Automate Your LinkedIn Posts with Airtable and n8n

Overview of the Automation

The automation works in two phases:

1. Generate the Post: Approving a topic triggers the creation of a LinkedIn post draft.
2. Publish the Post: Approving the generated LinkedIn post triggers its publication on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Need

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

1. n8n Account - To set up and automate the workflow.
2. Airtable Account - To manage your Topics and LinkedIn Posts.
3. OpenAI API Key - This generates the post content (optional: replaceable with any LLM).
4. LinkedIn API Access:
5. • LinkedIn Access Key
   • LinkedIn Access Secret
6. Access to n8n Workflow Editor

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Follow these steps to create the automation:

1. Setting Up Airtable

Import both Airtable CSVs

1. Topics Table:
2. • Imp Fields:
   • • Topic (Short text)
     • Topic Description (Short text)
     • Status (Single Select: Pending, Approved)
3. LinkedIn Posts Table: (Row Automatically generated by workflow)
4. • Imp Fields:
   • • Post Content (Long text)
     • Status (Single Select: Ready to Review, Approved, Posted)

2. Setting Up LinkedIn API Access

To post on LinkedIn, you’ll need API access:

1. Go to the LinkedIn Developer Portal.
2. Create an app to get your Access Key and Access Secret.
3. Enable permissions for content creation (Share on LinkedIn).

Save these credentials, as you’ll need them in n8n.

3. n8n Workflow Setup

Workflow Overview

Your workflow will include the following key steps:

1. Trigger: Airtable status changes.
2. Generate Content: Use OpenAI API (or your LLM) to generate the LinkedIn post content.
3. Post to LinkedIn: Send the approved post to LinkedIn using the LinkedIn API.

4. Testing the Workflow

Once the workflow is set up, test it step-by-step:

1. Go to the Topics table in Airtable.
2. • Create a new row.
   • Add a Topic and Topic Description.
   • Change the Status to "Approved".
3. Wait for around 1 minute.
4. • A new row LinkedIn Posts.
5. Change the Status of the new row to "Approved".
6. • The content will be posted to LinkedIn.
   • The Status will automatically update to "Posted".

5. Customization Options

• Replace OpenAI with your preferred LLM or custom content generation model.
• Add more fields to Airtable for additional metadata (e.g., post images, hashtags).
• Adjust the workflow timing and triggers based on your needs.

Conclusion

You now have a fully automated LinkedIn posting system that saves time, reduces manual effort, and keeps your content pipeline running smoothly. Feel free to customize the workflow further to suit your needs!

If you need help with setup or further enhancements, contact us Contact us for support