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With over 500+ million daily active users, Instagram is the crown ruler of social media platforms.
But wait, what about Facebook?
Well, true, Facebook has the numbers, but Instagram has quality and engagement.
Also, Instagram is one platform amalgamating influencers and marketing together, forming a fierce social media marketing weapon in the digital market, Influencer Marketing.
It has the unrivaled attention of users today, and that is why the platform is growing immensely. Moreover, the engagement rate achieved on Instagram by influencers averages 1.67%, the highest of all.
Hence, for digital marketers, investing in Instagram branded content tools is imperative for brand awareness and customer pool expansion.
Before we talk about branded content tools on Instagram, you need to know what Branded Content means.
You’ve seen your favorite influencers posting images or videos that say, In paid partnership with XYZ brand. Well, in layman’s terms, that is called Branded Content.
Instagram describes Branded Content as “A creator or publisher’s content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value (for example, where the business partner has paid the creator or publisher).”
The brand compensates the creator for brand endorsement, disclosing the brand-influencer partnership publicly through Branded Content.
Simply put., any post published by an influencer or a creator commissioned, sponsored, or paid by the brand is branded content.
For example, the above post is a Branded Content for Jaspers Market. Any sponsored post in your feed is a classic illustration of Instagram branded content.
However, you need to note that Instagram requires creators and publishers to tag the business partner/brand in their branded content posts if there occurs an exchange of business value. Tagging business partners ensures transparency when influencers and brands collaborate.
Moreover, it is necessary for marketers to understand the difference between Branded Content and paid posts. At this time, Instagram doesn’t allow creators to promote Branded Content.
But business partners can promote a creator’s post, and it falls within Instagram’s ad format requirements., the latter can set up an account via the Ads Manager.
So, why do brands invest in Branded Content?
The answer is because such posts naturalize their products and services for a wider audience pool.
When brands invest in Branded Content, they want users to experience it. Such posts upscale product knowledge within the follower group, starting a chain effect. While influencer marketing relies on the trust and belief users have in their creator, Branded Content extends beyond it., getting your product in the feed of people who don’t even follow that influencer.
Then comes targeting!
Every product has a target audience (age, gender, interests, and geography). Now, it is unlikely that all the followers of an influencer match your target audience demographics. That means your posts aren’t only limited in their reach but goals too. With Branded Content, you can target a particular audience group, reach more people, facilitate more conversions, and boost sales. Brands, along with influencers, can create the best promotional posts that garner unlimited customer attention.
Then comes a frictionless shopping experience. Social e-commerce buying allows users to buy products as and when they like on social media, making shopping an easy and hassle-free process. Branded Content functions as shoppable tags, ensuring a seamless and smooth buying experience for all users.
Since social media buying holds a promising potential for brand sales, Instagram, to help make brand-creator partnerships more flexible, have created tagging features while offering deep insights about such posts on the platform through Instagram branded content tools. For influencers, paid partnerships are a huge advantage to their authenticity and social image, thereby expanding their brand portfolio.
Instagram provides brands and creators an opportunity to work together and gather attention to its products/services. This symbiotic relationship between a brand and a creator ensures product marketing in an affordable and mellow way.
With Instagram branded content tools, it becomes easier for general users to know when a particular influencer post is in partnership with a brand. Such tools allow creators to tag the brand, work as brand ambassadors, and solidify their reputation in the market.
All in all, branded content tools from Instagram add clarity and efficiency to online collaborations between brands and influencers. It assists both brands and creators, promoting a win-win concept.
Not every Instagram account is allowed to use branded content tools.
To get started with Instagram branded content tools, you will first have to meet its eligibility standards.
The following points detail whether you’re eligible for such tools.
Once you meet all the above-stated guidelines, setting up your account to use branded content tools from Instagram will be a cakewalk.
For influencers and content creators, the following steps will help tag businesses in branded content posts.
Once you added branded content tools to your account., tagging brands in your post doesn’t require much brainstorming.
After editing & uploading the image and scripting a caption for it, go to the Advanced Setting on the app. Select Tag Business Partner, enter the name of the business you want to tag in the search box, select the business name, and voila!
Now, brands or business partners can also promote your post in their toggle switch.
Always remember that only business partners pages approved by Instagram flash in the search box. If the page isn’t in verse with the channel’s guidelines, you cannot tag them. Once the creator has added the brand, they receive a notification and can review post-performance insights.
For brands and business partners, using Instagram branded content tools is a little tedious process. First, they need to apply and then follow some simple steps to start using these tools.
For reviewing post insights, brands need to set up Brand Collabs Manager account. This tool from Instagram allows business partners to review post tags, search for content creators in their niche, and create branded content ads on Instagram from the tagged posts.
Brands and creators can apply for Brands Collabs Manager too. Post page submission, Facebook will review your business account. Once approved, the brand is added to its Brand Collabs list.
As mentioned before, the Brand Collabs Manager details insights and performance of all creator tagged posts. Select insights from the left menu and review metrics like impressions, engagement, reach, and demographics. For branded content stories, view actions as taps forward, taps backward, and story exits.
These insights help decipher whether your collaboration was a success or not. You can know more about the target audience, their residence, age-group, and use these results to market products/services to those customers.
Business partners can allow, remove, and view branded content tags in their settings at any time. Moreover, brands can select between manual approval or automatic tagging as well.
In your branded content settings, you can see a list of approved business partners. Tap on the approved creators’ list to search or add more profiles.
If you want to remove any business partner tag, then follow the steps:
Follow these steps to promote Branded Content as sponsored ads on your page.
Ever thought why Branded Content does so well in the market?
Because it encompasses a natural setting, showing life-like people, endorsing and naturalizing the product for real customers. Such endorsement ideas, along with Instagram branded content tools, work wonders for creators and brands.
With the growing prominence of influencer marketing, more and more brands will invest in Branded Content., connecting with macro, micro, and nano influencers depending on their target demographics.
