Brands that do Instagram right

Hi everyone!

For our first blogpost we want to take you through three of our favourite business Instagram accounts, and talk about what these brands (or their social media agencies) are doing right. Hopefully this will motivate you to take your brand's online presence to the next level.

1. Rolls Royce (https://www.instagram.com/rollsroycecars/)

One word: on-brand. Rolls-Royce is one the most recognised brands in the world, famously known to strive for perfection in everything they do. This is also true for their Instagram account. Rolls Royce provides a truly beautiful, inspiring and forward-thinking profile, reflecting the brand`s core values. A clever combination of still photos, videos and 'instatiles', the account does not only intrigue and captivate, it paints a picture of perfection, and that owning a Rolls-Royce is the ultimate answer to luxury.

Lesson 1: Always remember that Instagram is an extension of your brand.

2. American Express (https://www.instagram.com/americanexpress/)

Can you see what most of these images have in common? That's right. AMEX cards, obviously. American Express uses a very clever Instagram strategy that inspires both engagement and user-generated content (UGC). By reposting user-generated images to their 137k followers, they encourage others to post pictures of their AMEX cards in the hopes of receiving a shoutout from the global brand. This again leads to American Express gaining exposure to all of these people's followers, without having to spend any time creating content themselves.

Lesson 2: Embrace the power of user-generated content.

3. Juliet Zulu (https://www.instagram.com/julietzulu/)

Looking at a much smaller business, Juliet Zulu is a creative brand, and that is exactly what their Instagram tells us. Whilst the account does not encourage that much engagement, JZ uses the platform to show potential new customers, just how creative and different they can be, and what they can offer as a business. By using Instagram as a portfolio of their talent, Juliet Zulu successfully increases their chance of being discovered by new customers who might not have stumbled onto their website, or gone looking for a creative agency in the first place,, as well as creating awareness of the brand in general.

Lesson 3: Instagram offers you the opportunity to showcase your work to 500 million potential new customers - take it!

What have we learned?

What all of these brands have in common, is that they all use Instagram to further their brand identity and to grow their businesses, whether that is done by showing off their work or encouraging others to do it for them. It is evident that they all have a well-thought-out strategy in place, whereas all posts are consistent and relevant, ensuring that also the feed as a whole, looks good. There is about a million other things these brands are doing right, but for now, take note of these three lessons, and try implementing them into your own strategy. Even better, give us a shout at caroline@holstsocial.com and we will do it for you!

Thanks for checking out our first blog post. Further down the line we will be looking at more of these with a dedicated post on what restaurants and hospitality brands can do to build their profiles.

Team Holst Social.