Content Manager at SocialBee
Instagram Reels drive massive visibility, but timing matters. In fact, Reels plays now exceed 200 billion per day across Facebook and Instagram, highlighting just how much attention this format attracts.
Scheduling Instagram Reels ensures your content goes live at the right moment, without you needing to be online. It also helps you stay consistent and plan ahead for campaigns or launches.
This guide walks you through how to schedule Instagram Reels natively, in Meta Business Suite, and with SocialBee. You’ll also see how to pick the best posting times and avoid common mistakes.
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Short summary
- You can schedule Instagram Reels directly in the app, through Meta Business Suite, or with SocialBee.
- Scheduling Reels helps you stay consistent, save time, and reach your audience when they are most active.
- The built-in Instagram scheduler is limited to 75 days in advance and does not support features like Stories, collaborations, or Personal profiles.
- Meta Business Suite is useful for managing Facebook and Instagram together, but can feel heavy for creators who only need Instagram tools.
- SocialBee gives you more flexibility: schedule Reels, Stories, and posts across multiple Instagram accounts and 10+ platforms, with features like AI content creation, best time recommendations, and advanced analytics tools.
- Best practices include batching Reels, pairing them with Stories, repurposing for TikTok and YouTube Shorts, optimizing your hook, using hashtags intentionally, and testing different approaches with analytics.
- Avoid common mistakes such as ignoring audience insights, posting without engaging, or relying on the same hashtags every time.
Can you schedule Instagram Reels?
Yes, you can schedule Instagram Reels. Instagram now allows scheduling directly from the mobile app if you have a professional account (these are either business accounts or creator accounts). You can also use Meta Business Suite on desktop or mobile to plan Reels alongside your Facebook posts.
If you want more flexibility, such as scheduling Reels on Personal profiles, planning Stories, or managing multiple accounts, tools like SocialBee give you those options. With SocialBee, you can schedule Reels, Stories, and posts across Instagram and more than 10 other platforms from one dashboard. This makes it easier to schedule posts well in advance, instead of being limited to Instagram’s 75-day window.
Benefits of scheduling Instagram Reels
The main benefit of scheduling Instagram Reels is that it helps you stay consistent and reach your audience at the right time without extra effort.
Consistency matters because Instagram rewards accounts that post regularly. Posting on a consistent schedule also helps you grow Instagram followers over time. Scheduling makes it easier to keep that steady rhythm.
Accounts with over 50,000 followers, for instance, publish about one Reel every two days (0.5 per day), while mid-sized accounts average 0.3 per day. Smaller accounts post much less frequently, roughly one every five days.
Timing matters too: if your target audience is most active in the evening, you can set your Reel to publish then, even if you’re busy.
It’s also a smarter way to plan campaigns. Whether you’re promoting a new product, running a seasonal sale, or collaborating with a partner, scheduling ensures your Reels line up with the rest of your marketing.
How to schedule Reels on Instagram using the native Instagram app
You can schedule Reels natively in the Instagram mobile app if you have a professional account. It’s free, and you can schedule up to 25 posts per day and 75 days in advance.
How to schedule a Reel in the Instagram app
- Open the Instagram app, tap Create, then tap Post or Reel.
- Upload your video, add a caption, effects, or filters.
- Tap More options
- Toggle Schedule this post and set your date and time.
- Tap Done, go back, and hit Schedule to confirm.
How to manage scheduled Instagram Reels
Instagram gives you two ways to manage your scheduled Reels.
The first way is through your profile. Instagram makes it easy to delete scheduled Reels, edit scheduled Reels, and access them from the Scheduled content tab in your business dashboard.
Open your Instagram profile, tap the Menu in the top right corner, and tap Scheduled content. Find the Reel you want to change, tap the three dots on the top right of the post, and then choose Edit post, opt to reschedule at your desired date, publish it immediately with Share now, or delete it.
The second way is through the Create menu. Open the Instagram app, tap Create, and select Post or Reel. Then tap Scheduled to see all of your upcoming posts.
Choose the Reel you want to edit. On Android, tap the post directly, and on iOS, tap Next. From there, open Options and select whether you want to reschedule, share it early, or delete it.
Important things to know about scheduling Instagram Reels
There are a few rules to keep in mind:
- You must have a professional account to use Instagram’s scheduling feature.
- Certain post types, including product tags, collaborations, sponsored posts, and fundraisers, are not supported.
- Any privacy or audience settings you apply at the time of scheduling will stay in place when the Reel publishes, so double-check those settings before confirming.
Bottom line: Native scheduling is great if you just need a straightforward way to plan posts ahead. But if you’re managing multiple accounts, or want advanced settings like AI posting suggestions or cross-platform scheduling, you’ll likely need Meta Business Suite or a third-party tool.
How to schedule Instagram Reels with Meta Business Suite
Meta Business Suite lets you plan Instagram and Facebook content from your computer in one place. It is a good option if you manage both platforms or prefer scheduling from a desktop rather than a phone.
How to schedule an Instagram Reel in Meta Business Suite (desktop)
- Go to the Meta Business Suite homepage on your computer.
- In the left-hand menu, choose the correct business portfolio, which connects your Facebook Page and Instagram account.
- Select Content or Planner, then click Create post and click Create reel. You can also choose to create a post from the Home page of your Instagram tab.
- Pick where you want to publish: Instagram, Facebook, or both. (If it is your first time, you may need to reconnect your Instagram account.)
- Upload your Reel and enter details such as your caption, relevant hashtags, or location.
- Click Schedule, choose the publication date and time, and confirm.
How to manage scheduled Reels in Meta Business Suite
Go back to the Planner tab to see your calendar view. From here, you can preview how the Reel will look, tap reschedule, edit details, or publish it immediately.
Things to keep in mind
- You must select the correct business portfolio before scheduling.
- Some options, like product tags, boosted posts, or advanced ad settings, may not be available for Reels.
- You can preview how your Reel will look on Instagram versus Facebook before confirming.
How to schedule Instagram Reels with SocialBee
SocialBee allows you to schedule and publish Instagram Reels directly, but there are a few requirements to know up front.
Direct publishing is available only for Instagram Business Profiles, and the video must be under 15 minutes long with a 9:16 aspect ratio. If these conditions are not met, SocialBee will send you a mobile reminder notification so you can publish manually from the SocialBee mobile app.
How to schedule a Reel with SocialBee
- Connect your Instagram Business Profile to SocialBee.
- Upload your video (make sure your Reel file is in MP4 or MOV format for best results, 1080×1920 resolution or higher). Add your caption, hashtags, and links.
- In the posting options, select Reel as the placement.
- Choose the date and time for publishing. If your post meets the requirements, SocialBee will automatically publish it. If not, you’ll receive a reminder to post from the mobile app.
- Confirm and save. Your Reel will appear in your content calendar so you can keep track of it.
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Why use SocialBee instead of Instagram or Meta Business Suite
If you only need to schedule a few Reels, the Instagram app or Meta Business Suite will do the job. But if you manage multiple accounts, need to post across platforms, or want more control over your content, SocialBee gives you tools that the other two don’t.
With SocialBee, you can schedule Instagram posts well beyond Instagram’s 75-day limit. You can also plan Stories and post on Personal profiles through mobile reminders, options that aren’t available in the Instagram app. That extra flexibility is especially useful if you want to keep all your engaging content (Reels, Stories, and posts) organized in one place.
Here are the features that make SocialBee the stronger choice for Instagram scheduling:
- Direct posting for Instagram Business Profiles. Publish Reels automatically, or use reminders for Creator and Personal accounts.
- AI-powered content creation. Generate captions, hashtags, and images when you need fresh content ideas fast.
- Post variations. Create multiple versions of a Reel caption to keep your content fresh without rewriting everything.
- Hashtag tools. Generate hashtags from your text or images and save collections to reuse later.
- Custom Reel options. Add a first comment, tag relevant accounts, set a location, or choose a video thumbnail before scheduling.
- Best time recommendations. Use data-driven suggestions to post Reels when your audience is most active.
- Visual content calendar. Plan your Reels alongside Stories and posts for other platforms so campaigns stay organized.
- Team collaboration. Leave notes, review drafts, and approve content before it goes live.
- Analytics and reports. Track Reel performance and export results to share with clients or teammates.
How to find the best time to post Instagram Reels
The best time to post Reels is the time your audience is actually online and ready to engage. That sounds obvious, but in practice, most businesses guess instead of using data. In my experience, guessing almost always leads to wasted reach.
Recent data shows that Instagram Reels generate an average of 15,000 views and 805 likes. Shifts in timing can make a big difference and earn you more engagement, so you want to be strategic.
In my experience, the simplest way to optimize posting times is with a three-step framework: analyze, test, and adjust.
- Analyze. Start with Instagram Insights. Look at when your followers are online and which of your past Reels got the most views, comments, or shares. I always recommend checking not just the time of day, but also the day of the week, since audiences behave differently midweek compared to weekends.
- Test. Insights give you averages, but they don’t tell the whole story. I like to run small tests by posting similar Reels at different times. For example, I once posted the same product demo at 9 a.m. and again at 7 p.m. a week later. The evening post performed twice as well, which told me my audience was more active after work.
- Adjust. Use your findings to refine your scheduling options. Don’t treat your first results as final. Behavior shifts with seasons, holidays, or even algorithm updates. I usually revisit my posting schedule every month to see if anything needs to change.
If you manage multiple platforms, the challenge is even bigger because no two audiences behave exactly alike. That’s where smart scheduling tools help. With SocialBee, I lean on best time recommendations that come from past performance. The tool highlights when audience engagement has been strongest, which makes it easier to build a posting schedule around actual data instead of guesswork.
Over time, the goal is not to find the single “perfect” posting hour but to create a repeatable schedule that lines up with your audience’s habits and leaves room for testing. That mix of consistency and flexibility has given me the best long-term results.
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Tips for creating and planning Instagram Reels
If you want to use your Instagram Reels to boost engagement, then you’ll have to pay close attention to how you create and plan on sharing them.
Here are five useful tips for making the most out of your Instagram Reel strategy:
- Batch create and schedule
- Pair Reels with Stories
- Repurpose smartly
- Optimize your first three seconds
- Use hashtags with intent
1. Batch create and schedule
One of the simplest ways to post consistently with Reels is to create them in batches. Instead of filming one video at a time, set aside a block of time to record multiple Reels in one session. Once you upload them to your scheduler, you can spread them out over days or weeks, and even make sure you hit the best posting times for multiple time zones.
I’ve found this approach removes the daily pressure of “what should I post today?” and makes the process more efficient. It also helps you maintain a steady flow of content, which Instagram rewards by helping you maximize engagement. Even if you only shoot three or four Reels at once, you’ll always have something ready to auto-publish and can stay several Reels ahead of schedule.
YouTuber and entrepreneur Katie Steckly, founder of Creatorly Media, recently filmed a behind-the-scenes challenge where she attempted to batch a full month of Instagram Reels in a single day. The video highlights both the difficulty and the payoff of batching in your Instagram strategy.
As Katie explains: “I definitely went into this challenge with high expectations and thought I could get it all done in one day. Now I question my former self’s sanity. But I did get everything filmed, which is a huge win. Editing will take more time, but my future self will appreciate that I batched the content because when I’m traveling in September, I’ll already have it ready.”
To make batching possible, Katie:
- Planned ahead in her content calendar, labeling each Reel by type (tutorial, talking head, b-roll, vlog) so she’d have a balanced mix.
- Wrote scripts word-for-word for each Reel, paired with a shot list of the visuals she needed.
- Grouped content into filming blocks, switching outfits between sets for variety and using natural breaks to reset.
- Streamlined filming by capturing all talking-head clips first, then demos, then b-roll, minimizing camera movement.
- Organized her files immediately, creating folders by posting date and drawing on her b-roll library to save time.
Bottom line: Batching doesn’t eliminate the work; it front-loads it. The process is demanding for any business owner or social media manager, but if you commit to it, you’ll free up time later and keep your posting consistent even during busy weeks.
2. Pair Reels with Stories
Reels help you reach new people, but Stories keep your current followers engaged. When I schedule IG Reels, I also like to schedule Stories that promote or tease them. For example, I might post a Story with a short behind-the-scenes clip, a poll related to the Reel’s topic, or even a simple “new Reel is live” sticker.
Huda Beauty is just one example of a popular Instagram account that promotes their Reels on their Story:
This works because Stories often appear first in the app and tend to be watched by your most loyal audience. Pairing the two creates a natural funnel: Stories bring your core followers to the Reel, while the Reel itself can push your content to new viewers.
3. Repurpose smartly
If you are already creating and scheduling a Reel, it’s worth planning how that same video can work on TikTok or YouTube Shorts. The formats are nearly identical, so you don’t need to film something new. A small tweak, like adjusting the caption, swapping out hashtags, or tailoring the call-to-action, can make the content feel native to each platform.
I often repurpose Reels this way, and I’ve noticed performance varies by channel. A video that gets moderate traction on Instagram might take off on TikTok, or vice versa. By scheduling repurposed versions in advance, you can multiply your reach without multiplying your workload.
This is where a tool like SocialBee helps. Instead of uploading the same video separately to every platform, you can create one post, then use SocialBee’s content variations to automatically adjust captions, hashtags, or thumbnails for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. It saves time and ensures your content feels tailored to each audience.
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4. Optimize your first three seconds
The first few seconds of a Reel decide whether someone keeps watching or scrolls past. When I schedule a new post, I always preview how the video looks in the feed to make sure the hook is strong.
A good hook can be as simple as opening with a quick problem your audience relates to. For instance, a Reel that starts with “Struggling to find the right hashtags?” will stop more people than one that eases in with a long intro.
You can also use bold on-screen text, a fast cut, or a surprising visual to grab attention right from the cover image. Experiment with trending audio to increase the chance your Reels are picked up by the algorithm.
Take this Reel, for example, where the creator starts with a common fear that many people who move abroad face: “I won’t find any friends in the new city/country.”
In my experience, most drop-offs happen almost immediately. A clear hook in the first three seconds matters far more for maximum engagement than the total length of the video. Bulk scheduling with a third-party app makes it easier to test different openings by uploading multiple versions and spacing them out over time to see which one performs best.
5. Use hashtags with intent
Hashtags can help your Reels reach new audiences, but they only work if you use them strategically. I’ve seen people copy-paste the same block of hashtags across every post, and the results usually flatten out over time.
Instagram’s Carly Lynn puts it clearly: “Hashtags can help your content get discovered. But, don’t just add a bunch of hashtags just to try to maximize your reach. The quality of your hashtags matters much more than the quantity.” She recommends focusing only on hashtags that are directly relevant to your Instagram content, like the creator in the example below:
She also warns against generic tags like #Reels, which can actually hurt performance. Why? Because Instagram looks at how much people engage with your post as a signal to recommend it further. If a Reel is tagged with broad, irrelevant hashtags and fails to engage that initial audience, the algorithm is less likely to push it out widely.
That’s why I like to treat hashtags as an experiment. Instead of reusing the same set, I’ll schedule similar Reels with different hashtag groups, one focused on industry-specific terms, another on niche communities. Over time, the data shows me which hashtags bring in the right viewers.
Frequently asked questions
Are you ready to start scheduling Instagram Reels?
Scheduling Instagram Reels is one of the simplest ways to stay consistent, save time, and make sure your content shows up when your audience is ready to watch. Whether you use the Instagram app, Meta Business Suite, or a tool like SocialBee, the goal is the same: publish with intention instead of rushing to post in real time.
From my experience, the most effective content strategy is a mix of planning and flexibility. Schedule the Reels you know you’ll need, like campaign launches or seasonal promotions, and leave space for spontaneous posts that tap into trending sounds or timely ideas. That balance keeps your social media game both reliable and fresh.
If you want a tool that goes beyond Instagram’s limits, SocialBee is worth trying. You can schedule Reels, Stories, and posts across multiple Instagram accounts and other social media platforms, get best time suggestions, and track performance in one place. It’s a practical way to take the stress out of social media planning.
You can explore SocialBee with a 14-day free trial and see how much easier managing Reels and the rest of your content becomes.
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