Quick Start Guide

Welcome to Buzzspark – The Most Versatile UGC Platform for leveraging user generated content to grow connected, loyal communities that provide higher lifetime value.

This guide will help you get started with the basics of capturing content from social and showcasing curated feeds on webpages and digital screens. If you don’t have a Buzzspark account, you can sign-up for a no obligation, 14-day free-trial.

We’ll cover the following steps:
Connecting your social accounts with Buzzspark
Creating a Source to aggregate content from social
Moderating aggregated content
Using Filters to create custom feeds
Creating a Widget Display to showcase content on webpages
Creating an Event Display to showcase content on digital screens

Connecting your social accounts with Buzzspark

Buzzspark uses official APIs to connect with social networks and aggregate content. So you’ll need to connect at least one account from each social network from which you want to capture content.

Learn more on why you need to connect your social accounts with Buzzspark and which social networks we currently support.

In this example, we’ll connect a Facebook account with Buzzspark to capture content from Instagram.

Facebook requires that the account we connect to Buzzspark must be a manager of a Facebook Business Page that is connected via Meta Business Suite to an Instagram ‘Business’ or ‘Creator’ account.

You can learn more about this requirement and connecting other social networks in the following articles: Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Google, and Vimeo accounts.

Once logged into Buzzspark, follow the steps below to connect your Facebook account.

Step 1: Navigate to Connections

From the left menu, browse to Settings > Connections.

Step 2: Connect your Facebook account

Click on the Facebook/Instagram tab at the top.
Then click on Login with Facebook.


In the Facebook Login window, login using the credentials of the Facebook account you want to connect. Then click on the Continue as… button.

Step 3: Allow access to Facebook pages and Instagram accounts you manage

Click OK in the bottom right to grant access to all Facebook pages and linked Instagram accounts you manage. Or you can click on Choose what to allow and select only specific pages and accounts you want to capture content from (shown below) before clicking OK.

Buzzspark will never publish posts on your behalf and at no point will your account information be exposed or used by Buzzspark for anything other than aggregating content.

You’re returned to the Buzzspark ‘Connections’ page and your Facebook account will now appear in the list of connected accounts.



You can connect and manage additional accounts from the ‘Connections’ page at any time.

Creating a Source to aggregate content from social

Buzzspark uses Sources to aggregate content from social networks. For example, posts from or mentioning a specific @user, or containing specific #hashtags or keywords.

You can create unlimited Sources in Buzzspark to capture content that’s relevant to your brand, products, services, and campaigns. Learn more about Sources.

In this example, we’ll aggregate all posts by an Instagram user since 01 May 2023 for demonstration purpposes – you can of course use the @username of your own brand account or a relevant #hashtag.

Step 1: Navigate to Sources

From the left menu, browse to Content > Sources.

Step 2: Create a new Source

Click on the + Source button on the top right and on the ‘Create New Source’ page we’ll specify the content we want to aggregate.



With the General tab selected at the top, complete the following fields:
Source Name – enter a short name to help you identify this Source.
Network – from the drop-down list, select the social network you want to aggregate content from (the one you connected to Buzzspark earlier). In our case, it’s Instagram.
Type – this drop down lists the different types of content that can be aggregated for the selected network. In our case, we’ve selected User since we want to aggregate all posts by a specific Instagram user. See Social Networks supported by Buzzspark for a complete list of available networks and content types.
Username – the name of this field varies based on the selected Type. Since we selected User as the Type, we’re prompted for a Username.
Tags – Tags offer an easy and flexible way to manage your content in Buzzspark and create custom feeds. Tags are optional, and you can add any number of Tags here – all content aggregated via this Source will automatically be tagged as such.

To add an existing Tag, click in the field and start typing to select a Tag, or click on the Add New Tag button to create a new Tag.



In the ‘Add New Tag’ modal, enter the name for your tag in the Tag Name field and click Save. We’ll name our tag ‘Official’.

Learn more about Tags, creating Tags and how to manage Tags.

When you create a new Source, by default Buzzspark starts aggregating matching content that is posted from the time that Source was created. To ensure we aggregate all post since 01 May 2023, click on the Advanced tab at the top.



Select the Aggregate historic content for this Source checkbox and select the date “2023-01-05” in the Aggregate Content From field.

Due to social network API limitations, Historic content for Hashtag Sources can only be captured for 7-days before the Source was created. This does not affect content posted after the Source was created. We therefore recommend you create and test any Hashtag Sources prior to launching campaigns.

Click Save and Close at the bottom to save the new Source and start aggregating content.

The process is similar for creating Sources for other social networks.

Buzzspark also provides several advanced features which can be accessed via the additional tabs when creating or editing Sources. These include options for refining and filtering content, auto moderating content, scheduling aggregation and more.

You can learn more about these advanced options in the detailed articles for creating Sources for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Vimeo, and YouTube.

Moderating aggregated content

So far, we’ve created a Source to aggregate Instagram posts. Next, we’ll want to choose which of these posts we want to approve for publishing.

In Buzzspark, each item of content has a Publish Status which can be one of:
Published – approved for publishing,
Queued – awaiting to be approved or rejected,
Disabled – rejected.

By default, all content captured in Buzzspark is set to the Queued status.

You can easily override this behaviour for each Source, so content aggregated from a trusted Instagram account is automatically set to Published, whilst less trusted content from a #hashtag Source remains Queued. Learn more about Tile statuses.

All content in your Buzzspark account can easily be managed via the ‘Moderation’ page. So, lets head there, and in our case, we want to Publish (approve) content that we’ll later showcase.

Step 1: Navigate to the Moderation View

From the left menu, browse to Curate > Moderate.

Step 2: Moderate Content

The Moderation interface is divided into three sections:
The Moderation Toolbar at the top with tools and options to refine content.
The Content section in the middle which shows each item of content in Tile or Grid view.
The Pagination Bar at the bottom for navigating through content - unless you’re using Live Moderation.

By default, all content in your Buzzspark account is shown with the most recent items at the top. The Publish, Queued and Disable buttons for each Tile (item of content) are clearly visible and you can change the status of an individual Tile at any time by clicking these buttons.



Let’s go ahead and quickly publish multiple Tiles using the Bulk Actions feature.



Click the Refine button.
Click the Tags dropdown and select the checkbox for the Tag you created earlier (in our case, it’s ‘Official’).
Click Refine. This refines the view to show only content that’s tagged ‘Official’.
Click the Select All checkbox to select all Tiles.
Click the Publish button in the ‘Bulk Actions Toolbar’ to Publish all selected Tiles.

Whilst we’re at it, let’s quickly Tag some content in the Moderation view. In this case, we’ll tag all our Instagram posts that mention the word “plant”.



Our Moderation View is already set to show only content that’s tagged ‘Official’ so, the extra steps needed are:
Click in the Search field, enter the term “plant” (without quotes) and then click on the Search icon. This refines the view to only show content that’s tagged ‘Official’ and contains the term “plant”.
Click the Select All checkbox to select all Tiles.
Click the Tags button in the ‘Bulk Actions Toolbar’ and then click Add New Tag in the ‘Update Tags & Products for selected Tiles’ modal.



Enter the Tag Name of the new Tag and click Save.



Then back in the ‘Update Tags & Products for selected Tiles’ modal, click Add Selected Items to add this new Tag to all selected items, and click Close to exit the modal.



That’s it – we’ll use this Tag in the next step to create custom feeds of our content.

Learn more about Publishing, Scheduling, and Deleting content in Buzzspark.

Using filters to create custom feeds

Filters in Buzzspark let you create custom feeds of your content. For example, content featuring a specific product or collection of products, or content for specific events or campaign.

In this example, we’ll create two filters:
one for all content Tagged “Official”, and
another, for content Tagged “Plants”.

We’ll also set both Filters to only include posts with images or videos.

Filters can refine content based on Networks, Tags, Products, Media Type, Rights status, Contests, and Date. Learn more about Filters and how to add & edit, clone, and manage them.

Step 1: Navigate to the Filter page

From the left menu, browse to Engage > Filters.

Step 2: Create a Filter for content tagged “Official”

Click the +Filter button at the top right to create a new Filter.



In the ‘Add Filter’ modal, enter the following:
Name - Enter a short name to help you identify the Filter. We’ll use “Official”.
Click in the Tags field and select the Tag you created previously (“Official” in our case).
Click the Media Type dropdown and select “Choose Media Types”. Then select the checkboxes for “Image” and “Video”.
Click Save.

Step 3: Create a Filter for content tagged “Plants”

Repeat Step 2, this time creating a new Filter for all content tagged “Plants”.

In the ‘Add Filter’ modal, enter the following:
Name - Enter a short name to help you identify the Filter. We’ll use “Plants”.
Click in the Tags field and select the Tag you created previously (“Plants” in our case).
Click the Media Type dropdown and select “Choose Media Types”. Then select the checkboxes for “Image” and “Video”.
Click the Save button at the bottom.

With our Filters created, we’re ready to showcase our content!

Note: Buzzspark includes an “All Content’ Filter by default, which simply passes through all published content.

Creating a Widget Display to showcase content on webpages

Widget Displays in Buzzspark are used for showing content on webpages and apps.

You can select any Filter as the content feed for a Display and easily customise the layout and styling to match your brand guidelines using our No-Code editors.

Buzzspark also provides a RestAPI and full access to HTML, JavaScript and CSS code for developers to create custom integrations and unique experiences for audiences.

You can create and publish any number for Displays without any restrictions on the number of total monthly or concurrent viewers.

In this example, we’ll create a Widget Display using a Slider theme to showcase content from the “Official-Plants” Filter we created earlier.

Step 1: Navigate to Widget Displays

From the left menu, browse to Engage > Widget Displays.

Step 2: Create a new Widget Display

Click on the +Display button at the top right. This launches the ‘Create New Widget Display’ modal.



In the Display Info tab of the modal, enter the following:
Display Name – a short name to help you identify this Display, we’ll use “Website” for our example.
Filter – Click this field and select the Filter you created earlier (“Plants” in our case).
Click Next.

Step 3: Choose a Display theme

In the ‘Display Theme’ tab of the modal:
Widget Themes – select a theme from the list - you can preview each theme by selecting its checkbox. We’ll use the “Cards Slider” theme in our example.
Click Finish to complete the wizard.

Step 4: Customise your Widget Display

The visual editor interface for Widget Displays consists of:
The right sidebar which contains various tabs to customise the appearance of the Display.
The Preview pane in the middle which shows a live preview as you edit the settings of the Display. This can be resized to view the appearance on difference devices by clicking on the device icons in the top toolbar.
Buttons at the bottom to Close/Cancel, Save Changes and Reset defaults.
Tiles shown in Widget Displays are referred to as Inline Tiles. When you click on a Tile in the Preview pane, it reveals an enlarged view of that Tile, referred to as the Expanded Tile (shown below).



Learn more about the layout and customising Widget Displays.

Let’s go ahead and customise our Widget Display.
In the right sidebar, click on the ‘Style’ tab.
Click in the Background Colour field and select the required colour.


Further down the same tab, click to enable the Auto Load More setting. This will automatically load more Tiles as visitors scroll to the end in the Slider.


Finally, click on the Save Changes button in the bottom right, and then the Close button to exit.


We’re returned to ‘Widget Display’ page and all that’s left to do is to get the embed code for this Display and paste into our webpage where we want to show it.

Click on the Publish button in the ‘Actions’ column for the Display we just created. Note that you can also preview the Display in new browser tab by clicking the View button.


In the ‘Publish Settings’ modal:



In the Authorised Domains field, enter the domain name(s) of the sites where you want to embed this Display. You can enter multiple domains (e.g. example.com and www.example.com), each on new line. This prevents hijacking of your embed code on unauthorised domains.
Click on the Copy Embed Code button to copy the embed code to your clipboard.
Scroll to the bottom of the modal and click on the Save button to save your changes.

You can now paste the embed code you just copied for this Display into the relevant HTML or Text Edit section of the webpage where you wish to show the Display.

Learn more about publishing and securing Widget Displays.

Here’s a preview of our Display embedded below the fold on webpage.

Creating an Event Display to showcase content on digital screens

Event Displays in Buzzspark are used for showcasing content on digital screens and digital signage solutions. For example, at events and conferences, instore and pop-ups, boardrooms, workplaces, and digital-out-of home (dooh).

What’s the difference between Widget Displays and Event Displays?
Widget Display are embedded on webpages and in mobile apps. Users therefore view and interact with them using their keyboard, mice, and touch screens.
Event Displays on the other hand are shown or streamed on digital displays. Users can therefore only view them, and interaction is limited to scanning of QR codes etc.

Hence, most actions in Event Displays are automated based on configurable time delays - like showing more Tiles, expanding Inline Tiles, showing Adverts or Sponsored content etc.

Learn more about the differences between Widget and Event Displays.

As with Widget Display, you can select any Filter as the content feed for an Event Display and easily customise the layout and styling to match your brand guidelines using No-Code editors.

Buzzspark also provides a RestAPI and full access to HTML, JavaScript and CSS code for developers to create custom integrations and unique experiences for audiences.

You can create and publish any number for Displays without any restrictions on the number of total monthly or concurrent viewers.

In this example, we’ll create an Event Display using the Quadrant theme to showcase content from “Official” Filter we created earlier.

Step 1: Navigate to Event Displays

From the left menu, browse to Engage > Event Displays.

Step 2: Create a new Event Display

Click on the +Display button on the top right. This launches the ‘Create New Event Display’ modal.



In the Display Info tab of the modal, enter the following:
Display Name – a short name to help you identify this Display, we’ll use “Pop-up Store” for our example.
Filter – Click this field and select the Filter you created earlier (“Official” in our case).
Click Next.

Step 3: Choose a Display theme

In the ‘Display Theme’ tab of the modal:
Event Themes – select a theme from the list - you can preview each theme by selecting its checkbox. We’ll use the “Quadrant” theme in our example.
Click Finish to complete the wizard.

Step 4: Customise your Event Display

The visual editor interface for Event Displays is the same as for Widget Displays, except some of the tabs in the right sidebar and options within them are naturally different.

Like Widget Displays, Event Displays also include Inline and Expanded Tiles. The difference being that in Event Displays, Inline Tiles are automatically expanded and hidden based on configurable time delays.

Learn more about the layout and customising Event Displays.

We’ll leave the default settings for our Event Display and go ahead and save it.
Click on the Save Changes button in the bottom right, and then click the Close button to exit and return to ‘Event Display’ page.

To get the Published URL for this Display, click on the Publish button in the ‘Actions’ column for the Display we just created. Note that you can also preview the Display in new browser tab by clicking the View button.



In the ‘Publish Settings’ modal:



The URL contains a unique Access Token to prevent unauthorised access. For example, if this Display is intended for internal use. You can renew the Access Token at any time, which generates a new URL and prevents previous URLs for this Display from working.

Click the Copy URL button to copy the URL for this Display to your clipboard.
You can also click View in Browser to preview this Display in a new browser tab/window.
If needed, you can click Renew Access Token to renew the access token for this Display.
Click Close to exit the modal.

Learn more about publishing and securing Event Displays.

Event Displays can be shown on digital screens in several ways. Once you have the URL for your Display, refer to the following articles based on your set-up:

Digital screens and projectors connected to your computer
Publishing Event Displays on wired TV Screens and Projectors
Publishing Event Displays via wireless display streaming solutions

Digital Signage Solutions
Publishing Event Display on Screendrive
Publishing Event Display on Yodeck
Publishing Event Display on OnSign TV

Next Steps

In this guide we covered some of the basics, without delving into all the advanced settings and customisations. Checkout the links included throughout this guide for more details.

If you have an eCommerce store, see how to import your product catalogue into Buzzspark, tag your products where they appear in UGC, and create shoppable galleries with Product Hotspots and call-to-action buttons.

Updated on: 16/09/2023