In this article, we will discuss content scheduling on Instagram and specifically publishing of Stories. For a more complete review of all Instagram publishing features, please read this article.
To quickly recap - here are the types of posts that can be published to Instagram using Vista Social
- Single image posts
- Single video posts
- Multiple image posts (carousels)
- Multiple video posts (carousels)
- Reels (direct publishing, no notifications, no workarounds, no hacks)
- Stories (notification/reminder workflow)
For a more comprehensive review of Instagram publishing features within Vista Social, please read this article. In this article we will focus on Instagram Story publishing.
What are Instagram Stories
An Instagram Story is an in-app features that allows users to share ephemeral content available for 24 hours. With Instagram's current UI, recently posted Stories are denoted by a gradient border around the user's profile picture. Your Instagram Story is published separately from your in-feed content. Although you might know the basics of sharing them, there are hidden tools within the app that can make the photos and videos you add to your Story more creative and engaging.
Scheduling Instagram Stories within Vista Social
Scheduling Stories is quite different from scheduling all other types of Instagram posts (images, videos, carousels, reels). The reason for that is an existing limitation, imposed by Instagram API that prevents apps from scheduling stories directly. This means that there is no way that we can publish your posts as Stories directly to Instagram. This may very well change one day and if it does, we will be the first platform to support direct publishing of stories.
Setting up Notifications/Reminders
Since Instagram Stories can't be published directly, you would schedule your Story in Vista Social and specific the mobile device (yours of any of your team members) that will receive a mobile notification that it is time to publish on Instagram. The user then accepts the notifications and shares the post to Instagram.
Step 1. Download and instagram the application
Step 2: Run the app and allow notifications.
IMPORTANT: Allowing notifications is vital for you to be able to receive notifications.
Step 3: You will then be asked to login. Please use your Vista Social credentials.
If you don't have an account please create one here. If you are member of a team that uses Vista Social, please contact your account admin.
Step 4: Notifications
When you login to the app for the first time, you will not yet have any notifications. This is expected. Once you login and schedule stories, they will show up as notifications. See next step.
Step 4: Schedule your first Instagram Story
Now, head over the the https://vistasocial.com and login. Click on Compose, pick an Instagram profile and design your Instagram post. You will now find an option to change the type of the post to a story and be able to pick your "device" (the phone from which you have logged in) from a list. If your device does not show up, please be sure to login the app on the phone first and refresh the web screen.
Click Next and schedule your post!
Step 5: Receive notification on your phone
If Vista Social is not open, you will receive a notification popup at the top of your phone that looks like this, just click on it
If Vista Social is open, your notification list will automatically reload and you will see a notification that looks like this:
Step 5: Open notification and share to Instagram
When notification opens simply click on "Continue to Instagram", be sure to grant permission to access your phone's photos
Step 6: Mark your post as published
This step is optional but it helps you better track your posts.
Simply click on the check mark to acknowledge the post (mark it posted) or the x mark to reject it (you don't want to publish it). This will help better track this post on your calendar:
If you have any questions or run into any issues, please contact support!
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