Instagram Takeover: what it is

Since Instagram launched the stories on its platform, takeovers have become very popular. If you don’t know what an Instagram Takeover is, don’t worry, I’ll tell you everything about it in this post.

Instagram Takeover: What it is

An Instagram Takeover is when a person temporarily takes over another Instagram account. 

It can be someone from inside the company or an outsider, such as an influencer or content creator.

I leave you two examples below:

✅ There are brands that invite influencers to take over Instagram stories for a day to talk about a particular product or service.

✅ And there are companies that opt to do it internally. Employees appear for a day explaining how a normal day at work looks like for them.

Why are Instagram Takeovers used?

This type of content is very well received on Instagram. It can be a good way to get:

• Interactions with users: Users will see that there is a real person behind the camera which encourages them to interact and even start a conversation with them.
• Transparency and closeness: Through Instagram Takeovers, you can showcase your company. The product reaches the user more easily when you demonstrate how to use it with your own workers or other people, such as an influencer.
• Spontaneity: A takeover is a different type of content to add some variety to your business account as it gives your brand a different perspective. People like the spontaneity this format brings.

How to run Instagram Takeovers on your account

As we have seen, including Takeovers in your Instagram marketing strategy can bring you multiple benefits. Still, bear in mind that sharing this type of content also requires advance planning and consideration.

Next, you can review the main steps that will help you develop a successful content strategy with Instagram Takeovers.

#1. Define your goals

As in any strategy, defining and setting the goals you want to achieve will be the first step. If you want to add this type of content to your Instagram planning, first you need to be clear on how these videos will keep you in the right direction. 

For example, we run Instagram Stories Takeovers at Metricool to get closer to our community and let them know a bit more about us. 

#2. Choose the participants of your Takeovers

Now it’s time to select the partners for your Instagram takeovers, to do so, always keep in mind your goals and the type of marketing strategy that you have in place. 

• If your objective is to increase the visibility of your brand, you should introduce the team by letting them participate in the stories. 
• On the other hand, if your focus is on showing how your products are used, you can choose someone from outside the company. 
• Do you want to improve the reach of your account? You can make collaborations with influencers who usually reach more people. 

#3. Define your brand identity and share posting guidelines

We recommend that you set the guidelines and rules on how to approach the takeovers and share it with all the participants to make sure everybody is on the same page. For instance:

• Each one can share a maximum of 10 stories a day.
• Partners can combine videos with audio and images.
• It is recommended to include GIFs to capture the attention of users
• etc. 

These are only a few examples, the most important thing is to give direction and establish some parameters to be visually consistent with the stories and to preserve the verbal identity.

#4. Time to plan

Once you have set your goals, decided the partners who are going to participate and established the guidelines, it is time to plan your strategy.

As with all social media channels, having an editorial calendar is essential. You need to create an editorial calendar where you can establish the frequency of how often you are going to share a takeover. With this step, you will guarantee a well organized and defined strategy. 

Voilà! Everything is ready to dive into your Instagram stories takeover strategy. 

Remember to use all the resources that Instagram offers to maximize the impact of your Instagram Takeover. For example, you can highlight the story so users can see it whenever they want.

#5. Analyze the performance of your actions

This is the last step, but not the least. 

Keeping track of the success of this format will help you identify trends and discover whether this type of content works or not. This way you can adjust your strategy accordingly and make sure you are on the right path.

You can analyze the performance of these stories in two different ways:

▶️ ️ With the insights offered by Instagram. Check out the most relevant metrics and write them down in a document.

▶️ ️ By analyzing the performance of your Instagram account through any Metricool account.  You will find all the information in the same dashboard that it will be available at any time.

Would you like to analyze your Instagram Stories Takeovers?

This is a summary with all the steps to start creating your own Instagram Takeovers!

Have you already tried them?

Sara Martín , 16 February 2021