Social Media Takeover: Do’s & Don’ts
Make sure do do this before handing over your account
“Real information, less fluff.”
When it comes down to it, this is all your audience really wants. The best way to do this? Social media takeovers.
Takeovers put your audience in the driver’s seat and allow users to tell stories from their authentic point of view.
Starting the process of facilitating these takeovers can be daunting, however, especially when it might mean sharing your account information with a student.
So where do you even begin?
Planning 📝
Do use a Google Form or something similar to collect data.
Collect all the information up front (contact number, social media handles, preferred takeover date, etc.) You will likely need to use all forms of contact information to get ahold of them.
Lumberjack Tip — send them an email, screenshot the email and direct message (DM) it to them as well. If they don’t respond to DM — text them. We have a very low rate of people who respond to our emails the first go around.
Don’t be afraid to do a social media sweep before selecting the takeover 👀 (If they put their handle on your story will people who follow see not so good stuff?)
Do keep a planning calendar with potential takeover dates & back ups too 📅
Don’t plan tooooo far in advance (students forget) — You can plan it out in advance, but we recommend waiting till about a week or so out before contacting the takeover.
Do create takeover guidelines — Do you want to keep the same takeover format each time? What time will the takeover last until? If they’re doing a Q&A, should they answer all questions received or only a certain number?
Take a peak at our Snapchat Takeover Guide
Don’t forget to ask for an outline of what the takeover plans to highlight. We have our takeovers send us a storyboard (an actual storyboard for the visual planners, but bullet point outline works for us too). This helps structure the takeover and ensures transitions are smooth.
Facilitation 🤳
The number one question we get — do you have to give out your password?
Not necessarily…
Don’t be afraid to create a test account created to be your Takeover account. Then you can give away those keys, the person can takeover and save their content and you can air it at a later date. If you do this — the archives will be your best friend. All you have to do is go back to when they took over and save the content to repost.
That said…
Don’t be afraid to share login information — remember you’ve gone through multiple communication cycles with them so there should be some trust built.
Lumberjack Tip — Whenever possible use 2 factor authentification.
Do promote/announce that a takeover is happening on your account. Let your followers know what they can expect and build hype around the takeover. 📣
Do always monitor the takeover and be available to delete posts if there are spelling mistakes or misinformation.
Reporting 📊
Do save the takeover content — log it and find ways to repurpose that content.
Don’t be afraid to share it. If it is on Insta Story — create a highlight and make the story evergreen.
Do keep track of takeovers that did well, reflect on challenges and successes and adapt future plans accordingly 📈
Leverage the energy and make Takeovers a consistent part of your social media strategy 👊
