Connecting and publishing to your Facebook Group with Buffer
:::warning Buffer supports posting to Facebook Groups via notification publishing. It is no longer possible to schedule posts to be sent automatically due to changes Meta made to their Facebook Groups API in April 2024.
:::
With notification-based publishing, you can create your post in Buffer, receive a notification on your mobile device when it’s time to post, then tap the notification and copy your post over to your Facebook group to finish posting. Learn more about how this works: Using notification publishing.
Because we’re not posting automatically for you, the connection process for Facebook groups is slightly different than other channels, and you will need to download the Buffer mobile app to finish posting. This guide will walk you through the steps to connect your group to Buffer and share some good-to-knows when using notification publishing.
Connecting your Facebook Group
- First, open the Facebook group you want to connect to Buffer, then copy its URL (you’ll need it later).
- In another tab, head to https://publish.buffer.com/settings/channels or follow these steps: Open Buffer, click on your profile avatar in the bottom left corner of your dashboard, and choose Channels*.*
- Click on Facebook**.**
- Select “Facebook group” and click Continue.
- Next, enter the name of your Facebook group and the group URL (it should look something like this: facebook.com/groups/xxxxxx), then type Continue.
- We’ll remind you one more time that we can’t post automatically for you. You can read through the information and the click Got it once you’re done.
- That’s it! You’ve successfully connected your Facebook Group to Buffer and can start scheduling posts.
Publishing your post
When it’s time to post, you’ll receive a notification on your phone that you can tap to open and copy your post over to Facebook to finish publishing. For a step-by-step guide on the process, check out the article: Using notification publishing.
FAQ
Why do I need to download the mobile app to post to Facebook groups?
Meta's API does not support automatic posting to Facebook groups. Therefore, we use notification publishing to post your content, which requires the latest version of the Buffer app (available on iOS and Android).
If I have notifications set up for Instagram within the Buffer mobile app, do I need to set up notifications for Facebook groups too?
Notifications within the Buffer app are channel-specific, so you’ll still need to set up notifications for Facebook even if you’ve set up notifications for Instagram.
What happens if I schedule the same post for a Facebook page and a Facebook group?
Facebook pages and groups are still linked in the composer, so if you schedule a post for a Facebook group and a Facebook page, the Facebook page post will get scheduled to publish automatically and the Facebook group post will be scheduled as a notification.