Instagram UK Hip-Hop Content Opportunity Analysis™ 2019-2022

Content Opportunity Methodology

1. Measure & Categorize. Sample a large number of social posts to find ones that are significantly outperforming the average.
2. Identify Top Themes. Identify the themes that are resonating most with the audience by sorting the themes by their aggregated performance metrics.
3. Identify a Benchmark. Identify content themes that are performing above and under an average benchmark for the industry based on views & engagements.
4. Identify Opportunities. Look at the data and find the content themes that are resonating with the audience based on a set of top creators.
5. Repeat For Each Platform. Repeat the analysis for every platform that matters to your brand and audience to find platform-specific opportunities.

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Instagram Content Bucket Definitions

• Behind the Scenes: Behind the scenes content focused on sharing unseen moments from music videos or freestyle performance sessions to help viewers understand the creation process for an artist, this content is usually reposted by bigger media outlets to share ‘exclusive’ content.
• Live Club Performance: A format by Boiler Room, these performances include a mixture of rap dj-ing and performances in crowded and small performance spaces.
• Interviews: Interviews are video formats featuring artists who participate in conversations for their fan base to get to know them on a deeper level.
• Shot or Not: Shot or Not is a radio show segment that engages artists to think of three alternative words in five seconds after being given a prompt, if they are unable to complete the task they have to take a shot.
• Single Format Freestyle: A video format featuring freestyles and performances by an artist live or in studio from a variety of series such as Fire in the Booth, BL@CKBOX, The Spit Game, Daily Duppy, HB Freestyle and Mad About Bars.
• Challenge Format: A series of different challenges that force artists to get out of their comfort zone. Different formats include charades, Rep Your Ends trivia, and Who Are Ya? where rappers have an object written on their head and can ask questions to guess what they are.
• Acoustic Rap: A BBC Radio 1xtra “Live Lounge” acoustic performance series of an artist’s songs with a live band.
• Rappers React: Rappers are invited onto a show to listen to new rappers and give their honest reactions and opinions.
• Up & Coming Cypher: A video format that elevates up and coming talent in the form of a cypher or a performance by two or more artists at one time.
• Up & Coming Freestyle: A video format that focuses only on single format freestyles and performances for up and coming talent in the rap game.
• #UKTouchdownTour: A series that explores different artists across the UK as they take them through their hometowns.
• Acoustic Cover: Acoustic rap performances accompanied by a live band but where artists perform covers of other songs as opposed to their own pieces.

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Content buckets that had the highest average views & engagement in the UK hip-hop space include:

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Good performing content opportunities for the UK hip-hop audience on Instagram include:

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Substandard performing content opportunities for the UK hip-hop audience on Instagram include:

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Low performing content opportunities for the UK hip-hop audience on Instagram include:

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Content Opportunities:

1. Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes content focuses on sharing unseen moments from music videos or freestyle performance sessions to help viewers understand the creation process for an artist.

Tactics to Implement:

• Reposting: Instagram tends to be a space for reposting content from artists, even for top media outlets that create tons of their own content on YouTube like GRM Daily. These ‘exclusive’ moments with artists tend to be more shareable which leads to a large amount of shares and visibility.
• Length: These video range from 30-90 seconds are are generally showing clips and sneak peaks of content.

Content Opportunities: There is a lack in the UK content scene about how artists make their music. While there is an increase of reposts on media outlets, there are very few original content formats displaying the actual behind the scenes of making a song or music video.

561K Views

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455K Views

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2. Live Club Performance

Live club performances are a format predominantly created and distributed by Boiler Room. Traditionally these performances include a mixture of rap dj-ing and performances in crowded and small performance spaces.

Tactics to Implement:

• Shared Experience: These performances are so interesting because of the proximity that everyone has to each other. There is no separation between the artist and the crowd. The communal experience allows viewers to see and feel the energy of the crowd and the way the artist navigates the small space.
• Cross-Promotion: Unlike this content format on Facebook, Live Club Performance videos on Instagram are used to direct viewers to watch the full length video on YouTube.

Content Opportunities:

• To enhance this platform content for cross-promotion, try creating an organic version of this by planting a viewer with an iPhone or GoPro to create an even more unique preview experience for a virtual audience.

793K Views

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508K Views

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3. Interviews

Interviews are video formats featuring artists who participate in conversations for their fan base to get to know them on a deeper level.

Tactics to Implement:

• Compilations: Since Instagram is a preview platform for longer content, compilations are a great way to summarize top moments or artists who have been guests on a particular show. Top content for Chicken Shop Date features a themed breakdown of the host guessing an artists real name.
• New Perspective: Hip-hop media outlet Link Up TV created an inspirational series that touches on entrepreneurship and beyond to positively impact their viewers as the self-made mogul experience is strong in the rap community.

Content Opportunities: As Instagram is moving to an all video format, being able to compile large amounts of quality moments from short conversations could help expand reach and engagement with your audience.

808K Views

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629K Views

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4. Shot or Not

Shot or Not is a radio show challenge format that engages artists to think of three alternative words in five seconds after being given a prompt, if they are unable to complete the challenge they have to take a shot.

Tactics to Implement:

• Video Length: On average, these videos are less than 10 minutes and feature the host and rapper in the middle of the challenge.
• How the Game Works: The clip cuts right into the game with little introduction except for someone organically mentioning “you have 5 seconds to give me three other words for [ ]”.

Content Opportunities:

• This game doesn’t challenge the artist in a lyrical and rhythmic way but does enable them to tap into their authentic self in the way they respond. With a time limit to think of three other ways to say something, the artist must pull from their creativity, slang and history to give the audience a bit of their personality.
• Games like this are not dependent on alcohol and can be conducted with a points system similar to Horse or Skate where losing contestants eventually spell out Skate with accumulated letters.

448K Views

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188K Views