Creating and Managing an Instagram/Twitter Hashtag Feed

Contents

Overview
Instagram Account Setup Steps (Before Creating Feed)
Creating a Feed (Twitter)
Creating a Feed (Instagram)

Overview 

A hashtag campaign is a great way to harness the engagement of Instagram and Twitter. Set a designated hashtag, and display a feed of posts (images and videos) using that hashtag. Participants will be able to vote and share on these entries.

Instagram Account Setup Steps (Before Creating Feed)

Here's what you need to do before setting up your contest, if you're using Instagram:

1. Upgrade to the Agency Plan (for one feed) or Brand Plan (for unlimited feeds) to gain access to the Feeds feature.
   
   
2. Create a Facebook Page that can be connected to your Instagram Business Account for your hashtag contest. Learn more on setting up a Facebook Page by reading our Facebook Page Primer.
   
   
3. Create an Instagram Business Account, if you have not already done so. Instructions for creating an account can be found in our blog post, How to Set Up an Instagram Business Profile.
   
   
4. Connect your Instagram Business Account to your Facebook Page.
   
   

In the past, you could simply tell folks to include your contest hashtag(s) in their posts to enter. Now, entrants will need to include the hashtag(s) and also @mention the Instagram Business Account you indicated when setting up the ShortStack feed. Their entries should look similar to this:

As you can see, one of the best things about this updated process is that people who view the entry post will also see your business being tagged in the entry. The @mention in hashtag contest entries increases brand awareness.

Creating an Instagram/Twitter Hashtag Feed

When running a hashtag campaign, ShortStack's Voting Widget is used to display and manage the entries. The Voting Widget is connected to a list, where the posts from the feed are stored.

Twitter

Here are the steps to set up your Twitter hashtag feed:

1. From your Dashboard, click Feeds at the top.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the blue New Feed button.
   
   
   
   
3. You'll be given the option of what type of feed you want to set up. Select Twitter.
   
   
   
   
4. If you haven't already, you should see a pop-up appear. This pop-up opens Twitter, and allows you to authorize ShortStack to use your Twitter account for this tool. Log in (if needed), then click the Authorize App button to continue.
   
   
   
   
5. Use the fields provided to name your new feed. Also, select a Company Profile. If you want the entries to be added to a new list, select Automatically create new list - otherwise, select an existing list from the drop-down.
   
   
   
   
6. Now you'll get the options of what type of Twitter feed you want to create. Select Hashtags.
   
   
   
   
7. In the field provided, enter the hashtag you want to use to pull in entries. If you want to use multiple hashtags, separate each one with a comma; do note that if you use multiple hashtags, the feed will only pull in entries that use all of the hashtags provided. An example post will display on the right with what a post should include to be pulled into the feed.
   
   You can also click on all entries to change the types of entries you want the feed to pull in, or click on Manually to switch between approval modes for your entries.
   
   Once you're done, click the blue Continue button.
   
   
   
   
8. From there, add the start and stop dates and times; also, select a timezone.
   
   
   
   
9. If you want to add Twitter usernames to a blacklist, or set a maximum number of entries per user, click on Show Advanced Settings, and make the changes there. When you're done, click Save & Exit.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Instagram

Here are the steps to set up your Instagram hashtag feed:

1. From your Dashboard, click Feeds at the top.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the blue New Feed button.
   
   
   
   
3. You'll be given the option of what type of feed you want to set up. Select Instagram.
   
   
   
   
4. If you don't already have a Facebook account linked to your ShortStack, a pop-up will appear asking you to log into Facebook - if it does, log into the account that has admin access to the Facebook Page to which your Instagram account is connected.
   
   Once that's done, you'll be presented with a list of Pages and each one's connected Instagram account; click the one you want to use.
   
   
   
   
5. Use the fields provided to name your new feed. Also, select a Company Profile. If you want the entries to be added to a new list, select Automatically create new list - otherwise, select an existing list from the drop-down.
   
   
   
   
6. In the field provided, enter the hashtag you want to use to pull in entries. If you want to use multiple hashtags, separate each one with a comma; do note that if you use multiple hashtags, the feed will only pull in entries that use all of the hashtags provided (as well as your account tag). An example post will display on the right with what a post should include to be pulled into the feed.
   
   You can also click on all entries to change the types of entries you want the feed to pull in, or click on Manually to switch between approval modes for your entries.
   
   Once you're done, click the blue Continue button.
   
   
   
   
7. From there, add the start and stop dates and times; also, select a timezone.
   
   
   
   
8. If you want to add Instagram usernames to a blacklist, or set a maximum number of entries per user, click on Show Advanced Settings, and make the changes there. When you're done, click Save & Exit.
   
   
   
   
   
   

From there, you're done! You'll be taken back to the Feeds Manager, and you'll see your new feed appear on the list.



If you run into any problems with the setup of your Instagram Hashtag Feed, no worries - check out our help doc that covers Troubleshooting Issues with Feeds and Facebook/Instagram Importer Tools.

Using ShortStack's Rights Management Tool 

Learn more about requesting rights for entries pulled in using a feed in the Rights Management for Twitter & Instagram help doc.

Related Resources

Hashtag Contests & Giveaways (Video)

Common Mistakes Marketers Make With UGC (Blog Post)