Instagram collaborations are a great way to reach a broader audience by cross-posting content across accounts. At UMSU, we use collaborations to highlight department events and campaigns that have broad appeal or impact on the student body.


Purpose of Collaborations

Collaborating with @UMSUunimelb should primarily serve to:
  • Direct students to your department’s account.
  • Showcase who you are and the role your team or community plays in student life.
  • Give students a compelling reason to follow your account.
All collaboration content must be strategic, relevant, and suitable for UMSU’s wider audience.

How to Meet Approval Criteria

We have some guidelines regarding what kinds of content will receive collaboration request approval. All conditions must be met for a post to be reshared to the @UMSUunimelb account.
  1. If you're making static content, include your department’s logo and the Student Powered logo in a style fitting of UMSU's standard use of logos. You can do this by submitting it to the Design team for approval.
  2. Ensure content is suited to the posting format, including:
    2.1.  Using the correct dimensions (i.e. 1080x1350 for statics, 1080x1920 for reels).
    2.2. Using appropriate linking technologies, e.g. pointing to your department’s “link in bio” (no QR codes or unclickable links).
  3. Make sure it is visually accessible (easily legible text, closed captions, etc.).
  4. Match the visuals and tone with UMSU brand identity.
  5. Do your best to create content of a professional standard and style.
  6. Please do not include references to unapproved platforms (i.e. Google Suite, WhatsApp groups, etc.)
  7. Please only request one collaboration per event/campaign.
  8. Ensure the content follows UMSU's standard social media policies and the platform’s terms of use.

How to Organise a Collaboration with @UMSUunimelb

Once your content is ready, email the content to cme-support@union.unimelb.edu.au and ask to collaborate on the post. If it not yet posted, tell us the anticipated date. If it is already posted, send us the link. We may require you to make changes to the content before we can accept the collaboration.

If the visual style does not suit the @UMSUunimelb page but is otherwise compliant, we may co-author the post and reshare it to our audience's feeds but not include it on our grid.

If a Collab Request Is Declined

If we’re unable to accept your collaboration request, we may still promote your event by resharing it to our Instagram Story.
Story reshares are a more flexible and easily granted option. To request one:
  • Tag @UMSUunimelb in your static posts or stories.
  • Mention us in your story using text overlay or the dedicated Mention function to notify us of the request.
Sometimes, we may elect not to accept a collab request even if your post ticks all the boxes (e.g. we've accepted too many collabs within a certain period). We're not doing it to be mean (we promise!), we are also turning our own efforts toward more strategic content for the Union overall. So it may not always be obvious, but we promise we're not declining for no reason.

Please note that we will not be able to accept collaboration requests or story reshares outside of working hours. Exceptions to this may only be achieved through pre-arranged agreements under exceptional circumstances.