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    Getting Started With Later Social

    Tyler Lucas Barr
    • Updated

    In this Article:

    New to Later Social? Or, maybe you need a refresher? You're in the right place!

    This article outlines Later's key features—consider it your Getting Started Hub, with links to resources and tutorials to help get you up & running fast 🚀

    What Is Later Social?

    Later Social is an all-in-one platform for social media management, analytics, and Link in Bio.

    With Later, you can:

    …and much more! ✨

    Key Terminology

    Access Groups, APIs, Link in Bio… there are several terms useful to understand as a Later user.

    For a list of definitions at-a-glance, see the Later Glossary

    Accessing Later

    You can access Later on desktop through app.later.com, or through Later’s iOS and Android apps available for download on your mobile device

    Note: Some Later features are only available on desktop, and vice versa.

    Getting Help

    The level of support you have access to depends on your Later plan. All customers have 24/7 access to Later’s Chatbot and the Help Center (where you are now!) for comprehensive self-serve support and troubleshooting guides.

    neo-chatbot.gif

    In addition, Free users can create tickets through the Later Chatbot within their first 30 days to help get up & running.

    For full details on Later’s support options and availability, see Contacting Customer Support & Getting Help.

    Connect Your Social Profiles

    Before you can start scheduling content, you’ll have to connect your social profiles. The total number of profiles you can connect depends on how many Social Sets are included in your plan.

    A user schedules a post to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and LinkedIn using Later

    For a full tutorial on connecting your profiles to Later, see Add, Remove & Transfer Social Profiles in Later.

    Note: Each Social Set can have one of each social profile type connected (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Threads). For example, to connect 2 Instagram profiles, you’d need at least 2 Social Sets on your plan.

    On Growth plans and up, you can add additional Social Sets and users to your plan as needed. For instructions, see Managing Later Plan Add-ons: Users & Social Sets.

    Why do I have to connect my profiles?

    Connecting your social profiles is required for Later to be able to post to them on your behalf.

    Later connects to your social profiles through their respective APIs. An API, or Application Programming Interface, is the method through which different softwares communicate with each other. Each social platform has control over which features they restrict or allow access to through their APIs. Later abides by these requirements to remain compliant and keep your accounts in good standing.

    Example: Later communicates with Instagram through their API to post to your profile securely on your behalf. The features Later has access to vary based on your profile type. Instagram grants business profiles the most capabilities through their API.

    Ultimately, connecting your profiles through Later tells the social platforms that Later has your permission to post for you, and grants secure access to do so. This connection also enables Later to collect valuable data for its powerful analytics features!

    Note: For your security, social profile connections will expire from time to time. This is expected and ensures that only the apps you authorize maintain ongoing access to your profiles. Refreshing an expired connection is typically quick & easy—to learn more, see Why Is My Connection Expired?

    Schedule & Publish

    Set it and forget it with Later! Plan and schedule your posts in advance, and let Later do the rest.

    B Studio uses Later to auto publish 1 Instagram reel, 1 carousel post, and a TikTok at their best times to post

    We understand that posting to each platform has different considerations, and so the publishing processes in Later vary slightly, too. To learn how to schedule to each of our supported platforms, and the features available for each, see our dedicated tutorials below:

    Similarly, each social platform has different media formatting requirements to ensure high-quality posts. For a full reference guide, see Uploading Media & Format Requirements.

    Tip: To quickly reference what features and post types are (and aren’t) supported for each platform in Later, see Supported Social Platforms & Post Types.

    Make Scheduling Even Easier

    In addition to scheduling & publishing, Later has several other features that make scheduling even more of a breeze. Check out the tutorials below to learn more:

    Manage Your Media

    With Later you can manage, organize, collect, and even edit all your photos and videos in one place. This makes it a snap to create and curate posts on the fly!

    Use Later’s media library to find, save and edit images and videos to post on all of your social media feeds

    For an overview of the Media Library and its features, see Accessing & Organizing Your Media Library.

    Additionally, Later’s Collect features make it easy to gather user-generated content (UGC) and more. For availability, tutorials, and guidelines, see Using Later's Collect Features & Reposting Instagram Content.

    Track Performance

    Posting content is only the first step! With Later, you can also track how your posts and profiles perform and learn what content engages your audience the most.

    Access Later's powerful analytics tools by clicking Analytics from the left navigation menu and selecting your profile from the top dropdown.

    Later Instagram Analytics is used to analyze follower demographics, post performance and engagement rate

    Similar to the scheduling process, Later’s analytics vary per platform—see our dedicated guides for each platform below:

    Note: Later doesn’t currently offer built-in analytics for LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, or Snapchat.

    With Link in Bio by Later, drive traffic to your most relevant products and pages and turn followers into customers. Think of it as a mini-website built into your social profile!

    Tip: Link in Bio is included with every Later plan—even Free!

    Add featured media, clickable buttons, and custom links for each post in your Instagram and/or TikTok feeds. Customize its design with fonts and colours that align perfectly with your brand. And finally, track performance with Link in Bio Analytics and UTM parameters.

    No need to keep updating your bio link—simply tell your followers to head to your bio, and let Link in Bio do the rest. To learn more, check out What is Link in Bio?

    Then, follow this tutorial to get started! Create a Link in Bio Page

    More You Can Do With Later ✨

    In addition to the features above, there’s much more you can do with Later! Whether you’re a new creator, small business owner, established influencer, or even an agency, Later can help you reach your social media goals.

    Check out some of our additional features below:

    Note: Please see our pricing page for details on feature availability by plan.
    Help Centers Social Media Managers Enterprise Brands Creators
    Resources Later Status Page Product Updates Blog