Crossposting from Facebook to Instagram using Zapier

Hi ​@soph,

Welcome to the Community.

Thanks for reaching out! It’s great to hear your Zaps from RSS to Facebook and Facebook to Instagram are working well. As for the cross-posting issue, Meta doesn’t always support automatic cross-posting from third-party apps like Zapier. To troubleshoot, check that Zapier has the correct permissions and that your Instagram is correctly linked to your Facebook page, and try reconnecting both accounts in Zapier. If the issue continues, it may be a Meta limitation, so using your Facebook-to-Instagram Zap is likely the best workaround.

I hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any other questions or need further assistance.

thanks, JammerS.

Facebook and Instagram should be correctly linked. my Facebook profile, let’s call it A, it’s the administrator of both my Facebook and my Instagram accounts, let’s call them F and I. the only thing is I have cross-posted A to I -I can only cross-post the administrator A, not F-. and Zapier posts my RSS entries to F. anyhow, cross-posting on reverse, from Instagram to Facebook, shows also no entries in A nor F.

do you know if Zapier needs additional permissions in Meta -as it have some, considering it is already allowed to post to facebook-. 

Thanks again, JammerS.

Yes, I know you have nothing to do with Facebook and Instagram. But what you answered is exactly what I wanted to know: if Zapier could be used as a trigger to publish on Meta. I wanted to be sure that it wouldn't require giving administrator permissions or anything similar to Zapier.

Since Zapier can't be used as a trigger, could it be sent from RSS, through Zapier, to another service like Buffer, so that Meta would accept the entry from there, and then with cross-posting, the entry would appear on both Facebook and Instagram?

I have another question regarding Formatting by Zapier, but perhaps I didn't put it in the right place. Should I open a new thread?

Hi ​@soph,

Yes, you can use Zapier to send RSS feed content to Buffer, which can then be posted to Facebook and Instagram if those platforms are connected to your Buffer account. Set up "RSS by Zapier" as the trigger and "Buffer by Zapier" as the action. For follow-up questions related to this setup, feel free to continue here; starting a new thread is recommended for unrelated topics.

I hope this helps, and we're here to assist you further if you have any more questions.

thanks.

I’m trying to set up "RSS by Zapier" as the trigger and "Buffer by Zapier" as the action.

I should need the image from the RSS to send it to Buffer. it appears in Raw Description, but in Step 2 Add to Queue in Media, selecting Image, and going to Image clicking Insert data from image I find several options: Title, Description, Format, Pub Date, Raw Title… but none allowing me to retrieve the image, so I fail to pass the test. I get the answer: Failed to create an update in Buffer.

Am I doing anything wrong. Am I missing something?

Hi ​@soph,

If you're having trouble getting images from your RSS feed into Buffer via Zapier, it may be due to issues with the image URL, format, RSS feed structure, or Buffer settings. Please ensure the image URL is valid and in JPG, PNG, or GIF format, and check that it's correctly placed in the <enclosure> tag of the RSS feed. Also, ensure Buffer is configured to accept images from Zapier. If problems persist, sharing a screenshot of your setup (with sensitive info hidden) can help with more targeted support.

caps attached:

as you can see the image is embedded in raw description but no option in Add to Queue/Image to retrieve it.

Hi ​@soph,

If the image is embedded within the raw description of an RSS feed, you'll need to extract it manually to use it in actions like "Add to Queue/Image" in Buffer. Zapier doesn't offer a built-in tool to parse HTML or directly extract images from a raw description, but you can work around this limitation by adding a 'Code by Zapier' step. In this step, you can use JavaScript to extract the image URL from the HTML content, which you can use in subsequent automation steps.

If you need further help with Code by Zapier. You may contact our Zapier support for additional assistance.

thanks. is there a threads where how to set up Code by Zapier is explained?

Hi ​@soph,

Here is a link on how to set up Code By Zapier: https://zapier.com/blog/code-by-zapier-guide/. I hope this helps you jumpstart your Zap.

thanks. yesterday I was without internet almost all day, and as a consequence, I now have more urgent matters to resolve, but as soon as I have a moment, I'll take a look at it.

at first sight it looks like it could work.

in Run Javascript/Input Data I selected Raw Description and then in Code/Generate with AI it got me these lines: 

const href = inputData.href || '';

// Use a regular expression to extract the src attribute from the img tag
const match = href.match(/<img[^>]+src="([^">]+)"/);

// Check if a match was found and extract the URL
const imageUrl = match ? match[1] : null;

testing it, it sends and image to Buffer and Buffer to Instagram apparently. I tried it twice with different entries, if I’m not wrong, and it posted the same image. but it was a quick test. I’ll check again with more time.

Hi ​@soph,

Just keep us posted on your progress. So we can assist you further. Thank you.

I have made a test again and it looks it works that way. anyway I wasn’t able to automate it. I have a free account and having 3 steps seems to be reserved for premium accounts. Am I wrong?

Hi ​@soph,

Yes, as a free plan, you will be entitled to a free 2-step Zap if you need three or more steps. Consider upgrading to a Professional plan, which will allow you to use three or more steps for your Zap and a lot more along with the plan.

furthermore, cross-posting automatically Facebook and Instagram via Meta  seems not to be working. not sure if I did something wrong or it simply does not work. not specifically when Zapier is involved. if I post something manually on Facebook it is not posted on Instagram. I probably have the option to publish something at the same time when in draft mode, but once posted in an account it will not be automatically posted in the other account. in short, it is easy to make it work in draft mode, but not automated, unless I’m missing something.

there is not a Meta forum to ask advice, like this one for Zapier, or the one Google has, am I right?

Hi ​@soph,

Zapier supports integrations with Facebook and Instagram, but automatic cross-posting between the two isn't possible due to limitations in Meta's APIs. While manual cross-posting is available during post-creation, automation after publishing isn't supported. Meta doesn't offer a public forum but provides help centers for both platforms with guides and support options.

We understand the convenience that automatic cross-posting would provide, and we're keeping an eye on any updates from Meta that will allow us to support this feature in the future.

thanks for all your help, JammerS.

Hi ​@soph,

Your so much welcome. Feel free to reach us if you have further question. Thank you.