How to Sync Instagram Data to Airtable (Complete Guide)

Airtable is perfect for building databases, and Instagram data makes it powerful for marketing, sales, and research.

This guide shows you how to automatically sync Instagram data to Airtable using SociaVault. Learn more about how to scrape social media data for your projects.

Need reliable Instagram data access? Check our Instagram API alternatives guide.

Starting out? Try free Instagram API options first.

What You'll Build

• An Airtable base with Instagram profile data
• Automatic sync of followers, posts, and engagement
• Filterable, sortable influencer database
• Linked records for posts and comments

Prerequisites

• Airtable account (free tier works)
• SociaVault API key
• Basic understanding of Airtable

Step 1: Set Up Your Airtable Base

Create a new Airtable base with these tables:

Table 1: Profiles

Field Name	Field Type
Username	Single line text (Primary)
Full Name	Single line text
Bio	Long text
Followers	Number
Following	Number
Posts Count	Number
Engagement Rate	Percent
Profile URL	URL
Last Updated	Date
Posts	Link to Posts table

Table 2: Posts (Optional)

Field Name	Field Type
Post ID	Single line text (Primary)
Profile	Link to Profiles
Caption	Long text
Likes	Number
Comments	Number
Post Type	Single select (Photo, Video, Reel, Carousel)
Posted Date	Date
URL	URL

Step 2: Get Your Airtable API Key

1. Go to airtable.com/create/tokens
2. Create a new personal access token
3. Add scopes: data.records:read, data.records:write
4. Add your base to the token
5. Copy the token

Step 3: Create the Sync Script

You can run this as a Node.js script, in Airtable Automations, or in n8n/Zapier.

Node.js Script

const Airtable = require('airtable');

// Configuration
const SOCIAVAULT_API_KEY = 'your_sociavault_key';
const AIRTABLE_API_KEY = 'your_airtable_key';
const AIRTABLE_BASE_ID = 'your_base_id';

// Initialize Airtable
const base = new Airtable({ apiKey: AIRTABLE_API_KEY }).base(AIRTABLE_BASE_ID);

// Fetch Instagram profile from SociaVault
async function getInstagramProfile(username) {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.sociavault.com/instagram/profile', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${SOCIAVAULT_API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ username })
  });
  
  return response.json();
}

// Update or create Airtable record
async function syncProfile(username) {
  // Get Instagram data
  const profile = await getInstagramProfile(username);
  
  if (profile.error) {
    console.error(`Error fetching ${username}:`, profile.error);
    return;
  }
  
  // Calculate engagement rate (simplified)
  const engagementRate = profile.posts_count > 0 
    ? (profile.avg_likes / profile.followers) * 100 
    : 0;
  
  // Prepare Airtable fields
  const fields = {
    'Username': profile.username,
    'Full Name': profile.full_name || '',
    'Bio': profile.bio || '',
    'Followers': profile.followers,
    'Following': profile.following,
    'Posts Count': profile.posts_count,
    'Engagement Rate': engagementRate / 100,
    'Profile URL': `https://instagram.com/${profile.username}`,
    'Last Updated': new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0]
  };
  
  // Find existing record
  const existing = await base('Profiles')
    .select({
      filterByFormula: `{Username} = '${username}'`,
      maxRecords: 1
    })
    .firstPage();
  
  if (existing.length > 0) {
    // Update existing record
    await base('Profiles').update(existing[0].id, fields);
    console.log(`Updated: ${username}`);
  } else {
    // Create new record
    await base('Profiles').create(fields);
    console.log(`Created: ${username}`);
  }
}

// Sync multiple profiles
async function syncAllProfiles() {
  // Get all usernames from Airtable
  const records = await base('Profiles')
    .select({ fields: ['Username'] })
    .all();
  
  for (const record of records) {
    const username = record.get('Username');
    if (username) {
      await syncProfile(username);
      // Rate limiting
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 1000));
    }
  }
}

// Run
syncAllProfiles().then(() => console.log('Sync complete!'));

Using Airtable Automations

Airtable has built-in automations with scripting:

1. Go to Automations in your base
2. Create new automation
3. Trigger: At scheduled time (daily)
4. Action: Run script
5. Paste this script:

// Get all records that need updating
let table = base.getTable('Profiles');
let query = await table.selectRecordsAsync({ fields: ['Username'] });

for (let record of query.records) {
  let username = record.getCellValue('Username');
  
  if (!username) continue;
  
  // Call SociaVault API
  let response = await fetch('https://api.sociavault.com/instagram/profile', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ username })
  });
  
  let data = await response.json();
  
  if (!data.error) {
    await table.updateRecordAsync(record.id, {
      'Full Name': data.full_name || '',
      'Bio': data.bio || '',
      'Followers': data.followers,
      'Following': data.following,
      'Posts Count': data.posts_count,
      'Last Updated': new Date()
    });
  }
}

Step 4: Add New Profiles Easily

Create an Airtable form or interface to add new Instagram usernames. The sync script will automatically fetch their data on the next run.

Or add a button field that triggers an automation to fetch data immediately.

Step 5: Sync Posts Data (Optional)

To track individual posts:

async function syncProfilePosts(username, profileRecordId) {
  // Get recent posts from SociaVault
  const response = await fetch('https://api.sociavault.com/instagram/posts', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${SOCIAVAULT_API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ username, count: 12 })
  });
  
  const { posts } = await response.json();
  
  for (const post of posts) {
    const fields = {
      'Post ID': post.id,
      'Profile': [profileRecordId], // Link to profile
      'Caption': post.caption || '',
      'Likes': post.likes,
      'Comments': post.comments,
      'Post Type': post.type,
      'Posted Date': post.timestamp,
      'URL': post.url
    };
    
    // Check if post exists
    const existing = await base('Posts')
      .select({
        filterByFormula: `{Post ID} = '${post.id}'`,
        maxRecords: 1
      })
      .firstPage();
    
    if (existing.length > 0) {
      await base('Posts').update(existing[0].id, fields);
    } else {
      await base('Posts').create(fields);
    }
  }
}

Useful Airtable Views

Create these views to analyze your data:

Top Influencers

• Filter: Followers > 10000
• Sort: Followers (descending)

High Engagement

• Filter: Engagement Rate > 3%
• Sort: Engagement Rate (descending)

Recently Updated

• Sort: Last Updated (descending)

Needs Update

• Filter: Last Updated < 7 days ago

Cost Calculation

• Profile sync: 1 credit per profile
• Posts sync: 1 credit per request (up to 12 posts)

Example:

• 500 profiles, weekly sync = 500 credits/week = 2,000/month
• Growth pack ($79 for 20,000 credits) = 10 months of syncing

Automation Schedule

Recommended sync frequency:

Use Case	Frequency
Competitor tracking	Daily
Influencer database	Weekly
One-time research	Manual

Troubleshooting

"Exceeded rate limit"

Add delays between API calls:

await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 1000));

"Record not found"

The Instagram username might be incorrect or the account private.

Airtable script timeout

For large databases, process in batches or use external scripts with cron jobs.

Next Steps

1. Sign up for SociaVault (50 free credits)
2. Create your Airtable base using the schema above
3. Set up the sync script
4. Add Instagram usernames and watch the magic!

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