This is chapter six of a seven-part series on how to dominate your Instagram marketing.
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Why should you be reposting content?
Before I tell you how to repost someone else’s content, you should know why that is a good strategy.
Depending on your business type, sharing user-generated content could be super beneficial for you. You could tell your customers to use a specific branded hashtag when they post an image of your product for a chance to be featured on your profile. You could even tie that in with a promotion saying that if they make a post then they get 10% off of their next purchase or something along those lines.
Not only does that bolster brand loyalty and repeat purchases, but it is also a way to borrow someone else’s audience to market your business.
Then when you repost their content it shows to all your followers that one of your customers was happy enough with your products to post about it on Instagram.
Another reason why you should repost content is that it is super easy! Rather than having to take and edit a new photo, or create a new graphic, someone has already done that for you. All you need to do is repost it.
Your reposted content doesn’t necessarily have to only be customers’ content. You could repost anything that you feel would provide value to your followers. That could be other businesses that you partner with or influencers in the industry.
While you could go crazy reposting all kinds of content, it is important to still be creating your own unique content.
How to repost someone else’s content?
There are a few different ways to repost content on Instagram. But before you go and repost anyone’s content it is always good to ask permission first either using a comment on the image, direct message, or email if you have that.
Screenshot Method
- Find the post you want to repost
- Screenshot it
- Open the screenshot on Instagram, crop it so that it is just the image
- Make sure you tag the original creator in the caption and tag them in the photo before you post it.
App repost method
There are countless apps that can be used to repost content on Instagram.
One that I recommend that works on both Android and iOS is the Repost App.
Buffer repost method *my personal favorite*
- Find the photo you’d like to repost
The first step is to open up Instagram and find the photo you’d like to repost. Once you’ve located the photo, ensure you reach out to the original sharer and ask their permission to repost it to your account.
Then, once you have permission, on iOS tap on the ‘…’ icon and tap the ‘Share’ option and then tap ‘Copy Link’:
On Android, tap ‘Copy Share URL’:
- Open Buffer’s iOS or Android app
Next, you’ll need to open up Buffer for iOS or Android on your phone. Once the app is open, it’ll recognize the Instagram link saved to your clipboard and ask if you’d like to repost that content to your own Instagram account:
- Edit the caption and schedule a reminder
Once you’ve tapped on the option to repost the Instagram post, Buffer will automatically pre-fill the caption field based on the caption from the original post and give credit to the image creator by adding their @username (you can add your own comment just like with any other post.) Now, select which profiles you want to go to and schedule your reminder.
- Post the photo
When it’s time to post your image to Instagram, Buffer will send you a handy reminder and help you get the post published.
(Since Instagram’s API doesn’t yet allow full scheduling and auto-posting, Buffer for Instagram works using reminders and notifications on your phone. Set your desired time, and the Buffer app will send you a notification when it’s time to post.)
How to get your content reposted?
On the flip side, you can also try to get your content reposted.
Getting your content reposted is a great opportunity to get in front of a larger audience, or just an entirely new group of people.
There are many different profiles on Instagram that are dedicated to just reposting other people’s content. Those profiles have different criteria for how to get your content reposted, but generally, it involves adding a specific hashtag to your post, tagging them in the image, and also following their account.
The Pocket group of profiles repost content in a number of different categories. You can browse through all the different categories here and find out what you need to do to be eligible to be reposted.
There are location-specific reposting accounts such as:
@ig_mainecoast @igersnewengland @ignewengland @igersusa
Another option is to manually reach out to the accounts you feature in a post. If you post about another business or organization, reach out to them asking if they would want to share your post with their audience. Manual outreach takes time and effort, but will often lead to getting reposted more often.
Whenever you get a piece of content reposted make sure you still engage with that content like you would with one of your own pieces. So if the post gets any comments feel free to dive in there and engage with those users.
What are Instagram Pods and how to use them?
An Instagram pod is a private group of 10-15 profiles that have similar audiences and the desire to increase their Instagram engagement together. It can help to boost engagement because Instagram’s algorithm likes to see what images are highly engaging and will rank them higher in your follower’s feeds if they are.
You can start a pod by adding a group of individuals to a group message on Instagram. It is best if you reach out to the members beforehand and see if they want to be in the pod.
Once you have the group together whenever anyone posts a new image they share it in the pod. Then, everyone else can go comment and ‘like’ that image. All the comments should be unique and genuine. Try to make them 5 words or more.
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