Changes to the Instagram Graph API Mean Big Things for Brands with Multiple Locations

2018 started with Facebook giving social media managers a case of the cold-sweats. It seems Instagram is here to make it up to them with a key Graph API update.

On January 30th, the photo-sharing app announced a Graph API update that will allow select platform partners to implement seamless content scheduling workflows to Instagram business profiles without requiring the user to publish with the Instagram mobile app. Thanks to this update, brands and franchises can now, “schedule posts, view posts they’ve been tagged in, and view other business profiles.” SOCi has been selected as one of the first Instagram and Facebook partners to implement this very important update. 

As always, we want to take a deeper look into what this means for multi-location brands posting content on Instagram and how you can take advantage of this new update.

A Curated Look At Your Multi-Location Brand

Curated. More and more we’re hearing this word in relation to Instagram feeds. What started off as a real-time, “look-at-what-I’m-eating” app has evolved into its own visual medium for artists, models, and brands alike to grow a following by presenting a finely-tuned look at their brands. With the new update, everything changes. Brands can adhere to their regular social media broadcast schedule and create content for specific holidays and promotions, while styling their images in a more thoughtful, cohesive manner that draws in followers and creates a more positive brand association.

While scheduled posts are the biggest announcement of this update, they are certainly not the only new dish Instagram is bringing to the table. The Graph API update streamlines a brand’s scheduling flow by reducing the number of steps it takes to publish. This makes it more efficient than ever to secure their online reputations and stay in-tune with the conversations happening around their visual content. These features allow for better overall content planning now that brands can better understand the types of posts that resonate with their followers on Instagram. The best part: the update removes the need for employees to share login credentials for account access— it can now be accessed via the marketing platform partner your business relies on for posting.

Will SOCi Support the Graph API Update?

Good news! SOCi will be implementing the changes to their platform in early February so that all users can take advantage of the features. After this functionality goes live, you’ll be able to schedule and publish posts from SOCi to Instagram completely seamlessly, without any need for apps or manual publishing on your mobile device.

Not to toot our own horns, but SOCi recently won the 2018 Street Fight Local Visionary Award for Best New Solution for Multi-Location Retailers. Multi-location companies using SOCi can be confident that they will benefit greatly from the changes to Instagram and SOCi as they have even more control over posting schedules, social account management, and reputation management, all from one convenient platform.

“This is an exciting time for multi-location brands utilizing Instagram,” SOCi’s CEO and Founder Afif Khoury says. “By being able to reduce the number of steps it takes to post to Instagram, SOCi makes it more efficient for brands to increase their reach, build new fanbases, and spread their presence further across social media. We are very excited to be among the first social media software platforms to implement this functionality and important update.”

Interested in a solution for your multi-location social media channels? We’d love to get in touch and show you the best solution for your business.