A Step-By-Step Guide To Creating An Instagram Geo Tag
Ever scrolled through Instagram and noticed a clickable location tag beneath a post? That’s a geotag. Most people are familiar with seeing them, but creating one for your own business might seem like a mystery. Don't worry, this guide will shed light on the power of geotags and walk you through creating one in a breeze!
How to create a geotag on Instagram
Instagram itself doesn't directly facilitate the creation of location tags. However, you can utilize Facebook's check-in feature to generate a geotag, which will also be visible on Instagram. All you need is a Facebook account (any will suffice) and a smartphone with the Facebook app installed!
Step-by-Step Guide:
1. Open the Facebook app and initiate a new post.
2. Locate the "Check In" option, which might appear below the text box or within a menu.
3. Search for Your Location: Facebook will suggest nearby locations based on your GPS. In the search bar, enter the exact address or name of your brand's location.
4. Verify and Refine (Optional): Review the suggested locations for accuracy. You can also specify a category (e.g., Restaurant, Shop) if applicable.
5. Post and Wait: Once everything appears correct, tap "Share" to finalize the check-in process. It might take a few minutes for the new location to appear on Instagram.
Bonus Tip: Linking your Facebook and Instagram accounts enables you to manage geotags directly from the Instagram app. After the Facebook check-in is processed, you can search for the location tag during the Instagram posting process to include it in your posts.
Best practices for creating a geotag
Here are some key things to keep in mind when creating a geotag for your brand:
Accuracy is Key: Double-check that the location you set on Facebook accurately reflects your business address. A misplaced geotag can confuse and mislead potential customers.
Brand Recognition Matters: Use the exact brand name your customers recognize during the geotag creation process. Variations or abbreviations might cause confusion!
Catch Those Typos: Proofread carefully! Typos in your brand name or address can prevent users from finding your geotag.
Descriptive Details Help: While not mandatory, consider adding a relevant category (e.g., Restaurant, Shop) to your geotag on Facebook. This provides additional context for users searching for businesses like yours.
Things to Remember:
This method creates a public geotag accessible on both Facebook and Instagram.
While anyone can create a location tag, adding details improves its chances of being approved by Facebook.
By following these best practices, you can create a clear, accurate, and user-friendly geotag that effectively connects your brand with potential customers on Instagram!
Why content creators use geotags
Geotags are more than just location markers; they're a powerful tool for content creators. With a simple tap, users can explore posts from the same location, potentially stumbling upon your local bakery's delicious treats or your brand's best-kept secret.
Geotags serve as discovery hubs within the app itself, eliminating the need for users to search elsewhere. They keep users engaged and eager for more, increasing the likelihood of them visiting your website or making a purchase then and there.
How geotags drive business in local markets
Forget just marking your location, geotags are a secret weapon for content creators and businesses, especially in local markets. Consumers today are increasingly turning to social media to discover new brands, ditching traditional search engines for a more visual and interactive experience. Imagine scrolling through a stunning beach destination tag while planning a vacation and stumbling upon a hidden gem of a local cafe tagged in a photo. Or, using the search bar on Instagram to find a specific type of restaurant near where you’re planning to travel.
This trend is particularly prominent with Gen Z, who have grown up with social media as an ingrained part of their lives. According to a study by Allied Global Marketing, "[Gen Z] relies heavily on social media for product discovery, with 73% discovering new products through social media platforms." A LinkedIn Pulse article by YPulse further emphasizes this point, highlighting a survey where "84% of Gen Z respondents said they use social media to discover new products."
Geotags act like digital flags on a map, helping people find your business naturally. When someone searches for businesses nearby or explores a certain area, your geotag can show up, boosting your brand's exposure to eager customers. This means more visibility, potential visitors, and new customers for you!
3 Other ways to capture local’s attention with Instagram
Don't stop at geotags! If you want to grab the attention of local customers on Instagram, there's more you can do. Here are three extra ideas to boost your brand and get people talking:
1. Invest in a sponsored post
Imagine reaching customers who are already interested in what you offer, right in their own neighborhood! Sponsored posts on Instagram are like magic bullets, allowing you to target social media users based on specific demographics and, most importantly, location.
The impact of sponsored posts is undeniable. They allow you to:
Reach a wider audience: Go beyond your current follower base and connect with new local customers who might not have discovered you yet.
Boost brand awareness: Showcase your products, services, or unique brand personality to a targeted audience.
Drive engagement: Get people talking about your brand with calls to action that encourage likes, comments, or even visits to your physical location.
Cost Considerations:
The cost of sponsored posts can vary depending on several factors, including:
Target audience size: Targeting a smaller, very specific local audience might be more affordable than a broader campaign.
Campaign duration: Shorter campaigns are generally less expensive than long-term advertising efforts.
Ad format: There are different ad formats available, such as photos, videos, or stories, each with its own pricing structure.
While there's no one-size-fits-all answer, investing in a well-crafted sponsored post campaign can be a highly effective way to ensure your message reaches the right eyes in your local market. Don't be afraid to experiment and track your results to optimize your budget for maximum impact.
2. Create an Instagram-able pop-up in your locale
In today's social media-driven world, people crave unique experiences they can share online. That's where Instagrammable pop-ups come in. These temporary events or installations are visually stunning, encouraging people passing by to snap and share photos. The benefits are clear:
Boosted brand awareness: A visually striking pop-up generates excitement and attracts new customers.
Organic reach: When people share photos, they spread the word about your brand, reaching beyond your followers.
Increased engagement: Eye-catching visuals spark conversations and interactions both online and offline.
Here are some real-world examples that illustrate the power of Instagrammable pop-ups:
The Hot Dog in the City pop-up in Times Square turned heads with its colossal hot dog sculpture, attracting crowds and generating social media frenzy.
Many millennial-focused brands have seen success with pop-up stores featuring interactive experiences. Think colorful ball pits, floral walls, or themed installations.
Don't worry if you're working with a tight budget. A well-decorated storefront with a focus on aesthetics can still draw attention on Instagram. Consider coffee shops: showcasing baristas' latte art turns a simple cup of coffee into a potential Instagram-worthy masterpiece!
Push and Pour's barista battle is a perfect example of this. Their creative latte art competition, captured on Instagram Reels, not only showcased their baristas' talent but also generated excitement and engagement with their brand.
3. Partner with local content creators
Local influencers are the key to unlocking authentic engagement! These local creators have built a loyal audience who trusts their recommendations. Partnering with them offers handful of benefits:
Boosted Brand Awareness: Leverage their established network to reach a wider local audience. Imagine them as walking billboards, promoting your brand to people who already know and trust them.
Credibility: Their local cred adds trust and encourages engagement. Potential customers value their opinions, making them ideal brand advocates!
Targeted Reach: Select creators whose audience closely matches your ideal customer profile. This ensures your message reaches the right people with the highest potential for engagement!
Local Connection: They showcase your brand's local personality, fostering a sense of community spirit.
Leverage locals to connect and engage with your local audience
Finding the perfect local influencers can feel overwhelming. But fear not! hummingbirds’ platform is designed specifically to connect local businesses with local creators. We're the experts in local influencer marketing, helping brands of all sizes build genuine connections and drive real results.
Ready to unlock the power of local influencers? Book a call with hummingbirds today and discover how we can help you take your local marketing to the next level!
The campaign led to positive remarks on the selection and setup of the store. As one social media follower put it, “Looks like the perfect place to get all of your holiday shopping done.”
2. Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce
Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce started off selling at farmer’s markets in Des Moines and quickly expanded all over the world. They launched their UGC campaign by offering foodies in midwestern markets a gift card for bloody mary mix and hot sauce.
The midwesterners genuinely fell in love with the products and found creative ways to showcase the brand. One poster highlighted her birthday party, where she posed with the hot sauce bottle prominently positioned in her hands, and a follower commented, “You’ve got all the components: chips, salsa, +the 🌶️!!”
Lola’s reported that their Hummingbirds collaboration tripled average weekly sales in their target markets. In some locations, they saw up to 16x growth! This short-term boost sustained itself by nearly 80% for three months after the campaign ended. In other words, Lola’s saw a significant return on investment, both in terms of brand loyalty and sales.
3. State Line Distillery
State Line Distillery sources local ingredients for its cocktails and spirits, and they invited local influencers to enjoy a free cocktail from their extensive list.
Not only were the influencers impressed by the variety of drinks and the distillery’s atmosphere, but they loved the connection to their roots. The grains and botanicals from nearby fields and gardens made for some delicious, high-quality cocktails.
In one artful post of a Rob Roy, the influencer reminisced about her grandfather’s favorite drink, paying a small but touching tribute to her family’s lineage.
This campaign worked because it spotlighted local talent and gave local audiences a new destination for craft cocktails.
4. MidAmerican Energy
MidAmerican Energy provides affordable renewable energy across four states. To spread energy-conservation awareness, the company gave local influencers a thermostat system, energy-efficient products, an energy-savings toolkit, and a small energy rebate.
In exchange, users demonstrated how they made changes to reduce their energy use. By posting how they set up their smart thermostats and where they cut energy without sacrificing comfort and convenience, they inspired followers to change their own setups.
This campaign worked because it focused on cost-cutting measures for everyday residents. As one commenter said, it was the “perfect update for the hot summer months.”
5. Ted Lare Designs
Ted Lare Designs is a landscaping company that hosts seasonal events to showcase its products. Over the holidays, they invited local influencers to participate in one of six workshops, including a winter-themed wonderland where they created colorful display wreaths.
This campaign worked because Ted Lare Designs was already deeply entrenched in the community. The partnership was an organic addition that simply highlighted and reinforced its event marketing. The posts inspired comments like, “This makes me wish I was there too!”
How to start and run a UGC campaign
Running a UGC campaign takes more than a clever hashtag and a fun giveaway. Here’s how to get one up and running the right way, so you don’t waste time, money, or energy.
Assess your resources and set SMART goals
UGC campaigns are cost-effective marketing strategies, but they take some effort to set up. You’ll need to either cultivate relationships with users, which you may not have time to do, or find an affordable shortcut.
As you map out your strategy, ensure your goals are SMART:
Specific: Clearly state what you hope to accomplish and the steps you’ll take to get there.
Measurable: Identify benchmarks and milestones you can use to track your progress.
Achievable: Create realistic goals based on your current user base and market position.
Relevant: Identify a long-term reason (e.g., brand awareness, conversions) for implementing a short-term UGC.
Time-bound: Set up clear end dates so your users can plan ahead.
You can adapt SMART goals to fit the needs of the campaign. For example, you might measure campaign results for six months after its end date to see the long-term results. But you can also measure early results to help you adjust campaigns in real time.
Determine which platform will reach your audience
Instagram and TikTok are the best social media channels for UGC campaigns because they focus so heavily on visual content. Users can add trendy effects, personalize their posts, and get creative with their approach — much more so than with text-focused platforms like X and Facebook.
Both TikTok and Instagram’s core demographic skew young (18 to 24 years old), but Instagram generally appeals to a wider audience than TikTok. In addition, Instagram offers diverse content options, while TikTok is limited to just short videos. Instagram also focuses on visual storytelling, whereas TikTok prioritizes viral content and trendsetting.
Plan your UGC campaign
Once you’ve set your goals, consider what kind of content works best for your brand and how creative local influencers might promote different facets of your products or services.
For example, will potential customers need a video of your product in use, or will a photo and caption suffice? Should UGC creators share your brand story or just use the campaign hashtag?
Answering questions like these will help you curate a solid approach, find the right local influencers, and keep your campaign cohesive.
Find partners
You can locate partners by organically researching and building relationships or by using specialized software to automate and accelerate your UGC efforts. You can also work with a dedicated UGC platform like Hummingbirds that connects you with the best local influencers for your brand.
There are all different types of influencers you can choose from, so you’ll need to determine which one best fits your brand size and campaign goals.
However, you should be aware that UGC from mega- and macro-influencers is quite different from UGC created by smaller or niche influencers. It’s generally less authentic — and also much, much more expensive! Here are the tiers most commonly seen on Instagram:
Mega (1,000,000+): Usually reserved for the biggest brands in the world, mega-influencers are excellent for companies with huge global followings.
Macro (500,000 to 1,000,000): Macro-influencers usually have a country-specific concentration (e.g., 90% of their followers are in the U.S.). They’re a good match for well-known brands fleshing out their social media marketing strategies.
Mid-tier (50,000 to 500,000): Mid-tier influencers usually specialize in a single subject, such as how to infuse productivity into your day. Whether through Tweets or Facebook posts, they build trust with audiences on a daily basis. They’re typically most effective for national brands that perfectly align with the influencer’s specialty.
Micro (10,000 to 50,000): Micro-influencers often yield some of the most stunning campaign returns. Their branded content is relatively affordable and their audiences put a lot of stock in the influencer’s opinions and social media posts. Micro-influencers pair well with smaller brands that want to appeal to multiple cities or regions.
Nano (1,000 to 10,000): Nano-influencers create content because they want to, not because it’s their job. They usually focus on one (often niche) subject and build trusted relationships based on real customer reviews.
Local influencers (500 to 5,000): Local influencers have small but mighty followers in their area, drawing on the quirks, talents, and destinations found in their audience’s backyards. They typically post about local events and locations, and they may or may not be compensated for their posts. They’re versatile enough to partner with small businesses and larger corporations alike.
Follow best practices
No matter who you partner with, it’s important to establish good relationships with your content creators. If you want authentic content, you can’t micromanage what they say or how they feature your product.
It’s also important to take your content creator’s suggestions seriously. Local influencers, in particular, have ample knowledge of what community members want, so their feedback can really help a brand thrive in turbulent markets.
Finally, take a minute and appreciate what content creators do. Instead of hiring professional photographers, videographers, or writers, influencers leverage their equipment, creativity, and voice to capture your brand at its best.
Find local content creators and launch your UGC campaign
User-generated content campaigns hinge on quality and authenticity, so you need to find influencers who align with your brand and won’t cut corners. If you’re targeting a specific geographic area, you should look for local and regional influencers with strong followings — 500 devoted followers can turn more profits than 10,000 ambivalent followers.
If you could use a little help connecting with the right people or getting your campaigns up and running, give Hummingbirds a try. We’ll match your brand with local content creators in your niche, so you can make the most of your UGC campaign.
Ready to see how UGC can spark interest and trust in your brand? Book a call with us today.