There seem to be unending ways to social media for marketing products and services. Andyes, you are right to think that!

As social media is constantly evolving to bring more features to users, we, the business people have the opportunity to use these tools to effectively communicate what we have to our audience. In this post, we are going to look at social media takeovers.

Most of the time, these takeovers happen on Instagram Stories – but it is up to you to pick your platform.

During a social media takeover, a macro or micro-influencer collaborates with your brand where they get their followers to go on your gram. They will be sharing exciting stories and happenings that are related to the brand. Collaboration like these are great because:

1. It increases your brand exposure

2. It brings in new followers

3. It promotes brand credibility

How to run a social media takeover in 5 steps

1.Define your goals

You need to know what you want to achieve at the end of the social media takeover. Do you want people to purchase a particular product or service? Do you want to run a corporate social responsibility campaign? Do you want your audience to visit your newly opened outlet? Do you want to get more followers? If so, you need to determine if you want to get more local followers or international followers?

These are some questions to consider before doing anything, it is the foundation for a successful social media takeover!

2. Find the right creators

Once you know your goals, you can choose the best candidate to perform the social media takeover. Create a list first, then, select from it.

If it is your first time doing it, try using a micro-influencer. It can be an employee who is social media savvy, or a business partner. Once you get the hang of it, then you can engage more influential people.

Remember that there is no need to rush. Pick the right people that represent the brand that has the potential to help you reach your goals.

Once done, engage the people and pitch your ideas to them. Be open to brainstorm and create something that benefits your brand and also their following.

3. Set takeover parameters

It sounds a little scary that another person is taking over something that is rightfully yours. It takes trust – but not blind trust. That is why you need to set specific parameters for the influencer taking over.

Ensure that whatever is discussed is written on paper and signed. It could be an NDA or just a list of things to be aware of. Write down your brand’s expectations, timelines, and other deliverables when picking your creators.

If you have any video lighting requests or specific tints to be used, ensure that they are all written down and discussed. If you are not comfortable with handing editing roles to the influencer, then you can get them to video the ‘takeover’ and send it to you so you can populate it on your social media. It is a bit of a hassle, but it all depends on what your brand is comfortable with.

4. Promote the takeover

You do not want to be under the radar on this one. Set a launch date and shout it out! Get your influencer to do the same. Promotion should be done one month in advance so that your audience will not miss the announcement.

Set up posters on Instagram and using the countdown feature on Instagram Stories. You can get your audience involved by starting a poll on what they want the influencer to do during the takeover. You could also opt to advertise the takeover and get your audience to share about the takeover.

Not to forget, do use appropriate hashtags and location tags to reach more people.

5. Track your success

Never run a campaign blindly. Once the takeover is done, review what has happened and tally it with the goal you planned to achieve. It may take some time to collect the data depending on the type of goal you have set. However, it is very important to track your metrics.

Review the total viewers instantly on Instagram insights, and if you are looking for new followers, that can be easily tracked too. If you are running a campaign that encourages people to buy a certain product or use a certain service, you should give these viewers a code so you can estimate how many viewers tuned in when they use the code at your online or physical store.

Also, involve your influencer. Ask if he or she received new following and what could be better. There is always room for improvement.

Interested to get involved in social media but you don’t know where to start? PINC360 is the perfect place to start. We are a social media management company that creates strategic plans, providing your management with the roadmap to achieve your set goals through social media. We are the ideal people to engage in social media campaigns.

Want to know more? Send us a message now!