When your online presence needs a little bit of fresh energy, one of the best ways to revitalize it is to do a social media takeover. You’ve probably heard of this trend by now — it’s where your business gives posting privileges to somebody who isn’t normally operating your social media pages. The takeover lasts for only a set period of time: maybe a few hours, or maybe a whole day or even a whole weekend.

Why are so many businesses doing social media takeovers? Well, most importantly, they give you fresh content that’s different from your typical fare. They also catch the attention of your current followers while bringing in new followers who are excited by this fresh face temporarily representing your brand.

If you like the idea, here are a few ways you can go about planning a social media takeover.

Choosing The Right Person

Determine who is going to do your takeover. It doesn’t have to be an influencer (a term for someone, usually an otherwise normal individual with celebrity status on social media, who has the power of influencing culture by their online presence). You could invite a loyal customer to do it. Or maybe a longtime employee that most of your clientele knows. You could also bring in someone with a specific area of expertise who could provide valuable insight in your industry. Whoever it is, the person should be personable, fun and relevant. They should be savvy with social media, and they will ideally have a strong following of their own.

When Should You Do Your Take Over

Secondly, decide when you’re going to do it. You have the option of doing a social media takeover at any time. But you can use the takeover to your benefit if there’s a special occasion. Maybe you’re doing it to mark the start of an important season for your business. Or you just opened a new location. Or you launched a new product or service. Set a date and determine how long the takeover will go. Then you can start promoting it.

Choose The Platform

You don’t have to give your takeover guest privileges to all of your social media accounts. You can have them take over only one platform — Instagram is the most popular, but there’s no reason they couldn’t take over Twitter or Facebook. Even if they are taking over only one platform, you should still promote it on your other pages. You might have some people following you only on Facebook, and you could gain them as an Instagram follower if they see there’s a takeover coming up.

Planning Your Take Over

As the takeover approaches, determine how many posts you want your guest poster to create. Giving a general range rather than a specific number will give your guest poster a little bit of flexibility. Remember that too few posts will not make it worthwhile, whereas too many posts might annoy your followers.

Get a feel ahead of time of what sort of posts your guest plans to create. You should touch on any aspects of your brand image that you want to convey, and be sure to emphasize anything that you don’t want to be put out there during the takeover.

In some cases, depending on your comfort level with the person doing the takeover, you might choose to have all content delivered to you so you can approve it and post it yourself. This often takes a little bit more legwork on your part, and it will create a little bit of a delay between when your takeover host does stuff and when those posts go live on social media. This is a good option for people who are particular about their brand image, but remember that part of the idea of a takeover is to getcontent that isn’t the stuff you usually post.

Still Not Sure?

Still not getting the full concept of a takeover? Here are some ways a social media takeover might go down:

Let’s say you have a salon and spa, and you have a loyal patron who is active on Instagram. See whether she’ll do a takeover one day while she enjoys everything you have to offer gratis. She can share videos and photos while she gets a manicure, pedicure, massage, haircut and facial, all while talking about or posting text of the things that she loves about your services. A savvy Instagrammer will have creative ideas of using Instagram story options like boomerangs, slow-motion videos, time-lapse videos, stickers and filters for the audience’s entertainment.

On the other hand, maybe you are a restaurateur and you want to let one of your popular wait staff members take over Instagram on a certain weekend. Your waiter might take a selfie with a table of amiable customers, shoot a video as he interviews some of his coworkers, create a time-lapse video of a chef creating a specialty dish, or make a boomerang as he pours a glass or wine. All of this will give customers an idea of what goes on behind the scenes of your restaurant.

A takeover has the potential to increase engagement because they are an exciting change of pace and more personable than regular content. But be sure to find the right person who can actively engage your audience and bring in new people. 

Measure The Results

Afterward, measure your success by looking at your story views, your post engagement and even the number of new followers you gained. You can also assess any issues you had during the process and determine what you might do differently to ensure your next takeover goes more smoothly. Oh, and don’t forget to change your social media password when it’s all over.

If you need fresh ideas or guidance for your social media presence, Ann’s Social Media & Marketing can help. Reach out today at www.asmmdigital.com.