👉 For more Instagram tips & how-tos, see the following articles:

• Schedule & publish Instagram Stories
• Schedule & publish Instagram Reels
• Schedule & publish Instagram multi-photo (carousel) posts
• How to add an Instagram location to your post
• Instagram grid planner

Different types of Instagram accounts you can connect

Check out the table found here to see what kind of content gets posted directly to which profile

Connect your Instagram Professional account

When connecting an Instagram Professional account to SocialBee, you may notice two different connection options:

1. Instagram connected via a Facebook Page (Professional via Facebook)
2. Instagram connected directly (without a Facebook Page)

Although both represent the same Instagram profile, Meta provides us with different IDs depending on the connection type. Because of this, connecting the same profile differently is treated as a new connection inside SocialBee.

Switching between connection types

If you decide to switch the connection type, your content will remain intact — nothing will be lost from your posting history. However, the features available to you will depend on the connection type you’re using.

Instagram account linked to a Facebook Page (Recommended):

• Direct posting
• Analytics
• Engage
• Tagging

Instagram login without it being linked to a Facebook Page:

• Direct posting
• No access to Analytics, Engage, and Tagging

What happens if you migrate from one option to another?

1. Switching from Instagram via Facebook Page → Direct Instagram login:

• You will keep your content
• You will lose Analytics, Engage, and Tagging

2. Switching from Direct Instagram login → Instagram via Facebook Page:

• You will keep your content
• You will gain Analytics, Engage, and Tagging

Connect your Instagram Personal account

How to connect an Instagram account

1. From your SocialBee Dashboard, scroll to the "Connect a new account" section.
2. Under the Instagram logo, click on the "Connect" button to open a modal with 3 types of accounts you can connect:
   • Professional account linked to a Facebook page
   • Professional account connected via Instagram login
   • Personal account
3. Select the type of profile you want to connect.
4. You will be taken back to SocialBee, where you can select the exact profile you want to connect.
5. Click on “Connect account” and it will appear connected in your SocialBee dashboard.

Create a Post for your Instagram Profile

Creating an Instagram post varies slightly from creating a post for other social profiles.

Creating and Scheduling Different Post Types 

With SocialBee, you can share multiple types of posts, including:

• Feed Posts (Single Images and Videos, Carousels).
• Reels. Read more →
• Stories. Read more →

Choosing Your Post's Destination

1. Open SocialBee's Post Editor and select your Instagram Profile.

2. Click on the "Customize for each profile" button.

3. For the Instagram profile, in the top-right corner, you will be able to choose where you want your posts to be shared from the drop-down menu (Post Destinations: Feed Post, Story, Reel, Feed & Reel).

4. Save your post. After creating your post, you should be able to find it in your Content Categories and in the Scheduler view here, where you'll be able to preview your upcoming posts in a calendar, list, grid, and overview format.

Create collaborative Instagram posts

An Instagram Collaborative post lets you co-author a post with up to 3 collaborators, and it shows up on all of your Feeds. This feature is available for static images, carousels, and Reels.

To create a collaborative Instagram post in SocialBee, follow these steps:

1. Open SocialBee's Post Editor and create an Instagram post as you normally would.

2. If you haven't done this already, click on the "Customize for each profile" button.

3. Click on the "Tag" icon on your image.

4. Enter your collaborator's Instagram handle, click "Add collaborator," and then click "Save."

5. Save and schedule your post.

Once the post is published, your collaborator will receive a notification from Instagram to review the collaboration request and decide whether to accept or decline it.

Other available features for Instagram Posting

Posting Directly VS Reminders

Sharing content on Instagram can be done in three ways:

• Via Reminders, with our companion mobile app;
• By posting directly from SocialBee's web app;
• Through our Zapier or Pabbly integrations.

Here is how different types of posts will be shared:

For posts to be shared directly, they must meet certain requirements. Check out our article about media files in SocialBee.

Any post that does not match our requirements for direct posting, regardless of the reason, will automatically be set to publish via Reminders. 

→ Learn more about how to use the SocialBee mobile app to publish content via Reminders 📝

Enable Fallback Actions for Direct Posting

Since certain post types aren't supported at the moment, we have created a workaround using the SocialBee Companion Mobile App. 

In the Post Editor, you'll be able to see which posts are set for direct posting and which ones are scheduled to be posted via mobile reminders.

At the bottom of the text box, next to your emojis and hashtag collections, you will notice a red mobile phone. 

This signifies that the post cannot be shared directly, and you will receive a notification on your device when it's time to share the content.

Posting to Instagram via Reminders

Like with any other profile that posts via Reminders, once you receive the notification and open it, you'll be able to preview the post details in our mobile app. 

You'll see a thumbnail of the video, the caption, and the date and hour at which it was scheduled.

The next step is to tap on "Share Post" and you will see two prompts. First of all, you'll have to check that you are logged onto the right profile in your Instagram app.

Then, you will receive a confirmation that your caption has been copied.

Once you click "OK" the Instagram app will open with the file(s) all loaded up.

In the Instagram App

After you've clicked share post, you'll be prompted to choose between Feed and Story. 

According to each choice, you will have full access to all of Instagram's in-app features, so don't be shy to tune up your post with stickers, tags, filters, and more!