In the age of all things Instagram, creating engaging visuals and get attention-grabbing, informative or humorous content that keeps your audience and followers locked in your account is becoming more and more essential. For the past decade of influencers on Instagram, there is a very popular technique is to create an Instagram takeover. In this article, let’s find out what exactly an Instagram takeover is, how helpful it is for a brand and the way to create an Instagram takeover for your account.
1. What is an Instagram takeover?
Have you ever had a look at a brand’s page and noticed another Instagram user (whether an influencer, professional/expert in a certain field or celebrity) communicate with you through posts, videos or stories on Instagram? It’s called Takeover. Creating an Instagram takeover is when another person takes over an account of a brand to share and post content.
2. What are the benefits of creating an Instagram takeover
Creating an Instagram takeover is beneficial for both the individually taking over and brand hosting. The viewers of both accounts can see others and view created content. This makes a greater opportunity of expanding new followers while using content to leverage niche expertise.
Let’s take a look at this example, in the case that your brand is about a skincare product, it would make perfect sense to have a board-certified dermatologist or registered nurse to create a takeover. The dermatologist or nurse could give reliable tips about skin care, sun protection, and beauty treatments.
For instance, you own a skincare brand, you should invite a board-certified dermatologist or registered nurse to create a takeover. The dermatologist or nurse could provide your audiences with skincare, sun protection, and beauty treatment tips. This would make your skincare brand look more credible for aligning yourself with an industry professional. On the other hand, the takeover personality would earn points for advising a product brand’s audiences.
3. How to create an Instagram takeover
Creating an Instagram takeover usually includes some behind-the-scenes work. Searching for the right influencer or media personality takes time. You should consider several things such as:
The personality’s overall brand
See if the user’s captions and overall voice align with your brand. Does the user have way too many sponsored posts and not enough organic content?
The personality’s engagement rate
While you can’t see a personality’s metrics, you can gauge by measuring the number of followers versus likes and comments.
The personality’s brand partnership history
Who has he/she worked with? Do these partnerships look good? What was the content like?
Once you find the right influencer or personality to work with, you have to reach out.
Here are some steps you can take:
- DM (direct message) the personality in question or email and tell them your Instagram takeover idea. It’s important to start with what your desired goal for both parties is (ex. Build awareness for a cause, promote a new product or grow following).
- Let them know your content idea (ex. Please post a series of stories which talk about the importance of sunscreen and different kind of formulations on the market; also throw in some product suggestions at the end) and any specifications you may have (create an image post or a video for a feed or an Instagram Story video). Also, make sure to ask the personality if he or she has any ideas to bring to the table. This helps you guys kickstart a collaborative mindset.
- Right when you and the personality work out a content plan, decide on a production and posting schedule. Make sure to have your marketing or brand manager approve of the final image/post/video before posting. Also, ensure you and the personality cross-promote one another when the takeover goes live.
4. Examples of creating an Instagram takeover
Do you need some real-world examples of creating an Instagram takeover? Here are some great takeovers between some brands and Instagram personalities.
Dr. Shereene Idriss, a popular dermatologist, and social personality speaks of an Instagram takeover.
Idriss did a Story takeover for women’s fashion magazine Allure.
In the example above, Dr. Shereen Idriss, a dermatologist based in New York City who often gives skincare advice on Instagram, collaborates with women’s publication Allure to host an Instagram Story takeover. This collaboration makes perfect sense because Idriss works in skincare and beauty treatments, which is of interest to the female demographic of Allure magazine.
Beauty blogger Karina Reske shares outfits picks from Express.
Reske shares one outfit and her thoughts on the look.
She showcases a second look to followers.
Reske closes the Story takeover with a swipe-up link.
The swipe-up link leads viewers to shop for the newest online arrivals for women.
Above, we can see Karina Reske, a style blogger and influencer whom Express partnered with for an Instagram Story takeover. Since Express sells both women’s and men’s clothing, it’s important to work with a fashion influencer to reach a target audience — in this case, a female personality to drive traffic to shop women’s clothes. Reske chooses outfits that are connected to Express’ audience of shoppers and show them. Her takeover story will also let her followers connect with the Express brand. Reske finishes off her looks with a swipe-up link that leads to a landing page for Story viewers to shop.
Instagram account for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Maryland.
Another example of a well-executed (yet super simple) takeover is this one done by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Maryland.
One of its students, Shervin Kashani, takes over the account.
Kashani shows some of what he does as a student in the major.
He also shares some internship experience, detailing what specific things he learned and worked on.
Hoping to motivate and inspire fellow department students, he shares an upcoming internship he will be having.
The University of Maryland’s Instagram account usually invites students to share their experiences. This allows the department to make a personal connection to viewers and students who are enrolled at the university or in the same department major through these takeovers. The takeover shines a spotlight on a fellow outstanding student while bolstering the department’s account as one that is informative and inspiring.
This takeover example also highlights that sometimes, you don’t even need to seek out an actual media personality or figure. You can use the very people in your company to make a personable connection — and the University of Maryland’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department does this very well by using actual students.
Popular meme account Tank Sinatra.
We showcase a successful meme account tank. Sinatra a lot, but Tank’s success also comes from the fact that he puts a face (his very own) to a brand. His success has made him recognizable and has helped him gain press and media attention for his publicity.
Tank on “The Ellen Show.”
Tank also has landed press, further getting his account name out there.
SUMMARY: A great way to strengthen your brand credibility and connection to your audience is to create an Instagram takeover. By finding the right influencer or personality, you can forge a deep relationship that shares informative (or funny) content to your audience and that of the party taking over. If you want to lift the veil on your brand, it also is a good idea to show actual faces such as team members, CEOs, students, staff, etc. behind the company to create a humanizing factor. Learn more about how to gain more Instagram followers here.