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Connecting Your Owned Social Accounts to the Meltwater Platform (Social Connections: Owned Tab)

These channels are used for publishing, engaging, and measuring your channels via Engage.

Cheyenne V. avatar
Written by Cheyenne V.
Updated over 6 months ago

Meltwater's Engage and Measure platforms offer powerful tools for managing and analyzing your social media channels. With Engage, you can effortlessly schedule posts, publish content, and engage with your audience directly. Measure allows you to delve into the analytics of your owned channels, providing insights to inform your social media strategy.

This guide will cover:

Before Connecting Your Owned Social Accounts

To utilize the Owned Connections feature, you must have Meltwater's social media management tool, Engage, included in your subscription. If Engage is not currently part of your subscription plan, please reach out to your account manager for further information.

There are also requirements for the various social platforms based on the restrictions they have in place for third-party providers like Meltwater. Please complete the following before connecting your social accounts to Engage.

For Facebook, your personal Facebook profile should be the administrator of the Facebook Business Account you'll be managing within Meltwater Engage. This is similar to the process of logging in that you follow when reviewing your Facebook Business Profile via the native platform.

For Google Business, your profile will need to be an administrator of the Google Business account you'll be managing within Meltwater Engage.

For Instagram, your Instagram profile must be a verified business account. If you don't have a verified business account, please review Instagram's help center guide on the setup process for a Business Profile. Additionally, your Instagram business account must also be connected to your Facebook page. If your accounts aren't linked please review Facebook's help center guide on the setup process.

For LinkedIn, your personal LinkedIn profile must be an administrator of the LinkedIn Business account you'll be managing within Meltwater Engage.

For TikTok, your profile must use a Business Account to connect to Meltwater. Learn more about changing your profile to a Business Account.

For YouTube, your Google profile must be an administrator of the YouTube account you'll be managing within Meltwater Engage.

Connecting Your Owned Social Accounts

In Engage, you can connect accounts from the below list of social platforms

The number of accounts you can connect simultaneously depends on your Meltwater subscription. To check the number of connected accounts allowed, navigate to the Owned Connections tab in your Account Settings. Here you will see the number of profiles already added and how many more you are able to add. If you need further assistance, contact your account manager.

Follow the below steps to connect your owned social accounts

Connecting Your Facebook Account

  1. Go to Account drop-down in the left-hand navigation bar

  2. Click Social connections

  3. Select Owned Connections

  4. Navigate to the Facebook section

  5. Select Add Account

  6. A pop-up will appear that will prompt you to log in to your Facebook account.

  7. Review the Facebook message detailing the information shared with Meltwater Engage

  8. Select OK

  9. Select the Facebook Business page(s) to be added

  10. Click OK

Once connected, your account name, profile photo, and name of the person connecting will be displayed on your Owned Connections page. Facebook profiles only need to be connected once and do not expire.

Connecting Your Google Business Account

  1. Go to Account drop-down in the left-hand navigation bar

  2. Click Social connections

  3. Select Owned Connections

  4. Navigate to the Google Business section

  5. Select Add Account

  6. A pop-up will appear that will prompt you to log in to your Google Account.

  7. Review the Google message detailing the Google Business information shared with Meltwater Engage

  8. Select Allow

Once connected, your account name, profile photo, and name of the person connecting will be displayed on your Owned Connections page. Google Business connections do not expire.

Connecting Your Instagram Account

  1. Go to Account drop-down in the left-hand navigation bar

  2. Click Social connections

  3. Select Owned Connections

  4. Navigate to the Instagram section

  5. Select Add Account

  6. A pop-up will appear that will prompt you to log in to your Facebook account.

  7. Review the Facebook message detailing the information shared with Meltwater Engage

  8. Select OK

  9. Select the Instagram Business profile(s) to be added

  10. Select OK

Once connected, your account name, profile photo, and name of the person connecting will be displayed on your Owned Connections page. You'll also be shown the date when your account will need to be reconnected, as each Instagram profile needs to be reconnected every 60 days.

Connecting Your LinkedIn Account

Due to LinkedIn working with rate limits, when one admin connects more than one LinkedIn page, the rate limit is impacted. If one admin connects multiple LinkedIn pages, you will be rate-limited and may end up with polling delays. To avoid this, have different admins connect multiple LinkedIn pages in Meltwater.

  1. Go to the Account drop-down in the left-hand navigation bar

  2. Click Social connections

  3. Select Owned Connections

  4. Navigate to the LinkedIn section

  5. Select Add Account

  6. You will then be prompted to select whether you are connecting a Business or Personal profile; choose either

  7. A pop-up will appear that will prompt you to log in to your personal LinkedIn profile.

  8. Review the LinkedIn message detailing the information shared with Meltwater Engage

  9. Select Allow

  10. Select the LinkedIn Business or Personal profiles to be added

  11. Click OK

Once connected, your account name, profile photo, and name of the person connecting will be displayed on your Owned Connections page. You'll also be shown the date when your account will need to be reconnected, as each LinkedIn account needs to be reconnected every one (1) year.

Connecting Your TikTok Account

  1. Go to Account drop-down in the left-hand navigation bar

  2. Click Social connections

  3. Select Owned Connections

  4. Navigate to the TikTok section

  5. Select Add Account

  6. A pop-up will appear that will prompt you to log in to your TikTok profile

  7. Select the method you prefer to login to your TikTok Business Account.

  8. Authorize Meltwater Social to access your account

  9. Select profile and authorize account.

Once connected, your account name, profile photo, and name of the person connecting will be displayed on your Owned Connections page. You'll also be shown the date when your account will need to be reconnected, as each TikTok profile needs to be reconnected every one (1) year.

Connecting Your X (formerly Twitter) Account

  1. Go to Account drop-down in the left-hand navigation bar

  2. Click Social connections

  3. Select Owned Connections

  4. Navigate to the X section

  5. Select Add Account

  6. A pop-up will appear that will prompt you to log in to your X profile

  7. Select Authorize app

  8. Select the X profiles to be added

Once connected, your account name, profile photo, and name of the person connecting will be displayed on your Owned Connections page. X profiles only need to be connected once and do not expire.

Connecting Your YouTube Account

  1. Go to Account drop-down in the left-hand navigation bar

  2. Click Social connections

  3. Select Owned Connections

  4. Navigate to the YouTube section

  5. Select Add Account

  6. A pop-up will appear that will prompt you to log in to your Google Account

  7. Review the Google message detailing the YouTube information shared with Meltwater Engage

  8. Select Allow

  9. Select the YouTube channel(s) to be added

Once connected, your channel name, profile photo, and name of the person connecting will be displayed on your Owned Connections page. YouTube accounts do not need to be reconnected, as the connection never expires.

Expired or Disconnected Accounts

Expired Accounts

Due to the various API limitations of each platform, some of your owned social accounts may expire after a certain period of time. Below are the different time frames these accounts may expire:

  • Facebook: Never expires

  • Google Analytics: Never expires

  • Instagram: Expires every 60 days

  • LinkedIn: After one (1) year

  • TikTok: After one (1) year

  • X (formerly Twitter): Never expires

  • YouTube: Never expires

Disconnected Accounts

These social platforms also take their own security measures that can trigger your account to be disconnected if they identify and flag certain 'suspicious' behaviors on your account. These can include:

  • Use of Alias usernames

  • Use of the same account credentials from multiple IP addresses. This frequently happens within teams that are sharing login details or multiple devices

  • Publishing content that gets flagged for copyright violations or other inappropriate content.

There may also be changes to your account settings that trigger a disconnection. These can include:

  • Changing a password or username of a user with 'Administrator' access to your profile

  • Removing a user with 'Administrator' access to your profile

  • Revoking Meltwater's access to your social account

Knowing there are a number of ways your accounts can be disconnected, most of which are out of Meltwater’s control, we recommend always keeping an eye on your owned social accounts in your account settings and verifying the account(s) are still connected to Meltwater.

You will also be notified of a disconnection via email or in-app. An email will be sent to all users directly to your inbox, reminding you to reconnect your owned social account(s). An opt-out for these types of emails will be available for all users as well.

Reconnecting Accounts

The following steps to reconnect your social profiles will be similar to the initial set up process and will require you to have administrator access to your social profiles on their native platform. E.g. Your Facebook profile is saved as an admin to your Facebook Business Profile

  1. Go to Account drop-down in the left-hand navigation bar

  2. Click Social connections

  3. Select Owned Connections

  4. Identify the owned social account(s) that are disconnected or expired. This will be identified by red font labels Invalid or Expired, followed by the date the account lost connection to Meltwater

  5. Within the pop-up, follow the prompts to log into your social account. This will ask you to log into your personal profile, which must be an administrator of your business profile if that is applicable

  6. Review the native platform's message detailing the information shared with Meltwater Engage

  7. Select OK

Once your profile has been reconnected it will display as Connected

Removing Owned Social Accounts From Engage

There are many reasons why you may need to remove an account from being connected to Meltwater. If it was initially connected by a colleague who is no longer an administrator of your social media accounts or if you simply don't need to manage that account anymore, it may be time to remove the connection.

What happens when an account is removed?

The removal of social profiles means all profile records will no longer be found within the system. This includes all reporting, previous post records, and the ability to publish new content for that profile. These details have also been deleted from the database.

If you may want to connect the same account again in the future, we recommend reconsidering the removal of the profile, as all previous Engage records will not become visible again.

Removing an Owned Social Account

To remove a connected owned account, ensure you have Admin access to Engage found in the Manage Users account settings. Follow the below steps in granting admin access:

  1. Select Account in the left-hand side navigation bar

  2. Select Manage users

  3. Select the user you are granting access to

  4. Select the arrow in the Account section

  5. Select Admin

  6. Select Save user

To remove a connected account, follow these steps:

  1. Select Account in the left-hand side navigation bar

  2. Select Social Connections

  3. Select the Owned Connections tab at the top of the page

  4. Navigate to the profile you would like to remove

  5. Select the kebab menu on the far right-hand side

  6. Select Remove

Troubleshooting

Facebook

Difficulty connecting Facebook to Engage?

Ensure your Facebook user has the admin-level page role on the Facebook page you are trying to connect. You can check with the following steps:

  1. Log into Facebook

  2. Open your Facebook Page

  3. Click Settings -> Page Roles from the left-hand menu

  4. Here you will see each Facebook user with a page role on the Facebook page.

  5. Any role other than Admin will be unable to successfully connect to Engage. Facebook page roles can be found here - https://www.facebook.com/help/289207354498410

How can I check if I am an administrator on a Facebook page?

  1. Log into Facebook

  2. Open your Facebook Page

  3. Click Settings -> Page Roles from the left-hand menu

  4. Here you will see each Facebook user with a page role on the Facebook page.

How can someone add me as a Business Admin in Meta Business Manager?

A current Business Admin or Page Owner can add you as a Business Admin in Meta Business Manager by following the steps outlined by Facebook here - https://business.facebook.com/business/help/2169003770027706?id=2190812977867143

  1. Go to Business Settings.

  2. Click People.

  3. Click + Add.

  4. Enter the work email address of the person you want to add

  5. Select the role Admin access for the user

  6. Click Next

  7. Choose the correct Facebook Page in the first column and toggle on admin access in the third column

  8. Click Invite - this will grant business admin access on Facebook

Difficulty Connecting Facebook because only some channels I have access to are populating from Engage?

We have observed that when a user connects a social account to Engage and later tries to add another, the account may not display in the list of available accounts automatically. See below for steps to fix this issue for both Facebook and Instagram.

  1. Log in to Facebook with the Admin user you are attempting to connect the social accounts to Meltwater with

  2. Navigate to the drop-down arrow in the upper right corner

  3. Click Settings

  4. Click Business Integrations in the left menu

  5. Find our app 'Meltwater Engage' in the list and click View and Edit

  6. Scroll through the list of permissions and find where each page you have access to displays. Ensure all pages you would like to connect are checked.

  7. Click Save at the bottom of the page

  8. Log back in to Meltwater

  9. Navigate to Accounts

  10. Click Social Connections

  11. Select Owned Connections

  12. Try adding the social connection again, the account(s) that are missing should display now.

Instagram

Difficulty connecting Instagram to Engage?

  1. As a best practice, please log in using an incognito/private browser window (Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + n. Mac: Press ⌘ + Shift + n)

  2. Ensure you have an Instagram Business Profile connected to a Facebook Page. A how-to guide from Instagram is available here - https://help.instagram.com/502981923235522

  3. Ensure your Facebook user has

    • the admin-level page role on the Facebook Page connected to your Instagram Business Profile

    • Business admin access to the Facebook Page in Meta Business Manager

How can I check if my Instagram account is a business profile?

  1. Open Instagram

  2. Go to your profile and tap the three lines icon in the upper right corner.

  3. Click Settings

  4. Tap Account.

  5. If your account is already set up as a business profile, you will see the option to Switch to Personal Account.

  6. If your account is NOT yet set up as a business profile, tap Switch to Professional Account.
    ​

  7. Click Business.

  8. You can follow the steps to connect your business account to a Facebook Page associated with your business. At this time, only one Facebook Page can be connected to your business account.

  9. Add details, like your business category and contact information.

  10. Click Done.

How can I check if my Instagram account is connected to my Facebook page?

  1. Log into Facebook

  2. Open your Facebook Page

  3. Click Settings -> Instagram from the left-hand menu

  4. If you have not yet connected your Instagram Business Profile to your Facebook page, you will see the Connect Account button:

If you already connected your Instagram Business Profile, you will see the Connected Instagram Account listed:

Difficulty Connecting Instagram because only some channels I have access to are populating from Engage?

We have observed that when a user connects a social account to Engage and later tries to add another, the account may not display in the list of available accounts automatically. See below for steps to fix this issue for both Facebook and Instagram.

  1. Log in to Facebook with the Admin user you are attempting to connect the social accounts to Meltwater with

  2. Navigate to the drop-down arrow in the upper right corner -> Settings

  3. Click Business Integrations in the left menu

  4. Find our app 'Meltwater Engage' in the list and click View and Edit

  5. Scroll through the list of permissions and find where each page you have access to displays. Ensure all pages you would like to connect are checked.

  6. Click Save at the bottom of the page

  7. Log back in to Meltwater

  8. Navigate to Accounts

  9. Click Social Connections

  10. Select Owned Connections

  11. Try adding the social connection again, the account(s) that are missing should display now.

X (formerly Twitter)

Difficulty connecting Twitter to Engage?

Ensure you have the email address and password associated with the Twitter handle you wish to connect.

How can I check if Engage has access to my Twitter handle?

  1. Sign in to your Twitter account.

  2. Go to the Connected Apps section of your account settings. All of the apps connected to your account will be displayed. You can see the specific permissions that each app has to use your account listed under the app name and description.

  3. Verify the app “Meltwater Social” is present, with all permissions granted.

LinkedIn

Difficulty connecting LinkedIn to Engage?

Ensure your LinkedIn user has the Designated Admin level page role on the LinkedIn company page you are trying to connect. If your user is any other level, you will be unable to connect. User levels can be found here - https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/4783

How can I check if Engage has access to my LinkedIn page?

  1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.

  2. Select Settings & Privacy from the dropdown.

  3. Click the Data Privacy section on the left rail.

  4. Under the Other applications section, click Change next to Permitted services.

  5. Verify the app Engage Connect is present, with all permissions granted.

Google Business

Difficulty connecting Google Business to Engage?

When the primary owner of your business is a group, you'll need to add a user with an Owner or Manager role before you can connect to Meltwater. Here are the steps:

How can I Add an Owner/Manager to Google Business?

  1. Open your Google Business Profile Manager → Businesses

  2. Click on the Google Business you wish to add to Meltwater

  3. Click the Action Dots

  4. Click Business Profile Settings

  5. Click People and access

  6. Add the email ID of the user that requires access to the Business, and click Invite (this will be the user you log in with to connect to Meltwater)

  7. This user will receive an email invitation. Please follow the prompt in the email to accept the permissions.

  8. Repeat for each Business you wish to add to Meltwater

  9. Navigate to Meltwater Owned Social Connections

  10. Click Add Account under Google Business

  11. Log in with the user you just added to the Business(es)

  12. You should no longer see an error message, and the connection pop-up window will display a list of accounts you can connect

  13. Select accounts and follow all prompts

💡 Tip

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