Reposting on Instagram – 5 Must-Follow Rules To Legally
Reposting on Instagram comes with a significant challenge for brands and marketers. Don’t worry; in this article, we will walk you through some amazing ways to repost on Instagram and don’t miss out on the bonus to stay away from legal troubles.
Not less than word-of-mouth marketing, reposting on Instagram help brands showcase their humanized attributes, authenticity, reliability, and trustworthiness with user generated content.
Instagram is the most popular destination for Influencers, brands & marketers for social marketing; its striking interface keeps the audience engaged and foolproof to grab their attention.
This visually engaging platform is one of the favorite social media channels among billions of people, gist millions of potential customers.
As Instagram is a creative UGC hub, brands have been lately leveraging user-generated content to repost on Instagram.
However, brands often stumble into the trap of legal issues while reposting on Instagram.
We have penned this blog with 5 must-follow rules that you should keep in mind while reposting on Instagram and safely distributing your users’ content for powerful marketing.
So, let’s dive in.
What Is Reposting On Instagram – How Does It Align With UGC
Resharing Instagram posts of yours or other people on your own Instagram account is termed Reposting on Instagram.
Instagram is an important platform for marketers and a hub of user-generated content, which again is a key element for brands and marketers to leverage their social media marketing.
So, to deploy UGC in Instagram marketing, brands can curate valuable user-generated content and repost it on their business account. This is what we call Instagram UGC Reposting.
Brands like National Geographic, River Island, GoPro, IKEA, and Samsung have been reposting user-generated content for a long time.
The process is simple; users share creative content on their publicly accessible Instagram account using branded hashtags, mentions, or tags.
Brands then curate this content and repost it on their Instagram profile account to share with their followers.
But the question here is, Is it legal to Repost on Instagram? And, if not, what rules and regulations should one follow to repost on Instagram?
Also Read – How To Add Instagram On Website?
First thing first,
Is Reposting On Instagram Legal?
You might be thinking about how safe or legal it is to repost or reshare others’ Instagram content on your account. Ambiguous rules and reposting tools have made reposting on Instagram painless, neglecting the users’ copyrights.
That said, until and unless you earn explicit permission from the content owner, you cannot reshare or repost others’ Instagram posts on your account.
Explicit consent requires written permission from the original content owner; it can either be “yes” in the comment section or DM or direct communication with the content owner to acquire their consent.
Many times, users claim their copyrights on their posts if they reshare without their permission and ask for all the monetary compensation brands earn with their content.
Moreover, reposting on Instagram is considered a violation of intellectual property if practiced by avoiding compliance from the content owner.
Hence, make sure every time you repost on Instagram, you get approval from the user, and only after that, repost it on your Instagram account.
We have understood the importance of legalities to reposting on Instagram; now it’s time to delve into the world of Instagram reposting and how to do it rightfully.
Types Of Content That Can Be Reposted On Instagram
According to statistics, posts featuring UGC have a 4.5% higher conversion rate as compared to non-UGC posts. But, the brand needs to understand what type of user-generated content can be reused and reposted to dignify its market image and improve its social performance.
Here are the few ideas of content that brands can repost to enhance their brand value.
- Content that complements your marketing strategy.
- Posts that are directly related to your brand.
- User-generated content posted by your real customers.
- Images that reflect your brand’s aesthetic and align with your brand’s ideology.
- Hashtag campaign photos and videos.
- Worthy and encouraging posts.
- Tagged posts by the customers.
It is important to maintain the consistency of the feed while reposting the content, like color-blocking themes, eye-catching captions, etc.
Instagram’s Conditions For Reposting Others Content
Given all benefits and everything, some rules exist for using content created by other users or UGC creators.
Similarly, Instagram has listed the reposting on Instagram rules which guides on how to repost someone else’s content rightfully.
The question that arises is, Does reposting on Instagram require permission?
The first and foremost doubt that clouds up our heads when it comes to reposting is, “Can I use someone else’s Instagram images to repost?”
The answer is undoubtedly YES, but with terms and conditions.
It isn’t clearly a violation of any law or regulations on Instagram, but that does not mean that you can use anyone’s content without their permission.
Instagram’s terms of service state about account owners are responsible for the content they share and for “collecting information from others’ accounts without their permission.”
Even if it does not clearly define the boundaries to using users’ content, it is your responsibility as a brand to legally repost Instagram UGC to stay away from any legal trouble.
No matter how overwhelmed your customers will feel when you will repost their content, it is important to get their consent before doing so.
So, here are some best practices and rules for rightfully and legally reposting Instagram user-generated content.
5 Rules To Repost UGC On Instagram
1. Define What Content To Repost & Educate Team
The first learning begins internally, where you should create an outline of what content you will post on Instagram. As there are many options to choose content from on Instagram.
It could be from your brand hashtag, mentions, tagging, or generally relevant content. Also, you should educate your team that looks after your Instagram profile to always stay within the legal boundaries.
These boundaries could include sharing socially-acceptable content, not reposting profane content, and many more rules that we have listed further.
2. Curate Content From Diverse Sources
Not really a rule but a best practice that will save you a lot of time & resources. Primarily you should focus on curating relevant user-generated content from Instagram.
Once you curate content, you can better filter the best and most valuable content. As you funnel down to the UGC you want to repost, it will become easier for you to proceed with legal reposting.
3. Ask For Permission From Users
It is the most important rule for reposting user-generated content. If you don’t have users’ consent or permission to repost their content, you should not repost UGC.
Taking permission is easier than it sounds, as you have different ways to do so. The most common way is to directly message the user and take explicit permission to repost their content.
Then comes the most secure and perfect way to take users’ permission, i.e., using user-generated content rights management.
Once you get permission from the users, it will become easier for you to repost on Instagram legally without any hassle or implication.
4. Implied Permission With Brand Hashtag
Many brands have their own Instagram hashtag, and it is the perfect platform to use hashtags to get users’ permission to use their content.
Ask your users to submit their valuable user-generated content using the brand hashtags and mention that the content will be reposted on your profile if selected.
This is an implied form of taking permission from the users as the user is aware that if they use the hashtag, the content might be reposted by the brand (as stated).
Brands like NatGeo, Airbnb, etc., are already doing so, along with protection from their terms of use for UGC.
5. Follow Finance’s “Credit The Giver” Rule
Even if you have taken all the permission, be it implied or explicit, you must credit the content owner which you are reposting. This has different advantages for your brand.
Firstly, it helps you secure yourself with an extra layer of protection as you are crediting the original source of content.
The added advantage is that you, as a brand, acknowledge the users and give a shoutout that will help them get exposure and showcase their ideas.
For brands, this helps in building a diverse brand community with a loyal following and consistent & enhanced user engagement with brand campaigns and social posts.
Giving credit is easy with Instagram, as you can tag users easily. Also you can mention them in the post captions as well.
What About Reposting On Instagram Stories?
Reposting on Instagram stories is almost similar to what we have mentioned above. You can follow most of these rules to repost Instagram UGC legally.
You should ask for permission to share UGC in stories, tag the users, share the brand hashtag, etc.
The key part here though is that you should focus on sharing the original content post instead of reshaping or repurposing it.
As we now know the importance of acquiring users’ rights to repost on Instagram, let us explore how to get permission using Taggbox, the authentic rights management tool.
Also Read – How To Add Instagram Stories On Website
Get Content Rights with Taggbox Rights Management
Taggbox, the best UGC platform, offers complete and legal solutions to collect, curate, and repost Instagram UGC for brands.
With Taggbox – UGC rights management, you can collect and curate content from Instagram using hashtags & mentions. Then you can generate personalized “rights requests” for the users and get approval.
Users can approve your “Rights Request” by just replying to the comment. Then you can freely repurpose that content for reposting and creating marketing campaigns, Ad campaigns, and other commercial purposes (Depending on the rights T&C).
How to get rights using the Taggbox UGC rights management tool:
- Aggregate your social media UGC into a widget.
- In the moderation panel, select the posts you wish to get rights for and click “get rights”.
- Download the Google Chrome “Get Rights” extension to choose multiple posts in one go.
- On the UGC requests page, connect your Instagram. Choose the account from which you wish to post the comment.
- Add all required branded hashtags, personalize the comment or use the pre-written content. This message will be uploaded as a comment on the user’s post.
- Get rights as quickly as it is approved and repurpose the UGC to uplift your marketing campaigns.
- Download the approved content and reap the desired results with UGC
How to Repost On Instagram: Best Ways To Do It
Now that you have permission from the content creator, your brand should possess some basic strategy to repost the content.
There are 2 ways to do Reposting on Instagram: manual reposting and employing a third-party rights management tool.
1. Reposting on Instagram (Manually)
Here are 4 simple steps to manually repost on Instagram.
Step 1: Take a screenshot of the image you want to repost via the default mobile function or with the best screenshot tools.
Step 2: The screenshot taken is saved to the camera roll of your mobile. Upload the screenshot on Instagram using the upload (camera) button.
Step 3: Crop the image and resize it using the Instagram upload editor. Remember not to edit the image; instead, use it in its original form to maintain the authenticity of the profile.
Step 4: Add an eye-catching caption and make sure to give credit to the content creator and tag them using (@) mentions. Finally, click on share, to repost on Instagram.
2. Reposting on Instagram (Using a Third-Party Tool)
Many third-party tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, Repost on Instagram (Red Cactus), etc. help you repost on Instagram with a few simple steps.
Step 1: Determine the photo that you want to repost. Tap on the (…) icon and click “Copy link.”
Step 2: Open the third-party app. It will automatically recognize the copied URL and will curate the image.
Step 3: Open Instagram and Edit the caption by giving credits to the content creator using @mention.
Step 4: Share the image as a normal post.
And you are almost there to break the ice!
Having explored all the terms and conditions and simple yet legal ways to repost on Instagram, let us dive deeper into the understanding of UGC reposting on Instagram by making headway towards the benefits of reposting on Instagram.
Why Brands Must Repost UGC On Instagram?
There are several benefits for users and brands, especially if they follow rules to repost Instagram UGC legally.
1. Build Trust & Credibility
User-generated content is the most realistic, authentic, and trustworthy form of information about your brand and its products/services. So, sharing it on your profile will help you build brand trust & credibility.
2. Showcase & Grow Brand Community
Reposting UGC will help you showcase your brand’s loyal and valuable brand community that talks highly about your brand. This will have a great influence on your new audience.
Also, it will help you grow your existing community as the other users will also be interested in featuring on your brand’s Instagram, leading to expanding your brand community.
3. Grow Brand Reach & Awareness Through WOM
The key advantage brand mentions in UGC is that it helps you expand your brand reach to a more diverse and greater audience through the word of mouth marketing by the customers.
In this organic marketing concept, the users generate a positive mindset toward the brand. Also, over 90% of the users trust recommendations from other customers or family/friends.
4. More Engagement With Users
Engagement is crucial for brands on social media as it helps the users to understand better the brand, its identity, and its brand personality. This helps them make favorable decisions for conversions & loyalty.
So, creating, sharing, and reposting user-generated content creates an ecosystem of continuous engagement among the brand and its consumers that bring positive results.
Closing Note
Now that you have explored the different dimensions of user-generated content and rules for legally reposting on Instagram, it’s time to expand your UGC marketing across different channels with User-generated content rights management solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions:-
You can repost on Instagram by sharing a post to your Story or using a UGC platform to take proper rights to repost it.
If you are tagged in someone else’s Instagram Story, you will receive a notification in your Direct Messages with the option to ‘Add to your story.’ You can then check it out and comment or reshare it in your own Story.
To legally repost a video or reel on your Instagram account, you can use a UGC tool like Taggbox. It will provide you complete rights management solution.
