Instagram Channel Management
In addition to the oversight of an internal Bayer Social Media Manager, the following costs approximate annual financial support needed to plan, produce and promote content on Instagram with paid, as well as conducting community engagement activities.
- Content Planning & Production: €200K+. More than any other platform, success on Instagram relies on the commitment to produce highly visual, creative and scroll-stopping content. Because of this, Instagram content production requires more resources than other platforms to effectively plan and produce, bolstered by a paid strategy that will give our content a fighting chance to be seen while competing for the attention of our audiences
- Paid Support: Each team’s business objectives and channel goals are different, which means the paid spend will be as well. Regardless of spend, it’s important to keep a consistent paid presence on our channels in order to engage with our audiences.
- Community Engagement: €60K+.
*Does not include out of pocket expenses for paid media, or other channel tactics such as paid partnerships, stock photography and videography, etc.
Bayer Brand Narrative Direction
At Bayer, we work to make lives better. And we believe science is the key. Since our foundation, we've built our reputation by delivering on our purpose: "Science for a better life." We've brought essential products to millions around the globe. And we've become a trusted brand that everyone, everywhere can rely on. Together, we're helping people and our planet thrive.
Our journey toward a more dynamic, outward-oriented and human brand continues.
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Bringing to life our focus on advancing health and nutrition
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Putting emphasis on the human aspect and impact of what we do
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Being outward-oriented beyond our own sites and labs
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Confidently express our desire to push the status quo
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Dynamic and agile – helping people and planet thrive
Highlights:
- When creating a highlight, upload an icon cover with Bayer branding to add to the cohesion of the profile page
- Aim to have only 10 highlights on the feed at a time related to the priority topics
- Refresh frames within the highlights every 6 months to ensure information is relevant.
Profile Grid Cohesion
1. Video Cover Photos
- When publishing videos, select a cover photo that showcases dynamic colors, engaged people or Bayer colors that work well within the feed.
2. Limiting Text
- Aim to limit the amount of text on photos within the feed.
- Find opportunities to keep photos featuring people or landscapes in the feed where possible to fit more in line with the channel purpose.
3. Bayer Colors
- When it’s necessary to share assets using text, ensure the asset uses Bayer colors so photos have a consistency across the feed.
More than any other platform with story capability, it is vital to maintain a good balance between posts and stories. Below are best practices to write successful Instagram posts and stories. While you should start with the best practice, it is always a good idea to keep testing approaches and content to continue to learn about your audience.
Copy Length
Feed: Recommended <125 characters so entire caption shows up in-feed, but there are options to experiment with longer text for storytelling opportunities.
Frequency
Feed: 3–5 times per week
Story: 3–5 times per week
Best Posting Times
For organic posts, the best posting time is dependent on your time zone and location. Furthermore, this can change over time. That’s why it’s generally best to use a 3rd party scheduling software (Sprinklr) to determine the best times on an ongoing basis.
For example, the United States best posting time is generally between 9am–3pm.
Tone
Tone is lighter, more friendly, and emotional compared to other channels. We have an opportunity to entertain, clearly express our vision and values in a way that connects with people on a more personal level using this channel.
Mention Approach
Add location where image was taken if/when possible; Tag individuals in images if/when possible.
Hashtags are a great way for brands to make their social posts more visible, increase engagement and update a group of like-minded individuals on relevant topics in real time.
Below is guidance to ensure your hashtags are aligned with Bayer’s social strategy:
General Hashtag Guidance
If relevant, use 7–12 hashtags per post
Bayer Brand Hashtag Guidance
- Only create new branded hashtags when there is a clear need to start and track a conversation. Intent must be long-term use.
- This existing branded hashtag has a strong link to our company, brand purposes and reputation: #TeamBayer
Hashtag Placement
- Hashtags should be included within the post copy lines where relevant (common hashtags in line: #sustainability, #innovation)
- If the hashtags are not a natural fit within post copy, include in the first comment of the post.
When a user follows a profile, they're showing support for that user/company and that they want to see content from it. Users are able to find what companies or people Bayer followers on our profiles.
Bayer “Following” Guidance
Follow pages of companies we have ongoing partnerships with (publications, affiliated Bayer pages, partner NGOs, etc.) so we show collaborative support and easily share content we are tagged in. Ensure you are liking a given page through the company page, not your personal account. Review your “liked pages” every 6 months to ensure your follower list is up-to-date and reflects current partnerships.
How to Like Company Pages
Search for the company page and click the 3 dots under the cover photo. Select “Like as your Page” to ensure you do not like from your personal account.
- The Channels & Amplification team is responsible for maintaining our ‘likes’ and ‘follow’ protocol on the Bayer global page.
- Each country and business partner page owner is responsible for maintaining our ‘likes’ and ‘follow’ protocol
What is Community Engagement?
The process of community building with our target audiences across owned and opportunistic, external channels that enhances the experience of our audiences. It also improves societal perceptions and positions Bayer as an industry leader through reputation building.
Bayer Community: A group of people that share an active interest in Bayer and related topics.
The Community Engagement Virtual Team builds and fosters communities. They identify, engage in and moderate discussions that relate to our brand and the fields we are operating in to build trust and provide a positive brand experience. They also take an active role in editorial planning and bring in content creation and publishing experience.
Driving Engagement on Social
- Activists and trolls are very prominent on Instagram and often engage on posts at random. Engaging with these users should be limited to dispelling misinformation. Each engagement thread should be limited to three responses, as anything beyond that tends to be unproductive.
- User engagements that are legitimate and non-inflammatory (follow community guidelines) should be responded to as timely as possible. The Community Engagement Virtual Team goal is to respond to all engagements within 24 hours.
- We receive a wide range of engagement topics, but the most common types of engagements on Instagram include congratulatory remarks, product and sales inquiries, product and safety concerns, and legacy concerns.
- Engaging on community-generated content is encouraged on this platform, so long as the engaged account was tagged or mentioned in the original post.