Everything You Need to Know About Instagram Takeovers

Hosting an Instagram Stories takeover is one of the most effective ways to reach new followers and build your brand on Instagram organically. An Instagram Stories takeover is when another person or brand temporarily “takes over” your Instagram account to give followers a look inside your company or products from a new perspective. You can do this by partnering with an influencer or with another business to take over your account.

The main objective of an Instagram Stories takeover is to introduce a fresh perspective to your Instagram account. When an influencer has a large following takes over your account, not only will they gain exposure from your audience, your business will also be benefitting from them when they invite their followers to tune into their takeover. It’s a win-win for both you and your influencer!

By now, you’re probably thinking of running an Instagram Stories takeover. If you’re not sure how to go about it, here’s the ultimate guide to help you:

Set Clear Goals and Expectations

This is the first thing that you and your IG influencer partner should do before you set out to have the takeover, to ensure that everything happens the way you want it. You need to determine the objectives that you want to achieve through the Instagram Stories takeover, the topics that should be covered, and those that should be avoided.

You and your host should both arrive at an agreement before you start the takeover. There should be a document which outlines the guidelines for the takeover, and your host should have a copy of this document which they need to sign off. On the other hand, your host should also provide you with a document outlining their plan to make sure that there are no surprises along the way. It’s important for both you and your host to discuss and finalize everything together and have all the details put in writing.

Make a List of Posting Guidelines for Your Host

Although the purpose of having an Instagram takeover is to give your audience a different personality to see on your account, you need to make sure that your host stays true to your brand. Creating a list to guide them in posting on your account is the best way to ensure that their presence would help you achieve the goals that you have set for this strategy.

In your guidelines, specify the topics you want them to cover, how often your host should be posting, and any hashtags or handles they should add to their posts. Also, let your host know how you’d want them to start with every story, the topics they should focus on, and how they should sign off.

At the start of the takeover, you’ll need to introduce your host and give your followers a brief background, including their Instagram handle, and let your followers know what they can expect to gain from watching the takeover. During the takeover period, your host should be able to share content that aligns with your brand, while at the same time being able to share their own perspective in their own style. At the end of the takeover, your guest host should let your followers know and thank them for tuning in.

Choose the Right Host for your IG Takeover

The key to a successful Instagram Stories takeover is to choose the right host who can represent your brand and help you achieve your goals for this strategy. Choose an industry expert who excels in storytelling, one who is able to share compelling content on their own account. You can also choose someone within your company, who can feature a behind-the-scenes look at your business. This is a excellent way to build a more personal connection with your audience, showing them a tour of the office, giving them a quick tutorial about your products, introducing them to other team members, or simply showing your company’s day-to-day happenings.

Promote Your Instagram Stories Takeover

Both you and your guest host should announce the upcoming takeover on your Instagram Stories and feed. Awareness is very important if you want your target audience to be tuning in to your stories takeover, so be sure to promote this and let your followers know about your takeover a few days or weeks before it starts. You don’t have to confine the promotion to Instagram. You can spread the word in other social media channels, as well as in your email campaigns.

How to Post Your Instagram Takeover

There are two ways you can post your Instagram Stories takeover. One, you can share your account logins to your guest host, so they can post directly to Stories themselves. Or two, your host would send over their content beforehand and you will be the one to schedule the posts yourself.

The advantage of allowing your guest host to post on your account directly is, they can broadcast a live session, which is something a lot of Instagram users love to watch because it allows them to engage with the host in real time. However, if there are certain security policies or branding guidelines that may be breached by sharing your IG account, the second option might be better.

Saving Your Takeover Content in Highlights

After the Instagram Stories takeover has ended, save the content in Highlights so users who have missed your stories can watch them. Let them know exactly where they can access these stories through announcements on your stories or your feed.

Assess Your Instagram Stories with Analytics

After the takeover has ended, the last thing you need to do is to assess the success of this strategy, and you can do this using Instagram’s Analytics. To access this, go to your profile tab, click on the rewind-clock icon at the top left corner, tap on “Archive” and choose “Stories”. From here, you will be able to see all the past stories that you have posted.

Choose on the Instagram Story that you wan to assess by clicking on it. Once it’s up, swipe up to see some very useful statistics, including how many user accounts were reached by your content, how many people viewed your story, and how many people started following you after seeing this story. These numbers would help you evaluate your takeovers and determine which ones are effective in promoting your brand, so you can better plan for your next strategy.

Instagram takeovers are a great way to broaden your audience reach and gain more followers. With these tips, you will be able to effectively plan and execute your takeovers.