Automate Social Media Publishing with n8n & Blotato API

Opening Problem Statement

Meet Sarah, a busy content creator juggling video and image posts for 10 different social media profiles including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Threads, and Bluesky. Each platform demands different media formats, text lengths, and scheduled times, leading to hours of manual uploads and frequent mistakes like wrong captions or missed posts.

Sarah often finds herself overwhelmed keeping track of all the accounts, each with unique login routines and content specs. Posting inconsistencies cause reduced engagement, while her day gets eaten up managing multiple dashboards. She needs a reliable way to automate posting videos and images across all platforms with tailored text, saving her valuable time and reducing errors.

What This Automation Does

This n8n workflow paired with the Blotato API handles the full multi-platform publishing for Sarah’s social media strategy. When a new media item is ready, it:

• Retrieves content details and scripts from Airtable, ensuring well-prepared publish-ready text for each platform.
• Uploads videos and images to Blotato’s media hosting service automatically.
• Posts the media with platform-specific captions and settings to Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), Threads, Bluesky, and Pinterest.
• Handles special requirements like YouTube title validation via AI, Facebook page identification, Pinterest board targeting, and manages API authentication securely.
• Updates Airtable with publishing status, providing traceability on what’s posted and when.
• Allows error continuation on failed posts to avoid one platform failure from blocking the entire process.

Overall, this automation saves Sarah up to 4-6 hours per week and eliminates tedious manual errors, letting her focus on creating instead of clicking.

Prerequisites ⚙️

• n8n account (cloud or self-hosted 🔌)
• Blotato API key (for media upload and posting authentication 🔑)
• Airtable account with base containing your media content and text data 📊
• Linked social media accounts properly logged into Blotato with Account IDs for each platform
• OpenAI API key for YouTube title validation (optional but recommended)

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Connect Airtable to n8n and Prepare Data

In n8n, create an Airtable node configured with your base ID and table for media. The node will fetch the current video/image URLs and captions.

Next, use a Set node named “Prepare for Publish” to assign platform-specific account IDs and captions, pulling short and long text from the Airtable data.

You should see your JSON data with keys like instagram_id, final_text_short, and final_text_long ready. Common mistake: forgetting to convert text to JSON string format for API embedding; use toJsonString() correctly.

2. Upload Media to Blotato

Use two HTTP Request nodes to upload media URLs from Airtable to Blotato: one for images and one for videos, specifying the media URL in the POST body.

Expected outcome: The Blotato API returns a hosted media URL in JSON, used downstream for posting.

3. Validate YouTube Title with OpenAI

Use the n8n OpenAI node with the GPT-4.1-mini model to generate viral-ready YouTube short video titles from your current title. Input the prompt as shown in the workflow to enforce a 100-character max, virality-focused title returned as JSON.

Check for a successful response. Misconfigured prompts or missing API key can cause failures here.

4. Post to Social Media Platforms via Blotato

For each platform (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, Twitter/X, Bluesky, and Pinterest), there is an HTTP Request node configured to call Blotato’s API endpoint for posting.

Each node uses the platform-specific accountId, text content (short or long), and media URLs retrieved after upload. Facebook includes a pageId, Pinterest requires boardId, and YouTube includes video title and privacy settings.

If a node encounters an error, it continues the workflow without blocking other platforms.

5. Update Publishing Status in Airtable

Once posting completes, update Airtable record status for traceability. Use Airtable nodes to set statuses like “In progress” and “Completed,” marking the progress of publishing on Instagram and other platforms.

6. Pinterest Board ID Extraction (Optional)

To simplify Pinterest board targeting, use the Form Trigger node to input a Pinterest board URL, then fetch the page HTML with an HTTP Request node.

A JavaScript Code node parses the HTML to extract the board ID and other metadata using regex to target a specific script tag. This helps automatically identify the board ID needed for Pinterest posting.

Customizations ✏️

• Change Posting Text: Modify the “final_text_short” and “final_text_long” fields in the “Prepare for Publish” node to customize captions per platform.
• Add More Platforms: Copy and configure additional HTTP Request nodes for other social media supported by Blotato, using the same JSON template and account ID logic.
• Adjust Posting Privacy on TikTok and YouTube: In the TikTok and YouTube HTTP nodes, change parameters like privacyLevel or privacyStatus to make posts private, unlisted, or public.
• Customize YouTube Title AI Prompt: Edit the OpenAI node prompt to suit your content style or keyword focus for optimal viral title generation.
• Pinterest Board ID Input: Instead of manual input, connect the Pinterest board URL field to a CRM or form submission for dynamic Pinterest targeting via the Pinterest System ™ form node.

Troubleshooting 🔧

Problem: “Error: The request cannot be completed because you have exceeded your quota.” (YouTube node)

Cause: YouTube API quota limits reached.

Solution: Reduce posting frequency or request higher quota from Google. Meanwhile, disable YouTube posting temporarily or add retries with exponential backoff in your workflow.

Problem: “Invalid JSON body” or “Malformed request” errors on Blotato API nodes

Cause: Incorrect formatting of JSON body or missing quotation marks when embedding JavaScript expressions.

Solution: Ensure string fields use toJsonString() for embedding dynamic text. Use double braces {{ }} correctly and test JSON payloads outside n8n using tools like Postman.

Problem: Pinterest board ID not found or extraction fails (Pinterest Page Sleuth node)

Cause: Pinterest changed page structure or invalid URL format.

Solution: Verify the URL is in correct format (e.g., https://www.pinterest.com/username/boardname/). Adjust regex in the Code node or update the parsing logic based on current Pinterest page HTML.

Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Verify Airtable credentials and base/table configurations load media and text correctly.
• Test Blotato API credentials and confirm media uploads succeed by checking returned URLs.
• Run OpenAI node test for YouTube title validation and inspect output JSON format.
• Confirm each HTTP Request node to social platforms posts successfully without errors.
• Validate update nodes in Airtable correctly change status fields.
• Test Pinterest URL entry and Board ID extraction works in code node.
• Backup Airtable base or export data to guard against accidental data loss during testing.

Deployment Guide

Activate your workflow in n8n and set triggers or manual runs as needed (not part of this specific workflow but assumed integrated elsewhere).

Implement monitoring by enabling error logging and success notifications within n8n or use Blotato’s dashboard for post verification.

Ensure API keys are securely stored in n8n credentials manager and rotate periodically for security.

FAQs

Q: Can I use other media hosting services instead of Blotato?
A: This workflow is tailored to Blotato API endpoints, so replacing it requires rewriting the HTTP request nodes to match the alternative service’s API format.

Q: Does this workflow consume API credits or quotas?
A: Yes, especially the YouTube node consuming Google API quotas and Blotato API request limits. Monitor usage to avoid rate limiting.

Q: Is my social media account data secure?
A: API keys and all credentials are stored securely within n8n’s credential manager. No direct user passwords are stored in the workflow.

Q: Can I handle video and image posts in the same run?
A: Yes, this workflow uploads both and posts both types to platforms that support them automatically using the correct media URLs.

Conclusion

By implementing this n8n automation using Blotato’s API, Sarah solves her social media publishing nightmare. She drastically reduces manual posting time by up to 6 hours weekly and cuts down on errors that hurt engagement.

This workflow’s precise management of media uploads, text customization, and multi-platform publishing helps social media managers, marketers, and creators keep their content consistent and well-timed.

Now that you’ve mastered this workflow, consider expanding to automate engagement tracking, integrate content idea generation with AI, or set up dynamic scheduling for posts based on audience analytics.

Happy automating! ⚙️