Import Actions

Use Import actions to automatically import contest entries from social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter / X & Instagram into the Gleam platform.

Import actions are a unique type of action that allows you to enter users into a competition from an external source.

An example might be that you're running a contest that requires users to use a specific #hashtag to enter or asking users to post photo replies inside a Facebook post.

Import actions also work seamlessly with normal actions, which means they can be used to also supplement entries from users that never entered via the widget at all.

Note

Due to the privacy restrictions you cannot access email addresses for users for social Import actions. The only personal information we will get is their social @username or data they have specifically chosen to provide you with previously. Instagram #hashtag imported users are Anonymous and will not have any @username. If the user has authenticated with the widget previously for that network then we'll link up any imported entries to their profile.

Apps that support Import actions:

You can import Photos, Videos, or Reels from Instagram that have been tagged with specific #hashtags in:

  • Posts

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Note

Please note Instagram only allows you to pull in the last 24 hours of #hashtags and also your Top #hashtags, they also limit the retrieval of any personal data like @usernames, profile pictures or timestamps. You will still be able to see usernames and profile images by clicking through to Instagram. It's recommended to also ask users to @mention your Business so you can see their @username.

Admin view for Instagram #hashtag Import action on Gleam
  • Require Any: This will import any Photos, Videos, or Reels using the specified #hashtags
  • Require All: This will only import Photos, Videos, or Reels that contain all of the specified #hashtags

Entry Interval by default is set to Single, which means we'll import one post from each individual user. You can increase this to Hourly / Daily / Unlimited.

You can import Photos, Videos, or Reels from Instagram posts that @mention your Instagram Business profile. This action type is now preferred to use over #hashtags if you want to see the entrants @username and timestamps without having to click through to Instagram.

Instagram @mention imports also allow you to filter imports by designated hashtags or words. This allows you to limit the media you accept to those tagged with a @mention and a #hashtag or word.

Adding a #hashtag filter to @mention imports makes it easier to import campaign specific submissions. This is now the optimal approach to running hashtag contests on Instagram.

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Admin view for Instagram @mentions Import action on Gleam
Note

Entry Interval by default is set to Single, which means we'll import one post from each individual user. You can increase this to Hourly / Daily / Unlimited.

You can import top level comments from any of your public Instagram posts from your Business page, this allows you to draw winners from comment driven contests. When you import comments you will be able to see the entrants @username and timestamps without having to click through to Instagram.

Instagram comment imports also allow you to filter comments by designated hashtags or words. This allows you to limit the comments you accept into your campaign to those containing a specific #hashtag or word.

Adding a #hashtag or word filter to comment imports is a great way to ensure that entrants are following your comment contest guidelines.

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Admin view for Instagram Comments Import action on Gleam
Note

Entry Interval by default is set to Single, which means we'll import one comment from each individual user. You can increase this to Hourly / Daily / Unlimited.

You can import status updates from Twitter / X that have been tagged with specific #hashtags.

Twitter / X Hashtag imports allow you to filter Tweets by media type and restrict the tweets you accept to:

  • Tweets With Media (photos & videos)
  • Text Tweets
  • Any Tweet

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Admin view for Twitter / X #hashtag Import action on Gleam
  • Require Any: This will import any images or videos using the specified #hashtags
  • Require All: This will only import images or videos that contain all of the specified #hashtags
Note

Entry Interval by default is set to Single, which means we'll import one image or video from each individual user. You can increase this to Hourly / Daily / Unlimited.

You can import text replies to a designated Tweet posted from your profile.

Twitter / X reply imports also allow you to filter replies by designated hashtags or words. This allows you to limit the replies you accept into your campaign to those containing a specific #hashtag or word. This is a great way to ensure that entrants are following your guidelines.

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Admin view for Twitter / X Replies Import action on Gleam
Note

Entry Interval by default is set to Single, which means we'll import one image or video from each individual user. You can increase this to Hourly / Daily / Unlimited.

You can import comments on a specific public Facebook post or photo.

Facebook Comment imports allow you to filter comments by media type and restrict the comments you accept to:

  • Comments With Media (photos & videos)
  • Text Comments
  • All Comments

Facebook comment imports also allow you to filter comments by designated hashtags or words. This allows you to limit the comments you accept into your campaign to those containing a specific #hashtag or word. This is a great way to ensure that entrants are following your guidelines.

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Admin view for Facebook Comments Import action on Gleam
Note

Entry Interval by default is set to Single, which means we'll import one image or video from each individual user. You can increase this to Hourly / Daily / Unlimited.

This feature is replaced by Facebook Page Mentions

You can import images or videos on Facebook that mentions a specific Facebook page you manage.

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Admin view for Facebook @mentions Import action on Gleam
  • This action also has the ability to further filter Posts that only use specific #hashtags

You can import images and videos from Tumblr that have been tagged with specific #hashtags.

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Admin view for Tumblr #hashtags Import action on Gleam
Note

Entry Interval by default is set to Single, which means we'll import one image or video from each individual user. You can increase this to Hourly / Daily / Unlimited.

You can import videos from YouTube that have been tagged with specific #hashtags.

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Admin view for YouTube #hashtags Import action on Gleam
  • Require Any: This will import any images or videos using the specified #hashtags
  • Require All: This will only import images or videos that contain all of the specified #hashtags
Note

Entry Interval by default is set to Single, which means we'll import one image or video from each individual user. You can increase this to Hourly / Daily / Unlimited.

You can import comments from your YouTube videos into your campaigns.

YouTube comment imports also allow you to filter comments by designated hashtags or words. This allows you to limit the comments you accept into your campaign to those containing a specific #hashtag or word. This is a great way to ensure that entrants are following your guidelines.

Available on the following plans: Business and Premium

Admin view for YouTube Comments Import action on Gleam
Note

Entry Interval by default is set to Single, which means we'll import one image or video from each individual user. You can increase this to Hourly / Daily / Unlimited.

Currently we import new entries from Import sources hourly. Everything gets sorted by the actual social post time, so it'll line up in your Actions list at the time the action happened (not the time it was imported).

Competition Imports are designed to import from the start date of the campaign onwards, when you setup the import it'll look back for entries created on the start date of the campaign and import up to 500.

We'll do an initial pull of historical data when you first add an import source which depends on whether you are on the Business or Premium plan.

You will need to be wary of this, especially if you're using:

  • A popular #hashtag
  • Or make a mistake with your #hashtag

Doing either of the above can mean you'll have potentially thousands of entries before you even kick off your contest. A common strategy to deal with this is to use the Archive feature on the Winners tab to archive existing entries before the competition start date.

Our Twitter Hashtag and Facebook Comment import actions allow you to filter items by media type. This means that you have the option of restricting the types of Facebook Comments and Hashtagged Tweets that you accept into your campaigns.

When you filter items you can choose to accept:

  • Items with media only(photos & videos)
  • Text items only
  • All items

One of the downsides to grabbing data directly from social networks is that we won't know anything about the user other than their username. If you pick a winner, you will need to contact the user from the social network they entered from - For example send a Facebook message, an Instagram message or post the winners details on your profile.

The app does have smarts that will connect #hashtag entries to a users profile if they have logged into our widget from that social network previously.

If you want to capture more data such as email addresses from users submitting media then you should consider accepting media directly into your campaign with our Media Submit or Select Actions for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

See Next Article

Kick Actions

This documentation covers the actions that we support via Kick.