Spotlight: Instagram in Make

Automatically publish Instagram posts? With Make, you can set up a workflow that retrieves text and images from a database and shares them on Instagram. This allows you to create and schedule your posts in advance. In this article, we explain step by step how to create a scenario in Make to share an Instagram post based on a Notion database.

Step 1: Notion database

1. Create a (free) account on Notion.
2. Create a database. Type ‘/’ + ‘database’ and choose inline or full page. Give your database a title and add the following properties (fields):
• Text - the caption for your Instagram post
• Image - the image you want to post
• Status - the status of your post (e.g. To do, To post, Posted)

3. Using Notion AI? You can ask Notion AI to create this database for you. Just specify what you need the database for and which properties should be included.

Step 2: Make scenario

1. Create a (free) account on Make.
2. Click Create a new scenario and give your scenario a name.
3. Click on ‘+’ and search for Notion.
4. Select the module ‘Watch Database Items’. This module monitors the database and triggers the workflow when new or updated items appear.

5. Connect your Notion account and grant Make access to the database (find more info here).
6. Select the correct database. The ID is the part in the URL between the slash after the workspace name and the question mark. For example: www.notion.so/wielson/1a12bc1abc12345678abcdefaa123ab1?v=1a12bc1abc12345678abcdefaa123ab1&abc=1
7. Add a filter after the module so that only items with the status ‘To post’ proceed.

Step 3: Instagram module

To post an image on Instagram via Make, you need an Instagram Business account linked to a Facebook page (Meta).

1. Add a new module and search for Instagram for Business.
2. Select ‘Create a Photo Post’.
3. Connect your Facebook account and choose the correct Instagram page.
4. Select the correct field from the Notion module via ‘Properties Value’ – use the image URL as the Photo URL and the text from the Notion database as the Caption.
5. Ensure your image meets Instagram’s maximum size and format requirements.

Step 4: Notion update

1. Add a new Notion module.
2. Choose ‘Update a Database item’.
3. Change the status to Complete: Posted.

Step 5: Testing and activating

Test your scenario to check if everything works correctly. Create a test item in Notion with text and an image, and see if the post appears correctly on Instagram.

Everything working? Set your scenario to Active. Want to post at a specific time? Schedule your Make scenario accordingly.

Conclusion

With this workflow, you save time and easily automate publishing Instagram content from Notion. No more manual copying and pasting - your posts will appear on Instagram as soon as you add them to Notion.

Want to take this further? Here are some ideas:

• Automatically generate hashtags
• Add other channels (LinkedIn, Bluesky, etc.)
• Implement scheduling so posts are shared on a specific date
• Track statistics

Do you have questions or need help with this or other automations? Contact Wielson and let us help you optimise your workflows!