Flowbox offers the Publish feature, an integrated social media scheduling tool that allows users to create, customize, schedule, and publish content directly to their social media accounts.

Pro tip:

Schedule posts at the optimal time by checking the Social Analytics panel.

In this article, we'll focus on the features of Instagram post scheduling using Publish.

How to schedule and publish content to Instagram

1. On the Navigation bar click on the ‘Publish’ icon.

2. You will see a calendar displaying your scheduled posts, including those already created and published.

3. To create a new post, click on the ‘Create post’ button in the top-right corner.

4. Select the Instagram icon in the top bar.

5. Select the Instagram account to which you want to publish the content. (If you haven't connected your Facebook and Instagram accounts yet, please check out our guide on how to connect your Facebook and Instagram accounts.)

6. Choose the post type of your Instagram content. Flowbox's Publish supports three primary types of Instagram content:

Post: Instagram posts are the traditional format on the platform, permitting users to share images or videos along with longer captions on their profile grid. Unlike Reels, which are exclusively focused on video content, posts offer the flexibility to include single images, carousels with multiple images, or carousels with images and videos.
Reel: Reels on Instagram allow you to share short, vertical videos, up to 60 seconds in length, with music, effects, and stickers for creative, entertaining content. They get more visibility, appearing on your profile, in your Reels tab, on the Explore page and in users' feeds.
Story: Stories are temporary updates on Instagram, lasting 24 hours, where you can share photos and short videos with effects, music, and stickers, ideal for quick updates and temporary content. Unlike posts and Reels, they don't appear in your followers' feeds but can be found by clicking on your profile picture.

What is 'Auto Publish' and 'Notification'?

The post type list shows that for Posts and Reels, it has 'Auto Publish' listed, whereas for Stories, it's marked as 'Notification.' This relates to how the content is shared on Instagram.

With 'Auto Publish,' your content is automatically posted to your Instagram business account at the scheduled time, requiring no manual action. However, for Stories, you'll receive a notification in the Flowbox Publish mobile application at the scheduled time, and you'll need to manually publish the content.

Schedule and publish an Instagram Post

If you selected 'Post' as post type in Step 6, the following screen will be visible with additional settings:

Pick a date and time for your post when you want it to go live on Instagram.
Set the timezone of your selected date and time.
Write your Instagram post caption.
Optionally, add a first comment to your post. This comment will be visible on Instagram.
The hashtag counter shows how many hashtags have you added to the caption and the first comment together. Instagram allows you to add up to 30 hashtags.
Add a location to your post.
Upload one or more media content (image or video).
Remove uploaded media from the post.
Utilize the photo editor to adjust image details.
Review the media upload requirements (image: JPEG, JPG, max 8 MB, aspect ratio 4:5 to 16:9, media width 320 - 1440 px; video: MP4, MOV, max 100 MB, aspect ratio 4:5 to 16:9, media width 320 - 1440 px, duration 3 sec to 1 min).
See a preview of your post as it will look in the Instagram feed.
See a preview of your post as it will look on your Instagram profile in the grid.
Add internal comments for your coworkers who are also using Flowbox. These comments are internal notes in Flowbox and will not be visible on Instagram.
Discard all content and delete the post.
Save the post as a draft for future editing (not scheduled for publishing yet).
Schedule the post for publication on the selected date and time. Since it works with Auto Publish, the post will be automatically published to Instragram with no manual action required.

Schedule and publish an Instagram Reel

If you selected 'Reel' as post type in Step 6, the following screen will be visible with additional settings:

Pick a date and time for your Reel when you want it to go live on Instagram.
Set the timezone of your selected date and time.
Write your Instagram post caption.
Optionally, add a first comment to your Reel. This comment will be visible on Instagram.
The hashtag counter shows how many hashtags have you added to the caption and the first comment together. Instagram allows you to add up to 30 hashtags.
Add a location to your Reel.
Upload a video. Reels are limited to only one video file per publication.
Remove uploaded media from the post.
Check the Notes added to the video file.
Review the media upload requirements (video: MP4, MOV, max 100 MB, aspect ratio 9:16 to 16:9, media width 320 - 1920 px, duration 3 sec to 15 min).
Check the information of your uploaded media.
See a preview of your Reel as it will look in the Instagram feed.
Add internal comments for your coworkers who are also using Flowbox. These comments are internal notes in Flowbox and will not be visible on Instagram.
Discard all content and delete the Reel.
Save the Reel as a draft for future editing (not scheduled for publishing yet).
Schedule the Reel for publication on the selected date and time. Since it works with Auto Publish, the Reel will be automatically published to Instragram with no manual action required.

Schedule and publish an Instagram Story

You must have the Flowbox mobile application installed and the notifications enabled in order to be able to publish an Instagram Story manually from the app as Stories cannot be auto-published.

If you selected 'Story' as post type in Step 6, the following screen will be visible with additional settings:

Pick a date and time for your Story when you want it to go live on Instagram.
Set the timezone of your selected date and time.
Select the member of your team who should get the notification to publish the Story at the time when it's scheduled.
Add a URL to your Story. You will be able to copy this URL from the app and paste it to Instagram when you publish the Story.
Upload an image or video for your Story. Only one image or video per Story is supported.
Check the Notes added to the video file.
Remove uploaded media from the post.
Review the media upload requirements (image: JPEG, JPG, max 8 MB, aspect ratio 9:16 to 1.91:1, media width 320 - 1440 px; video: MP4, MOV, max 100 MB, aspect ratio 9:16 to 16:9, media width 320 - 1920 px, duration 1 sec to 1 min).
Check the information of your uploaded media.
See a preview of your Story as it will look in your Instagram profile.
Add internal comments for your coworkers who are also using Flowbox. These comments are internal notes in Flowbox and will not be visible on Instagram.
Discard all content and delete the Story.
Save the Story as a draft for future editing (not scheduled for publishing yet).
Schedule the Story for publication on the selected date and time.

Different states of scheduled posts

Draft: Publications in the creation phase, not yet scheduled or published. Draft publications will not be published on your social media accounts.
Scheduled: Publications that have been scheduled for future publication.
Published: Successfully published posts. This publication is already live on Instagram.
Notification sent: Notification to publish the Instagram Story has been sent to the Flowbox Publish mobile application. As mentioned above, Instagram Stories are not automatically published, you have to manually publish them from the app.
Failed: Publications that encountered issues during the publishing process. To avoid the most common issues, please check our Troubleshoot publishing error guide.