Auto-publish posts to Instagram from Flowbox

This article will show you how Flowbox's auto-publish to Instagram feature works

Vinicio Oliveira avatar
Written by Vinicio Oliveira
Updated over a week ago

The auto-publish feature allows users to post directly to Instagram without the need for manual posting using push notifications on their phones. Instagram has made it possible and started providing access to its Content Publishing API, which supports scheduling and publishing single images and single videos for Instagram business accounts.

Schedule posts directly to Instagram. Automatic Publishing has been a long-desired function: now users can schedule posts that will be auto-posted directly to Instagram, without the need for any manual action.

Auto-publishing now enables:

  • Single image posts

  • Video posts

Not available for auto-publishing, but enabled in notification publishing (manual posting via Flowbox mobile app):

  • Carousel posts

  • Stories

Flowbox supports Instagram post creation, customization and performance tracking. This article covers all of the Flowbox features available for creating and scheduling Instagram regular posts.

For Instagram stories, check out this article.

How to schedule posts to Instagram with auto-publishing

1. Log into Flowbox and go to 'Publish' in the main menu.

2. In the left-hand menu, click on 'Schedule' or 'Content'.

3. Click on the blue 'Create Post' button.

4. In the modal box, choose the Instagram account that you'd like to publish your post to. NOTE: You can only select one account and it must be an Instagram business account.

5. Select the post type 'Single Image or Video โ€“ Auto Publish' and click on the blue 'Next' button in the lower right-hand corner.

You may need to enable auto-publishing to Instagram in order to use this feature. If you see a box like this one pop up, then click on 'Configure' and you will be taken through to Facebook Business Manager to verify the account.

6. Tab: 'Content'

  • Start by clicking on 'Add media' to select what content from the Library you would like to publish. The media file is limited to a single photo or video and has to meet validation requirements. (See below for complete media file requirements)

  • Continue by adding your preferred caption to the 'Caption' field, your first comment to the 'First Comment' field, and notes to the 'Notes' field. You may also add your preferred location by searching for one in the 'Location' field.

  • When you're done, click on the blue 'Next' button.

7. Tab: 'Schedule'

  • Select publish date and time in the date and time picker.

  • Select the timezone.

  • When you're done, click on the blue 'Next' button.

8. Tab: 'Publisher'

  • If you want the post approved by a colleague, switch the 'Send for Approval' toggle on.

  • When you're done, click on the blue 'Next' button.

9. Tab: 'Prepare'

  • Add tags to the post by searching or create a tag in the field 'Tags'.

  • When you're done, click on the blue 'Schedule' button.

By preparing your posts at this stage, you will save time later as products and tags will automatically be added when the post is later collected by any of your own sources in Flowbox. NOTE: This can take 5-10 minutes after a post has been published to Instagram.

10. Your post is now scheduled and will be posted automatically to Instagram at the scheduled time.

Limitations with auto-publish:

  • Scheduling and publishing a single photo or video post to Instagram Feed is supported.

  • Content Publishing API is for Instagram Business accounts only.

  • Creator IG User accounts are not supported.

  • Each Instagram Business account will be limited to 25 API-published posts within a 24-hour moving period. This rate limit will not impact other publishing methods, so an Instagram Business account may publish additional posts via the native Instagram app or Facebook Creator Studio if they max out their daily API rate limit.

  • JPEG is the only image format supported. Extended JPEG formats such as MPO and JPS are not supported.

  • Stories are not supported.

  • Shopping tags are not supported.

  • Branded content tags are not supported.

  • Filters are not supported.

  • Multi-image posts are not supported.

  • Posting more than 30 unique hashtags in total per post is not supported.

Image requirements:

  • Maximum file size: 8MB.

  • Aspect ratio: must be within a 4:5 to 1.91:1 range.

  • Minimum width: 320 (will be scaled up to the minimum if necessary).

  • Maximum width: 1440 (will be scaled down to the maximum if necessary).

  • Height: varies, depending on width and aspect ratio.

  • Formats: JPEG.

Video requirements:

  • Container: MOV or MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14), no edit lists, moov atom at the front of the file.

  • Audio codec: AAC, 48khz sample rate maximum, 1 or 2 channels (mono or stereo).

  • Video codec: HEVC or H264, progressive scan, closed GOP, 4:2:0 chroma subsampling.

  • Frame rate: 23-60 FPS.

  • Video bitrate: VBR, 5Mbps maximum.

  • Audio bitrate: 128kbps.

  • Duration: 60 seconds maximum, 3 seconds minimum.

  • File size: 100MB maximum.

  • Aspect ratio: Must be within a 4:5 to 16:9 range

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