How to Automatically Create Instagram Posts using Make

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to automatically generate images, videos, and Reels for posting on Instagram using Make.com (Integromat) and Creatomate.

The process of creating content for Instagram can often feel like having an additional full-time job on top of everything else, especially if you run a business. Because Instagram is all about videos and images, it's a huge time commitment to create the right visuals for every post.

Fortunately, automation tools such as Make.com and Creatomate make the process much more efficient and streamlined. Investing some time into setting up an automated workflow will pay off almost immediately with the first batch of visuals.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to automate Instagram images and videos with Make.com. As a bonus, the visuals will automatically be posted to your Instagram account as well. The flexibility of Make.com lets you use this workflow with any of your favorite apps, such as Airtable, ChatGPT, Google Drive, and thousands of others.

As an example, we will generate an Instagram video similar to the one above. It's a video that's proven to work on Instagram; it is engaging, fun, and interesting, but it is also very simple to automate – perfect for promoting your business and building an Instagram audience efficiently.

Keep in mind, if you've got a completely different concept idea, try out Creatomate's template editor. This online tool allows you to create your own templates and supports almost any format, including Instagram Story videos.

Let's get started!

Prerequisites

As you'll probably be creating a scenario based on your own requirements, we'll keep things simple. After you finish this quick guide, you'll be able to apply it to your own situation.

Here's what we'll use:

• Creatomate: to auto-generate videos and images. Sign up for free.
• Make (formerly Integromat): to set up an automated workflow.
• Instagram: where your posts get automatically published.

How to create Instagram posts with Make (Integromat)?

First, we'll create a template in Creatomate. We can then use this template in our Make scenario. Here, we'll set up a workflow that automatically runs based on a trigger. In a real-life scenario, this would be an application such as Airtable or Google Drive, but for this example, we'll use a Basic trigger as a matter of simplicity. We'll add a Sleep module to wait for the video or image to complete. As a final step, the visual is automatically published to Instagram.

Let's begin by creating a template.

1. Create a template in Creatomate

Sign in to your Creatomate account and go to the Templates page. Click the New button to create a new template. For this tutorial, let's use the Questions & Quizzes template from the Social Media category. Select the 1:1 Square format and click Create Template to open it in the editor:

Although this template is for videos, Creatomate's editor can also be used to create images as well. To change the file format of the template, locate the Format setting in the right-hand panel:

In the left-hand panel, you'll find the elements that make up this template. The Make.com scenario we're about to create will let us modify each of these elements. There are several placeholder elements in this template that we'll work with in the next steps; Question, Answer, Video.

Because of the scope of this article, we won't go into detail about the template editor. But if you, or your designer, have used a design tool such as Canva, Figma, or After Effects before, the experience will be similar with a greater focus on automation. You can read more about the editor in the quick start guide.

2. Trigger the scenario

Log in to your Make account and click + Create a new scenario. Click the big + button, search for the Tools app, and choose Basic trigger.

For testing, set up a few items in the trigger. You can use the following data:

• Item 1: Question -> What never asks a question but gets answered all the time?
• Item 2: Answer -> Your cellphone. 📱
• Item 3: Video -> https://cdn.creatomate.com/demo/video5.mp4

Optionally, you can add the following items for posting to Instagram:

• Item 4: Caption -> Is this familiar to you?
• Item 5: Hashtags -> #quiz

When done, click OK:

Right-click the module and select Run this module only:

Now that we've got some test data, we can proceed to the next step.

3. Auto-generate the Instagram visuals

Next, we'll use Creatomate to create the video using the template and data from the previous steps.

Click + to add another module. Search for the HTTP module and choose Make a request.

Copy-paste https://api.creatomate.com/v1/renders in the URL field and set the Method to POST:

Next, click on Add a header, and insert the following values:

• Name: Authorization
• Value: Bearer [YOUR API KEY HERE]

You have to enter your own Creatomate API key. To find it, go back to Creatomate, and click the Use Template button at the top right of the template editor. Then, choose the API Integration option. Your API key is displayed here:

In Make, select Raw in the Body type field and JSON (application/json) in the Content type field:

Go back to the API Integration page in Creatomate. From there, copy the code enclosed between the curly brackets { and }, as shown in the screenshot below:

Paste this code into the "Request content" field as shown in the screenshot below. Then, connect the data to the template as follows:

• Set 0a2d2c12-8116-4dc2-aa8e-b12acf7aa567 to Tools - Basic trigger -> video
• Set Question to Tools - Basic trigger -> question
• Set Answer to Tools - Basic trigger -> answer

Then, set Parse response to Yes, and click OK:

For a test run, click the Run once button in the bottom left corner.

4. Delay the scenario

Because a video may take some time to generate, we need a way to pause the Make scenario to wait for the video to finish. You can do this with the Sleep module.

Click +, search for Tools, then choose Sleep. If you are generating an image, a 5-second delay should be enough. If you are generating a video instead, you need a longer delay because it takes more time to produce a video. A 60-second delay is usually enough for most videos:

5. Post on Instagram

And last but not least, we will post the generated video to Instagram.

Click +, choose the Instagram for Business app, and then choose Create a Photo/Reel Post as the action.

Choose your Instagram account and the page you want to post it on. In the Video/Photo URL field, insert the value from the HTTP module: HTTP - Make a request -> Data -> url:

In the Caption field, select Tools - Basic trigger -> caption and Tools - Basic trigger -> hashtags. Then, click OK:

Finally, click Run once. If everything is set up correctly, your image or Reel should now be posted on your Instagram account:

Note: If you're getting an error with the Instagram module, it may be because your video takes longer to produce than the 60-second delay configured. First, check the API Log page in your Creatomate dashboard for any errors. If Creatomate says the video was successfully created, but you get an error in the Make scenario, try increasing the Sleep module's delay.

What's next for automated Instagram posts

Congratulations, you have completed the fundamentals of automating your Instagram channel! Now that you know how to auto-generate and post Instagram visuals, think about which apps will work best for your Make.com workflow.

Perhaps you want to make an Airtable list of posts that automatically go live on a certain date. Maybe you'd rather use Google Drive, and make Instagram Stories based on video clips uploaded to a particular folder. Another idea is to generate Instagram Reels based on output from ChatGPT. For a full list of supported apps you can use in your Make automation scenarios, visit Make's integration page.