We’re a few days into 2020, and one thing is certain for this new decade: Social media isn’t going anywhere. You’ve heard me rattle off the Instagram stats before, but the platform keeps growing. Each month, 1 Billion people use Instagram, and 500 million people use the stories feature. Further, more than 75% of businesses will use Instagram in 2020, as 90% of Instagram users follow business accounts on the platform. This leaves a huge opportunity for businesses to cultivate a profile that connects with their followers and helps them solve problems.
Whether you’re killing it on the platform already or just getting started, we can all benefit from some inspiration. Today, I’m sharing my absolute favorite corporate Instagram accounts. These are the best Instagram businesses to follow and get inspired by.
Let’s get started!
IBM’s approach to their Instagram account is to use the visual platform to show sides of the business that most people may not see—projects, workforce, and things the company and its employees are passionate about. IBM recently featured six of its “Boldest Moments” from 2019, showcasing some highlights of the year. From company acquisitions to the Apollo anniversary and everything in between, this highlight reel rounded up some of the ways they created an impact in the world.
IBM is also very creative with their Instagram stories and highlights, showing insight through video around campaigns and projects IBM employees are working on. Some highlights categories include: Be Equal, a campaign around empowering women in the workforce, IBM Systems & IMB Research, showing the reach of their technology, Pride, featuring interviews of employees sharing what Pride means to them and more.
Moe Assist is a project management tool for influencers, allowing them to better manage collaborations and contracts from mega-influencer Danielle Bernstein. It’s no surprise that her company’s visual social media representation is one of the most inspiring—Danielle is a social media pro.
With quotes, featured user testimonials, and inside looks at the product, there is truly nothing we’re missing from the Moe Assist account. I’m also loving the streamlined look and feel of the Instagram profile, with its similar color palettes and image styles.
This Instagram planning tool’s very own Instagram account HAS to be good, and it is. The images are playful and always full of color, highlighting funny memes, insights and stats, relevant and funny tweets, and more. One main reason I love to follow their account is for its beautiful and creative images, which really break up the feed and bring color happiness during the winter months.
I also find the content super insightful and helpful as a social media manager, and I love the creative ways they bring their content to the feed without it being super text heavy.
Latermedia loves giving insights and secrets to new ways to post on stories, trends for the feed, and all-around spreading positive vibes with their profile. And as you can see with all of the examples provided, the posts are super sharable. Definitely worth a follow!
Of course, we had to include a classic.
One of my favorite things about Nike’s Instagram account is that it don’t just showcase images of their workout gear and sports products—Nike really tries to make their Instagram profile embody the slogan that the company has become synonymous with, “Just do it.”
Its profile features a simple and inclusive message: “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” All posts feature different athletes and individuals of all levels and an anecdote about their story and how they “just do it,” a great way to live out the company’s core values and show the world (and its nearly 100 million followers) what is important.
I think it’s safe to say that we can all benefit from a pet picture every once in a while. Even if you don’t have a pet (like me), Chewy is an awesome company to follow for some really great wholesome content. They regularly feature user-generated content, or UGC, testimonials and customer stories, insights and tips, the list goes on and on.
I also really love Chewy’s approach to highlights and stories—sharing fun and interactive content and saving it based on the categories Cats, Dogs, Pet Health, You, Chewy Eats, and more. The company does a great job overall of keeping their followers engaged while showing content that relates to their brand and what matters to them.
Ah, the masters. Google does a great job making its Instagram profile informative and fun. The feed is comprised of insights, stories, top searches, Super Gs, art, puppies, and resources.
The “Super G” series highlights photos of their logo that users have replicated in their own creative style with the hashtag #MySuperG. Some of my favorites include one using Fruit Loops, embroidery, colored pencils, and watercolors. This approach to featuring UGC is an awesome way to allow people to be creative with the prospect of being featured on your page. And with an account as large as Google’s (over 11 million followers!), it’s a great way to be noticed (and followed) as a creator.
Netflix, with over 5,500 shows and movies, has a seemingly endless stream of content to be sharing. With its profile, Netflix shares images and short clips from its content library to keep its watchers engaged. Netflix also loves a good homemade meme featuring a piece of original content or something hosted.
For example, the streaming company recently shared the below scene from the 2004 movie “Cinderella Story,” which had me laughing for longer than I’d care to admit.
From what I’ve gathered, the entertainment company uses its Instagram profile to inspire people to watch more Netflix, whether through shares of their images, memes, and teasers or through sharing things people may not know is available on Netflix, such as “Cinderella Story.”
Vans approach is a little more straight forward than the others we’ve looked at. Sometimes, you follow a brand to see their products, and that’s what Vans delivers.
This Instagram business account really embraces the brand and the people that make up its audience, sharing images of people wearing Vans clothing and shoes, both from its own collection of photos and with UGC. Many of the profile’s photos have a vintage feel, a nod to the fact that they’ve been around since 1966, and feature people on skateboards and surfboards keeping their vibe relaxed and relevant.
Boston-based advertising agency Arnold Worldwide has a very well-rounded approach to their Instagram account, showcasing funny and happy images alongside their current works and images that bring notice to current events and things that the company and its people are passionate about. With posts around Equal Pay Day, Pride, Earth Day, Voting Day and more, Arnold Worldwide highlights work it has done around issues that are of importance to the brand values.
Recently, the company has started sharing three-part posts that take up an entire row of the Instagram feed, showing a recent campaign the team has worked on. One of my favorites in this series is an ad for Progressive, which makes clear that owning a small business is no fairytale.
Additionally, in Instagram Stories, they show pieces of their work for various companies, not only bringing an inside look at how it works and what it produces but also to show prospective companies what the team is capable of.
In my opinion, the people behind Warby Parker are the kings and queens of a well-rounded brand Instagram account. They share internal voices, Warby Parker’s own products, new releases, and—of course—they do a really great job of posting UGC.
The approach to UGC is tasteful, by peppering it in as a nice accent to the content they create in their studio.
Another inspiring aspect of Warby Parker’s Instagram strategy is in how the company posts its own content, sometimes telling a story around how an item was made, or conceptualized, or designed. I love that they really bring you into the story and make you a part of it.
A recurring theme we’ve discussed throughout all of these Instagram accounts is authenticity. It’s so important to make sure what you’re sharing is a real representation of your company, culture, and what is important to your culture. All of the above companies take different approaches to show what is important to them, but their success in finding what is important to them is proof of how their accounts are doing. So give each brand a follow for 2020 inspiration, and find more Instagram business accounts to keep an eye one. And, of course, get to posting!
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