How to Schedule Social Posts in Hootsuite

Use Hootsuite’s Bulk Import to efficiently schedule text-based social posts at scale. This method is best for posts without images or when scheduling one platform at a time.

Key Limitations

Hootsuite bulk import cannot:

Upload images or videos
Assign different images per platform
Specify platforms within the CSV
Schedule different creative per platform in one upload

Because of this, best practice is to bulk import separately for each platform.

CSV Requirements

Your CSV must contain 3 columns, in this order:

Date/Time
Post Text
Link (use N/A if none)

Do not include column headers. An error will occur, because Hootsuite thinks the first row is a social post.

Date/Time Format

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM

24-hour time
Must be at least 10 minutes in the future
Uses the Hootsuite account time zone

Uploading the CSV

Go to Planner → Bulk Composer
Upload the CSV
Select ONLY the platform account the CSV is intended for
Confirm scheduling

Handling Images

Images cannot be included in bulk import.

Options:

Bulk import text → add images later in Planner
Duplicate posts in Composer and swap platform-specific visuals

Common Errors & Fixes

Issue	Fix
Invalid date format	Use `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM`, no slashes
Upload fails	Check for extra columns or blank rows
Character limit errors	Adjust copy per platform
Special characters break upload	Save as CSV UTF-8

Summary

Bulk import is platform-agnostic
Platform control happens at upload
Images must be added manually