7 Simple Steps for an Incredible Instagram Takeover
What is an Instagram takeover?
An Instagram takeover is when one person takes over another individual’s Instagram feed for a period of time (usually a day). This could either be done by posting pictures themselves or by having a brand partnership to provide some sort of promotion or collaboration.
There are many types of Instagram takeovers, and each type works differently. Some takeovers are done to increase awareness about a specific product. In contrast, others are done to promote something fun, like a party or event.
A social media takeover can be used by anyone, whether it be a celebrity, blogger, influencer, or even a brand itself. There are many cases of successful Instagram takeovers.
There are several reasons why Instagram takeovers work so well. First, they allow brands to showcase how much they care about their customers and what they offer. Brands want to show their customers that they care about them and understand the struggles that they go through every day.
Another reason why takeovers work so well is that they help people feel special. Seeing a picture of yourself posted by someone else makes you feel important and unique.
Partial-Account Takeover – A partial account (or half-account) Instagram takeover could be useful if the user fears revealing their email address. The guest can send you the type of content that you would like to appear on your account, and you can post them whenever works best for you.
Full-Account Takeover – Based on different preferences and goals, a full-account Instagram takeover may be more effective than a partial-account takeover. You can allow guests to use your Instagram Live for promotional purposes and give them a broader range of engagement to reach a wider audience for your brand. If you’re worried about security, there are ways around that, such as temporary passwords.
Steps to organizing a successful Instagram takeover
The best place to find opportunities for Instagram takeovers is through networking. If you know someone who already has a large following, ask them if they’d be interested in doing something together.
Influencers often give up their accounts to brands for free, so make sure you pay attention to what they say and consider working with them.
If you aren’t familiar with networking, here are some tips to get you started:
Set Your Goals
What do you want to accomplish with this Instagram takeover? Setting your goals and looking at the big picture can help you lay out a clear path and define your strategy. Think about everything you’ll need to achieve your goal, from an influential takeover host to measurable metrics tracking your progress.
Decide on your Instagram Takeover Partner
There are three different types of takeover host or guest categories. Depending on how you want to manage a takeover, you might choose a different guest. There are three main categories of people who you might be interested in working with to gain an Instagram presence.
This post from Finnair shows an Instagram takeover from one of their frequent flyers, a Finnish actress!
Influencers
With this type of takeover, people in your niche usually take over your Instagram account and share content aligned to their expertise. This could include images, videos, or written posts.
Having an influencer on your brand’s account is a massive endorsement of your brand. It shows your Instagram followers that you trust their expertise. It’s like having a well-known celebrity endorse your new product or service.
Your followers will also benefit from hearing from an industry expert. It’s similar to having someone famous on your podcast, Facebook live stream, or Twitter chat. People love to see what celebrities think about topics they know little about.
Employees or colleagues
The next most common type of guest is your employees or your colleagues. They are the ones you trust the most and want to show off your company culture. You know what they do best, how much they love your company, and why they’re great at it. And because they work for you, they already feel comfortable sharing about your brand.
Through an Instagram takeover, your employees or colleagues can give your followers a glimpse into your world — whether behind the scenes, inside the office, or just showing them around town. These posts can help build relationships with your new audience and make your Instagram followers feel like insiders at your company.
You can ask your employees or colleagues to post photos, videos, and comments on behalf of your company. This gives them a chance to tell your story in their own words and lets them show off their talents. But remember to keep things lighthearted. A little humor goes a long way, especially when taking over someone else’s social media presence.
An employee takeover adds variety to your Instagram feed. You’ll introduce new faces and voices to your audience by asking your colleagues to take over your account. Plus, having diverse personalities interacting with each other helps strengthen relationships within your organization.
This employee of Finnair did a takeover to take followers behind the scenes!
Community members or customers
You can also invite a community member, customer, or ambassador of your brand to take over your company’s Instagram account and share their relevant experience with your company and followings. This way, it allows your community to interact with your brand directly.
The idea behind this feature is simple; having community members or customers take control of your Instagram shows that you care about them and want to give them a voice. They become ambassadors of your brand.
Having community members or customers take over your Instagram account shows that you value, trust them, and want to give them a voice through user-generated content. Your community members or customers could share a different perspective on the industry and help create diversity within your content. Studies show that 64% of consumers want brands to connect with them, so use that to your advantage!
Furthermore, they might share a unique story or experience you wouldn’t otherwise see.
Choose a Type of Takeover
Instagram has a wide range of features that you can utilize during takeovers. We’ve detailed the best ways to use each Instagram feature depending on your marketing campaign and who you’re partnering with.
Instagram Posts
Guest posting on your Instagram gallery is one of the original ways of taking over an Instagram profile. Adding variety to your Instagram gallery can help keep your feed fresh and exciting. Most takeovers are done using Instagram posts.
For example, Weight Watchers asks its members to post about themselves, their favorite foods and recipes, and their experiences through Instagram posts.
Instagram Stories
You might want to keep your gallery to a specific theme, or you might have set guidelines for your posts. Instagram Story posts can be an excellent way for your guest to take over your account without risking the integrity of your gallery. Furthermore, an Instagram Story takeover is a great way to share pictures and engage a new audience with storytelling. Stories are great for generating user-generated content or handing over the reins to a colleague. Either way, you’re sure to see some great engagement from your new followers.
The Instagram account STIL does takeover stories regularly.
Instagram live videos
Like Instagram Stories, Instagram Live videos are an excellent way for a guest to do takeovers without posting on your gallery! Instagram Live is still relatively new, so you probably haven’t seen much takeover content with that feature, but we anticipate it being a hot trend soon. Roughly 82% of consumers prefer watching live videos to regular social posts, making Instagram Live an amazing tool to use for a takeover!
Instagram reels
Having first launched in 2020, Instagram Reels are pretty new to Instagram. However, they have surged in popularity and are an excellent marketing tool that could easily be a part of your next takeover campaign!
This is the reels tab of the STIL Instagram account, where they show off their products and collabs!
Instagram Collabs
Simply put, Instagram Collab posts are when one post or reel is shared between you and another account, so it appears in two places at once. These posts are great to use during a takeover because they mean you and your guest can have the same content appear on both of your profiles!
Plan Your Content
Before you jump right into finding a guest and handing over the keys to your account, it’s important to have a game plan. You want to figure out what kind of content will be shared with your Instagram followers before the time comes. We’ve created fun fan favorites to keep your target audience engaged.
Behind-the-Scenes – If your guest is an employee or colleague, a good idea would be to do a behind-the-scenes takeover of your business. This way, you can show your fans and customers the inner workings of what goes on to make their favorite products and potentially boost sales in the process!
If you’re the CEO of your company, even better! Studies show that 70% of consumers love it when CEOs are connected on social media, so take the reins from your social media manager for one day and get to know your consumers.
Walkthroughs – Walkthroughs are another amazing example of content that engages your audience. The ideal scenario would be an influencer taking over your account and performing a walkthrough for your product or service.
Tutorials – Let’s say your niche is fitness; this would be an excellent opportunity for your guest to do a tutorial! Your guest could perform one of your favorite workout routines and see how it goes. Whether it goes well or poorly, tutorials are great for increasing engagement.
In the image below, Instagram influencer YogaByCandace does an amazing workout tutorial.
Promote the Takeover’s Launch Date
If you’re planning a takeover soon, give your followers a heads-up! A simple announcement of the launch date through several Instagram posts or stories will let your Instagram followers know what to expect, so they’re not surprised when a new face pops up on their feed. You can also talk about the takeover on other social media channels to get as much attention as possible. Be sure to include the start and end time of the takeover event, so your followers know what’s up.
The post below shows the company Full Pyscle promoting the Instagram takeover by one of their instructors!
Execution of the Takeover
Now that you’ve set your goals, planned, and promoted your takeover, it’s time for the execution! You may think that since someone else is taking over your account, you have nothing to do with the actual takeover. However, you should be a part of it just as much as the host is! While the takeover unfolds, act as a silent participant and see how your followers react to your takeover strategy.
Additionally, it’s important that you’re around in case something goes wrong. You don’t want to be away from your computer or phone if there’s an accidental password reset.
Track or Measure the Results
After everything goes according to plan, you’ll want to ensure you’re happy with how things went. Take a look at Instagram Insights – you’ll want to look at the change in metrics and see whether you achieved your goals (did you gain follower count or increase engagement rates?). If you did, then congratulations! If not, there may be room for improvement. Either way, you should feel proud of yourself for having such a successful takeover!
The Wrap Up
Social media takeovers can be great for follower growth. An effective takeover strategy can positively impact your product awareness and overall engagement! Social media marketing can initially seem tricky, but it’s worth it once you start seeing results.
Work with us to scale your brand to the next level! Learn more about what we can do here.
