How auto-scheduling works
Written By Nick
Last updated 3 days ago
Auto-scheduling is how Social Valet decides which approved posts go out, and when. Once you approve a post, it lands on your Approved bench — a pool of posts that are ready to publish but don't have a date yet. Each night, Social Valet looks at the next seven days and schedules posts off the bench at optimal times.
The basics
Approving doesn't schedule. When you approve a post, it joins the Approved bench. It doesn't get a date and time at that moment.
Scheduling happens nightly. Once a day, Social Valet looks ahead at the next seven days and fills in posts from your bench.
Timing is intelligent. Each post is assigned an optimal time within your local business hours, based on your business type and your account timezone (set during onboarding).
Album variety matters. When choosing which posts to schedule on which days, Social Valet spaces posts from the same album apart so your feed doesn't feel one-note.
How often you'll post
Instagram and blog posts schedule on different rhythms.
Instagram targets daily posting when your Approved bench has enough content to support it. If you'd rather post less often, you can set a weekly target (for example, 3 or 5 posts per week) in your settings. When the bench is light, Social Valet stretches the cadence so you don't run out of content mid-week.
Blog posts publish every three days by default. This rhythm is set to match how blog readers actually engage — daily blogs are too much, weekly is too little.
If your Approved bench is empty, nothing schedules. The system never reaches into Needs Approval to fill gaps; only approved content gets queued.
Why it works this way
Posting consistently is more important than posting often, and posting at varied times beats posting at the same hour every day. Social Valet handles the parts of scheduling that are tedious — the calendar math, the album rotation, the time-of-day decisions — so you can spend your attention on the parts that matter, like reviewing what actually goes out.
When to revisit your settings
You want to post more or less often. Adjust your weekly Instagram target in settings.
The cadence feels off for your business. Photographers, planners, and florists have different ideal posting windows. If something feels wrong, check that your business type is set correctly.
You're running out of approved posts before the week ends. Approve more from your Needs Approval queue, or generate more from your albums.
You can always override an auto-scheduled time. Open the post in the editor or drag it on the calendar to pick a different date and time.