How To Host Instagram Takeovers For Increased Reach

Instagram takeover happens when a person takes over another person’s account temporarily for posting content, doing live sessions and promoting their brand. This is a great opportunity for brands, new influencers to collaborate and cross-promote their content on the platform.

IG takeovers process includes sharing videos, updating new stories, and live video updates on other influencer’s Instagram accounts. It provides fresh and captivating features that expand the audience for your content and boost engagement.

Let’s look into why Instagram takeovers are effective-

Instagram takeovers are an extremely effective approach to reflourish your content and reach to a wider audience. By collaborating with another influencer’s account, you can add a different touch and voice to your content, enhancing your audience trustworthiness.

Launch IG takeovers to provide a break from your regular content by giving a new and diverse content stream that increases engagement and supports community growth.

Instagram takeovers may be a beginning of a new chapter for brands trying to find ways to increase their engagement and reach of posts. Collaboration with influencers, companies, or creatives can add new perspectives, ideas, and excitement to your feed.

Here are three strong reasons why your brand deserves an Instagram takeover-

• Improves Brand Awareness

Instagram takeover can boost brand awareness among your targeted audience. You can attract new followers to your Instagram account by promoting the takeover through your company’s Instagram Stories and other social media channels, as well as utilizing a branded hashtag for more visibility.

• Builds Credibility

Want to position yourself as an industry expert? By collaborating with an influencer or industry expert, you may demonstrate your brand’s knowledge and authority in your field which will build credibility and also help in retaining old customers.

• Increases Overall Engagement

Instagram takeovers are a fascinating method to increase engagement and reach on your posts in a very lesser time. If you collaborate with someone who has a wide, loyal following, your post will receive increased audience engagement with more likes, comments, and shares.

To host an IG Takeover you must first take time to plan your approach, discover your perfect guest hosts who connect with your business and beliefs, and promote your event to get the most of your Instagram takeover. The steps below will assist you in planning the ideal takeover strategy-

• Step 1: Clearly Define Takeover Goals And KPIs

Clearly identifying takeover goals and KPIs is an important step toward staging a successful Instagram takeover.

Before working with another account, identify your goals for the takeover. This could include raising brand visibility, driving website traffic, increasing sales, improving engagement, reaching a new audience, or introducing a new product.

Defining your goals and KPIs can help you develop a focused plan, direct content development and engagement activities, and provide a benchmark for measuring the effectiveness of your takeover.

• Step 2: Decide On The Takeover Format

Choosing the takeover format is an important step in organizing a successful Instagram takeover. You have three options: Post Takeover, Story Takeover, and Live Video Takeover. Let’s understand all these in details-

1. Post Takeover

An Instagram post takeover occurs when a guest, such as an influencer, content creator takes over a brand’s account and posts content on their behalf.

The guest can publish both their own content and brand-related stuff on the profile. This popular sort of takeover can improve brand visibility while also providing followers with a new perspective.

2. Story Takeover

When a guest or an influencer takes over to the brand’s Instagram Stories for posting content for a specific period of time is known as Story takeover.

This form of takeover allows the visitor to share their daily lives and habits, providing a more intimate and relatable experience for the brand’s audience.

Instagram Stories takeovers are an effective way to increase engagement and create a more personal connection with the brand’s target audience.

3. Live Video Takeover

A live video takeover occurs when a guest takes over a brand’s Instagram account and goes live to interact with its followers.

This interesting and entertaining live takeover allows the guest to answer questions, promote products or services, and give a real-time interactive experience with the brand’s audience.

• Step 3: Choose A Takeover Host

Choosing a proper takeover host is an important step toward hosting a successful Instagram takeover. Here are a few details to consider:

1. For Brands

• Influencer Partner: Collaborate with an influencer who aligns with your brand values, target audience, and niche. They can bring their unique perspective, content style, and audience to your account.

• Another Brand: Partner with a complementary brand to reach new audiences, create content, and build relationships.

2. For Influencers

• Brand Collaboration: Partner with a brand that aligns with your values, niche, and audience. This can help you create sponsored content, reach new audiences, and build your portfolio.

• Another Influencer: Collaborate with a fellow influencer to reach new audiences, create content, and build relationships.

• Step 4: Create Instagram Takeover Guidelines

Once you’ve decided on your guest host and type of takeover, it’s important to develop some parameters. This will guarantee that the guest posts are consistent with your brand’s voice and goals. Your guidelines should address the following questions:

1. What kind of content will be featured in the takeover?

2. How long will the takeover last?

3. Who will approve the content before it is published?

4. What are the requirements for posting content?

Set your expectations, but give the guest host the flexibility to be creative and utilize their own voice.

• Step 5: Update Your Account Permissions For Host

Now it is time to grant your guest host access to your account. One method is to give the password to the guest host (but make sure it’s someone you trust).

If the guest host is an influencer, they will probably have their own Instagram Business Account, connect their account with yours.

You can also grant guest hosts access to your Instagram account by adding them as a contributor in your Meta Business Manager.

• Step 6: Select A Branded Hashtag

You can advertise your takeover ahead of time by utilizing Instagram hashtags. Any branded hashtags related with the takeover should be memorable, specific, and relevant.

Branded hashtags allow your followers to keep track of the takeover and view relevant postings in one spot. You can also promote the hashtag to urge your fans to use it while posting about the takeover, which will enhance visibility and discovery.

• Step 7: Finalize The Takeover Launch

The final steps involve a few important variables, like deciding when to post, checking your account analytics to discover which times have worked well for you.

This is also the opportunity to decide if you want a full or semi-account takeover:

1. Full Account Takeover: The guest host has complete authority over your account for an agreed-upon period of time (e.g., a day, 6 hours, a weekend).

2. Semi-account Takeover: The guest host can publish to your feed while you retain control over other features of the account.

Once you’ve planned and booked your Instagram takeover, you must market it to increase visibility, interaction, and reach.

Effective promotion can help raise awareness, attract new fans, and ensure your takeover is a success. Here’s how to market your Instagram takeover and take advantage of this unique chance-

• Before Launch Day

Tease the takeover on Instagram and your other social media accounts. Send out an email to your subscribers. Request the guest host to announce the takeover to their followers and community prior to the event. You can also announce the takeover on your website.

• On The Day of Launch

Post a photo or video to your Instagram feed or Story announcing the start of the takeover and introducing the host. Make sure to utilize the #takeover hashtag to gain more visibility. The guest host can also share this content to their following.

• After The Launch

Recap the takeover on your website and post highlights on social media. You may even make an Instagram Stories Highlight reel featuring the greatest posts from the takeover (your guest host will most likely want to do the same).

Instagram metric is a performance indicator that allows you to track vital data about how your client’s post is performing.  This manner, you may use your Instagram analytics tools to determine which types of content produce the most user interest based on your clients’ objectives.

Mentioning few Matrices to measure your Instagram Takeover success-

• Follower Count

Measuring follower count during an Instagram takeover involves tracking the number of followers you gain or lose during the collaboration.

Throughout the takeover, keep track of your following count and note any changes. Once the takeover is complete, note your final follower count and determine the net gain or loss.

• Overall Post Engagement

All the followers in the world won’t drive any new business if your clients’ followers don’t see and engage with their Instagram profile, posts, or reels. That’s where engagement metrics come into the picture.

With Instagram’s constantly updated algorithm, engagement is more important than ever to ensure their posts are seen. Tracking your client’s engagement per follower helps you monitor how interested is their Instagram audience.

• Hashtags Usage Count

Measuring hashtag usage count entails tracking and analyzing the success of your Instagram tags. Instagram Insights, a built-in analytics tool, can show you how frequently your hashtags have been used.

By continuously monitoring and evaluating your hashtag usage, you can fine-tune your hashtag strategy, optimize your content, and improve your overall Instagram performance.

• Website Traffic And Signups

Like other social media channels, Instagram is a powerful driver of traffic to your clients’ websites.

Instagram is more limiting than other social platforms in driving traffic to their site as you can’t add clickable links to each post. Instead, the platform only allows a link in bio, and brands with over 10k followers can add swipe-up links to their Instagram stories.

• Number Of Brand Mentions

The amount of brand mentions is an important factor for determining the success of an Instagram takeover. Brand mentions are the total number of times your brand is mentioned, tagged, or referred throughout the takeover. This includes:

1. Tags: The amount of times your brand’s Instagram account is mentioned in posts, stories, and comments.

2. Mentions: The number of times your brand is mentioned in a caption, comment, or story but not tagged.

3. Hashtag use: The number of times your branded hashtag appears in posts, stories, or comments.

Once you have finished your IG takeover, do not forget to follow your guest for their active participation in engaging your audience with their new content. So, express your gratitude through a post, IG reel, or story to establish a positive relation with your guest and their audience. 

It will also open new doors of collaboration with your guests and form new partnerships. Remember to take feedbacks from your guests and your audience to gain valuable insights and new ideas for future takeovers!