Instagram has a powerful 1 billion month-to-month energetic customers—that’s hundreds of thousands of individuals logging in every day. It’s clearly an awesome place to attach with potential prospects, notably youthful customers (current information exhibits almost 62% of Instagram customers are aged 18-34).
Whereas there are a lot of methods to advertise your model on the platform, together with working adverts and sponsoring posts, probably the most efficient (and typically free) methods to develop your viewers is by internet hosting an Instagram takeover.
What’s an Instagram takeover?
A novel advertising and marketing tactic for your online business, an Instagram takeover is whenever you associate with somebody to take over your account for a short while, whether or not it’s in the future or a number of. The host proclaims themselves to your viewers and proceeds to put up updates all through the required time. This host of the Instagram takeover will be an worker, an influencer, a enterprise or an trade professional.
Takeovers assist improve engagement and attain on Instagram. They offer your viewers a singular perspective of your online business. They’ll additionally assist elevate your model, showcasing key merchandise or differentiators to current prospects and new audiences.
Generally takeovers are extra about elevating different individuals than merely selling your model. An excellent instance of that is when the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) had their March Resident Scholar, Dr. Katherine Mills, take over their account for a day.
Dr. Mills posted to the ASA account all through the day, highlighting conferences with ASA management and politicians throughout a visit to Washington, DC advocating for the doctor anesthesiologists and secure take care of sufferers.
How do Instagram takeovers work?
With an Instagram takeover, you’re handing over the proverbial keys of your account over to a visitor for a specified time, whether or not it’s for in the future or a couple of days. That particular person (or enterprise) posts their very own content material in your account. If this makes you nervous, don’t fear—we’ll clarify how takeovers work (together with how one can defend your self from dangers) and supply some tips about how to verify your takeover is profitable.
How do companies profit from Instagram takeovers?
Instagram takeovers are a contemporary strategy to generate buzz about your model or merchandise. They supply many advantages to companies, together with the chance to collaborate with fashionable influencers or content material creators who’re related to your viewers.
Listed below are a few of our favourite advantages of Instagram takeovers:
The flexibility to succeed in a brand new viewers
When an influencer with a big following takes over your account, you may have the potential to succeed in new audiences. Influencers will notify their followers of the takeover by posting an Instagram Story or put up to move over to your account to observe alongside. Takeovers assist construct your followers on Instagram, as among the visitor host’s followers will doubtless begin following and interacting with you because of this. This profit can final lengthy after the preliminary takeover has ended.
The chance to construct belief and credibility
Partnering with a visitor host helps set up belief with their followers. This partnership provides your organization credibility with a brand new viewers who might not find out about you or your online business. It lends social proof since individuals belief the suggestions of others. When an influencer promotes your model on their very own web page—and their followers see that content material—you’re extra prone to earn the belief of these people.
Partaking with an worker or trade insider provides you credibility with your personal followers, notably when that particular person is an professional of their discipline.
Elevated engagement together with your posts and account
Instagram takeovers present a compelling strategy to encourage extra engagement in your posts. For those who’re collaborating with somebody who has an energetic, loyal following, you possibly can count on to see extra Instagram likes, feedback and shares in your content material. This elevated engagement also can assist improve your attain as a result of Instagram’s algorithm favors posts with excessive engagement.
A behind-the-scenes have a look at your online business
Takeovers on Instagram give your followers a glimpse below the hood of your online business. They assist showcase an genuine facet of your online business and may spotlight your organization tradition, services or products.
For instance, let’s say you personal a bakery. You would do an Instagram takeover with considered one of your pastry cooks and have them present your followers how they make a few of your hottest desserts.
Extra visitors and gross sales for you
By growing your model’s attain and engagement, Instagram takeovers also can result in extra visitors and gross sales for your online business. For those who’re selling a brand new services or products, an influencer takeover may help get the phrase out.
Make it simple on your followers to navigate to your web site by coordinating your and your visitor host’s Instagram hyperlink in bio instruments. You may as well use hashtags to extend publicity and discovery (extra on that under).
The best way to run an efficient Instagram takeover in 7 steps
Take a while to plan your technique, establish your superb visitor hosts who align together with your model and values, and promote your occasion will enable you to get essentially the most out of your Instagram takeover. The next steps are targeted on serving to you propose the right takeover.
1. Set up your takeover objectives and KPIs
Earlier than you begin in search of visitor hosts, it’s vital to ascertain your objectives for the takeover. What do you need to obtain (e.g., model consciousness, follower progress, improved put up engagement, buyer leads, and so forth.)?
Be sure to ascertain some KPIs (key efficiency indicators) so you possibly can measure the takeover marketing campaign’s efficiency. These might embody:
- The variety of new followers you acquire in the course of the takeover
- The quantity of engagement in your posts
- The variety of web site clicks or gross sales you generate
The objectives needs to be clear to everybody concerned within the takeover, so posts will be tailor-made that can assist you obtain them.
2. Select a takeover host
Once you’re planning your takeover, establish a bunch that is smart on your model. They need to have the same audience and be revered of their discipline. Take into account the next when deciding on your host:
- Influencers: Instagram influencers usually, however not all the time, have loads of followers. Their followers view them as specialists of their area of interest. Collaborating with an influencer places your model in entrance of their loyal viewers. Influencer posts, paired with hashtags, also can foster engagement and curiosity.
- Clients: Giving a buyer the keys to your account offers social proof and is an efficient strategy to showcase your merchandise. The client’s voice is a robust one. It fosters a sense of neighborhood and demonstrates that your online business values buyer enter.
- Staff: Worker takeovers could make manufacturers appear extra relatable. A takeover provides your staff some recognition and divulges the human facet of your online business. This sort of worker advocacy offers a singular look into your online business.
- Trade leaders and specialists: Take into account doing a takeover with an trade luminary, somebody who affords precious data about your area of interest. Specialists can present content material to your followers whereas reinforcing your organization’s management.
- Companies: Partnering with one other enterprise—notably one with a firmly established buyer base—can elevate your model in your trade and introduce your online business or merchandise to a brand new viewers.
3. Choose a sort of takeover
There’s a couple of strategy to execute a profitable Instagram takeover. It’s vital to be artistic, but additionally to align your takeover to your particular objectives. Listed below are three widespread approaches to think about:
- Instagram put up takeovers: This sort of takeover typically includes having your visitor host take over your organization’s Instagram account for a set time period and put up content material associated to your trade, services or products to your feed. It’s a simple method to a takeover that may be very efficient in selling your model.
- Instagram Story takeovers: A Story takeover includes having your visitor host share a collection of photographs or movies to your organization’s Instagram Tales. These behind-the-scenes, action-oriented methods generate partaking content material whereas giving your followers a sneak peek of one thing particular to your online business.
- Stay video takeovers: Stay video takeovers generate pleasure and construct anticipation for an occasion or announcement (e.g., a brand new product launch.) You may as well use dwell video to host Q&As, bulletins or interviews.
4. Define Instagram takeover pointers
When you’ve chosen your visitor host and sort of takeover, it’s time to create some pointers. This can assist make sure the visitor’s posts are aligned together with your model voice and objectives. Your pointers ought to reply the next questions:
- What kind of content material shall be included within the takeover?
- How lengthy will the takeover final?
- Will the content material be pre-planned or spontaneous?
- Who will approve the content material earlier than it’s posted?
- What are the necessities for posting content material?
Don’t be too restrictive. Set your expectations, however permit the visitor host sufficient freedom to be artistic and use their very own voice.
5. Set permissions to your account
Now it’s time to offer your visitor host entry to your account. A method to do that is to supply the password to the visitor host (simply ensure that is somebody you possibly can belief).
If the visitor host is an influencer, they’ll doubtless have their very own Instagram Enterprise Account. Join their account together with your
Enterprise Account by means of the Instagram settings. This can permit them to put up content material to your feed as in the event that they had been posting from their very own account.
You may as well give visitor hosts entry to your Instagram account by including them as a contributor to your Meta Enterprise Supervisor. Meta offers detailed directions for the way to do that through their Assist Middle.
Alternatively, you possibly can streamline permissions administration by implementing an approval course of with a social media administration platform like Sprout Social. With a message approval workflow, you possibly can collaborate successfully with companions and visitors on tone and content material.
6. Select a branded hashtag
You possibly can promote your takeover forward of time utilizing Instagram hashtags. Any branded hashtags related to the takeover needs to be simple to recollect, particular and related.
Branded hashtags assist your followers hold observe of the takeover and see associated posts in a single place. You may as well promote the hashtag to encourage your followers to make use of it when posting in regards to the takeover to extend publicity and discovery.
7. Finalize the small print and launch
The ultimate step includes a couple of key particulars together with selecting when to put up. We’ve put collectively some greatest practices about when to put up on social media to offer you a place to begin. Nonetheless, you also needs to overview your account analytics to see what instances have traditionally been greatest for you.
This also needs to be the time to find out if you need a full account or semi-account takeover:
- Full account takeover: The visitor host has full management of your account for an agreed-upon timeframe (e.g., a day, 6 hours, a weekend).
- Semi-account takeover: The visitor host can put up to your feed, however you preserve some management over different points of the account. For instance, you may approve all content material earlier than it’s posted or schedule posts forward of time. Social media administration platforms like Sprout make it simple to plan and schedule Instagram posts.
You’re able to launch, however there’s another factor…
Selling your Instagram takeover
Together with your takeover able to launch, it’s time to begin selling it on Instagram and past. This can assist guarantee your followers are conscious of the Instagram takeover and get them excited in regards to the content material to return.
Earlier than the day: Tease the takeover on Instagram and your different social media channels. Ship an e-mail to your subscribers. Request the visitor host put up in regards to the takeover to their followers and neighborhood. You may as well announce the takeover in your web site.
On the day of: Publish a photograph or video in your Instagram feed or Story to announce the beginning of the takeover and introduce the host. Be sure to make use of the takeover hashtag. The visitor host can repost this content material to their followers as properly.
After the day: Recap the takeover in your web site and share highlights on social media. You possibly can even create an Instagram Tales Spotlight reel with the perfect posts from the takeover (your visitor host will doubtless need to do that too).
And, after all, make sure you thank your host.
Measure your takeover’s success
After the mud settles, overview your takeover’s efficiency and consider metrics towards the established KPIs. Take a while to know what labored and what didn’t so you possibly can optimize your takeover technique for subsequent time. Listed below are a couple of key metrics to measure:
- Variety of new followers: Maintain observe of what number of new followers you gained in the course of the takeover interval and examine this quantity to your common price of progress.
- Publish engagement: Evaluate your put up engagement (Likes, feedback, shares) to see if it elevated versus what’s typical on your account.
- Hashtag utilization and mentions: Evaluate how usually your hashtag was used and see when you can spot any patterns. Additionally, verify for any new mentions of your model.
- Web site visitors: Test your web site analytics to see if visitors elevated or visitors patterns modified.
- Web site conversions/signups: Did you see a spike in gross sales or a rise in conversion (e.g., e-newsletter signups)?
A social media administration software like Sprout can simplify marketing campaign measurement related to an Instagram takeover. Sprout offers dashboard-style Instagram analytics that allow you to simply see put up efficiency, hashtag utilization, viewers engagement and extra.
Examples of Instagram takeovers
Now that you know the way to execute an Instagram takeover, take a look at some examples from manufacturers which have performed it properly.
Samantha Pollino’s Hamilton Musical takeover
In Could 2019, Samantha Pollino hosted an Instagram Story takeover on the official Hamilton Musical Instagram account. Pollino performed Girl 2 within the Phillip Firm manufacturing of the present. She did the takeover when the present was in Dallas, posting Story movies all through the day of behind-the-scenes footage. She used Story components, including hashtags, Instagram handles, stickers and music to her posts. She additionally engaged with followers—for instance, inviting them to ask questions which she promised to reply on Twitter.
Pollino has just below 21,000 followers on Instagram, so it is a nice instance of how an insider with a modest following can produce some partaking and distinctive content material.
Penn Admissions scholar takeover
In 2019, the College of Pennsylvania Admissions division gave considered one of their scholar ambassador’s the keys to their Instagram Tales for a day. She recorded her day on campus as a UPenn scholar: strolling to class with associates, having fun with a meal within the cafeteria and attending class. She even recorded considered one of her professors writing on a chalkboard.
The takeover offers a quick, however impactful, glimpse into the lifetime of a scholar at Penn, full with some compelling footage of the campus, lecture rooms and scholar areas.
Jessica Capshaw’s three hundredth episode takeover for Gray’s Anatomy
Many might know Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Roberts within the long-running ABC present Gray’s Anatomy. Capshaw took over the present’s official Instagram Tales to have a good time the milestone three hundredth episode. This gave the present’s followers and followers a singular glimpse into the present’s manufacturing.
Capshaw’s posts included cameos from fellow forged members, a quick highlight of the hair and make-up trailer, pictures of the forged and crew gathering in a eating space and plenty of extra insider treats.
Launch and handle Instagram takeovers with Sprout
Instagram takeovers present a robust means for companies to combine up their account’s content material, improve engagement and attain new audiences. Sprout is the right software that can assist you plan, execute and measure your Instagram takeover. With Sprout, you possibly can simply see put up efficiency, hashtag utilization and viewers engagement.
Obtain our Instagram for Manufacturers information and learn to construct a complete high-impact Instagram advertising and marketing technique.
