Thanks to today’s smart, everything-connected technology, you can easily create scripts that allow you to automate various tasks by allowing devices and services to communicate with each other. One such script creator, called IFTTT, uses simple logic to connect devices, services, and platforms to help you get more done in less time than ever before.
Named after the formula for a simple syllogism, “if this, then that,” IFTTT enables users to create or utilize existing scripts, or “applets” (previously known as recipes), that cause one event in a service or device to automatically trigger a specific action in another service, device, or platform. The IFTTT service is free – and a lot easier than passing Logic 101 at your old alma mater.
To get started, go to the IFTTT website. If you haven’t signed up yet, create an account and select the channels with which you have accounts from the list they provide. After you’ve chosen your channels, you’ll click “Continue,” and IFTTT will take you to a page with some recommendations for some helpful applets.
Once you’ve explored the site and feel comfortable with the service, it’s time to find some IFTTT applets that can shave literally hours off your routine content marketing tasks.
Instantly Publish Blog Posts to Social Media
To get the most out of your content strategy, you need to get your content in front of more people who have already shown interest in your brand. Your social media followers have done just that – by clicking “Like” or “Follow.” These IFTTT applets allow you to publish your new blog posts to your social media pages the moment you click “publish” on your company blog.
Useful IFTTT Applets #1 – 6
Tweet a link to your WordPress blog posts: Save time when you automate content distribution with this handy tool. Just click “Connect,” follow the instructions, and from that moment on, a link to every post you publish will appear in your Twitter feed. Whether you use WordPress or another blogging platform, these tools will save you time.
Publish your blog posts to your Facebook page: Again, the innovative minds of IFTTT fans have given you an easy way to kill two digital birds with a single stone. Available for WordPress posts and perhaps other blogging platforms, these applets are timesavers.
Add New Blog Content with Videos and Images
Many brands have utilized the power of “don’t tell, show” with informative videos that bring potential customers right to your showroom floor, behind the scenes in your manufacturing facility, or into the minds of your engineers as they design new products. Using videos that explain how a new product works or showing how your customers can use it to solve problems more easily is an effective content marketing strategy.
Useful IFTTT Applets #7 – 11
Instead of uploading your videos to YouTube or Vimeo, and then again to your website blog, do it all in one fell swoop with an IFTTT applet. For Blogger users, try the Vimeo to Blogger or YouTube to Blogger applets. If you’re a WordPress user, use YouTube to WordPress applets.
These applets can be configured to automatically create new blog posts with the video titles, embedded videos, video descriptions (keyword-rich content) and video tags just by clicking publish on your videos in YouTube or Vimeo.
You can turn your Instagram images, too, into blog posts with the help of IFTTT applets. Just use the Instagram photo to WordPress blog applet or the Post Instagram photos to Blogger one to turn your images into compelling, visually appealing blog content.
And – if you’ve already connected your social media with the previous applets we’ve shared, your videos and images will show up there as well. When you leverage the power of the visual in your blog and social media posts, statistics show, you’re more likely to get a boost in both engagement and sales.
Use IFTTT Applets to Simplify Content Planning – #12 – 16
Have you ever received an email from someone asking questions about your products and services and then wanted to turn those questions into content that could help your readers solve similar problems?
Or, on the other hand, do you want to create content around what people are saying about you on social media? Both of these strategies are rich sources of content since they reveal what people want to know about what you offer.
IFTTT applets can save you all the steps it would take to do those content planning tasks manually. These robust content automation tools can save Twitter mentions on a Google Sheet, emails that contain specific keywords or phrases that are relevant to your customers’ needs, and other information that you need to produce content that your target audience will engage with and share.
Here are a few of our favorites:
- Send relevant emails to a Google spreadsheet: With this powerful tool, you can have content ideas sourced from emails all in a single place. From there, you can review them, choose the best ones, and use your content calendar to schedule posts about those issues.
- Log Twitter mentions on a Google spreadsheet: Use this applet to tackle customer issues with timely messaging or create in-depth content that answers questions they pose on Twitter.
- Send Twitter hashtags to a Google Sheet: When your keywords are trending, you want to tap into the buzz with timely content. Or, when major news breaks, you can provide needed thought leadership that demonstrates your expertise in your industry. Use the Twitter hashtags to Google Sheet applet to capture every hashtag that can inspire you to create content that people will devour.
- Send articles to Pocket: A platform that acts like an “online filing cabinet,” as Content Marketing Institute’s Dan Smith puts it, Pocket is a great tool to store ideas for future content. Use this applet to send articles that you would like to read in depth and react to later. Just click on the star, and IFTTT will do the rest.
- Send YouTube videos to Pocket: With statistics showing that visual content produces better results than articles alone, businesses are posting on YouTube in growing numbers. Whether you’re reacting to a competitor’s video or have something new to add to the conversation, YouTube is always a rich source of inspiration for your next post. This IFTTT applet sends videos that look like promising sources of content ideas straight to Pocket. Just mark “watch later,” and the video will be available for you to view when you have the time to give it your full attention.
Take Inspiration from Random Thoughts
Content marketers, like most creatives, can take inspiration from just about anything. A line from a song you hear in a store can spark a tagline; the sight of new greenery popping out in springtime can remind you to update and repurpose old content, and so on.
If you’re still grabbing cocktail napkins off the table or gum wrappers out of your pocket to scribble on, you’ve probably tossed out quite a few of your best ideas with the trash. I know. It’s happened to me more than once.
IFTTTs make all those old-school memory joggers obsolete.
#17 – With this handy applet, all you have to do is to put Siri to work, and you’ll have all your brilliant ideas waiting for you on Evernote when you return.
Why Stop at IFTTTs? Automate Even More of Your Content Marketing Tasks
All that inspiration won’t do you any good if you and your team don’t have time to put your ideas to work. You can go beyond the convenience of IFTTTs with a comprehensive content marketing platform that organizes and automates everything you need in a single, insanely useful tool – Divvy HQ.
Want to take it for a 14-day test drive? Sign up for your free trial now.