Think seeing words like #ad, #spon, or #sponsored in captions ruins the post? So does Instagram.
After a few months of testing, Instagram has granted access to its much anticipated Branded Content tools in an effort to improve transparency and simplify the process for businesses working with creators, and vice versa. According to the company, the tools are now available to influencers, public figures, publishers, and business accounts.
Here’s a summary of what the tools are and how they work:
Creators and Influencers
1) Via “Advanced Settings”, influencers can now tag a business partner, provided they have an Instagram business profile set up. Posts must be approved by the business partner before they go live.
2) In addition, tagging a business partner will also be available in Stories, right next to the “Stickers” icon.
Businesses
1) Once you’ve been tagged in a campaign, you have the option to remove the tag either inside your Facebook Page/Business Manager (via the Branded Content tab) or within the Instagram post itself.
2) Once the campaign is live, you’ll be able to access Insights with the Branded Content tab from your Facebook Page/Business Manager. The insights are available for both regular posts in the feed and Stories.
Stats included are reach, taps forward, taps backward, replies and exits, and are only available for 14-days.
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With Influencer marketing on the rise, Instagram is working to provide tools which better facilitate the partnership process, while also adding transparency and enhancing visual appeal. Gone are the days where hashtags dominate the copy of a post and take up precious real estate to deliver the message.
But the biggest benefit of these new tools is the ability to directly approve content and measure the content performance from within Facebook, rather than via third-party tools. If you’re a brand considering using influencers in your next campaign, this will make the process of choosing influencers and measuring their efficacy less tedious,
For full details and step-by-step process, see Instagram’s blog post here