How to Link and Auto Post Instagram Photos on Facebook

Have you ever struggled with posting Instagram photos on your Facebook profile when others seem to have it so easy? Instagram has become quite famous and nowadays many businesses use both Facebook and Instagram to promote their business. Posting photos is quite important to keep the customers engaged. However, it can be daunting to have to do it separately on both platforms. This article is here to teach you in simple steps how to connect your Instagram account to your Facebook page and enable auto post, so you wouldn’t have to worry about future posts.

As you may or may not have heard, Facebook bought Instagram some time ago for a whopping one billion dollars. This brings me to the point that even though on the outside the platforms look drastically different and serve different purposes, on the inside the systems are almost identical. They operate together quite smoothly. If you want to know how it’s done I’ll show you how to do it and you just follow the steps.

Benefits of Linking Instagram to Facebook

Connecting to the main social network in the world opens many doors for you. The most obvious one is, of course, auto posting photos on Instagram and Facebook. To auto post photos all you have to do is leave a certain “check” picking Facebook, when posting a picture.

However, linking the two platforms has other advantages as well. If you’re new to Instagram and you’re trying to get new followers, Facebook will make it much easier for you. You will be able to easily find who of your friends on Facebook have an Instagram account, look through their pages and follow them if you like. They on the other hand will receive a notification that you have joined Instagram and will be able to follow you there.

If you somehow forget the password to your Instagram account, not to worry, you can easily access it with the help of Facebook. That way you will be able to reset the password, change your email and regain full control of your account again.

Another one is an increase of engagement on your Facebook page with the help of your Instagram account. The latter platform tends to have much higher engagement as opposed to Facebook. Cross-posting will allow you to bring some part of that engagement to your Facebook page.

Moreover, posting on Instagram makes the business seem more relatable. Everyone is used to the fact that Facebook is used by businesses for marketing purposes. However, not everyone is aware that Instagram is used in the same way. Since the platform is relatively new, people still have a perception that it’s marketing free. This means cross-posting on Instagram and Facebook will show the brand from a more genuine perspective.

Efficiency is another advantage of having the accounts linked. By doing it you save time and you have more time to do other things such as competitions, create more quality content etc.

SEO friendly! Linking your accounts will increase your search engine ranking due to an increase in engagement. However, all this is possible even without linking the accounts. When you have quality content and high engagement, it’s all that Google is looking for.

Step by Step Guide – Link Instagram to Facebook

For Android

1. Open your Instagram account using a mobile device and go to  your profile, then “Settings”, it’s the three vertical dots in the top right corner.

2. You will then see “Linked accounts”, press on that

3. In that section you will be able to activate cross-posting for different social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, foursquare etc. To connect the profiles, press on Facebook.

4. Make sure you’re logged in to Facebook on that device and it will automatically find the page and ask you for permission to access your Facebook page. Once you press “OK” it will ask you if you’d like Instagram to auto-post on Facebook. You will have an option to choose who will see your posts. Pick the one you prefer and press “OK”.

For iPhone or Windows Phone

The same instructions apply for iOS the only difference is your “Settings” look like a circle  in the top right corner. After that all the steps mentioned above have to be followed.

Permitting Instagram to Manage Your Facebook Pages

This step you have to think through, it really depends on your goals and preference. By allowing Instagram to manage your Facebook pages, you are basically agreeing to that platform accessing your data and posting it on your behalf without your permission even when you’re not using the app. It can be okay for your Facebook Profile but if you have any other additional Facebook Pages you should really think this step through and decide for yourself whether you want your Instagram life on those pages.

Here are the steps to grant Instagram access to your Facebook Pages 

1. Open the Facebook page that you want to connect to your Instagram or the one that’s the admin. Go to the “Settings” located in the top right corner in a form of an upside down triangle.

2. Once you’re there click on “Apps” and there in the list of apps you will find Instagram.

3. Click on “Edit Settings”

4. There you will see “App visibility and post audience”. You will have an option to make it visible to public, friends of friends etc. Pick whatever you prefer.

Drawbacks of Linking the Accounts

There are a few disadvantages of linking social media accounts. Keep reading to find out what they are.

1. Major drawback – User’s Indifference

I know, I know! I mentioned it before saying how linking is efficient and it increases the engagement, and it does! But you have to be very careful and watch your audience closely. There is such a thing as user’s indifference. This is when the user realizes that the posts you’re making are not made by you manually and rather done by a bot automatically. That’s when the reader becomes uninterested knowing that it’s not done for him specifically, but more as a routine. The audience stops engaging with the content.

They realize that you’re not around and the posts are done by Instagram automatically. So what’s the point of engaging with the post on Facebook? You’re not there to see it or appreciate their effort, let alone respond to their comments.

If they’d want to truly engage, it would be on Instagram. So the fact that they’re engaging with the content on Facebook sent from the other platform, is more of them doing you a favor. But if you are not around then why should they bother?

This will lead to a loss of engagement on Facebook and that leads to a chain of events. One person starts ignoring some of your posts because of automation, and then they will start ignoring all of them altogether. Other people will join in slowly, your overall reach drops and so does your power to spread the message and promote your business.

1. Loyal followers see the same content

Depending on your audience you can determine whether you should link the accounts or not. Sometimes you might have a very loyal fan base that follows you on different social media platforms. Quite often it applies to YouTubers, as their fans tend to show very strong loyalty and following. So for cases like that linking the accounts might actually affect them negatively.

Fans that are following you on different platforms will end up seeing the same posts on all of them. This in turn will lower the engagement on subsequent platforms. Mostly likely, Instagram being the original source will have the highest level of engagement.

This action of automation will decrease the interest in your posts as well. Even as a die-hard fan, you wouldn’t want to see the same content on every platform. It becomes quite obvious that the person posting it is not as engaged as the actual fans.

What Should You Do in The End?

Of course, it’s your decision in the end. You know your audience better than anyone else does and you’re the only one to determine what’s best for you. There is a difference between linking personal accounts and for instance, connecting the platform for business purposes.

Connecting it for personal use means your audience is not as harsh on you and they are quite flexible when it comes to duplicate content. It’s more homey and open. They have a connection with you and can relate to the fact that posting on different platforms can be difficult sometimes, to say the least.

However, it’s not the same when it comes to connecting business accounts. When it comes to business you have to be careful with your target audience. The connection is less personal and it’s more formal. They will not try to understand your needs or wants. You as a business have an obligation to keep your customers happy. When you present lack of effort or interest and you duplicate your content, it might affect the engagement of your audience. You have to make sure the content you post keeps your followers happy and engaged.

Monitor closely their behavior and see for yourself whether linking the accounts is working for your business or not. Definitely do not neglect it, thinking you’ll get away with automating your accounts. Show your customers that you care about them, and the fact that you link your accounts doesn’t mean that you will be any less engaged.