How to Schedule Posts on Hootsuite

If you have a lot of content on the lineup, then it’s a good idea to put them on a social media management tool. Don’t worry, scheduling posts on Hootsuite is actually pretty easy. Hootsuite has both free and paid plans offered, too, though the former has very limited features. While it isn’t much, it could help free up your schedule.

Interested in scheduling your posts in advance on Hootsuite? Then you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll go over how to schedule posts on Hootsuite, plus other handy tips and tricks on making your content strategy easier. Let’s start!

• To schedule posts on Hootsuite, simply click the composer button, fill in the details, upload media, and then set the time for the post to go out.
• Hootsuite has recommended schedule times that allows you to know the best hours of the day to publish your content.
• Hootsuite’s free version allows up to 5 posts per social media account. If you’ve signed up for their paid subscription, you can schedule an unlimited number of posts.

There are two ways to schedule posts on Hootsuite. The first one is through the “Create” button, and the second method is by going to Hootsuite’s Planner feature.

Using the Compose Button

The main method for scheduling posts on Hootsuite is by clicking the “Create” button. This will immediately take you to the Hootsuite Composer, it’s represented by a paper-and-pen icon.

Here’s how you can schedule social media posts on Hootsuite Composer:

1. Step 1

   

   Once you’re logged in to your Hootsuite Dashboard, click the “Create” button.

2. Step 2

   

   Then, click “Post” on the context menu.

3. Step 3

   

   Select the social media profile you want to post it to.

4. Step 4

   

   Write the caption and add media wherever applicable.

   As you type in your caption and add files, a preview of your post will appear on the right side.

   If you selected multiple social media accounts in Step 3, Hootsuite will automatically copy the post and adjust it according to the social media network’s specifications.

   For example, if you’re scheduling a post that contains an image on multiple social media platforms including Instagram, your photo will be automatically cropped to a square. Don’t worry: you can edit your content per social media site just by switching to its designated tab on the composer.

5. Step 5

   

   Click “Schedule for later” at the bottom right.

6. Step 6

   

   You can either choose to schedule your post on either the Recommended Times by Hootsuite, or manually set the time yourself.

   Hootsuite recommends time-based on your past posts’ performance. If you don’t have enough data on Hootsuite yet (assuming you had just started the account or had only a few posts on your profile), you will get general time recommendations.

   If you want to publish in a recommended time slot, just click on any of the available schedules.

   On the other hand, if you prefer to send your message at a different time, you can click on “Manually set time.”

   

   Click “Done.”

7. Step 7

   

   Hit “Schedule” once you are done composing your message.

Your message has now been scheduled.

Using the Planner

Alternatively, you can also schedule posts right on Hootsuite Planner.

Hootsuite’s Planner is where you can access the Editorial Calendar of all your social media posts across different platforms. As such, you can see your scheduled posts here.

However, Planner also makes it easier to schedule posts. The reason is, you can just select time slots on the calendar and compose a message.

If you’re planning to schedule multiple posts, then I’d recommend using the planner feature instead of going through the composer button. That way, you won’t have to click the button again and again once you finish one post after another.

Plus, planning posts will be also much quicker since you can see empty time slots to fill in.

Here’s how to schedule content using the Hootsuite Planner:

1. Step 1

   

   Click the calendar icon to access the Planner.

2. Step 2

   

   Select a time slot.

   If you noticed, there is a “Recommended Time” displayed on the time slot I’ve chosen. On the Planner, you can also see recommendations on when is the best time to post.

   Of course, you can also choose another time if you prefer.

3. Step 3

   

   Click “Create” on the context menu.

4. Step 4

   

   Choose a social media profile(s).

5. Step 5

   

   Write caption and add files if necessary.

6. Step 6

   Since we already selected a time slot earlier, there’s no need to set schedule for this post. But, if you want to change the time or adjust the minutes, just click on the schedule being shown to do so.

7. Step 7

   

   Review your post and click “Schedule”.

You have now scheduled a post, after which you will be redirected back to the Planner. Simply click a time slot again to schedule another post.

You can also schedule posts on the Hootsuite app using your mobile device. This is very convenient if you need to schedule specific content while on the go.

Here’s how:

1. Step 1

   Download Hootsuite app from the Google Play Store or iOS App Store.

2. Step 2

   Log in to your Hootsuite account.

3. Step 3

   

   Tap the “Compose” button at the bottom.

4. Step 4

   

   Select a social network.

5. Step 5

   

   Type in your caption and upload any necessary media.

6. Step 6

   

   Tap “Next”.

   

   But if you want to leave for now and continue editing your post later, tap “Save Draft” instead. You can access your drafts in the Planner tab.

7. Step 7

   

   You can either choose “Auto schedule” or “Custom schedule”. With auto schedule, Hootsuite automatically sets the time for you. Selecting “Custom schedule” is the better option since it allows you to set the specific time and date you want your post to go out.

8. Step 8

   

   Set the date and time.

   

   Your post has now been scheduled.

Scheduling Instagram posts on your Hootsuite is done in a similar way as how you would normally do it on other social media channels. However, if you have a personal Instagram account linked to your Hootsuite, then you would need to set up mobile notifications to publish with Instagram.

To schedule Instagram posts on a personal account, follow these steps:

Turn On Mobile Notifications

1. Step 1

   Download and install the Hootsuite app from the App Store or Play Store.

2. Step 2

   Sign-in to your Hootsuite account.

3. Step 3

   

   Tap your profile icon.

4. Step 4

   Go to the “Settings” tab.

5. Step 5

   

   Select “Notifications”.

6. Step 6

   Choose an Instagram account.

7. Step 7

   

   Toggle on “Send me a push notification”. Enable “Show in notifications” as well to make sure you will be notified on your phone.

   You can also test this notification out by tapping the option below to check if it works on your device.

Schedule As You Would

Once you’re done setting up push notifications on the mobile app, you can now schedule your post. You can do this both on the mobile app and desktop version of Hootsuite. For the full tutorial on how to schedule posts, please refer to the previous sections of this post.

Approve Post When You Get the Notification

Now, all you have to do is wait to receive the push notification.

This sounds like an added hassle to scheduling posts on Instagram. However, by scheduling it beforehand on Hootsuite, you eliminate the need of composing the entirety of the post on the time before it needed to go out. When the notification comes up, all that’s left for you to do is to click send.

Did you know you can also schedule posts in bulk on Hootsuite?

Hootsuite’s bulk post scheduling feature makes it easy for you to upload up to 350 posts on the platform, ready to be published. To do so, you need to follow these steps:

1. Step 1

   Log in to your Hootsuite dashboard.

2. Step 2

   Navigate to the “Planner” tab by clicking the calendar icon.

3. Step 3

   Go to the “Content” tab.

4. Step 4

   On the left dashboard, select “Bulk Message Upload”.

5. Step 5

   Upload a CSV file of your posts.

   Note: a CSV file is a document wherein your scheduled content is laid out in a spreadsheet. Here is the CSV format you should follow given by Hootsuite themselves:

   • 1st Colum – Date and time. Format SHOULD ONLY be: mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm or dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm. Identify which format you are using upon uploading the file.
   • 2nd Column – Your post. Remember those character limitations also apply here. While Twitter has a 280-character limitation, Hootsuite’s format indicates a 140-character requirement.
   • 3rd Column – URL (optional). Place the whole link. You can use link shorteners.
   • Set a scheduled time in the future, at least 10 minutes from now.
   • Your posting times should end in either a 5 or a 0.
   • One message per time slot.
   • Check for duplicates as repeat messages are not allowed.
   • Media like images and videos aren’t allowed.

6. Step 6

   Select a date and time format.

7. Step 7

   Choose a social media channel. Since you can’t upload images and videos, you also can’t bulk schedule to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest. Bulk upload is great if you need a consistent stream of LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook posts on your profiles.

8. Step 8

   Click “Submit”.

You may be wondering why you need to schedule posts if you’re basically a content creator or influencer, and not a brand that would obviously benefit from uploading posts in advance. However, management tools like Hootsuite is actually very useful for influencers, too, especially if you are your own social media manager.

Here are some of the many reasons why you should consider scheduling posts on Hootsuite:

1. It saves time.

   By composing and uploading your posts in advance, you save time and energy. By freeing hours of your daily schedule that would be otherwise devoted to creating posts for your social media channels, you can spend it on tasks such as reaching out to potential partners and sponsors. Also, you can use your extra time for more important stuff, like spending a part of your day with your loved ones or working on a different hobby.

2. It helps you plan content more efficiently.

   With a content calendar readily accessible to you, you can come up with a good strategy for what, when, and how to post your content. You can also see if there are gaps in your schedule and test various times to know which gets the most engagement.

3. It gives you consistency.

   Nobody wants to follow a profile that looks empty. Or one that had a lot of activity months ago, and just stopped. In short, posting consistency gives your audience the impression you’re active. If you have constant activity in your socials, people are more likely to follow you.

4. It helps track your engagement.

   Social media tools like Hootsuite has features that allow you to view analytics. Through this, you will have an idea of which of your content strategy worked and which one didn’t.

5. Social media management platforms give you extra perks.

   Tools like Hootsuite are more than just post-schedulers. It also has tons of other features that could level up your content strategies, such as social media marketing and social listening tools.

6. It can make things easier.

   Social media management platforms have one common goal: they want to make things easier for their users. Using a tool like Hootsuite, you can schedule posts across multiple social media networks and profiles, from your LinkedIn page to your Instagram account.

Can you schedule posts on Hootsuite?

Yes, you can schedule posts on Hootsuite. Hootsuite is one of the best tools to use for scheduling social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok.

Can you schedule posts with Hootsuite free?

Yes. Hootsuite has a free plan which allows you to schedule 5 posts per social media profile, per month.

How far in advance can you schedule posts on Hootsuite?

You need to schedule posts at least 6 minutes into the future. Hootsuite hasn’t stated a limit on how far into the future you can schedule posts. However, I personally tried scheduling posts on Hootsuite several years into the future, and it worked. So, it’s safe to assume that you can actually schedule posts a few years in advance.

Although theoretically, this could only work as long as you still have the account on Hootsuite, the social media account still exists, and it’s still connected to Hootsuite. If your account has been deleted or disconnected by then, it follows that the post would not also go through.

How many posts can you schedule on Hootsuite?

Free plan users can schedule 5 posts per social media channel monthly, while members who are subscribed to the Professional plan and above can schedule an unlimited number of posts.

Why is it important to schedule posts?

Scheduling posts help you save time, and become more productive, and be efficient. Hootsuite is one of the best tools there is to schedule posts across various social media platforms.