With 90% of Instagram users following at least one brand there, do we need to say more about the platform’s importance in building a successful business? What we do need to talk about is how you can optimize your efforts with Instagram’s special features like collab posts to maintain relevance and engagement.
Released in 2021, Instagram collab posts let you share content by partnering with other Instagram accounts. Whether it’s a photo or a reel, the content piece will be visible on both profiles.
If done right, Instagram collab posts can be an excellent boon for your visibility and engagement. It can even act as an effective social proof and simplify the content creation process.
In today’s article, we discuss how you can use Instagram collab posts to reach new audiences, gain followers, and maximize engagement.
What is an Instagram collab post?
An Instagram collab post is a single post that’s visible on two different accounts, features the two users as the post’s creators, and shares the same likes and comments.
One profile creates a post and then invites another user as a collaborator. Once they accept the invitation, the post appears in both of their profiles as a collab post.
5 Benefits of Instagram collab posts
So why are we focussing so much on Instagram collab posts? You could have just tagged another creator or brand in your posts, right? It could not be further from the truth.
While you are technically adding a person by tagging them in your Instagram post, it does next to nothing to boost your engagement. But with Instagram collab posts, you can reap the following benefits:
1. Boosts reach
When you create a collab post with another creator or a brand, you get access to their followers. It expands your reach to new audience segments and brings fresh attention to your products. If you are struggling to beat the ever-changing Instagram algorithm, collab posts are a great way to break that barrier and enhance discoverability.
2. Increases engagement
The increased exposure you get by partnering with another brand or a creator also increases your engagement rate. The more people see your post, the more likes, comments, and shares you will get. Also, a voice to voice translator enhances engagement by overcoming language barriers, ensuring content resonates with a broader audience, and fostering increased viewer interaction.
3. Enhances brand credibility
An Instagram brand or creator accepting your collaboration invitation acts as a seal of approval from them. It showcases to their fans that your beliefs are aligned with their favorite profiles. Audiences know that businesses use Instagram for marketing. But a collab post can make your effort seem more authentic and credible.
4. Simplifies content creation process
Creating engaging content is a difficult job, and partnering with another profile eases some of that burden. As creators know what appeals to their audience, they can help you voice your message more creatively and bring a fresher perspective. By allowing collab posts from other creators, you can even benefit from posts you didn’t create, letting someone else contribute to your content calendar.
5. Builds community
Instagram collab posts are a great networking tool as well. You get to create creative and business relationships with creators and brands, connecting you with more people along the way. That can be a priceless asset to enhance your digital presence further and sustain it longer.
How to create Instagram collab posts
1. Prepared the image or reel you want to create the Instagram collab post with? Here are the next steps.
2. Do the usual drill of posting content on Instagram. Click on the plus sign, select your content, and write a caption. Make sure it has the relevant hashtags to improve discoverability.
3. Next, click on the “Tag People” option.
4. Click on the “Invite collaborations” button.
5. Then put in the username of the creator or brand you are partnering with and select them. Once that is done, hit the “Post” button.
6. Your collaborator will get a DM updating them on your collaboration invitation. They must accept the request for your post to become a collab post.
Here are a few additional things to keep in mind while creating collab posts;
- Your profile has to be public if you want to invite collaborations.
- Instagram gives users the option to restrict collaborations. In that case, you won’t be able to select that profile.
Instagram collab post examples
Instagram collab posts open up a whole new avenue to get creative with your social media marketing and cover different marketing goals. But if you are a beginner in using this nifty Instagram feature, here are some inspirations to help you get started:
1. Collaborate with other brands
Creating collab posts with brands whose products and services complement yours is an excellent way to reach the right audience segments. Such posts can cross-promote services and establish brand credibility in each other’s community.
Joining forces with the right brand will instantly push you to individual markets and get engagement from people who are genuinely interested in your services. It can help you build a more diverse following and generate high-quality leads.
For example, Salesforce is a popular CRM platform and Slack is a productivity tool that enhances the customer relationship management process further. Salesforce used this as a collaboration opportunity and posted the above Instagram collab post.
The reel features the Dreamforce 2023’s attendees with the interviewer asking them to name “things that pair well together”. The approach was subtle, fun, authentic, and effective, with one person naming Salesforce and Slack as the perfect pair. The caption “Some things belong together” followed by a branded hashtag for Salesforce’s event further amplifies the post’s visibility.
2. Partner with influencers
Generally, influencers partner with brands and create content featuring their products. They mention the brand in the caption. The brand reposts it and tags the creator. While this approach works well, it lacks cohesion.
Instagram collab posts can add that missing charm to your influencer marketing campaigns. As the same content is shared on both the brand’s and the influencer’s profile, it represents a more direct collaboration.
You can work with influencers on a series of Instagram collab posts and create buzz around your brand. You can also borrow their cloud to shine a light on your product ranges, brand updates, and even brand events.
The best influencer for your Instagram collab post would be someone who genuinely admires your brand. It will make your content more authentic and drive more engagement. However, you must make sure the influencer you are collaborating with belongs in a related niche. Their digital presence has to be relevant to your target audience.
For example, Pottery Barn partnered with Anna Bukhshtaber and published the above Instagram collab post. As a furniture company, the brand’s chosen influencer here is a popular home decor expert with over 83K followers on Instagram. Her followers include Pottery Barn’s target crowd and posed the perfect opportunity for the brand to get engagement from them.
3. Launch a new product
Want to maximize attention on your next product launch? Create collab posts with brands and influencers in your niche. People are often skeptical about trying new products. Partnering with a trusted voice on the platform can give your new range the much-needed credibility to take off.
For example, Airbnb posted the above collab reel with House of Sunny to announce how users can now book a night’s stay at the fashion brand’s East London showroom. The popular rental marketplace launched this initiative just before the London Fashion Week and found the right brand to post the collab reel with.
4. Promote giveaways
Very few methods boost engagement as high as Instagram giveaways. They are fun and create a sense of community among your followers. They incentivize the audience to interact more with your brand and create hype.
Here, organizing giveaways with other brands or creators and promoting them through collab posts can get you even more engagement.
For example, Blendjet collaborated with vegan food influencer Anjali Harikumar to host an international giveaway. The reward was a Blendjet. The rules were simple and framed in a way that would boost engagement and followers for both the brand and the influencer.
5. Support a cause
Instagram collab posts are also useful in showing your active support for a non-profit or a social cause while boosting your engagement in the process. It creates a positive brand image, creates meaningful bonds with your audience, and encourages people to support your business.
For example, Vuori Clothing, a performance apparel brand, partnered with charity: water on the above collab post and pledged to provide 22 million liters of clean water to people around the world. They encouraged the audience to join the challenge on Strava. For every mile they walk, Vuori Clothing will donate 1,100 liters of clean water to the needy.
Conclusion
Although the feature is fairly new, it has proven to be more useful in boosting engagement than a simple tag and mention. It pushes the content to the partner’s profile itself and hence, creates more visibility around your brand. Simply put, Instagram collab posts can serve multiple marketing goals, from building credibility to generating leads.
To ensure your collab posts hit the right target, you have to be on top of the current and upcoming trends as well as your competitor’s Instagram strategy. However, manual efforts aren’t feasible for such in-depth monitoring.
Here, Keyhole will provide you with accurate actionable insights with just a few clicks. You can conduct competitor analysis, access historical data to benchmark performance, and even leverage social listening to understand audience needs and challenges.
Want your Instagram to be a long-term business asset that drives tangible revenue?
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