Posted by Tamsyn Strike
With more than 500 million accounts active on Instagram every day, it can be hard for your business to reach potential customers and capture their attention.
While regular posts will make up the majority of your content calendar, bigger and more creative campaigns generate higher engagement and impressions. Here’s a short list of some of our favourite Instagram campaigns to give you a bit of inspiration.
1. DJI
DJI is the market leader in easy-to-fly drones and aerial photography systems. They partnered with numerous Instagram filmmakers to promote their new drone, the Phantom 4 Pro. By teaming up with established Instagrammers, DJI ensures that it gets quality content and has instant access to each filmmaker’s following, i.e. huge swathes of their target audience. The films take full advantage of Instagram’s longer video length, which has increased from 15 seconds to one minute, opening up greater possibilities for video marketing on the platform.
2. Disney
To promote the upcoming Beauty and the Beast live-action film, actor Luke Evans took over the Disney Instagram account for a day, posting photos from the film’s world premiere. Influencer takeovers like this get you in front of a new audience, as the influencer’s followers flock to your account (and the interested ones stick around). It also gives your existing followers a little break from your regular content and a fresh take on your brand, which prevents your posts from stagnating and reignites engagement.
3. ASOS
While some brands partner with influencers to create posts, ASOS takes it up a notch by teaming up to create accounts. Run by successful Instagrammers, these sponsored accounts focus on the ASOS product line. It’s a clever tactic. Of course, most of the influencers’ followers will happily go to the sponsored account for extra content. But the real genius is that it allows the company to construct multiple brand personalities, each appealing to a specific audience and providing targeted posts.
4. Starbucks
Taking a cue from customers who’d been doodling designs on their cups for years, Starbucks launched the #WhiteCupContest. The contest encouraged customers to share their doodles on Instagram using the competition hashtag, and the winner had their design printed on limited-edition reusable plastic cups across North America. The contest generated nearly 4,000 entries in just three weeks and changed the winner’s life.
5. Tony Hawk
Pro skater Tony Hawk periodically stashes his old skateboards in random locations and posts an image of a landmark and a clue to help followers find the prize. Whoever gets to the spot first gets to keep the setup, signed by Mr Hawk himself. The campaign helps to build new followers through word of mouth, but also generates loyalty among Tony Hawk’s audience by giving something back.
Some parting advice
As you can see, there’s a lot more to Instagram than simply posting a picture and seeing what happens. With a little bit of planning and creativity, you can find new and interesting ways to draw in followers and foster engagement.
If you’re feeling inspired, here are a few simple tips that might help you to run a competition:
- set clear objectives;
- specify the rules;
- make entry easy;
- use a branded hashtag;
- promote it on other social networks;
- offer prizes that matter;
- and showcase the winner.
If you’re planning to work with influencers, be picky. There are plenty of stories in circulation about bogus accounts and paid-for followers, so look at the engagement your potential partners are garnering and perhaps test the water before working on a bigger project. Also, make sure yours and your influencer’s audiences align and that they’re aware of and willing to uphold your brand values.
Now, get out there and create some killer campaigns.
Interested in Instagram marketing? Read our best practice tips for brand Instagram accounts or learn more about social media stories.