Marketers who use Hootsuite can now rejoice with it’s latest update. Hootsuite has just launched the capabilities to post directly to Instagram.

We waited years for this update and to understand why this new feature was so important to us, let us explain the issues we faced in the past.

Troubles in Our Past

We had our troubles when managing five different Instagram accounts on Hootsuite. Since we did not have a full-time person that can just sit there and wait for scheduled post notifications, we often missed the timing window of when we wanted to post.

Missing a scheduled post or two also had a compounding adverse effect to our Instagram growth. To catch up to our schedule, it forced us to post multiple photos in quick succession hurting our engagement rates and followers growth.

We had a small team, and there are times we need a break working two jobs. Going on an extended vacation was the most difficult, especially when visiting a Country in a completely different time zone.

Internet connection was scarce, and the posts we scheduled for 3 pm is now 3 am. This dropped our engagement rates by over 80% and made us think of new ways to replace Hootsuite as our go-to scheduling tool.

The New Update

As Hootsuite describes, “Save time and drive engagement by easily scheduling and publishing images directly from the Hootsuite dashboard and mobile app to your Instagram Business accounts.”

The new feature is only limited to Instagram Business accounts, and is available to both Free and Premium Hootsuite plans. We highly recommend you switching to an Instagram Business account regardless of this feature, because it provides you with lots of tools and features to help accelerate your Instagram growth.

To read more on this topic: Instagram Business Account: Should You Switch?

To get started wit Hootsuite:

1. Login or Create a Free Hootsuite account

2. After the setup process, click on manage social network by selecting your profile icon on the top right

3. Select your Instagram settings and click connect with Instagram

4. Sign in to Facebook and provide authorization. After the setup, you will receive a success popup.

And that’s it. You have completed your Instagram setup on Hootsuite.

Word of Caution

The setup process worked for us, but we currently only have one Instagram profile connected to our Hootsuite account. From Hootsuite forums, there were issues raised by users that the scheduled posts are going to the wrong accounts.

Follow the thread directly on Hootsuite for more updates: Schedule and Publish Photos Directly to Instagram using Hootsuite