IFTTT is a great tool for automation, one that anyone can use, not only those who are technology-savvy. While it can be used for many aspects of your digital life, its true power is to be found in its marketing applications.
But first if you don’t know what IFTTT is – first here how Wikipedia describes it….
IFTTT is a web-based service that allows users to create chains of simple conditional statements, called “recipes”, which are triggered based on changes to other web services such as Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
The platform allows you to create really simple automation recipes, based on the cause/effect relationship. If this happens, do this! Here’s a simple example:
IF: If a new article appears in my RSS feed.
THEN: Post it on my Facebook page.
It takes seconds to create a recipe and it will start working immediately. The best thing is that you have a lot of pre-made recipes you can choose from and, if you subscribe to their newsletter, you’ll receive more ideas on a regular basis.
Here are a few of the most popular IFTTT recipes, to get an idea on what you can use it for.
Automatically post blog articles on social media pages
Save Instagram photos you like on Google Drive/Dropbox
Post YouTube favorites on youtube
Add your Instagram Photos to a Buffer queue
And here are a few cool ones:
Text IFTTT “#helpme” and it will call you with a pre-recorded message to save you from a meeting.
Battery Saver (turns off WiFi and Bluetooth when you leave home and activates them when you return).
Shows “To Do” list when you leave home.
Emails a GIF of Colin Farrell looking disappointed each time you take a selfie.