Most user-generated content nowadays is published on social media channels like Instagram, Twitter, etc. (we call it "social" walls for a reason 😅). But there are situations when your community/audience might not want or be able to publish their thoughts, experiences, videos and photos on their public social media profiles:
Internal company events that must remain confidential to the outside world
Guests/visitors who want to keep their social media accounts private or separated from their business life
Guests/visitors who have no active social media account available or are not conveniently logged in on their devices
We've launched an exciting new feature specifically for those use cases: Direct Posts.
What are Direct Posts?
Direct Posts is a feature that enables your visitors to create multimedia posts directly on your social Wall without having to post them on a social network first.
Who can use the Direct Posts feature?
Direct Posts is part of the Interactivity Pack, which can be purchased as an add-on for all plans. Direct Posts is also included in our Enterprise plans and some legacy plans.
How does the Direct Posts feature work?
1. Enable Direct Posts
To get started, go to "Content" - "Direct Posts" and select "Enable Direct Posts":
2. Create a Direct Post
Once Direct Posts have been enabled, a big "Create Post" button will be shown to all the visitors of your Wall:
Clicking on the button will open a simple form on the left-hand side:
Your visitors can upload images and videos in one of the supported formats with a maximum file size of 256 Megabytes and maximum duration of 3 minutes:
GIF (*.gif) - animated GIFs and GIFs with transparency currently aren't supported
JPEG (*.jpg, *.jpeg, *.jfif, *.pjp, *.pjpeg)
PNG (*.png)
WebP (*.webp)
MP4 (*.mp4)
After choosing an image or video, an optional post text can be entered.
Of course, it's also possible to create a text-only post.
We have collected some recommendations for the Image Size and Text Length for Sponsored, Native, and Direct Posts.
Next, visitors need to enter a nickname and accept the terms of service and privacy policy before submitting their Direct Post:
3. Adding Location to Direct Posts
When publishing a Direct Post, users optionally can also enter their location:
This is a great way to fill your map-layout social wall with authentic user-generated content from all around the world.
4. Moderating Direct Posts
Like posts from social networks, Direct Posts are treated according to your moderation settings. So you may need to review them manually in "Moderation" before they become visible on your Wall. It is also possible to filter for Direct Posts in the drop-down menu under "Networks" (learn more about Using Filters in the Posts Moderation Panel):
5. Embedding walls with Direct Posts
Direct Posts also work great when embedding our widget on your website, mobile app or event platform! Learn more about How to Embed a Social Wall on a Website.
Why should I use Direct Posts?
The reasons we've given above aside (confidentiality of the event, privacy of users, convenience), there's one big argument to add "Direct Posts" to your event our campaign: A massive increase in engagement and volume of content!
Here's a chart showing the engagement of an event a Walls.io customer recently used Direct Posts with. As you can see, approx. 50% of all content was generated using Direct Posts! Your community will love the convenience, and you'll love the resulting content!
Are Direct Posts beneficial to events only?
While virtual and in-presence events can profit tremendously from offering a quick, privacy-aware channel to publish user-generated content, we have seen customers successfully using Direct Posts for other use-cases: UGC campaigns, employee engagement, eCommerce, physical point-of-sale displays – Direct Posts will increase the volume of user-generated content everywhere.
Can I pre-fill the Direct Posts form?
Yes! If you are embedding our social walls in another platform, you can pre-fill name, email address etc. using URL parameter – here is how its done!
If you have further questions, don't hesitate to contact the support team via chat or support@walls.io!