Hi, my name is LJ and I'm excited to walk you through getting started with Sprout Social in this Sprout Bites video. Whether you're managing one brand or 10, the next three minutes will have you feeling right at home in Sprout Social. We'll connect your social profiles, get familiar with the dashboard, and schedule your very first post so you can hit the ground running from day one.

First things first, let's connect your social profiles. Head to your name at the bottom left and select the Connect a profile button. Choose the platform, click the Connect button, and follow the authorization prompts.

Now let's orient ourselves with the left-hand sidebar, which is your command center. At the top, you'll have your Smart Inbox, where all your incoming messages, comments, and mentions land in one unified stream. No more jumping between apps. Below that is Publishing, where you'll plan and schedule content, and lastly, Reports, where you'll track how that content performs. Think of it as your workflow in order: messages come in, content goes out, and results come back.

Now let's publish something. Click the Compose icon, which is the paper with a pen. This opens your compose window. Choose the profile that you want to post to by clicking the box next to the profile name, and then enter a caption. You can also add an image by clicking the plus sign and selecting Upload Image.

You can publish immediately or choose a specific date and time. Let's schedule for today and assign a time later in the day. Once you're done, click Schedule and your post will be scheduled. We'll discard this draft for now.

Once your content's live, head to Reports. In the Post Performance Report, you'll see how each post is doing with engagements, impressions, and even link clicks, so you know what's landing and what to adjust.

And that's it! Profiles connected, dashboard navigated, first post scheduled—you're officially set up. Go ahead and explore, and when you're ready for more, we'll see you in the next Sprout Bites video.