Imagine publishing a reel on Instagram, and on its own, it gets posted on TikTok!
A few hours later, it transforms into a YouTube Short and gets published on YouTube!
Wouldn't this magical thing help you gain more presence, views, and clicks across platforms?
Does this magical thing exist? Yes, it does—it's called Instagram Crossposting.
What Is Instagram CrossPosting?
Instagram crossposting means automatically sharing the same (or almost the same) content from Instagram to other platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Instagram crossposting doesn't require manual copying and pasting to other platforms, it's an automatic process. You can do this using Instagram’s built-in crossposting feature, which has limited options, or a social media management tool like Nuelink for more flexibility.
Instagram Crossposting Considerations
Crossposting saves time—no doubt about it. But if you’re not careful, certain mistakes can damage your brand’s image and credibility in the eyes of your followers.
Let's discover some of them...
Aspect Ratio
Not all social media platforms use the same aspect ratio, so when crossposting content from Instagram, ensure it fits the destination platform.
For example, crossposting Instagram Reels to TikTok works well because both use the 9:16 (portrait) format. However, an Instagram feed post might not translate perfectly to a platform with different aspect ratio preferences.
Here are Instagram’s aspect ratios:
- Feed Photos and Videos: 4:5 (portrait), 1.91:1 to 1:1 (landscape to square)
- Stories, Reels: 9:16 (portrait)
Hashtags
Hashtags that work on Instagram may not perform well on another platform. Also, some platforms may even shadowban you if they notice that you're using competitors' hashtags.
If you crosspost an Instagram Reel with the #InstagramTrends hashtag to TikTok, TikTok may limit its reach. Social media platforms don’t want to promote content that highlights competitors, so using platform-specific hashtags can negatively impact visibility.
A good crossposting tool should let you customize hashtags per platform to avoid this issue.
Character Count Differences
Each platform has different character limits for captions. Here’s a comparison:
- Instagram: 2,200 characters
- Twitter: 280 characters
- Facebook: 63,206 characters
- Pinterest: 500 characters
- LinkedIn: 3,000 characters
- Threads: 500 characters
If you’re crossposting an Instagram caption to Twitter, make sure it’s within the limit, or it will get cut off.
Timing
The best time to post on Instagram might not align with peak engagement times on other platforms. Instead of crossposting immediately, consider scheduling posts for each platform’s optimal time.
For more considerations about how to crosspost effectively, you can check our article: Social Media Cross-Posting: More Reach. Less Effort,
How to Setup an Instagram Crossposting
Step 1: Open a Nuelink Account
Sign up for Nuelink’s 14-day free trial and start crossposting your Instagram content to 11 other social media platforms immediately.
Claim your 14-day free trial now!
Step 2: Connect Your Social Media Channels
Once you're in, you need to connect your Instagram account with Nuelink, as well as the other social media platforms that you will crosspost your content to.
💡 Nuelink supports crossposting to all major social media platforms including TikTok, YouTube, and many others.
To learn more about connecting your social media channels, check out these resources:
Step 3: Create an Automation
1️⃣ On the left bar, find and click on 'Automations', and click on 'Add Automation'
2️⃣ Go to 'Crosspot' and select 'Instagram Crossposting'
Step 4: Select your Channels
1️⃣ Select your Instagram account
2️⃣ Enable the "Crosspost immediately to specific channels" option, then select all the social media accounts you want to crosspost your Instagram content to.
💡 IMPORTANT NOTE: Instead of immediately crossposting Instagram content to other platforms once shared on Instagram, you can choose the option to add the crossposted content to a specific collection. The content then will follow the settings of the collection like scheduled time slots and selected channels.
Learn more about how Nuelink's collections work
Step 5: Choose Post Types to Crosspost
Decide which types of Instagram posts you want to crosspost to other social media platforms.
- Select Post Types:
- If you want to crosspost all Instagram content, choose "Cross post all the posts."
- If you prefer to post only specific content types, you can select:
- Single Image Posts – For individual images.
- Slides Posts – For carousel-style posts with multiple images.
- Reels – For short video content.
Step 6: [Optional] Set Video Format
Enable the "Treat Videos as Short-Form Content" option if you want your videos to be shared as short-form vertical videos on platforms like YouTube Shorts, and TikTok.
Step 7: [Optional] Control Crossposting with Hashtags
With this option enabled, Nuelink will only crosspost content if a specific hashtag is included in the caption. This gives you control over which posts get shared across platforms while keeping others exclusive to Instagram.
Example:
Only posts with this hashtag in the caption #ShareEverywhere will be crossposted to other platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Posts without the hashtag will remain on Instagram only.
Frequently Asked Questions about Instagram Crossposting
- How often does Nuelink check for new Instagram posts?
Nuelink checks your Instagram account every 30 minutes for new posts and crossposts them to your selected channels.
- Can I crosspost Instagram Reels with copyrighted music?
Due to Instagram’s latest update, Reels containing copyrighted music will not be crossposted.
