Share Instagram Photos and Stories Through Facebook with New Feature

Instagram is probably the hottest social media platform at the moment. Facebook is well aware of that and is trying to use that momentum and splash some of it on its own platform. That is why Facebook is working on new ways to cross-post content between Instagram and Facebook. Let’s see what they are.

Share Instagram photos through Facebook

Facebook is working on a new way to share Instagram content directly through Facebook. You probably know that Instagram posts can already be automatically shared on Facebook if you alter the settings of the post. How is this update going to affect Instagram users? This will now allow you to go into Facebook and share posts from your Instagram.

NEW: Facebook shows option to share photos from your Instagram account to Facebook from inside the main Facebook app pic.twitter.com/vqNWfCNG3X

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) June 6, 2018

If you remember that you had a great post on Instagram, but you are in Facebook, you can easily grab that post and share it to your Facebook friends. You won't have to jump back-and-forth between two programs. Be sure to mention on Facebook that this content came from your Instagram and it can be part of how you get more followers on Instagram thanks to this cross-promotion.

Share Instagram Stories on Facebook

Another recent update is related to Instagram Stories, particularly the ability to share an Instagram Story directly to Facebook. This new cross-promotion technique is already available on Instagram. If you don’t have it yet, try updating the app.

The “Facebook” symbol should be visible on your Instagram story, right next to the “Highlight” symbol. This way, you can directly share your Instagram Story as a Facebook Story by simply ticking the Facebook symbol on your Instagram Story.

However, the option to cross-promote Instagram Stories is not available for brands yet. Because business Pages can’t create Facebook Stories, they can’t share their Instagram Stories on Facebook.

Share Instagram photos and stories through Facebook

The reason why Facebook is launching new integrating and cross-posting techniques is pretty obvious. They want to make the most out of Instagram’s dazzling growth that has resulted in over 800 million monthly active users, and over 300 million daily Instagram Stories users. As effective as these techniques can be, you should approach cross-posting with caution:

• Plan your content: There are many shortcuts now, and it is very easy to share content from Facebook to Instagram, and vice versa. You need to be careful with your cross-posting because what may work on Instagram may not work so well on Facebook.
• Content fatigue: Influencers need to be very careful about content fatigue as people who follow them on both platforms can get tired of seeing the same content over and over.
• Unique characteristics: Instagram added a variety of original functionalities to its Instagram Stories, such as Polls and Emoji Sliders. These functionalities are not present in Facebook Stories, and your followers might be frustrated when they try to vote on a poll they can’t actually vote in. You have to be mindful of this.

Each social network has its own unique characteristics. This means that content works best if it’s intended for a particular social network. With that being said, you should always be cautious when cross-posting and think of an Instagram Story idea or photo that will work on both social networks equally if you're going to cross-promote them.

Date: June 7, 2018 / Categories: Engagement, Marketing, / Author: Rich Drees