Creating, approving, and scheduling Instagram content is now easier than ever thanks to our latest update to GAIN and the GAIN Notify app. GAIN supports MOV/MP4/AVI files so you can upload both images and videos to your Instagram page and have them approved by clients or stakeholders.
When it’s time to publish Instagram content, you’ll receive a notification through email and the GAIN Notify app and be able to publish your content to Instagram with just a few taps!
Check out this step-by-step guide on how to create and schedule Instagram images and videos using GAIN.
Setting up the GAIN Notify app
First, you’ll need to download the GAIN Notify app. The app is available for iOS and Android devices. Once you install the GAIN Notify app, sign in with your GAIN account information. Note that any team member or client who wishes to post Instagram content will need to download the GAIN Notify app.
TIP: Double check that you’ve enabled push notifications for the app. This allows the app to automatically notify you, on your lock screen, when content is ready to publish.
Connecting Instagram Accounts to GAIN
Now you’re ready to connect your Instagram channel to GAIN. From the navigation bar, hover over People, Workflow, Settings and click Social Channels.
Once you’ve connected your Instagram account, now you can now designate the Manual Publishing User from the channel settings.
The Manual Publishing User is the person who will receive the notifications from the GAIN Notify App when content is ready to be published on Instagram.
You can only select one publisher per channel to receive the push notification reminders. However, you can change this person at any time.
Scheduling & Posting Instagram Content
When you schedule an Instagram post on GAIN and the time comes to publish it, the designated publisher for that channel will receive a push notification reminder from the GAIN Notify app as well as a reminder email that there is content ready for them to post.
The GAIN Notify app will display the Instagram post and the scheduled date. When you tap “Post to Instagram,” you’ll see the iOS default sharing drawer. Tap the “Open on Instagram” option to publish it to your Instagram account.
The entire post image(s) or videos and post captions will be transferred to the official Instagram app. Apply any Instagram filters and then tap “Next.” The post caption will be copied to your mobile device’s clipboard so you can simply double tap the blank caption area and tap “Paste.”
Now your post is ready to publish!
Note: For publishers with multiple Instagram accounts, be sure that you’re logged into the correct Instagram account before posting.
Tips for Posting GIFs on Instagram
While Instagram doesn’t support GIF files, it is possible to post GIF content on the platform when it’s converted into a .MOV or an MP4 video file and you can use GAIN to do so. Simply upload your GIF to GAIN, and GAIN will automatically convert the GIF file to a video file so you can schedule the post to Instagram. Video files can be up to 600MB in size and 3 to 60 seconds in duration.
If you manage multiple Instagram accounts, being able to schedule posts in advance is a major time-saver. GAIN is one of the only apps that allows you to schedule single image, multi-image, GIFs, and video content to Instagram. And while Instagram is still limiting its API for direct posting with third-party apps, using the GAIN Notify app will help you schedule posts and plan your Instagram marketing campaigns days or weeks in advance with ease.
Do you have questions about how to use Instagram with GAIN? Leave them in the comments below!
