Essentially, Instagram has turned into a powerful sales-driving machine that leaves marketers battling over which content strategy derives the greatest engagement and most conversions. But, with around 25 million business profiles on Instagram today, competition is fierce, making creativity key to reach and engage with the right audience.
While some brands write off Instagram because they don’t feel that their product or service offerings are visual enough, most industries can find a way to adapt their content to the platform – it might just take a bit of thinking outside the box!
I Love the Dough
Since making its Bree Street debut in 2019, I Love the Dough has proven that it is so much more than just a delicious pizzeria. With close to 8 000 followers, the brand uses its blazing hot pink interior to create an Instagram feed that is a visual treat and uses its quirkiness to keep communication light and fun. They also make excellent use of pinned stories, where they give customers a sneak peek at some of the mouth-watering items on their menu.
Naked Insurance
Naked Insurance is the cool, trendy aunt of insurance providers. While many insurance providers struggle to appeal to a younger audience and battle to figure out how to use an app that requires more images and fewer words, Naked Insurance has hit the nail on the head when it comes to both. They keep their feed fun by combining photography with the occasional illustration, and provide a human element throughout, by introducing users to their staff or giving a behind the scenes look at life at Naked.
Skin Functional
Skin Functional offers South Africans non-toxic, cruelty-alcohol-and-fragrance-free skincare at affordable prices. Their Instagram page is like a breath of fresh air, combining bright and beautiful images with neutral earthy tones. They succeed on Instagram by creating content that captivates the user’s attention and providing more educational detail about each product in the caption to pique their interest.
Talisman Collective
Talisman Collective’s page transports you right into dreamland. The jewellery company is the perfect example of a brand which connects to its audience by telling a compelling story and does so using mystical images that combine tranquil imagery with unique illustration.
Kafui Naturals
Another beauty brand leaning into the ‘clean beauty’ trend is Kafui Naturals – an all-natural hair and skin product brand. Kafui encourages a holistic solution to self-care, and its Instagram feed conveys this with raw images and thought-provoking captions around cultivating balance. We love how unapologetically itself this brand remains, staying true to its roots and values throughout with images of real people, uncomplicated product shots and unwavering African-ness.
Kayos Casting Directors
Being one of Yellow Door’s clients, my opinion might be slightly biased! But Kayos is a great example of a service-oriented business’ ability to adapt its content to suit a visual platform like Instagram. We have helped the casting agency to maximise its social media presence by incorporating a human element into their feed, to give users an inside peek into the world of talent casting. Kayos’ Instagram reflects the dynamic world of the film industry, by using a mix of images which range from fun illustrations and multi-coloured client testimonials to snapshots of their finished work.
With so many brands killing it on Instagram right now, it is becoming more and more difficult to stand out from the crowd. Only those who are brave enough to experiment while maintaining a good mix of promotional and non-promotional content, while remaining true to their brand, will reap the rewards brought about by a killer content strategy. We hope that this blog post has inspired your social media strategy for 2021. If you’re not sure whether your business is a good fit for Instagram, or you simply want help taking your brand’s profile to the next level, get in touch, we’d love to help.