How to Connect Facebook to Sprout Social
Sprout Social is an enterprise-grade social media management platform, and Facebook is one of its most deeply integrated networks. From publishing and community management to competitive analysis and ad comment monitoring, Sprout Social offers comprehensive Facebook tools. This guide walks through connecting your Facebook Pages and Groups, and using Sprout Social's key Facebook features.
Prerequisites
- Sprout Social account: Sprout Social does not have a free plan. You will need a Standard, Professional, or Advanced plan. A free trial is available.
- Facebook Page admin access: You must be an admin of the Facebook Page(s) you want to connect.
- Facebook Group admin access: If connecting Groups, you need to be an admin of those Groups and the Group must be linked to a Facebook Page you administer.
Connecting a Facebook Page
- Log in to Sprout Social at sproutsocial.com.
- Click the Settings icon (gear) in the lower-left corner.
- Select Connect a Profile (or navigate to Settings, then Profiles, then Connect).
- Choose Facebook Page from the list of available networks.
- You will be redirected to Facebook. Log in with the account that has admin access to the Page.
- Select which Pages you want to connect to Sprout Social. You can connect multiple Pages at once.
- Grant all requested permissions. Sprout Social needs permissions for posting, reading messages, managing comments, and accessing analytics.
- Click Done to complete the connection. Your Pages will appear in Sprout Social's profile list.
Connecting a Facebook Group
- Follow the same process: Settings, then Connect a Profile, then Facebook Group.
- The Group must be linked to a Facebook Page that is already connected to Sprout Social.
- Select the Group(s) you want to connect and authorize access.
Group functionality in Sprout Social is more limited than Page functionality. You can schedule posts to Groups and monitor Group posts, but some engagement features available for Pages may not be available for Groups due to Facebook API restrictions.
The Smart Inbox
One of Sprout Social's most powerful features is the Smart Inbox, which consolidates all incoming messages and comments from your connected Facebook Pages (and other social accounts) into a single unified stream.
- Facebook Page messages: Private messages sent to your Page through Facebook Messenger appear in the Smart Inbox. You can respond directly from Sprout Social.
- Post comments: Comments on your published posts appear in the Inbox. You can reply, like, or hide comments without leaving Sprout Social.
- Wall posts and visitor posts: Posts left on your Page by visitors also appear in the Inbox.
- Reviews and recommendations: If your Page accepts reviews, those appear in the Inbox as well.
The Smart Inbox supports filtering by message type, profile, and tags. You can tag messages for organization, assign them to specific team members, and mark them as complete. This is particularly useful for customer service teams managing high-volume Pages.
Facebook Ad Comment Monitoring
Sprout Social can monitor comments on your Facebook ads, not just your organic posts. This feature is available on Professional and Advanced plans:
- When you connect your Facebook Page, Sprout Social can also pull in comments from your active Facebook ad campaigns.
- Ad comments appear in the Smart Inbox alongside organic comments.
- You can respond to ad comments directly from Sprout Social, which is critical because unanswered negative comments on ads can hurt campaign performance.
- Note that Sprout Social monitors ad comments but does not manage ad creation or budgets. You still need Facebook Ads Manager (or a dedicated ads tool) for campaign setup.
Publishing and Scheduling
Sprout Social's publishing tools for Facebook include:
- Click the Compose button (pencil icon) to open the post composer.
- Select one or more Facebook Pages from the profile selector.
- Write your post content. You can include text, links, images, videos, and multi-image posts.
- Use the scheduling options:
- Send Now: Publish immediately.
- Schedule: Pick a specific date and time.
- Queue: Add to your Sprout Queue, which posts at the next available optimal time.
- Draft: Save as a draft for later editing.
- Submit for Approval: Send the post through an approval workflow before it can be published.
Sprout Social also includes a content calendar view where you can see all scheduled posts across all profiles, making it easy to manage a multi-Page publishing strategy.
Approval Workflows
For teams, Sprout Social's approval workflows ensure that posts are reviewed before being published. This is especially important for brands with strict messaging guidelines or regulatory requirements.
- Set up approval workflows in Settings under Publishing, then Approval Workflows.
- Define who can submit posts and who can approve them.
- When a team member creates a post, they submit it for approval instead of scheduling directly.
- Approvers receive a notification (email and/or in-app) and can approve, reject, or add comments.
- Only approved posts can be scheduled or published.
Multi-step approval workflows (where a post must pass through multiple approvers) are available on the Advanced plan.
Audience Demographics
Sprout Social provides detailed audience demographic data for your connected Facebook Pages:
- Age and gender distribution: Understand the demographic makeup of your Page followers.
- Location data: See where your followers are located by country and city.
- Growth trends: Track follower growth over time and correlate it with your posting activity.
This data comes from Facebook's Page Insights API and is available in the Reports section of Sprout Social. It helps you tailor your content strategy to your actual audience rather than assumptions.
Competitive Analysis
Sprout Social's competitive analysis features (available on Professional and Advanced plans) let you benchmark your Facebook Page performance against competitors:
- Add competitor Pages: In the Reports section, add public Facebook Pages as competitors.
- Compare metrics: See how your engagement rate, posting frequency, follower growth, and audience engagement compare to competitors.
- Content analysis: Identify what types of content perform well for your competitors.
Competitive analysis only uses publicly available data from competitor Pages. You do not need admin access to their Pages.
Reporting
Sprout Social includes comprehensive Facebook reporting with both pre-built and customizable report templates:
- Facebook Pages Report: Overview of Page performance including impressions, engagements, follower growth, and post performance.
- Facebook Competitors Report: Side-by-side comparison with competitor Pages.
- Inbox Activity Report: Track response times, message volume, and team performance for Facebook messages.
- Custom Reports: Build reports with the specific metrics you care about and schedule them for automatic delivery.
Reports can be exported as PDF or CSV files for sharing with stakeholders.
Team Collaboration Features
Sprout Social is built for teams, and several collaboration features enhance Facebook management:
- Task assignment: Assign specific messages or comments to team members in the Smart Inbox.
- Internal notes: Add notes to conversations that are visible to your team but not to the customer.
- Collision detection: See when another team member is already viewing or responding to the same message, preventing duplicate responses.
- Saved replies: Create pre-approved response templates for common questions. Team members can insert these with a click and customize as needed.
Troubleshooting
- Page not appearing: Ensure you are logging in with the Facebook account that has admin access to the Page. Check your Page role in Facebook's Page settings.
- Permissions issues: If features are not working (like Messenger or ad comments), disconnect and reconnect the Page, making sure to grant all requested permissions during the Facebook authorization step.
- Token expiration: Facebook access tokens expire periodically. Sprout Social will notify you when a reconnection is needed. Follow the prompts to re-authorize.
Plan Requirements
Facebook Pages are supported on all Sprout Social plans (Standard, Professional, Advanced, and Enterprise). Ad comment monitoring, competitive analysis, and advanced reporting require Professional or Advanced plans. Approval workflows with multiple steps require the Advanced plan.
