How to Schedule a Facebook Reel

Step by step

1. 1

   Open SocialKit and start a new post

   Sign in and click the "Create" or "New Post" button in the main navigation. The composer opens a blank post ready to accept any content type across all your connected accounts.

   Tip: If you manage multiple Pages, check that the correct Page is selected in the account picker before you do anything else — it is faster to confirm now than to reschedule after.

2. 2

   Select your Facebook Page and set the post type to Reel

   In the account selector, choose the Facebook Page you want to publish to. Then pick "Reel" (or "Video") as the post type. As of June 2026, SocialKit surfaces the available post formats for each connected account; if Reel is not the default for a video upload, look for a format toggle in the composer.

3. 3

   Upload your vertical video

   Drag your video file into the composer or use the file picker. Facebook Reels are vertical short-form clips; as of June 2026 the recommended aspect ratio is 9:16 and the maximum duration supported via the API is 90 seconds, though Meta has extended this for some account types — check the current Facebook Reel size spec for the latest numbers. Keep your file under 4 GB and use MP4 or MOV for the widest compatibility.

   Tip: Export your video without a TikTok watermark if you plan to cross-post the same clip. Community reports suggest that watermarked videos receive suppressed reach on platforms other than TikTok, and Facebook is no exception.

4. 4

   Write your caption and add a thumbnail

   Craft a caption that hooks viewers in the first line — Facebook truncates long captions behind a "See more" cut-off in the feed, so front-load the most important sentence. Upload a custom thumbnail if you have one; a strong frame image lifts the click-through on the Reel preview card. Hashtags in the caption are supported; keep them relevant rather than stacking large generic tags.

   Tip: SocialKit lets you write a separate, customised caption for each platform in the same session. If you are cross-posting this Reel to Instagram or TikTok simultaneously, tweak the copy per platform so it reads naturally on each one.

5. 5

   Choose your publish time using best-time data

   Click the date and time picker and choose when the Reel should go live. If you are unsure of the best window, open the Facebook best-time-to-post guide in another tab for a data-based starting point — keep in mind that your own Page analytics are the most reliable signal for your specific audience. SocialKit shows your scheduled queue so you can spread Reels across the week without clustering them.

   Tip: Weekday mornings and early evenings are commonly cited as strong times for Facebook Pages, but treat these as a starting point and let your own analytics confirm or override them.

6. 6

   Review the Reel preview and confirm auto-publish vs notification

   Before saving, glance at the post preview to confirm the thumbnail, caption, and account look correct. SocialKit will indicate whether this Reel will auto-publish to your Page or whether it will send a mobile notification for you to finish publishing manually. As of June 2026, Facebook Page Reels uploaded via the Graph API can auto-publish for most eligible Pages; if your Page shows notification mode instead, it may be due to account eligibility or API scope — check the in-app message for the specific reason.

7. 7

   Schedule and verify in the content calendar

   Click "Schedule" to confirm the time. Open the content calendar view and find your Reel on its scheduled date — the calendar gives you the full picture of your Page's upcoming queue so you can spot gaps, shuffle timing by dragging posts to a new slot, or clone a Reel for another Page without starting from scratch.

   Tip: After the Reel publishes, check the post in the SocialKit analytics panel or directly on your Page to confirm it went live on time and review early engagement metrics.

Best practices

• Keep Facebook Reels at 15–30 seconds when you are building an audience — shorter clips typically see higher completion rates, which Facebook uses as a quality signal as of June 2026.
• Upload a custom thumbnail rather than relying on an auto-generated frame; Pages with branded thumbnails tend to see better Reel click-through in the feed.
• Export your master video without any platform watermarks so the same file performs well if you cross-post to Instagram Reels or TikTok in the same scheduling session.
• Schedule Reels at least 10 minutes in the future to give SocialKit time to process the upload and queue it correctly — very close-to-publish times can miss the window.
• Vary caption length across your Reels — a punchy one-liner performs differently from a story-driven caption; test both to learn what your Page audience responds to.
• Review your Page analytics after each Reel publishes and note which topics and times drive the most views and shares; shift future scheduling windows based on that data rather than generic industry benchmarks.

Good to know

Do it in SocialKit