Instagram geotags, or location tags, are often overlooked. They act as a bit of extra information that sits on Instagram posts and Stories, and tell followers your location.
The tool can be great for brands – especially those who have a fixed location, like a high street store. Plus, geotags work for influencers who are shooting on location, as you can use it to attract local followers.
But, what happens if you’re an e-commerce brand that doesn’t have a physical location. Or if you're a brand that doesn't use the location tag often? You’d be surprised by the creative ways people use the location icon – even when they don’t have a fixed presence.
This guide will walk you through the Instagram geotag features that brands and individuals need to know about. We’ll explore ways to use physical location to your advantage, and fun ways to play with the location tag.
What is an Instagram geotag?
There is a lot of data that can be inputted into a single Instagram post – one of which is a geotag. A geotage indicates where the post was taken or published.
So, for example, this video from The Padded Seat tags soccer stadiums as its map location.
If you click on the tag then you'll see more content from that same place.
Adding your location tag increases the chances of your post being found by other Instagram users. It follows the same principle as adding hashtags or keywords into your posts.
What's great is the geotag can be used to show where you are when posting on the road, or link back to your brand's location if you're posting about your products and services.
Creating a geotag on Instagram
Most geotags and location tags already exist because Instagram uses Facebook’s enormous database to offer suggested locations to those who want to add one. However, it is also possible to add your own custom or business location.
This is perfect if you’re a brand that doesn’t have a fixed address. Why? Because you can create a “location” that promotes your brand on your feed. It’s a small but effective way to create a sense of place.
Actually creating a new location isn’t simple, though. You’ll have to do it via Facebook.
Here are the steps:
Step 1: Log into Facebook
Instagram uses Facebook's location database for its geotags, so to create your own you'll need to log into the Facebook app or website. It's also important to sign in to your personal account, rather than your business account.
Step 2: Start creating a post
Click on the "What's on your mind" bar to start creating a post and hover over the red "Check in" button. Click on it to open the location search bar.
Step 3: Find your location
Enter your location. If it's there, you can head back to Instagram knowing that it'll be there when you add a tag to your post. If it's not, click the “+ Add a new place” button. It might take a while to find this button if you aren't actively in the location, as Facebook is good at trying to guess your current location first.
Step 4: Create a custom location
Fill in the details of your new place. You don't even need to give it a proper location. Save your place. It'll be added to Facebook's database, which means it'll also be available on Instagram.
It's worth noting that it can take a few hours for a new location tag to become available on Facebook and Instagram.
Why your physical location matters on Instagram
Around 100 million posts are added to Instagram every day. That’s a staggering amount of media – and it means brands have to work extra hard to fight off the competition. Remember, you’re trying to grab your followers’ attention and appeal to new people at the same time.
Your custom location can help push your posts to new audiences and increase brand awareness. Just like with hashtags, it’s a small but important part of your post’s overall metadata that helps Instagram spread it further.
Even local influencers with a few thousand followers can significantly boost visibility for businesses.
Of course, the other reason your location matters on Instagram is it acts as a direct link for audiences to see where you’re based. The geotag has become particularly useful for tourists exploring new places.
People are using Instagram more and more to search for things – rather than relying on Google.
What to do if you don't have a location
If you don’t have a fixed location then don’t worry, a geotag can still work for you. Leveraging user generated content can be a powerful strategy for brands without a fixed location. In fact, this is an instance where your Instagram account really needs to be optimized.
Brands without a fixed location can use geotags for their own branding purposes. You can effectively create a “place” that doesn’t exist, but that still sits on top of all your posts. In this way, you can display your business name, marketing campaign, or anything else, without actually needing a location.
It’s also useful for cheeky and fun Instagram posts. Say an influencer buys some pixie wings for a fancy dress party and wears a green dress for a Story post. They might choose “Never Land” as their imaginary tagged location to add a bit of fun to the video.
Being able to create a custom location means you can experiment with the geotag and find something that fits your personality. It can also act as a little nod to your audience – perhaps an inside joke or a running theme.
Geotagging best practices
If you decide to add a location tag to your posts, then make sure you take your time and don't rush into it. Remember, it's a small but important slice of metadata that can really help push your posts and Stories to new places.
It's definitely worth adding a specific location to your posts, but just make sure you follow these tips to ensure you maximize the effect.
1. Be accurate
It's important to be fully accurate with your tag, especially if you're posting location-based content. Take your time when searching for the location and double check it's correct.
If you've created your own business or store location, then check to make sure it points to the correct place on the map. This is really important for local influencers and businesses who use Instagram to point audiences to their exact location.
2. Use exact brand names
Instagram geotags aren't the same as account or profile names. You can have the same name for a geotag in every city on earth. So, if your brand clashes with another, that doesn't matter. You can both create branded tags that link to your exact location.
This is great for brands who want to use their tags as a branding opportunity. If this is the case, feel free to use your exact brand name.
3. Be smart
If you want to use your geotag to add a little bit of fun to your posts, make sure you do it well. Posting a picture of the new red ballet shoes in your store with the geotag "Yellow Brick Road" is pretty fun. Just make sure your audience will "get" the reference, otherwise it can look a little weird.
4. Try to stand out
Brands can build a really strong presence at various locations by using the same tag again and again on their posts. For example, a casino in Las Vegas won't get much value in tagging "Las Vegas" as their location. After all, there are hundreds of casinos in the city. A better option would be to either use the exact casino location, or stand out. Perhaps "The Best Casino In Vegas" is a more eye-catching tag.
5. Avoid simple mistakes
There are some basic mistakes that individuals and brands use when trying to add geotags to their Instagram account posts. Here are some to avoid:
- Not having a consistent geotag across all your Instagram posts. Being consistent is key to channeling people to your location, especially if you have a local business profile.
- Not optimizing your geotag for search by forgetting to use relevant keywords is a tough one. It's often worth having the town or city name in your tag, alongside your brand.
- Not monitoring your geotag’s performance is a simple error. Below, we'll look at how you can monitor the success of your location. If it's not working for you then be ready to change your strategy.
Measuring success with Instagram geotags
Instagram doesn't have specific data for geotags that are available to users. For example, you can't see how many other people have used the same tag, or how many users have clicked on it.
This is different to hashtags, when you can see how popular each one is as you search. You therefore need to use Instagram Insights to get an idea of what's going right and wrong with your geotags.
By tracking engagement metrics like comments, saves, shares, and likes, it's possible to gauge how popular any post, Story, or Reel is. Use Brandwatch to see where your audience is in the world. If there's a spike of interest from users in the same place as your custom location, then it's likely that the geotag helped.
You can also look at comments to see if anyone has noticed your location tag. This is great if you're posting a fun or ironic tag, such as "Winter Wonderland" when you're posing for a photo on a sunny beach during your Christmas vacation. If people comment and get the joke, then this is the sort of positive engagement that you can track and try to replicate.
