here are the steps:

1. Log in to Meta business suite – Go to https://business.facebook.com/ and log in to your Facebook account that has access to the Instagram profiles where you want to schedule Instagram stories.
2. Create Story post – In the dashboard, click Create story, as shown below:
   
3. Upload story content – Next, upload the video or photo you want to publish.
   
4. Schedule time and date – In the scheduling options, you can choose the time and date when the story will be published. What is good here is the option Active times, which suggests a good time to schedule your Instagram stories.
   

How does scheduling Instagram Stories help social media managers?

If you’ve ever worked with clients or published content for your brand, you know how crucial it is to plan ahead and maintain a consistent scheduling calendar to schedule posts.

Scheduling and planning ahead, especially with Instagram stories, can bring tons of benefits, such as:

1. Plan ahead: Scheduling helps you plan your posts in advance. This way, you can line up your Stories to match upcoming events or promotions without last-minute rushes.
2. Better timing: Schedule your Stories to go live when most of your followers are online. This helps more people see your posts, which can lead to more likes and comments.
3. Post like you tell a story: You can make sure all your posts fit well together and tell a consistent story. This makes your brand look more professional and cohesive.
4. Avoid mistakes: By preparing your Instagram Stories beforehand, you can double-check for errors and fix them before they go live. This helps you avoid typos or low-quality images or videos.
5. Post consistently and regularly: Publishing consistently is very hard without scheduling. When people know when to expect new content from you, they’re more likely to tune in.
6. Use desktop: Manage your Stories from a computer instead of a phone, which makes it easier to handle large files and work on multiple posts at once.
7. Collaborate easily: Share drafts and gather feedback from clients and managers all in one place, which is great for staying aligned and making quick adjustments.

Utilizing tools that allow you to schedule posts and stories on Instagram is essential for better engagement and consistency. That is where having a scheduling tool like Feedlink comes to the rescue, enabling you to visually plan, storyboard your Instagram Stories, add content to the scheduler, and receive notifications for posting.

Mastering Instagram Story scheduling

Here are a few tips for mastering Instagram story scheduling:

Create content in advance

Prepare your Stories early to avoid rushing. This helps you make each Story look good and tell the right message. This means that you create content daily and plan which of those photos or videos are worth planning and posting.

Explore: 21 Instagram Post Ideas for Small Businesses in 2024

Test with different posting times

As mentioned, most of the tools will provide the times when you have the most engaged audience, but you can experiment and try posting at different times to see when more people watch and interact with your Stories.

Leverage story highlights

Dont forget Instagram highlights. Highlighting some of the most interesting stories can help you re-engage or attract followers who are not viewing stories at the moment. You can organize them into themed collections to help new followers quickly understand what your brand is about.

Invite interaction and utilize user-generated content

Include interactive elements like polls or questions to engage your followers and get their opinions.

Schedule reposts of content that your customers or fans have created. This not only saves you content creation time but also boosts community involvement and loyalty.

Story takeovers

Arrange for influencers or experts in your industry to take over your Instagram for a day. They can bring their followers to your account and add fresh content to your Stories.

Use sequential storytelling

Break a long story into multiple segments and schedule them to create a narrative over several hours or throughout the day. This can keep your audience engaged and looking forward to the next part of the story.

Display Instagram stories on a website

Create an Instagram stories widget and stream your stories on your website. By doing this, you naturally expand the reach of your stories, provide fresh content on your website, and engage with potential new followers.

Key takeaways

Scheduling stories is one of the biggest blessings for social media marketing. The benefits range from having a plan cleared of mistakes to easier collaboration and the ability to publish consistently.

Scheduling tools like Feedlink can help you publish on multiple platforms and create a content calendar, saving time while maintaining a consistent look of your brand.

Create free account and schedule Instagram stories now.

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