The Adventure Brand’s Guide to User-Generated Content For Instagram
In our previous post, The Adventure Brand’s Guide to User-Generated Content For Facebook, we covered why user-generated content (UGC) is so strong. It not only saves time and money by leveraging the phenomenal media your customers have created, but it also helps share your brand story in an authentic manner, as well as build brand loyalty by showing your customers you appreciate their engagement—regardless of what platform you use.
In this post, we’re switching our focus to another popular platform; we’re exploring the ins and outs of user-generated content on Instagram.
Rules for posting UGC on Instagram
- Ask permission and say “Thank you” before you repost content on Instagram. Just a simple comment on the content you would like to repost like “Awesome photo – Thank you for posting! Do we have permission to repost to our page?” works perfectly.
- Keep the reposted content as close to original as possible. Avoid significant edits or filters to respect the vision and work of the original owner.
- Be sure that you always credit to the original owner of the content when you are reposting on Instagram. To cover all of your bases, be sure to tag them on the post itself and in the caption.
How to Find Your UGC on Instagram
Now that you have decided to implement UGC into your social media strategy, let’s get down to the actual process for sharing your users’ content on Instagram. There are three places to find UGC on Instagram, either under your branded hashtag, in your tagged photos, or at your location. To repost UGC on Instagram you will need to use an app like Regrammer or Repost to download the content and repost it through your account.
Finding UGC From your tagged images:
- From your gallery page, click on the tagged images icon.
2. This changes the view of your gallery to now show all of the images that you have been tagged in. You can now scroll through these images to find one that you would like to repost.
Finding UGC From your branded hashtag:
It is particularly important to repost these images and give them a shoutout from time to time if you promote a branded hashtag.
- Navigate to the Explore Page by clicking on the magnifying glass icon.
2. Click on the tags button to refine your search. Type in your branded hashtag and click on it.
3. You will now see all of the images that are using your hashtag and be able to scroll through those to select an image to repost.
Finding images tagged at your location:
To find content tagged at your location, you use the same process as you would for finding content using your branded hashtag.
- Go to the Explore Page and click on “places”. Type your business name into the search and click on it in the drop down.
2. Your Explore Page will then show you all of the images that were tagged at your location that you can then choose from to repost.
Reposting Your Selected UGC on Instagram
To repost UGC on Instagram, you will need to use an app like Regrammer or Repost to download the content and repost it through your account. Once again, remember to give credit to the original owner of the photo by tagging them in your caption or the post itself.
Pro Tips for Posting User-Generated Content
Share UGC to Instagram Stories & Create Highlights
Say thank you to your followers all at once by posting recent UGC (static posts or stories) to your Instagram Story. You can then create a Highlight and name it after your branded hashtag so that it encourages others to use your hashtag to be featured.
Use Contests to Generate An Influx of UGC at Once
Maybe you are in the off-season and the weather conditions are less than perfect (think raft company whose property is now blanketed in ice and snow) so you are running low on quality content. You can get an influx of UGC by hosting a contest. Ask your users to share a photo or video and the story behind what made the experience with your adventure brand so special for a chance to win a prize.
- Make sure that you note that they need to tag your brand in the post.
- Ask them to share your original post about the contest in order to expand the reach.
- Make sure that the prize is something related to your followers’ interests or even better yet, something that you can provide to keep them engaged with your brand, like tickets or free merchandise.
Don’t Be Afraid to Post From Other Brands As Well
Posting content from other brands in your industry or community is another effective way of co-marketing. In the adventure brand industry, you not only have to promote your brand but you also have to encourage consumers to visit your destination. Engaging with other brands in your community and reposting their content is a great way to establish your community as a travel destination while getting in front of each others’ social media following. Check back for more details on this subject in a blog post to come in the future.
Ready to implement UGC on all of your social platforms? Check out The Adventure Brand’s Guide to User-Generated Content For Facebook.
Happy Posting!
