Instagram Threads nearly broke the internet when it debuted in early July 2023. The text-based, Meta-owned app racked up over 100 million people within hours of its launch. So it’s no wonder that brands, organizations, and individuals quickly started looking for a way to schedule Threads instead of wearing their thumbs out posting on-the-fly.
Luckily, Threads post scheduling is now available through Hootsuite. In fact, as a Meta Business Partner, Hootsuite is one of the first social media management apps to offer this functionality — and it’s super easy to use.
Read on to find out how to start saving time by scheduling Threads posts.
Can you schedule Threads posts in advance?
As of March 1, 2024, people can schedule Threads posts via Hootsuite. As a Meta Business Partner, Hootsuite is one of the first social media management apps to launch a Threads integration.
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’ve already got a reason (or three) to want to schedule Threads in advance, but just in case, here are some benefits to consider.
Scheduling Threads in advance enables you to:
- Plan your content in advance
- Post for your international audience without having to wake up at 3 AM
- Continue posting while you are on vacation or short on team members
- Be able to take sick days without sacrificing your team’s productivity
- Have uninterrupted blocks of focus time in your workday
- Protect your mental health by having the ability to go offline
- Give yourself time to create high-quality media to go with your content
- Get personalized recommendations on the best times to post based on your goals
- Post from your desktop instead of your phone
- And more!
Convinced that scheduling Threads is for you? Keep reading for a step-by-step breakdown of how to do it, plus some best practices to follow.
How to schedule Threads posts: 4 easy steps
Some social media management apps like Hootsuite allow you to easily schedule social media posts for all your favorite networks in one place, saving social media managers tons of time. With Hootsuite, you can schedule posts for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Threads.
Scheduling a Threads post follows pretty much the same process as scheduling any other type of post in Hootsuite. Here’s a quick summary of the steps (read on for more details):
- Sign up for Hootsuite
- Connect your Threads account
- Compose your Thread
- Schedule for the best time
1.Sign up for Hootsuite
If you’re already a Hootsuite customer, hi! Welcome back. You can log in here.
If you’re new to Hootsuite, sign up here.
Note: Threads scheduling is available on Hootsuite via desktop.
2.Connect your Threads account
You can connect your Threads account just like you would connect any other social network in Hootsuite.
- Go to Home > Social Accounts > Add a social account
- Select Threads
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- Follow the prompts until the connection is complete
3.Compose your Thread
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- Go to Composer > Post
- Under Publish to, select your Threads account
- Compose your Thread in the content box. A preview will appear on the right-hand side.
- Add images, a Canva design, or other types of media in the box below.
- Pro tip: Not sure what to write? Try OwlyWriter AI in Hootsuite to kickstart your draft. Or check out this long list of creative Threads ideas.
4.Schedule for the best time
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- Click Schedule for later (beside the yellow Post now button)
- Either manually set a future time to post that you know your audience is likely to be online OR
- Select one of Hootsuite’s recommended best times to post
And voila! You’ve just scheduled your first Thread. It’s really that easy.
Top tips for scheduling Threads
Scheduling Threads posts can increase your efficiency and save time, but you should follow a few important best practices to maximize your efforts even more. And avoid some classic mistakes — like looking spammy or sounding tone-deaf in the middle of a crisis.
Bonus: Get a free social media strategy template to quickly and easily plan your own strategy. Also use it to track results and present the plan to your boss, teammates, and clients.
Post at the best time
In general, posting when your followers are online is key. That’s because early engagement is a value signal for the Instagram algorithm.
This is one reason why simple cross-posting may not work. Your audience on Facebook may be active from 6-10 PM on weeknights but browsing Instagram from 1-4 PM.
Luckily, whenever you schedule a Threads post, Hootsuite’s Best Time to Publish feature will recommend three optimal times for you to post. But you can also use Hootsuite Analytics to track patterns in your posting schedule.
For example, if you know you consistently get high engagement on Threads posted at 1 pm on Thursdays, make sure to keep scheduling posts at that time and continue testing new times that may yield even better results.
Pause or adjust your schedule when necessary
We don’t recommend scheduling Threads more than two weeks in advance. You never know when a global crisis might occur — and you don’t want to be the one brand that posts something insensitive by accident because you forgot to keep the scheduled posts you wrote two months ago from going out.
In other words, don’t let a global crisis turn into a social media crisis for your business. Use Hootsuite’s “Suspend scheduled content” button to pause your scheduled Threads and follow these guidelines to communicate effectively with your audience through this stressful time.
Don’t just set it and forget it
Posting content too far in advance can also make it tricky to stay on top of the latest trending audio, trending effects, and popular memes. And we all know social media moves fast. While scheduling evergreen content is always a good idea, make sure to reserve some room in your calendar to jump on trending topics.
Post 2-3 times per day
There’s not much reliable data on how often to post on Threads yet. But we can draw some conclusions from business posting habits on other text-based apps. Our data shows, for example, that posting 2-3 times a day is the optimal amount of times to post on X (formerly Twitter).
This amount of posting should provide your followers with a couple of opportunities to engage with you without overwhelming or annoying them.
Use Hootsuite to schedule Threads posts (and all your other Instagram content, like Stories and Reels) for the optimal time—all from the same dashboard you use to manage your other social networks. Start your free trial today.
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