TL;DR: Taking a cue from the most successful brands on Instagram in India (and the world) to help create engaging branded content that delivers quantifiable results
Instagram may have begun as a platform to share photos, but over the years, it has become much more. Today, it is one of the most powerful tools in a brand’s marketing arsenal. Of the 1 billion+ active users on Instagram, 90% follow a business.
Because the ‘Gram has the potential to not only reach audiences but also get them actively engaged, almost every brand, big or small, has staked their claim on it. This has led to murky waters with branded content floating in and out of your audiences’ profiles like flotsam and jetsam.
So, how do you rise out of the muddied waters and catch the attention of your audience? You take a cue from the most successful brands on Instagram in India.
Top 3 Indian Brands on Instagram To Take A Cue From
Right off the bat, let’s get one thing out of the way. There are too many brands on Instagram that have been successful at beating competitors and creating a winning strategy.
Durex India is one example with their uncanny talent to allude every situation to pleasure, even in lockdown!
Carmesi, one of the few brands offering natural and sustainable sanitary pads in India, is another one:
So, we stick to three that we feel are really killin’ the game.
Brand: Blue Tokai Coffee
Why did we include a brand with a relatively small follower number? Because when you take into account that they sell roasted Arabica beans (and all the equipment needed to brew coffee), a niche still very tiny in India, that figure becomes massive.
Their Instagram feed is a paradise not just for coffee addicts but also cakes, cookies, and sweet lovers, which just goes to show their intelligence. Marketing on Insta is not merely about targeting your direct audience but also those on the periphery!
Brand: Sabyasachi
If Blue Tokai is an example of an Indian start-up making waves through Instagram, then Sabyasachi is an example of a big brand doing the same. We picked the Indian apparel mammoth because of two reasons.
One, their grid, is a study in mastery. Mixing images with text posts to tell a story was an ingenious idea, and they’ve been following the concept for years now.
Two, Sabyasachi regularly features customers on their feed, and it is more than enough to gather more followers every time!
Brand: Zomato
The rule of thumb with content is to post consistently. Zomato is an exception to it, and that is why we think it is one of the most successful brands on Instagram.
The food delivery platform doesn’t post daily or even on fixed times. Their strategy emphasises quality over quantity. They post when they have content that will resonate with their audience.
2 Successful Global Brands on Instagram
Since physical borders do not define the digital world, we give you two global brands that have used Instagram to their benefit.
Brand: Nike
Nike knows the secret to advertising through Instagram – don’t do on the nose posts. Users are already drowning in content that pushes brand information. It is annoying.
What Nike does is evoke emotions – feelings that influence the decisions of their followers. So, instead of posting their products, they post real people wearing Nike.
Brand: Lululemon
Even if you don’t recognise the name, you’ll recognise the clothes because Lululemon follows in the footsteps of Nike. They don’t use Instagram to showcase their ware.
They use it to show people having fun while wearing Lululemon. And the best part? Their content is inclusive, from sculpted bodies to bodies with bulges, from young to old.
How Do You Become A Successful Brand on Instagram?
On social media, people don’t want to follow companies. They want to follow people, and that’s what each one of these brands on Instagram has accomplished.
How do you achieve this?
Use individuals who give credibility to your brand. Social media users land on brand pages because of their favourite influencers, but they stay due to your content.
So, don’t just create content, create a language. Think of your followers as friends who understand all your inside jokes and phrases and then roll from there!
