The story of and strategy behind Instagram on NBC News, as presented by Anthony Quintano on Nov. 12 at Facebook's #Instamedia event.

2. on

3. The Beginning
• Testing the waters
• Started out with posting behind-the-scenes images

4. Expanding Our Presence
• Learned that followers on the NBC News account wanted news
images and not concert images from TODAY.
• Created @todayshow account.
• Encourage engagement around photos on social media during
TODAY concerts.

5. Instagram Strategy
• Overarching
Visual representation of real-time social news events.
• Keep It Real
DSLR is not always best.
• Involve Others
Don’t just post photos but feature your audiences photos.
• Be a Human
Like and comment on your audience’s photos.
• Avoid the EarlyBird
Don’t use filters when reporting news, behind-the-scenes images ok with filter.
• Keep Up
Post in real-time.

6. Growth of Instagram
• Facebook purchases Instagram, brings awareness to more users.
Instagram growth Dec. 2010 - July 2012
(via readwrite.com)

7. On The Trail
• Supplied each embed reporter with branded usernames for all social
accounts including Instagram.
• Each embed gave unique stories of what they experienced on the trail.
• Took more than 3,000 Instagrams by Election Day.
“
“Instagram was the best way to create
a ‘scene setter’ image upon arriving at
a political event. It was also a wonderful
medium for doing portraits of supporters
at rallies and including biographical
”
information in the caption. Who were
“
the people at rallies and why were they
there? That information could find a home
on Instagram.”
”
“Whether it was a spirited moment at a rally or a
- James Novogrod (@JamieNBCNews)
funny example of #lifeonthetrail, Instagram allowed
me to give followers instant, often behind-the-
scenes looks at covering a presidential election.”
- Ali Weinberg (@AliNBCNews)

8. Olympics: London 2012
• Cheers, Mate
Provided 1st person view of what it was like to experience the Olympics.
• Royal Family
Joint effort with NBC Sports and NBC News. (http://instagram.com/NBCOlympics)
• Cheeky Jumping
Started a jumping photo craze with Shawn Johnson and the Olympic athletes who
visited the TODAY set. (#OlympicsTODAY)

9. Expanding Access
• Give access to camera operators/producers to post directly to the
account when in the field.
• No iPhone/Droid? Have team send you photos from the field to
upload yourself.
• Use iOS’ Photo Stream to have photos sent to us from the field.

10. Featuring Our Audience
• Weekly themed callouts with a custom hashtag. (Ex. #HC_Halloween)
• Special Coverage around big news events. (Ex. #NBCNewsPics)
• Feature the ones we like most at the end of the week in our Instagram feed.
• Callout should be something everyone can take part in.
• Electiongrams.com
Hashtag Collection Callout Hashtag Collection Features Special Coverage

11. Thank you

12. Accounts to Follow
NBC News and Shows
• NBC News http://instagram.com/NBCNews
• TODAY http://instagram.com/TODAYshow
• Rock Center http://instagram.com/RockCenterNBC
• Meet The Press http://instagram.com/MeetThePress
• NBC Nightly News http://instagram.com/NBCNightlyNews
• Dateline http://instagram.com/DatelineNBC
• Kathie Lee and Hoda http://instagram.com/KLGandHoda
Campaign Embeds
• Jamie Novogrod http://instagram.com/JamieNBCNews
• Anthony Terrell http://instagram.com/AnthonyNBCNews
• Jo Kent http://instagram.com/JoNBCNews
• Ali Weinberg http://instagram.com/AliNBCNews
• Alexandra Moe http://instagram.com/AlexNBCNews
• Andrew Rafferty http://instagram.com/AndrewNBCNews
• Carrie Dann http://instagram.com/CarrieNBCNews

13. Accounts to Follow
Talent
• Savannah Guthrie http://instagram.com/SavannahGuthrie
• Hoda Kotb http://instagram.com/HodaKotb
• Matt Lauer http://instagram.com/MattLauerNBC
• Al Roker http://instagram.com/AlRoker
• Natalie Morales http://instagram.com/NMoralesNBC
• Tamron Hall http://instagram.com/TamronHall
• Carl Quintanilla http://instagram.com/CarlQuintanilla
• Richard Engel http://instagram.com/RichardEngelNBC
• Lester Holt http://instagram.com/LesterHoltNBC
• Erica Hill http://instagram.com/EricaRHill
• Jenna Wolfe http://instagram.com/JennaWolfe
• Sara Haines http://instagram.com/SaraHaines
The Weather Channel
• Stephanie Abrams http://instagram.com/StephanieAbramsTWC
• Jim Cantore http://instagram.com/JimCantore

14. Accounts to Follow
Camera Operators/Producers
• Yosef Herzog (TODAY) http://instagram.com/YosefHerzog
• Dwaine Scott http://instagram.com/nbcnewscrew
• Jim Long http://instagram.com/NewMediaJim
• Rich Latour (Rock Center) http://instagram.com/RichLatour
• Callan Griffiths (Camera) http://instagram.com/BullittProd
• Ray Farmer (Camera) http://instagram.com/RayFarmer
• Alex Gittleson (Producer) http://instagram.com/AlexGittleson
• Erika Masonhall http://instagram.com/ErikaMasonhall
• Anthony Galloway http://instagram.com/LiveAnthony
• Ian Sager (TODAY.com) http://instagram.com/Ian_Sager
• Sarika Dani (TODAY.com) http://instagram.com/SarikaDani
• Zoe Marcus (TODAY) http://instagram.com/zmarcus
• Frank Thorp http://instagram.com/frankthorpnbc
• Steven Flisler http://instagram.com/mrstevefiz

15. Accounts to Follow
NBC News Digital
• Ryan Osborn http://instagram.com/ryanosborn
• Anthony Quintano http://instagram.com/anthonyquintano
• Lou Dubois http://instagram.com/lou_dubois
• Sarah Coffey http://instagram.com/_sarahcoffey
• John Baiata http://instagram.com/jbaiata
NBCNews.com
• Jim Seida http://instagram.com/JimSeida
• Jon Sweeney http://instagram.com/JonSweeney
• David Britt-Friedman http://instagram.com/DBFphoto
• Matt Rivera http://instagram.com/MattMRivera
• John Makley http://instagram.com/makely
• Alastair Jamieson http://instagram.com/alastairjam
• Dave Wiley http://instagram.com/JournoDave