Getting Started with Later

Just signed up for Later? Or maybe you need a refresher? Here we'll outline Later's key features to get you started.

What is Later?

Later’s an all-in-one platform for visual social media marketing. With Later you can:

Upload and collect media in the Media Library
Schedule and publish media posts for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, and LinkedIn
Analyze post performance
Drive traffic from your social profile bios to your sites using Linkin.bio
And much more!

Add Your Social Profiles

To start scheduling, first you’ll connect your social profiles.
To do this, click the + button at the top of the Calendar. You’ll be asked to log in to the social profile. This will grant Later permission to publish and gather data for you. Learn more

Upload Photos and Videos

Later lets you upload and store as many photos and videos as you like in the Media Library. Then you can add Labels and Media Notes to keep things organized.

To upload, drag and drop media into Later. Or click the Upload Media, Google Drive, or Dropbox button at the top of the side library.

Need more media? Use Later’s Collect features to gather media from the web or the Unsplash stock photo library!

Schedule Your Posts

Later helps you plan your entire week (or month) from your computer or mobile device, so you can schedule posts in advance and forget about them. Here’s a quick look at how to schedule posts from Later on the web:

At the top of the Calendar, select the social profile(s) you want to schedule your post to
Drag and drop media from your Side Library onto your Calendar, or open a photo or video in the Media Library and click View on Calendar > Create Post
Edit your media, write a caption, and add hashtags
Click Schedule Post
- Alternatively, click the down arrow next to the Schedule Post button > Save as Draft to save your post as a draft and come back to it later

Publish Your Posts

Later offers two ways of publishing—Auto Publish and notification publishing.

Auto Publish:

Your post will automatically be published at your scheduled time. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn posts are always Auto Published.

To Auto Publish to Instagram or TikTok, you’ll need an Instagram business or creator profile or a TikTok account. You must enable Auto Publish first to automatically publish single-image and Multi-Photo (carousel) posts, Reels, as well as Stories (Instagram business profiles only) to Instagram, and videos to TikTok.

Due to Instagram restrictions, posts for Instagram personal profiles cannot be auto published. These must be posted using notification publishing.

Notification Publishing:

Some Instagram posts must be published through notifications. TikTok Personal Accounts and Instagram personal profiles are also restricted to notification publishing.

We’ll send a push notification to your mobile device when it’s time for you to publish your post. Make sure to download the Later mobile app and set up your mobile notifications first.

Here’s how to publish single image and video posts using notification publishing:

Open the mobile notification we send at your scheduled publishing time
Tap Open in Instagram or Open in TikTok
Select Feed
Edit your media if you’d like and tap Next
Tap the caption field and select Paste to paste the caption we automatically copied for you
Tag people or a location if you want
Tap Share (iOS) or the checkmark (Android) to publish

Track Your Post Performance

Use Later’s Analytics to see how your posts perform over time. Knowing which posts get the best engagement can help you plan future posts.

Analytics are available for:

Instagram (Free + paid plans)
Twitter (paid plans)
Pinterest (paid plans)
TikTok (paid plans)

Select Analytics from the left-side menu, then choose your social profile at the top of the screen. From here you can start exploring your data!

Drive Traffic With Linkin.bio

Linkin.bio is like a mini-website built into your social profile. Add buttons and link Instagram and TikTok posts to build your own Linkin.bio landing page. Drive traffic to your website, blog, online store, and any other web pages right from the link in your social profile bio.

To get started, create your Linkin.bio page!

And that’s it, you’re ready to start using Later.

More You Can Do in Later

Once you’ve gotten the hang of planning, scheduling, and publishing with Later, you’ll find a lot more you can do:

Use the Later mobile app for scheduling on the go
Save frequently used hashtags in Saved Captions
Collect content from the web
Plan the look of your Instagram feed with the Visual Instagram Planner

And for current paid plans:

Schedule Stories and Multi-Photo posts
Get Hashtag Suggestions
Spend less time scheduling to Instagram with Quick Schedule
Add hashtags to your Instagram first comment to keep the caption clean
Optimize your Instagram posting times with Best Time to Post

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