If you spend any time on Instagram, you’ve probably seen a takeover. Instagram takeovers are when one account temporarily logs into another account to share content. Not only are takeovers a fun way for brands to collaborate and cross-promote, but they’re a really valuable way to grow your audience. Millennial Marketing regularly utilizes takeovers in our strategy and we've had enormous success with it. In the past 12 months I've gotten 4 new clients directly from takeovers and it requires almost zero effort on my part! Keep reading to find out how we manage our takeovers and get new business!
Please note that there is no right or wrong way to do a takeover- the following guidelines are simply how we organize ours.
Invite Your Guests
As part of our marketing strategy and to reach our goals of engaging and growing our community, Millennial Marketing hosts Instagram takeovers every Monday. We have a wide range of people and brands that do takeovers for us and each one brings a different value to our followers. Here are some ideas about who you can invite to do takeovers for your account.
Partner companies
Which companies do you work with the most often? For us that could be graphic designers, website designers, SEO specialists, etc. Maybe it’s a specific brand that you carry in your store or a company you enjoyed working on a project with. Think geographically, too! If there’s a cool store near yours, a takeover could help people realize where you’re located and how valuable the area is.
Influencers
Influencers are an awesome choice for a takeover, but make sure you choose the right ones and be mindful that there can sometimes be a fee involved. It’s up for debate, but generally accounts with over 5,000 followers that have a significant “influence” on that following are considered influencers. Brands will often pay these accounts to promote their products to their audience. For your takeover, choose an influencer whose audience reflects your demographic. For example, if your company offers tutoring services, choose an influencer who focuses on family/motherhood/parenting/lifestyle trends that has kids in the age group you’re targeting. Not sure who would be a good influencer choice to do a takeover on your account? Ask your followers! Add a question sticker to your story and ask your followers who they’d like to see takeover your account!
Employees/Collegues
Your team is the closest to your brand. They know what you’re trying to sell and who you’re trying to reach. Even if they don’t have a strong online following, switching up the perspective of your stories can be hugely engaging content. Have them takeover for the day to give a behind the scenes perspective of life in the office or show your audience what goes into their daily routine at work. Bonus points if you let them leak any special announcements or products so that your audience feels like they’re actually part of your team.
Non-profits or organizations that your company supports
Remember that fundraiser you did last year with that local non-profit? How about the networking group you’re a part of? Maybe the local community foundation that you support? All great options.
Community Members
Take advantage of the influential community members that you know or have worked with! Did anybody interesting attend the grand opening of your business? Know someone running for local office? Having someone who is well-respected in your community do a takeover could bring a whole new audience to your brand.
Customers
Think testimonials are a good marketing strategy? Try having your best customers do a takeover. A boutique could have someone come in and stream their shopping experience or do a try-on. A gym could have a member come in to record their workout and talk about all the ways they’ve benefitted from being a member.
How It Works
After choosing who you would like to do your takeover, you’ll need to give them some direction on what you’d like them to do. Here are the guidelines we generally follow:
One feed post
Unlimited story posts
Include as many Instagram features (stickers, questions, polls, etc.) as possible for max engagement
Introduce your business and the products/services you offer
Focus on things that your accounts have in common
For us, these are things like marketing, small businesses/entrepreneurship, women empowerment, and community-related topics.
We try to have each account that does a takeover for us talk about how digital marketing has played a part in growing their business. That way our followers aren’t confused about why that particular account is taking over.
Spend some time outlining with them what points you would like them to focus on and what information will be the most valuable to your followers.
I always encourage accounts that are doing takeovers with us to end with a reminder for our followers to follow them on their own account!
When it’s over, we save the stories from the day and add them to a highlight or to our IGTV (or both!), so that people can continue to see the takeover after it’s over.
Once these guidelines are in place and you have decided on a date, all you’ll need to do is create a temporary password and give it to them on the day of or the night before their takeover! Be sure to hop on stories the next day and ask your followers for their feedback.
That’s all there is to it! Easy peasy. If you’re looking for some takeover examples, check out Millennial Marketing’s IGTV or tune in on Mondays to see our newest takeovers! If you’d like to do a takeover with us, just send me a message or email me at marketingmalia@gmail.com. We’d love to work with you!
