#btw17 | Campaigning on Instagram: storytelling with images

Instagram is the platform for visually appealing content. Users post photos or videos enhanced with filters, which are shown to their followers. Image, aesthetics and style matter here; hard information and facts less so. Is Instagram a relevant place for political parties, then? Absolutely! Much like Snapchat Instagram is particularly popular with young people. They share beautiful, funny or moving content with friends and like-minded people here. A good opportunity for parties to reach users in a relaxed setting, convey closeness and demonstrate ingenuity. But how creative are parties on Instagram? https://www.lilit-kommunikation.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Instagram-Wahlkampf-Lilit1.jpg

Appealing images, moving stories — the SPD on Instagram

Screenshot: @spdde on Instagram Beautiful, funny and surprising images, snapshots from the everyday life of the party and its leading figures — the SPD understands what matters on Instagram. Its images are appealing while still relating to the party and politics. The Social Democrats focus on storytelling: many images tell a story. For example, about new SPD members and why they joined, or about chancellor candidate Martin Schulz’s past. Captions vary accordingly, from relatively long texts to just a few words — both work on Instagram.

Mostly convincing: the CDU/CSU parties

The CDU also posts glimpses of the party’s political day-to-day life, including moving and special moments — for example, the chancellor signing Helmut Kohl’s condolence book, meeting Barack Obama or posing with the national football team. Screenshot: @cdu on Instagram The examples already make it clear: most of it is about Angela Merkel. The images mainly show the chancellor or senior party figures, whereas the SPD more often features “ordinary” MPs and members too. The CDU’s images are also frequently similar: Merkel meets this person, Merkel talks to that person. On one hand, that is good: a consistent style is recognizable. On the other, it offers little variety. The Instagram profile of the CDU’s sister party takes a different approach. The CSU also has appealing images, such as landscapes. In between, however, the Christian Social Union often posts graphics, images with embedded text or videos that look more like Snapchat — content that does not really suit Instagram’s style. It also often looks as though images posted on Facebook have been reused. It would be better to tailor this content more closely to Instagram’s format. One thing the CSU does well overall, though: it continues its strategy from other social networks, posting attractive landscape photos and emphasizing its identity as Bavaria’s party.

Smaller parties need improvement; the AfD sets a bad example

Where the large parties are already doing fairly well, the smaller ones still lag behind: the Greens, FDP and the Left mainly use Instagram for images and graphics overlaid with text. As with the CSU, there is too much information and too little aesthetics — the content does not fit the typical Instagram style. A better approach: less election manifesto, fewer hard facts, more “soft content.” Screenshot: @afd.bund on Instagram The Alternative for Germany profile is even more off-putting. It posts only content made up of a background photo, text and the AfD logo. The images are too information-heavy for Instagram and overloaded with different elements — they do not look aesthetic. The AfD continues its polarizing Facebook strategy on Instagram, deliberately discrediting politicians from other parties, for example. This provocative approach also does not suit the style of a platform built around beautiful images. Overall, the AfD profile gives the impression that it simply reuses its Facebook images here unchanged.

From #tbt to #btw17: hashtags on Instagram

Hashtags matter on Instagram too. They are generally used much as they are on Twitter: they place images in a thematic context and make them easier to find. Special formats have also developed, such as #throwbackthursday (#tbt), when users post old images to recall something. The SPD and CDU also post under #throwbackthursday, adapting to the style of young Instagrammers. Overall, however, almost all parties primarily use their own hashtags and thematic ones such as #btw17 for the federal election. It is striking that the Left and the AfD have so far used hashtags extremely sparingly, forgoing an important Instagram feature.

The Stories feature

Screenshot: @fdp on Instagram Instagram has had a Stories feature for some time. As on Snapchat, users can upload photos and short videos, add filters, stickers and text, and combine them into a story. The story is automatically deleted after 24 hours. So far, parties have been rather hesitant to use it. The most active are those that also use Snapchat. CDU and CSU post stories comparatively often and usually do well: they adapt to the format and use typical stylistic tools such as stickers or “Boomerang.” The CSU story about the citizens’ festival in Olympiapark stood out negatively, however: it was clearly a professional video that had not been created on or for Instagram, as its landscape format showed. The Free Democrats also use Stories, for example for an Instatakeover — a typical Instagram format in which one person takes over and runs the account for a set period. FDP takeovers feature well-known politicians such as Volker Wissing, Rhineland-Palatinate’s economy minister, as well as “ordinary” campaign staff. The SPD occasionally puts images in its stories, but has not yet shown longer or more elaborate ones. The other parties — the Greens, the Left and the AfD — apparently have yet to discover the Stories feature at all.

Tips for a successful Instagram presence

All parties therefore still have room to improve their Instagram presence. The CDU/CSU and Social Democrats are already doing quite well. The AfD, however, is a clear example of what not to do, and the Greens, FDP and Left are not ideal role models either. For an appealing Instagram presence, parties as well as businesses, associations and clubs should observe the following points:

• Post aesthetic, funny or impressive photos, including snapshots of everyday life
• Focus on storytelling : post images that tell a story. The accompanying text can be longer, too.
• Focus on “soft,” emotional content and fewer hard facts.
• The connection to the party’s or company’s core topics should nevertheless be obvious.
• Use familiar, thematic and your own hashtags strategically to make your content easier to find and more recognizable.
• The Stories feature : use it. Post as regularly as possible, using typical Instagram tools.

Need to improve your Instagram and other channels? Lilit helps plan and implement an innovative social media strategy. Contact us for a personalized quote. Curious for more tips? 1. Read how parties present themselves on Facebook and what we can learn from them 2. What matters in election campaigning on Snapchat 3. And what the recipe for election campaign success on Twitter is