Did you know you can schedule your social media content to post automatically on Facebook and Instagram for free using Facebook Creator Studio? Managing your business social media accounts can feel overwhelming and scary to some business owners, so many pass the job off to agencies instead. While we’re not opposed to helping with the process to a certain degree, we often encourage our clients to take control of their social media platforms as much as possible because it tends to lead to more engaging content when someone on the inside is online and available to interact.
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We’ll also be forthright in saying that paying an agency to schedule your posts is most often not worth the cost because you can now automate your posts for free with many online programs. For example, you can automate around 30 posts on several accounts for free using Hootsuite, and you can automate as many posts as you want for Facebook and Instagram using Facebook Creator Studio.
Facebook Creator Studio first launched as a content scheduling tool available only to Facebook users, but it has since spread to include Instagram accounts as well. Besides scheduling posts, the Creator Studio also provides you with analytics of your accounts, including how people interact with your posts and how many people have seen each post.
How Much Can You Save by Scheduling Your Own Social Media Content?
As long as you have a Facebook or Instagram account, you’re able to access Facebook Creator Studio and schedule as many posts as you’d like. This is something we highly recommend you have someone do on your team rather than paying agency prices to have it done for you. The average agency can charge anywhere from $80 to $100 per hour, and it can take approximately 3 hours to schedule a full month of content. This is valuable time you can have your agency spend on doing ads, analytics, website management, writing, etc.
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Consider assigning one of your company’s team members to social media management, leaving them in charge of scheduling content, responding to comments and reviews, and answering questions in Messenger. Your audience is unlikely to keep engaging if you’re not available to respond, and there’s no marketing agency that will know how to respond to your audience as well as an internal team member.
How to Schedule Posts in Facebook Creator Studio
To start scheduling content on both your Instagram and Facebook accounts, you’ll need to make sure your Instagram account is at least a “creator account” or a “business account.” This means you’ll have to connect the Instagram profile to your Facebook business page. If you only intend to use the Facebook scheduling side of things, then you can skip this part.
Turn Your Instagram Account into a Business or Creator Account
This can be done on the Instagram app:
- Log into your Instagram account and navigate to Settings.
- Click Account then click Switch to Professional Account.
- You’ll have the option of becoming a Creator or Business. Creator is a great option for content creators such as authors, Youtubers, etc.
- Click Next and choose your category. You’ll have the option to display your category or not.
- Next, go to Edit Profile and select the option to Connect your Facebook page. Follow the steps to connect to your business Facebook profile.
How to Link Your Business Instagram to Your Facebook Instagram:
- Navigate to your Instagram Settings.
- Click Account.
- Click Linked Accounts halfway down the page.
- Click Facebook and following the prompts to authenticate.
Once your accounts are linked, you can connect them both to the Creator Studio at the same time and get started on the content you’d like to see on your pages. And once you’re in the Creator Studio, creating and scheduling posts for your Instagram is extremely easy, even for IGTV videos.
How to Set Up Your Facebook Creator Studio Account
First, navigate to Facebook Creator Studio. If you already have a Facebook account ready to go, all you have to do is log in with the same credentials. Keep in mind that if you plan on having another team member or employee manage your scheduling, you’ll need to add them as editors or admins to your Facebook business page so they can access the page through creator studio using their own account.
Once logged in, you’ll have the option to toggle between Facebook and Instagram at the top, plus create a post, access insights, and manage your inboxes straight from the dashboard.
Here’s how to create a scheduled post using Facebook Creator Studio:
- Click the blue Create Post button in the top left corner of the dashboard. Be sure to toggle between either Instagram or Facebook using the icons at the top of the page.
- Choose the page you’re looking to schedule a post on.
- You’ll then see a section where you can create a post, which will look remarkably similar to Facebook’s status creator. You’ll see options to add a photo or a video, add emoticons, and Publish your post. If you’re wanting to schedule your post for a later date, select the arrow next to the Publish button, then hit Schedule.
- Next, you’ll see a calendar pop up that will allow you to choose the date and time you want your post to go live. Hit Schedule.
To view all your scheduled posts, click the Content Library tab and filter to Scheduled Posts. You’ll see all your posts in the queue and can make changes to them as needed. When you schedule posts for Instagram, you’ll follow the exact same steps, except you’ll also have the option to add your location. If you’re posting on Instagram, don’t forget to add hashtags because Facebook Creator Studio won’t remind you to do so.
While we don’t recommend paying agency prices for scheduling, we do recommend working with a qualified team to help you create an effective social media content strategy. It can be worthwhile to have an agency create your content, and then hand it off to you for scheduling. If you’re interested in getting help with content creation and strategy, feel free to drop us a line using our contact form! We’re always here to help!
Good luck out there!
