Instagram has more post formats than any other platform in a typical cross-posting set, and they have different requirements. Knowing which is which is most of what makes scheduling work.
The five formats
Through BulkPublish, Instagram supports:
| Format | Media |
|---|---|
| Feed Photo | Required |
| Feed Video | Required |
| Reel | Required |
| Story | Required |
| Carousel | Required |
Every Instagram format requires media. There is no text-only Instagram post, which is the first thing to plan around if you’re cross-posting from a text platform.
What Instagram accepts
| Caption length | 2,200 characters |
| Images | Up to 10 per post, 8 MB each, JPG |
| Video | Up to 1 GB, MP4 or MOV |
The 10-image ceiling is what makes carousels work. The 8 MB per-image cap is the one people hit, because a photo straight off a modern phone can exceed it. Resize before uploading rather than after a rejection.
Picking the right format
Feed Photo or Carousel for anything you want to remain on the profile grid. Carousels are worth using more than most accounts do, because they give a reader a reason to stay on the post.
Reel for vertical video meant to reach people who don’t follow you. This is the format that travels: the same file usually works on TikTok and YouTube Shorts.
Story for the ephemeral and the timely. Stories don’t persist, so scheduling them is about hitting a moment rather than building a library.
Scheduling one
- Connect your Instagram account
- Choose the format
- Attach the media, and check it against the limits above
- Write the caption within 2,200 characters
- Pick a date and time and queue it
Caption length and media rules are validated before the post is queued, so a caption that would be truncated or an image over 8 MB is caught in the composer rather than failing at publish time. That matters more on Instagram than most places, because a failed scheduled post is one you find out about after the moment has passed.
Captions: use fewer than 2,200 characters
The limit is 2,200 and almost nothing should be near it. Instagram truncates the caption in the feed after a short preview, so the first line is doing nearly all the work.
Write the first sentence as though it’s the whole post, because for most readers it is.
Cross-posting Instagram content
Two natural groups.
Vertical video: Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts take the same file. This is the highest-value cross-posting group there is, because video is the most expensive thing to make and the format transfers unchanged.
Photos: Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Note the caption norms differ sharply. Instagram tolerates hashtags, Facebook doesn’t really, and Pinterest wants a description that reads like a caption for search rather than for a follower.
Scheduling Instagram alongside everything else
BulkPublish publishes to Instagram and 14 other networks: Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, X, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Discord, Telegram, Tumblr and Snapchat.
- Channels: Free: 3 (1 per platform). Pro: 30 (2 per platform). Business: 75 (5 per platform).
- Posts: Free: 3/day. Pro: 30/day. Business: unlimited.
- Storage: Free: 100 MB. Pro: 2 GB. Business: 10 GB.
If you post video regularly, the storage tier is the number to check. Instagram accepts video up to 1 GB, and a free plan’s 100 MB does not hold much of that.
The short version
Five formats, all requiring media, with a 2,200-character caption limit you should stay well below because only the first line is really read. Watch the 8 MB per-image cap. Reels cross-post to TikTok and Shorts unchanged, which is where most of the leverage is.