Facebook Tests the Ability to Cross Post Facebook Updates to Instagram

Cross Post Facebook Updates to Instagram:– Facebook and its co-product Instagram have been testing new features to make the user experience more compatible and handy. With more and more users becoming active users of these platforms, cross-platform is now the ideal way to keep users engaged. 

According to the stats, Facebook currently has over 2.6 billion monthly active users, whereas Instagram has over 1 billion users. In such a scenario, Instagram and Facebook are testing since long to add cross-platform features to deepen the integration between the two. 

Facebook is testing to bring its stories and feed content directly to the Instagram stories and vice-versa. It means the two apps will sync with the “already viewed” status of cross-posted stories. By this, both social media managers and users will save time and increase the views of their content.

What is a Cross-Posting Feature?

One of the reasons why Facebook Inc went ahead with the cross-posting feature between Facebook and Instagram is because of the site’s decline in the news feed. This cross-posting will help in improving the engagement and other metrics.

Since both platforms are owned by Facebook Inc, it has to maintain the balance of engagement between the two. If the engagement of one platform falls, cross-posting from another will help to boost.

Instagram and Facebook stories have been the best feature users, and content creators can use them to gain more views to the post on the feed.

It will push them to add more new content. Instagram already has the option of sharing a post alternatively to Facebook. Now, users can also share their Instagram stories on Facebook.

The company said your Instagram followers who preferred choosing to link an account to Facebook and turn on the viewing setting will now be able to see the Instagram story on Facebook.

However, Facebook followers won’t be able to see the story since they don’t follow you.  Instagram, in 2017, had already added the cross-platform feature to its stories and feed so that users can share it on Facebook.

This cross-platform feature between the two giant platforms could help brands reach out to more audiences, and users can reach their followers without using or posting stories separately.

Why should you use Cross-Posting Feature?

Cross-posting is basically creating content and posting it on different social media platforms. For example, if you have posted a travel story on Instagram, you can share the same on Facebook and other platforms. It will help in streamlining your social media strategy across different platforms.

Cross-posting of content from Facebook to Instagram and vice-versa benefits users in many ways. One such benefit is to keep the social media accounts active and retain your existing audience. Furthermore, it helps in saving much of your time.

If you are an entrepreneur, you will need to overlook multiple business channels. You cannot write different content on each platform. So pushing the same content on all platforms is the best way.

Benefits of cross-platform

Greater exposure for your Content

Since there are billions of users on both platforms, and if you have sizable followers on both accounts, then there is a good chance for your content to get good exposure.

For example, you might be logging into LinkedIn or Instagram several times throughout the day, except Facebook. You can be assured of making your content reach users on all platforms. There is no use of writing content for hours only if a handful of people are able to view it.

More Engagement and Connection

If the content is engaging, then there are higher chances of gaining followers or connections. If you have linked your story with your website, it is sure there will be good traffic.

Why consider Cross-Posting to Instagram via Facebook?

For marketers, the cross-platform feature of Facebook to Instagram and vice-versa is exciting enough to market their campaign. With this cross-platform feature, marketers and users don’t have to use third-party tools. In other words, this new feature will bring down the time limit of posting the same content on different platforms.

Designed as a mobile app, Instagram has certain restrictions when it comes to posting content from a Desktop or other platforms. Users certainly won’t prefer going for a third-party tool for posting content on Instagram from desktop and Facebook.

Let us now check how you can cross-platform content from Facebook to Instagram:

1) Link your Instagram Account with your Facebook Account

The very first step of cross-posting content from Facebook to Instagram is to link your accounts on both platforms. To do this:

• Visit your Facebook page and click on ‘Settings’.
• On the left sidebar, you will find the ‘Instagram’ option
• Click on the ‘login’ option to link with your Instagram account
• Hit the ‘Login’ button just next to ‘Add your Instagram’.
• Sign in to your Instagram Account.

2) Compose an Image to post on the Facebook Page

Write the content and upload the visual. Include the image to enable the Instagram share option. In the case of a single image, you can create an Instagram shareable post.

There is no restriction in terms of photo size and content. Instagram supports square, vertical and horizontal images, but it doesn’t support vertical photos taller than the 4:3 ratio. Make sure you proofread the content or the caption you write before your post and share on both platforms.

When it comes to hashtags on the Instagram post via Facebook, here are three options:

1. Include it on the Facebook post while posting
2. You can edit the post caption on Instagram by editing it
3. Check for the trending hashtags that would fetch in more views and likes

3) Publishing the post on Facebook and Instagram

Once you are done with writing the caption and adding a post, you can choose the cross-posting option in the ‘create post’ section. If you have logged into your Instagram account and linked it with your Facebook, then you don’t have to log in again. Just tick the cross-post to Instagram option on the create page of Facebook.

Click on the Share Now tab so it gets posted on Facebook and cross-posts on Instagram.

PS: Instagram accounts have two-factor authentication enabled, which won’t allow cross-post. In such a case, you need to disable the two-factor authentication from the Instagram account.

Once you publish the Facebook post and share it on Instagram, do a cross-check of your Instagram account.

Things to Remember in Cross-Posting

• You can cross-post from Facebook to Instagram when you select “post now”. 
•  There is no option of “post later” in this cross-posting feature.
• You should disable the two-factor authentication on your Instagram account to get the post uploaded on Instagram.

Other ways to post content from Facebook to Instagram

Although this cross-posting feature has arrived now, users have been sharing content from Facebook to Instagram for a long time. There are tools social media managers use for cross-posting. However, these tools are time-consuming and have limited features.

Two of the most common tools are Buffer and Hootsuite, which allow users to post content from and to Facebook and Instagram. Moreover, these tools allow for customizing your post from Instagram and Facebook along with scheduling the same. So once you schedule your content, it will get posted on multiple platforms.

Another social tool for cross-posting is the IFTTT (If this then that), using which you can create applets for action.

These tools are not limited to cross-post from Facebook to Instagram but to other platforms as well.

Publishing posts from Facebook to Instagram using Facebook business

If you have a business page on Facebook, you can still cross-post to Instagram. The Facebook Business Suite offers multiple tools helping to manage social media platforms. Here is how you can post-

1) Connect your Facebook business page and Instagram account. Make sure you open the account on the business.facebook.com

2) Click on Settings from the left sidebar

3) Click on the Instagram button and log in to your Instagram account using the Connect account button.

4) Once linked, click on Home in the Facebook Business in the left sidebar

5) Now click on the create post button

6) In the new window, add your content using Add photo buttons and then click on the Publish button

Some tips for Cross-Posting

To get the best result out of the cross-posting, you need to follow certain tips; which include:

Link Previews

Source

If you add any link to the post, make sure to have a double-check, especially on Instagram. Facebook and Twitter have visualizing tools to check before posting the content. There are different third-party tools that can be used to check before posting the content.

Using Third-Party Tools

As mentioned above, there are third-party tools that are best used for cross-sharing or posting of content from Facebook to Instagram. These tools have made content sharing easy and faster.

Audience Targeting

Facebook allows “organic targeting” that is, you can target post reach to subsets of followers according to age, gender, and location. You can also use the paid promotions, so you can market the content as per your requirement and your followers will see the post.

Drawbacks of Cross-Posting

Although there are benefits of cross-posting from Facebook to Instagram, there are drawbacks too of the same. Some of these drawbacks are:

Different Platforms work differently

Every platform has the peak hour of gaining traffic volume, and each platform caters to a different sector of your audience. Similarly, hashtags work to a certain level on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn but work best on Twitter. So when you share a post on Facebook, the content won’t gather enough lead on Instagram.

Customers will feel like they are customers

If you are producing similar content on all platforms, customers or the target audience will notice and think that you are pushing the content to make them buy rather engagingly.

Individual content uploaders may not consider this aspect, but marketers need to consider this aspect when cross-posting content on Facebook and Instagram. The audience’s thought process on both sides is different, which can backfire if not strategically posted.

Wrong content Scheduling

One of the things needed to consider is the maximum lead or like on Instagram will receive if shared at the right time. Content can be posted on Facebook anytime throughout the day, but for Instagram, this is not the case.

Since you cannot schedule your content posting from Facebook to Instagram, you will face this issue and will end up posting later at the scheduled time. Marketers will have to find a solution for posting the content at the right time to gain better leads and engagement.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, this cross-posting feature of Facebook to Instagram is quite appealing for marketers. It not only minimizes the posting time but also increases audience engagement. However, there are limitations on using this feature. One such limitation is to upload only a single photo or video on Facebook, and you cannot schedule the posting time.

Additionally, if you have similar followers on both platforms, then you need to be cautious enough while posting the content. If your Instagram followers find similar posts on both platforms, they might not be interested in watching any of the accounts.

Moreover, they might disconnect from your account on any of the platforms. It is best to edit the content on any one of the platforms so that your followers find something different on each of them.