Investigate What I've Been Saving to Instagram Folders
Investigate What I've Been Saving to Instagram Folders
Recent marketing inspiration that's caught my eye on social media
Instagram is my go-to social media platform. That’s where I spend my time scrolling and posting. It’s also where I save many many posts to a variety of folders. Folder names include: Coffee ☕️, 📍 CLT, Beachy Travel Spots, BOOKS, and 🧶✂️🎨. (And no, I don’t use Pinterest. Why would I when I have Instagram?!)
I also have a folder named Heronry 💙, which is what we’ll be spelunking into today.
The following highlights some posts I’ve saved because I think we can all take a lot away from them. They’re either ways to inspire better storytelling and engagement or straight-up tips and tricks for marketing.
Let’s go!
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Milwaukee Public Library is a Certified Instagram Darling®. They do goofy skits, cleverly use trending audio, push boundaries ever so slightly, and—most importantly—have fun with it. They also use an incredible variety of employees and patrons, which is mind-blowing. (And yet proves that when you have authentic fun with social media, more people will want to participate.)
Jess Rona is another favorite content creator — and it’s not just because she shows all the cutie cute dogs she grooms. If you look at her content through a marketing lens, it is ~chef’s kiss~. She of course shows the grooming process, but she also provides tips for doing it at home, before and afters (that are not the stuffy, boring kind), jumps on trends, does challenges, and gets the whole team involved.
She’s also an expert at repurposing content. You may see the same pups, but the content is different and attention-grabbing. For example, here are Reels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of a lil Pomeranian named Zeus.
I love the new phase of celebs jumping into social media series like Recess Therapy (above) and What’s Poppin to sneakily promote their new work or get some positive PR. These channels don’t focus on celebrities on the whole. But when one pops up, it feels special and fun.
Thrifter extraordinaire Dina posted this clever, engaging carousel. It starts with her putting on gloves to rummage through the Goodwill bins (in which you pay by the pound, not per item). As you swipe, photos of her cart show more and more items being added. It’s a brilliant way to push natural engagement on a post.
Oh hey there! Thanks for reading this far. I just wanted to let you know that I have some opening in my schedule for a few more consultations and marketing services. It’s all geared toward solopreneurs, artists, makers and small biz owners. Book now!
Alright now get back to spelunking …
Teams, athletes, brands, creators and about everyone else under the sun are gearing up for the Olympics. I stumbled across this Reel from the NBA in which they asked our men’s national basketball team if they could spin a ball on their finger—and which team member they thought couldn’t do it. It’s a good, simple post that allows the team to show off their personality a bit.
Also, the official @olympics account posted a Reel with @cost_n_mayor in which the dancing duo recreate celebratory dance moves from past games. They then add the call-to-action of challenging “your favourite athletes to show off their celebration moves at #Paris2024”.
Which is where they lost me. Shouldn’t the challenge be recreating moves we plebes see at the Paris Olympics? I don’t think Simone Biles (gymnastics) or Christian Coleman (track and field) are even remotely worried about their celebration moves.
Lauren deVane offers a simple guide for improving your generative AI prompts to get a more solid response. I’m definitely keeping this one in my back pocket.
This post caught my eye because I hate it. There is nothing clever about using a screenshot of a note for your paid ad. (Yes, this was on my feed because they paid to show it to me.) Like … can bigger brands please invest in designers, photographers, videographers and copywriters already??
Instead of listing their go-to tools, ilovecreatives designed this cute animation. (You definitely need to click on the Reel and watch.) (And now I want to know what Butter is …)
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, explains why creating shareable content is important for the almighty algorithm. However, it left me with more questions than answers. It seems like it will push small businesses into the rat race of creating endless content and not focusing on marketing and storytelling around their products and brand.
I just really like how they shot this photo. Can one of y’all try it and let me see the results?
Mayara explains the importance of variety in the types of posts you are sharing.
I love that this Reel starts off goofy, then spits straight facts for the rest of the video. Would I follow the account though? Probably not. However …
… I did start following the NYC Department of Transportation. They’re a little all over the place, but it somehow just *works*. Their content ranges from sweet to surreal. And they aren’t afraid to have (you know the magic word!!) FUN.
Now please appreciate this fun post from shortly after the Grammys when Tracy Chapman performed.
What treasures have you found?
Share your fav Instagram posts (or really posts from any platform) in the comments or send me an email.
And if you’d like some help with your social media, reach out and let’s chat!
Take care, birdies! 💙