Discover the step-by-step guide to schedule Instagram Stories for free using Facebook Business Suite
A significant update has recently arrived at Facebook Business Suite: the ability to schedule Instagram and Facebook stories for free, thus managing all publications in one place.
According to the platform itself, it’s now easier to plan content in advance, keep it organized, and save time managing these two major social networks.
In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about Facebook Business Suite and the step-by-step process to use its new story scheduling feature. Let’s dive in?
What is Facebook Business Suite?
For those who are not yet familiar, Facebook Business Suite is a tool that allows businesses to manage their social network presence in a free and simplified way.
Through it, you can manage all your Facebook and Instagram accounts in one place and perform various activities, such as:
- Get an overview of performance, updates, and information for your Facebook page and Instagram profile;
- Follow notifications related to movements on both networks;
- Create and schedule publications for your feed and stories for free;
- Gain insights from trends and information about your audience;
- Have quick access to other platform tools, such as Ads Manager, Events Manager, Audiences, and Page or Business Settings.
In other words, Facebook aims to provide a more complete experience for digital marketing professionals and facilitate their routines by giving them access to their main work tools in one place.
Advantages of Using the Tool
With the existence of various external tools that perform the same scheduling activities for stories and feed publications, the novelty of Facebook Business Suite may not surprise many agencies and freelancers.
However, it comes with several advantages that make a difference in user experience and content security.
The first one is that scheduling posts and other platform activities are entirely free. This means you can manage multiple accounts in one place without any cost.
But the benefits don’t end there. Another important point is that, as a native tool of Facebook, the management of publications and stories follows the same Terms of Use as the platform.
Therefore, although the tool may not offer all the features of other external competitors (it is not possible to schedule Reels, for example), it is still the safest way to schedule your content without the risk of them or your pages/profiles being negatively impacted by Facebook’s policies.
How to Schedule Instagram Stories for Free Using Facebook Business Suite?
Now that you know what Facebook Business Suite is and why it’s beneficial for managing your accounts, it’s time to check out the step-by-step guide on how to schedule Instagram stories for free.
The tool is available for both desktop and mobile app (bearing the same name), making it possible to develop your social media presence from anywhere.
Scheduling Stories via Desktop
To schedule from the desktop, access Facebook Business Suite — through the tools available in your Business Manager account — and select which business account you wish to manage at the top of the page. Then, simply follow these steps:
- Click on the “Create Story” button;
- Select whether you want to publish on Instagram, Facebook, or both networks;
- Click the “Upload Media” button to upload your photos or videos (up to 10 media files can be uploaded at once);
- Once the upload is complete, you’ll have a preview of the stories and can edit them;
- In Creation Tools, you can add text and some stickers to the photos. Videos, for now, can only be trimmed to reduce size or duration;
- Once the stories are ready, click on the arrow next to the “Publish” option, then on the “Schedule Story” option;
- Select the date and time you want to schedule the content for, and finally, click on “Schedule Story” to save it.
Scheduling Stories via the App
Prefer to schedule your story posts directly from your mobile? No problem, you can do so with the Facebook Business Suite app, available for Android and iOS.
After downloading the app and accessing your account, you’ll be directed to the pages and profiles you manage. If you have more than one, make sure you’re scheduling on the correct account. Then, just follow the step-by-step guide:
- Click on the “Create Story” button;
- Choose the photo or video you want to publish from your mobile gallery. Alternatively, you can create your story on the spot by clicking on the camera icon in the top right corner;
- Edit the content with text and the main stickers available on Instagram;
- Then, click on “Next” and decide whether you want to publish on Instagram, Facebook, or both networks;
- Next, decide whether you want to publish now or schedule the stories in “Scheduling Option”;
- If you choose to schedule, define the date and time, and finally, click on “Schedule” to save your post.
Simple, isn’t it? To review your scheduled posts, just access the “Posts and Stories” tab and click on “Scheduled”. Additionally, you can view everything that has been previously posted and drafts.
You can also
choose to view this information in list, feed, grid, or calendar format, according to your preference.
