Upcoming Changes With Instagram/Facebook Group Scheduling (Part 1) – Oct 2020

Dear friends,

Although it may seem we've been quiet with the SocialOmm updates this year, rest assured we've been working hard behind the scenes to continue to improve SocialOmm for you ❤️

We want to give you an update on what's been happening with development, some setbacks we've experienced this year, AND an exciting update that will be released soon – one that you will not find in any other social media scheduling platform.

Feature Development

We, unfortunately, had some unforeseen setbacks in our release pipeline this year, which meant we were forced to put feature development – like our Graphic Design Tool and Mobile App, etc – on hold.

Due to the new SCA regulations, we had to completely re-build SocialOmm from the ground up. Whilst this took time away from working on developing new features for SocialOmm, the rebuild did allow us to upgrade many areas of SocialOmm's code, which does benefit you in the long run.

Instagram (Direct Integration)

It’s currently possible to post to Instagram via Buffer in SocialOmm, but a direct Instagram integration has been one of our biggest priorities this year. We've been waiting on becoming an Instagram Partner so that you can post content to Instagram in SocialOmm directly, without the need to use Buffer.

Instagram announced this year that they will NOT be allowing any smaller social media scheduling platforms (like us) to become a Partner. This meant we were never going to be able to add Instagram directly into SocialOmm, which was a real blow to us all. Most of our customers schedule posts to Instagram, so it was important we found a solution.

In August, we received more bad news with Buffer announcing that they were discontinuing the use of their API at the end of August. This meant that any attempts to post to Instagram or Facebook Group profiles connected to Buffer would no longer work.

But, here comes the good news...

The Future of SocialOmm Is Bright 🙌

With the roadblocks we came up against, we were forced to come up with a solution to ensure the future of SocialOmm was a bright one... and we're happy to let you know we've come up with one!

As a solution, we're integrating Zapier into SocialOmm. 

Zapier is an online automation tool that connects your favorite apps by creating 'Zaps'. For example, a Zap would be created to connect your SocialOmm account with your Instagram account or Facebook Group to schedule all your posts automatically, directly inside SocialOmm!

And there's more good news...

Integrating Zapier opens up SocialOmm to the rest of the Zapier ecosystem giving us access to 1,800+ services Zapier integrates with. This means – in the near future – you'll be able to schedule your posts to services like Pinterest, Wordpress Blogs, Google Sheets, and many more!

This opens up a whole world of opportunity for SocialOmm to become a lot more than just a social media scheduler – it could become a content scheduler.

Zapier Release Updates

So, here's where we're at with integrating Zapier into SocialOmm:

• We've been accepted as a Partner by Zapier 🎉
• We’re working on developing the Zapier app in SocialOmm
• We're working on integrating pre-built templates to allow you to create Zaps inside your SocialOmm account to schedule posts to go to specific Zaps
• The first integration will be for Instagram

Our Zapier integration will be released in a few months (January, 2021). Buffer has agreed to allow us to keep using their API until October 31, 2020, at which point our existing Instagram and Facebook Group will discontinue.

This means there will be a few months where you will not be able to schedule posts to Instagram or Facebook Groups.

BUT... once this first part is complete, it makes adding future integrations for Facebook Groups, Pinterest, etc, much quicker.

Action Required (Before Oct 31st) – Your Instagram & Facebook Group Scheduled Posts

As our Buffer Instagram/Facebook Group integration will be removed on Oct 31, 2020, if you have posts in SocialOmm that are scheduled to share to your Instagram account or Facebook Group after this date, these will not be shared (you don't need to delete these posts).

To avoid interruption in your posts being shared during this period (until our Zapier integration is released in January), here are a few options:

OPTION #1: Use Your Free Buffer Account To Schedule Your Posts

Since you created a free Buffer account in order to be able to connect your Instagram/Facebook Group accounts in SocialOmm, why not use it to schedule your posts in Buffer directly?

To do this, you will need to:

1. Login to your Buffer account
2. Connect your Instagram/Facebook Group accounts to Buffer
3. Add your scheduled posts in Buffer by copying/pasting them from your SocialOmm Calendar

Note: Buffer's free plan allows you to schedule 10 scheduled posts at a time to 3 social accounts.

We recommend moving over your scheduled posts for November, December and the first 2 weeks of January. We will keep you updated as to when you'll be able to continue using Instagram in SocialOmm once our Zapier integration is released :-)

OPTION #2: Share Posts Manually

Whilst this is the more time-consuming route, you may just prefer to share your posts manually to your Instagram/Facebook Group.

We Appreciate Your Support

We really appreciate your support in SocialOmm, and hopefully, your continued support! We wouldn't be here today without you so thank YOU! ❤️

We look forward to making more improvements to SocialOmm so we can continue to offer you an amazing tool that makes your social media scheduling a breeze.

Danielle & Sheree,
Co-Founders of SocialOmm