Create and publish Instagram posts

After using HubSpot's full-screen social composer to draft your social post, you can create different types of Instagram posts:

• You can create Instagram reels to share video content.
• You can create an Instagram carousel and publish multiple images to a single post.
• You can create and publish Instagram stories to share either image or video content with your followers. Instagram stories will expire after 24 hours.

Create an Instagram post, reel, or story

To create a new Instagram post, reel, or story:

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Social.
• In the upper right, click Create social post.
• In the left panel, click the Select accounts dropdown menu. Then, select the checkboxes next to the Instagram account you want to post to.
  
  • If a default Instagram account has previously been set, it will automatically be selected.
  • To select all connected Instagram accounts, click the Instagram checkbox. 
• Set up your social post draft. The details of the draft post will be duplicated across all social accounts, including the selected Twitter acocunts. 

• At the top, click the Instagram tab.

• Customize your Instagram post details: 
  • What do you want to say in your caption: in the text box, further customize the content for your post. Do note the following:
    • When @mentioning other users in the post, the mentions will not be auto-completed. However, Instagram will acknowledge the mention when the post is live.
    • Instagram does not support links in posts. 
  • Add media: add images or a video to your social post. To add another image, in the Add Media section, click the insert image icon. Please note the following:
    • If you're creating a post or reel:
      • You can add up to 10 images to an Instagram carousel post. 
      • You cannot add alt text to the images. 

• • • • You can use the following image formats: png, jpg, and jpeg
      • You can use the following video formats: mp4, mov, mpeg4, and mpeg4
      • When adding a video, it is recommended that each video is less than 1 minute in length
    • If you're creating an Instagram story: 

• • • • Each Instagram story can only include a single image or video.
      • The image or video for your story must meet Instagram's IG User Media requirements. 
      • If your image does not meet the suggested 4:5 to 1.91:1 ratio, it may be automatically cropped when published. 
  • Publish as: select Post or Reel or Story. All image and carousel posts will be published as regular posts.
    • By default, all single video posts will be published as reels.
    • When creating an Instagram reel, ensure that your video meets Instagram's reel upload requirements and video requirements.
  • Also share to feed (Instagram Reels only): by default, all single video posts will be published as reels. You can choose whether or not the reel displays on your main profile grid: 
    • By default, the option to share the reel to your Instagram feed will be turned on.
    • If you do not want to display the reel on your main profile grid, click to toggle the Also share to feed switch off. 
• To duplicate the Instagram post or reel, in the top right, click the add plus icon next to the Instagram account name. This will duplicate the post for the same Instagram account. 
• To delete the Instagram post or reel, click the delete trash icon. 
• After customizing your Instagram posts or reels, in the top right, click Publish now or Schedule. Alternatively, continue editing the posts for other social networks. 
  
  

Tag Instagram posts or reels

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Social.
• In the upper right, click Create social post.
• Set up your social post draft. 

• At the top, click the Instagram tab.

• In the Content Type section, click Post or Reel. 

• In Add media section, hover over your image or video, then click the tag icon.
   

• Click anywhere on your image or video thumbnail.

• In the dialog box, enter the account name you want to tag, then click Tag.
  • When entering the account name, do not enter the @ symbol. For example, instead of entering @HubSpot, you can enter HubSpot. 
  • Only public Instagram profiles can be tagged.

• • You can add a maximum of 20 tags to each photo or reel.
• After adding your tags, click Save.

Analyze your Instagram reels 

Data from your Instagram reels will be included in the social reports available in the Analyze tab. Learn more about the different social reports available. 

• If you've just connected your Instagram account to HubSpot, the last 60 days of social post data including reels data will be automatically retrieved.
• If your Instagram account is already connected, the last 31 days of social post data including reels data will be automatically retrieved.

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Social.
• In the top right, click Manage columns. 
• In the dialog box, click the checkboxes next to the metrics that you'd like to include.
  • When analyzing the performance of reels, it is recommended to include the Reach metric. This metric is calculated by the number of unique accounts that have seen your Facebook or Instagram post at least once
• At the bottom, click Save. You can then review and compare the performance of your reels. You can also export your post data including the new Reach metric. 
  
  

Review your Instagram story performance

After publishing your Instagram story, you can specific metrics such as comments, exists, tap forward, and tap backwards. Data from your Instagram stories will also be included in the social reports available in the Analyze tab. Learn more about the different social reports available. 

Please note: when reviewing your Instagram story, it must have more than 5 interactions to display any metrics. If metrics are available, they will only appear after 25 hours. 

To review your Instagram story's performance:

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Social.
• In the Manage tab, click your Instagram story.
• In the right panel, review your Instagram story metrics: 
  
  • Comments: the number of comments on your Instagram story. 
  • Exits: the number of times a user has swiped out of the Instagram story.
  • Tap forward: the number of times a user has tapped on the right to move to the next story.
  • Tap backwards: the number of times a user has tapped on the left to review to the previous story.