INTRODUCTION
According to Statista, more than 75% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 44, with 31.6% falling within the 25-34 age range. This presents an opportunity for municipalities looking to communicate with their younger residents; however, it’s not enough to just be present on the platform.
To effectively reach younger generations, municipal staff must learn how to leverage Instagram’s key features and differentiate it from the municipality’s other social media platforms and traditional communication outputs.
Following are some tips on how your municipality can use Instagram to connect with younger residents.
POST INSTAGRAM REELS AND TIMELY STORIES
Instagram Reels and Stories are the most popular content formats on the platform and are more likely to resonate with younger audiences for general municipal communications. If you’re not familiar, Reels are short-form videos (typically less than 90 sec.) that live on your profile, while Stories are a form of expiring (timely) content that are only visible for 24 hours.
For example, you can u
se Reels to share overviews of upcoming projects, events or initiatives. You also can highlight new businesses or amenities that appeal to your younger residents, such as a new coffee shop or recreational activities, or experiment with appropriate trends.
If your municipality has a dedicated cable channel, you could create Reels using clips of key points from some of your programming. Short, engaging content will likely resonate more with younger individuals than a 30-min. program.
Your Stories should communicate timely happenings, such as road closures, special holiday hours or day-of event reminders. You also can use Stories to share content from your page (like your Reels), department-specific Instagram accounts, local businesses or other stakeholders.
Add stickers to your Stories to help drive engagement. For instance, add a “questions” or “poll” sticker to your story to get feedback from younger residents. You also can share resources by adding a link sticker that routes to a timely news flash, community survey or other relevant page on your website.
Create highlights to keep select Stories visible for more than a day. For example, you could create an “Events” highlight that includes Stories you created for upcoming events or a “[name of month] reminders” highlight for Stories that include key meeting dates or deadlines.
If it hasn’t been clear, the content that you publish on Instagram should not be a duplication of content from your other channels, like Facebook. Your posts, Reels and Stories need to be tailored to your younger demographic.
Lastly, make sure to optimize your content for these formats by using video footage or images that are 1080×1920 pixels.
TAILOR INSTAGRAM CONTENT AND LANGUAGE TO YOUNGER GENERATIONS
Use more relaxed language on Instagram to appeal to Gen Z and younger millennials. This doesn’t mean throwing all spelling and grammar rules out the window. Instead, aim to be less formal and consider incorporating appropriate slang or trending language to help capture their attention.
For instance, you could include terms like “fam” (e.g., close friends or family) in posts related to activities for family and friends, or “high-key” (e.g., to openly express something) to boast about an accomplishment, such as being “high-key excited” about the completion of a new municipal building or community-wide initiative.
While you should still use Instagram to communicate pertinent community information, you also should strive to focus more on the topics your younger residents care about. Use insights from past efforts, such as post engagement, responses to polls included in Stories, online survey results, etc., to help guide your efforts and refine as needed.
USE INSTAGRAM FOR TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION WITH YOUNG RESIDENTS
Today’s Instagram users expect near-immediate responses to the questions and comments they post, and many prefer communication to take place directly on Instagram. This is particularly true for younger generations who are less likely to go off-platform to seek answers or engage with your staff via phone, email or in-person meetings.
Monitor Instagram for questions and comments and respond the same day or within one business day if possible. Your municipality’s public information officer (PIO) or communications director should assume the role of managing and monitoring your account, as well as coordinating with various department heads to obtain answers as needed.
Use tools like Meta Business Suite or a third-party platform like Hootsuite to keep track of all comments and direct messages from a central inbox.
You also should consider exploring options like Linktree to add a “link in bio” to your Instagram account. While you can add the link to your website in Instagram, a link-in-bio tool allows you to include relevant links to information and resources that correspond with recent posts. This can help you point younger residents to a resource that is convenient for them.