Bulk Scheduling Best Practices for Instagram Marketing

Bulk scheduling is a life-saver for social media marketing agencies.

Think about the outrageous amount of hours you’ll waste if you manually create and publish posts on various social media platforms.

Add the fact that you have multiple clients and you’ll have the perfect recipe for a social media marketing disaster. 

That’s why in this post, we’ll show you the easiest way to schedule posts in bulk. 

But before that…

What is bulk scheduling?

Bulk scheduling does exactly what it says on the tin. 

The goal is to upload multiple posts and schedule them for publishing—usually on social media platforms. 

To achieve this, agencies or brands need to use a social media marketing tool with bulk scheduling features. 

Vista Social, for example, is one of the best IG tools with bulk scheduling features.

It lets you bulk schedule posts in three ways: 

• Importing social media posts from a CSV file
• Pulling content from an RSS feed
• Curating content from relevant sources

To bulk schedule social media posts with Vista Social, highlight ‘Publish’ and click ‘Bulk publishing.’

Next, you need to choose the bulk upload method you wish to use.

Importing from a CSV file

Using a spreadsheet app like Google Sheets, you can plan social posts in bulk and export them as a CSV file. 

CSV files can then be imported into Vista Social’s bulk schedule tool. Feel free to download the sample file to quickly learn how to format your CSV. 

Apart from post descriptions, you can include links along with scheduling instructions. Scheduled posts can be set to be queued next, queued last, published immediately, or published at a specific time. 

Scheduling instructions can be entered in the fourth column of the CSV file. 

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How do you add images to your content calendar using a CSV file?

Easy—you don’t have to. 

Vista Social automatically grabs the featured image of the linked blog post. This is perfect if you want to bulk publish your new blog posts on Instagram.

Importing from a blog

Using the bulk uploader with a CSV file gives you granular control over posting times. You can also schedule social media posts from just about any website, including your own blog. 

The downside is, you still need to prepare the actual spreadsheet. 

A faster way to bulk schedule posts is to import content using an RSS feed. 

For example, let’s say you want to bulk schedule posts from Backlinko’s blog. Simply paste the site’s RSS feed link (https://backlinko.com/blog/feed) and click ‘Import.’

This will pull up the list of blog posts from the RSS feed’s source. 

To schedule content, tick the checkbox of the posts you want to import and click ‘Next.’ Be sure to specify if you want them to be added next or last to your posting queue. 

A confirmation box will be shown before the posts will be added to your publishing queue. Just click ‘Schedule’ and you’re done.

That’s it—scheduled posts done with just a few clicks.

Finding content from relevant sites

The third way to bulk schedule posts and save time with Vista Social is to curate content from relevant sources. 

It’s a straightforward process that involves searching for relevant posts using keywords and sending them to the Vista Social composer. 

However, using this method to schedule posts on Instagram isn’t really the most efficient option. 

The main reason being the fact that each post must go through the Vista Social composer to get scheduled. That means you still have to process each post one by one before they’re added to your Instagram posting schedule. 

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Importance of bulk scheduling for Instagram marketing?

Vista Social’s bulk uploader looks easy, right?

Why should you do it, exactly?

First off, bulk scheduling social media posts is a great way to leverage Instagram automation to maximize your agency’s efficiency. 

For agencies, a designated team member may be assigned to prepare the CSV file with links to the posts. When done, all that’s left is importing the file to your Vista Social account. 

In other words, it streamlines the Instagram content marketing process from publishing to scheduling. 

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Bulk scheduling tips for marketing agencies

Now that you know ‘how’ and ‘why’ bulk schedule posts, let’s make sure you do it right. 

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Below are 4 bulk scheduling tips that will help you squeeze the most value out of your social media posts: 

1. Create custom featured images for each post

Remember, Vista Social automatically uses the featured image of a scheduled post using the bulk uploader. 

You don’t want your client’s Instagram profile to be peppered with stock images. That said, be sure to use only custom, high-quality featured images. 

Make them informative using text overlays, data visualizations, and other useful elements.

These can be custom photographs provided by your client or custom designs using a tool like Canva.  

2. Prepare your publishing schedule beforehand

Marketing agencies can make the most out of the bulk upload feature with a preplanned publishing schedule. 

On Vista Social, you can easily configure your schedule by setting a publishing queue for your social profile. 

The best times to post on Instagram are 11AM-1PM and 7PM-9PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. 

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3. Balance automation with personalization 

Publishing posts in bulk will have diminishing returns, especially if it’s the sole strategy in your Instagram marketing playbook. 

If all the posts on social media are scheduled in bulk, you’ll miss out on other winning Instagram marketing tactics. 

At the end of the day, a successful Instagram marketing strategy can’t be 100% automated. For instance, some of the best questions to ask on Instagram story lets you take follower engagement to new heights. 

Of course, you also can’t overlook the importance of influencer marketing, especially in a platform as popular as Instagram. 

As an agency, you should be able to come up with strategies tailored to your client’s needs. Be sure you’re not relying too much on automation and shortcuts. 

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4. Add videos from time to time

Using the bulk scheduler with the Vista Social composer may not be the most convenient choice. 

But it has an advantage: it lets you replace the actual Instagram post with anything—even videos. 

Of course, you don’t need to create the most viewed Instagram video to benefit from this strategy. 

You can use video editing and animation tools to upload branded clips for social media posts. If you have time for more planning, clients can also record themselves giving a quick opinion about your curated post. 

Use Vista Social for bulk scheduling 

Bulk publishing could be the best thing you can do for your Instagram marketing clients. 

The good news is, you can reap the benefits of the Vista Social bulk scheduler without spending a dime. 

By creating a free Vista Social account, you can get started with your first campaign at zero cost. See you in your first campaign!