Channel Connections

How Connections Work

Social media channels are connected to Sprinklr using application programming interface (API) connections offered by the channel. Each social media channel’s API controls the functionality available to users within the Sprinklr system (or within any other social media management system). Sprinklr has a strong relationship with the major social media channels. As a result, APIs are typically updated early when new features are made available.

In general, the functionality for each channel within Sprinklr is robust. However, changes in APIs may impact Sprinklr’s behavior. Sprinklr typically notifies users of any pending changes and the expected impact as soon as the potential issues are known.

Each Sprinklr user account can have access to multiple social media accounts, and it is possible to add multiple accounts on a social media channel (i.e., multiple Facebook pages).

These are a few of the channels currently supported by Sprinklr:

Discord
Facebook (profiles and pages*)
Flickr
Foursquare (pages and venues)
Google My Business pages
Instagram**
LinkedIn (profile and company page)
Pinterest
RenRen

SlideShare
Snapchat***
TikTok***
Tumblr
Twitch
VK (groups and pages)
WeChat
Weibo
WhatsApp
WordPress
X (formerly Twitter)
YouTube

View the full list in the Sprinklr Knowledge Portal article, “Social Channels Capabilities.”

*Facebook groups can be monitored in the system, but posts (including comments and replies) should not be published using Sprinklr. This is because group posts are associated with a person and Sprinklr will appear to publish as the unit contact that added the account to Sprinklr, which may not match the person creating the post. Sprinklr can still be used to collect analytics data from groups.

**For full Instagram functionality, the Instagram account must be a business/creator/professional account and must be connected to a Facebook page.

***Snapchat and TikTok accounts can be added for reporting data only. Interface restrictions prevent publishing capabilities at this time.

University Communications and Marketing runs an official social media directory webpage to highlight top-level social media accounts. While Sprinklr makes it possible to manage many social media channels, logistical and design limitations prevent this site from including all channels.

The MSU Social Media Directory will include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X and YouTube only. Units are allowed to have other social media accounts outside of these channels, but extraneous channels will not be included in the directory. Snapchat is not fully supported by Sprinklr.

To inquire about listing unit channel(s) in the directory, please send the link(s) to comms.social@msu.edu with the request. Not all requests can be granted.

Adding, Editing and Reconnecting Accounts

As part of the onboarding process, University Communications and Marketing will create the base engagement dashboards, queues, workflow macros, user groups and account groups for the unit.

It is up to the unit to add its accounts to the system, following the account mapping guide that University Communications and Marketing provides during initial training.

There are a few things to be aware of when connecting accounts to Sprinklr:

Some channels require additional authentication in the native platform. For example, Facebook and X make users approve settings in their platform as a part of the account connection process.
Changing the password on the native platform may break the connection to Sprinklr. This is not a reason to not change passwords as staff change and follow best account security practices, but be aware a user may need to reconnect the account to Sprinklr when a password is changed.
Channel permissions may impact the ability to add an account to Sprinklr. For example, Facebook and LinkedIn require users to be an administrator of a page to add it to Sprinklr.

Documentation updated: Nov. 1, 2024

There are several general steps to adding an account in Sprinklr:

Click “Add Account.”
Choose account type.
Confirm specific account.
Authorize access to Sprinklr (if needed).
Add account to relevant account groups. These work behind the scenes of Sprinklr to enable various filtering options, as well as the account message workflows, dashboards and permission settings.
Grant account access using relevant user groups.
Click “Save.”

See the “Adding Accounts” section below for more detailed instructions on permissions and account setting details.

Many channels can be added with just the login username and password. Some channels (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn) require users first connect via a page admin’s profile account to Sprinklr before the user can add the page. This does not add the user’s personal profile to the system, but routes permissions through their personal profile.

When University Communications and Marketing adds a unit to the system, the supporting structure for the unit will be built out. This includes account groups and user groups that correspond to the structure of the unit, its initiatives, etc.

If, in the future, additional sub-units or groups of accounts need to be added, University Communications and Marketing will need to build the structure for these groups.

Units can add accounts to the system without involvement from University Communications and Marketing if the accounts fit the existing account group and user group structure. Choose the appropriate user groups and account groups (with guidance provided during initial onboarding). Units can reference the official log of Account Groups and User Groups.

On occasion, accounts will become disconnected. Subscribers to the account (see “Account Detail Fields,” below) should receive notification when this happens. Otherwise, users may notice that posts do not publish as anticipated. If either of these things happen, try re-adding the account using the same steps outlined above for adding a new account. This should fix the issue. If not, contact University Communications and Marketing at Comms.WebSupport@msu.edu for further assistance.

To edit the settings or permissions users have for an account, navigate to the account in the account list, click the three-dot options menu icon and choose “Edit” from the drop-down menu. Make necessary adjustments and click “Save.”

It is a best practice not to delete an account because doing so would remove historic data. Instead of deleting an account, make the account inactive. Users can do this using the three-dot options icon to the left of the account name and select “Deactivate” from the list of options.

If a non-MSU account is accidentally added to the system, contact University Communications and Marketing at Comms.WebSupport@msu.edu to request a Sprinklr ticket be created to delete the account. Include the account name and profile or page URL in the request.

Follow the steps below to add (or reconnect) an account.

Log in to the native account in a web browser. For platforms requiring additional verification, the logged in user should have access to manage/administer the page.
Open a new tab and choose “Social Accounts” under the Governance Console.
Choose the channel type of the account to be added.
At this point, the channel may require the user to authenticate in the native platform. Follow the prompts to do so.

Facebook may ask the user to grant permission to Sprinklr to publish on the user’s behalf, and it will appear to be asking about the user’s personal account. This is correct and it won’t impact a personal profile. Grant the permission. If it shows an option of who will see the content posted, click “Friends” or whatever appears and change it to “Public.”

Some platforms may prompt a pop-up window in Sprinklr for a user to select specific accounts to be added. This is common for platforms in which the user may have access to several pages, such as LinkedIn or Facebook. If this happens, the user can filter the list to find the account required, then check the box next to the account name, and click “Add.”
Fill in the account settings and details to control access to the account. See “Account Detail Fields,” below, for information on the various fields associated with adding (or editing) an account, along with a brief explanation of their function.
Click “Save.”
YouTube additional step: For YouTube accounts, an additional permission setting must be set after the account has been added. Find the account in the account list, click the three-dot options menu icon. Choose “Playlist Permissions” from the drop-down. Add the user group(s) or username(s) to various playlist setting options to grant users the ability to manage video playlists. Click “Save.”

Below is a list of account details settings:

Account name — This is the account name as it appears in Sprinklr. Changing the name here has no impact on the public account.
UserID — This is a field generated by Sprinklr. It can be ignored.
Owner — This is the Sprinklr user with “ownership” of the account. It is typically the last Sprinklr user to add the account to the system.
Custom character count — Users can limit the number of characters permitted in a message, if desired. MSU Sprinklr users generally leave this field empty.
Autopopulate signature — This adds a message signature (such as initials) to all outbound messages and responses sent by the Sprinklr user. MSU Sprinklr users generally leave this field empty.
Default URL shortener — MSU does not have any URL shorteners integrated in the system. If a unit wishes to use the Sprinklr link shortener, choose spr.ly from the drop-down menu. If the unit users shorten links outside of Sprinklr, leave this blank.

Groups to include account in:

Select groups — For each account, include the relevant Tier 1 account group (ends with unit initials in parentheses) and any relevant Tier 2 account groups (begins with unit initials). Also include “All MSU Partners Accounts” as an account group. This is used for campuswide reporting.

Note the following permissions settings on a user account:

Select action — This drop-down menu includes general permission categories.
Users/user groups — Enter the appropriate user group(s) to the field, matching to the appropriate permissions.

General guidance: Choose “All” permissions for the Tier 2 account group. Choose “View Reporting” for the Tier 1 user group. University Communications and Marketing will also add “Reporting – Campus Partners” as a user group with this access. These settings enable users who work with the account to have full access. Supervising units (i.e., the college over a department) and the University Communications and Marketing analytics group can view reports for account performance and reporting troubleshooting.

Sprinklr Secure Access allows users to grant access to the native platform account without sharing the native account password. Users access the channel using their Sprinklr account. This can be useful if the user needs to click a social media message in Sprinklr and view it in the native channel, but the department does not want to give them the login access to the native channel. This functionality is optional.

Username — The platform login username
Password — The platform login password
Provisioned users/user groups — The groups being granted provisional access
End date — The date on which provisioned access is automatically revoked

Workspace sharing is a setting that will make the account visible and accessible to all campus users in a workspace.

Visible in all workspaces — Leave this unchecked
Workspaces — Leave this box blank

This box determines who receives notification if and when an account becomes disconnected from Sprinklr. Some platforms regularly have to be reconnected as a security measure.

Users/user groups — Include the unit’s Tier 2 and/or unit administration user group(s) for the unit in this field.

General guidance: Every account must have a subscriber or user group listed. This individual should be someone with access to reconnect accounts or someone who can get ahold of that individual. Develop an internal workflow for notifying fellow team members if any of the unit accounts become disconnected and for updating them when the connection has been reestablished.

This setting allows users to set the time zone for their account. This can be useful if the Sprinklr user is operating in a different time zone.

Channel Connections

How Connections Work

Channel Information

Adding, Editing and Reconnecting Accounts

Adding Accounts