How auto-scheduling works
Written By Nick
Last updated 14 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 Instagram posts, Pinterest pins, and blog 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, Pinterest, and blog posts schedule on different rhythms.
Instagram uses a weekly posting limit that you set in Settings. Choose how many posts per week you want Social Valet to publish, for example 3, 5, or 7. Once the limit is set, scheduling respects it. Your Approved bench can keep growing in the background, but publishing waits for the next available slot in your weekly cadence. If you haven't set a limit, Social Valet targets daily posting when your bench has enough content to support it.
Pinterest runs on a dedicated daily scheduler. Pins are pushed out steadily each day rather than clustered. Board assignment is automatic: each pin is matched to the most relevant board based on the album and your Pinterest connection settings. You can override the board on any individual pin before it publishes.
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 for a platform, nothing schedules on that platform. 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 board assignment, 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 post limit 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.
Pinterest boards aren't matching what you'd expect. Review your Pinterest connection settings and confirm your boards are named clearly enough for the assignment logic to route pins correctly.
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.