Are you looking to take your Instagram engagement, reach, and profile visibility to the next level? Look no further than Instagram’s collaboration features.

Instagram’s collaboration features allow you to seamlessly collaborate with other users within the Instagram app, instantly doubling the exposure of your content. Whether it’s Reels or feed posts, the collab feature allows your collaborative content to appear on both users’ profile grids, giving you access to a whole new audience and the potential to gain more Instagram followers.

From influencer partnerships to sponsored posts, shoutouts, and engaging giveaways, Instagram collaborations have never been more accessible, thanks to this feature.

In this blog, we’ll guide you through everything you need to know about collaborating on Instagram and share some real-life examples of how brands have used the feature successfully. Get ready to unlock the full potential of Instagram collaborations and witness the incredible growth and impact they can bring to your profile.

The benefits of Instagram collabs

Instagram collabs is a feature introduced by Instagram in 2021, enabling users to collaborate and co-author content with other accounts. Here’s how it works: the original creator, with a public account, can tag another account, whether public or private, as a collaborator. The collaborator can choose to accept or deny the request, and if accepted, the post will appear on their profile as well. 

Expanding Your Reach

One of the primary benefits of utilising Instagram collabs is the ability to tap into a new audience. By collaborating with another account, you gain access to their followers and vice versa. This collaborative approach certainly increases the visibility of your content and attracts new followers that may not have seen your content otherwise. Unlike paid social advertising, Instagram collaborations allow you to achieve organic growth and significant return on investment without exhausting your marketing budget.

Boosting Engagement

When you collaborate with another account using Instagram collabs, your content is exposed to a broader audience. This increased exposure often leads to higher engagement in the form of likes, comments, saves, and shares. By tapping into this collaborative aspect of Instagram, you can amplify your content’s impact and captivate the attention of potential customers.

Streamlining Content Creation

Collaborating on Instagram eliminates the need for duplicate posts. Rather than both parties sharing the same content separately, Instagram collabs consolidate all engagement into a single post. This streamlines the reporting process and allows you to monitor the performance of your collaborative content effectively. Additionally, by leveraging the collab feature, you avoid flagging your content as a duplicate in the eyes of the Instagram algorithm, ensuring your posts maintain maximum visibility.

Fostering Authenticity and Transparency

In today’s digital landscape, transparency is key to building trust with your audience. Instagram collabs offer a way to maintain authenticity while engaging in partnerships. When collaborating with another account, particularly influencers or brands, Instagram collabs indicate the accounts you are partnering with. This transparency showcases your commitment to openness and helps your audience understand the context of your collaborative posts, including sponsored content and influencer marketing campaigns.

Oxfam and Tony’s Chocolonely unwrapped their latest collab

A recent example of a great (and tasty) Instagram collaboration is that between Oxfam and Tony’s Chocolonely. 

This beautifully demonstrated how Instagram’s collaboration features can be leveraged for a good cause. Oxfam, a renowned international charity organisation, joined forces with Tony’s Chocolonely, a popular ethical chocolate brand, to create a special edition chocolate bar for a charity campaign. However, this collaboration went beyond just creating a delicious treat. Inside five of these limited edition chocolate bars, a hidden surprise awaited lucky winners—tickets to the prestigious Glastonbury music festival.

To promote this exciting campaign and engage their audiences, Oxfam and Tony’s Chocolonely turned to Instagram. They shared a captivating photo of the special edition chocolate bar, capturing the attention of their followers and generating curiosity and excitement.

By collaborating on this Instagram post, Oxfam and Tony’s Chocolonely were able to reach both of their respective audiences simultaneously. The post appeared on both organisations’ profile grids, ensuring maximum visibility and engagement. Not only did it generate buzz and excitement among their followers, but it also showcased the power of combining social impact and consumer engagement.

The cleanest collaboration between Swan and Lynsey Queen of Clean

Another collaboration that highlights the power of Instagram’s collaboration features is the recent team-up between Swan, the homeware brand and the renowned influencer and cleaning enthusiast, Lynsey Queen of Clean.

As an ambassador for Swan, Lynsey embarked on an Instagram Collaboration with the brand to bring her followers an exciting giveaway. The giveaway featured a selection of Lynsey’s favourite Spring cleaning products from her curated edit, providing her followers with the opportunity to spruce up their homes in style.

With Swan collaborating with relevant influencers, such as Lynsey, they likely build higher engagement and excitement around the giveaway and increase the chance of people entering. Swan leveraged Lynsey’s expertise and credibility in the cleaning niche, strengthening their position as a trusted brand in the market. For Lynsey, this is an opportunity to work with a well-established brand that she already has a relationship with, as well as build a higher follower base through the giveaway entries. This is a prime example of a win-win partnership.

Nike and Tiffany Co.’s Cryptic Instagram Collaboration

The final example that we want to highlight is the intriguing partnership between Nike and Tiffany & Co.

In a captivating post on Instagram, Nike and Tiffany & Co. unveiled a glimpse of their collaboration—a Tiffany-blue box showcasing a pair of Nike trainers. The caption “@nike x @tiffanyandco, a legendary pair. Coming soon… ?” left followers eagerly anticipating what this collaboration would bring. These are two of the most well-known brands in the world. So, the simplicity of the post required no additional copy. The iconic colour and the world-famous tick mark were enough to create social media gold.

The strategic collaboration between Nike and Tiffany & Co. on Instagram allowed both brands to tap into each other’s dedicated, die-hard communities, expanding their reach and creating a buzz of anticipation. This partnership exemplifies the potential of Instagram collaborations to increase brand visibility, create a sense of exclusivity, and generate hype around upcoming releases. 

The subtle yet impactful Instagram post serves as a testament to the power of strategic partnerships in capturing the imagination of audiences and fueling anticipation. It highlights the unique opportunities that Instagram’s collaboration features offer for brands to showcase their creativity, leverage each other’s strengths, and create a truly memorable and highly-anticipated release.

Conclusion

Instagram collaboration is an excellent way to expand your reach and boost engagement without investing in paid social advertising. This feature allows you to collaborate and co-author content with other accounts, expanding your visibility to a new audience. Collaborating on Instagram also streamlines content creation, boosts engagement, and fosters authenticity and transparency in partnerships. Brands like the ones referenced above have utilised Instagram collabs to showcase the power of combining social impact and consumer engagement, increase engagement and excitement around giveaways, and maintain transparency

Tinisha Osu is a Marketing Executive with two degrees in Psychology. She is the first-author of a published psychology paper and is beginning her career in marketing through blog-writing, creating social media content and running marketing campaigns.