Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

How many times a day do you check your Instagram? (If you said less than three, you’re lying. But we digress.) Want to feel a little less guilty about your IG addiction? Start following these 10 Instagram accounts to add some career-fuel to your feed between the #foodporn and puppy accounts.

For a while now, it's been clear that Instagram isn't just a social network for foodies and teenagers. In fact, according to Pew Research Center, a whopping 26% of adult internet users use Instagram.

Given the number of people using Instagram, it's surprising how few businesses have adopted the platform -- or even taken it seriously. In a world where visual content has become a crucial part of any business' marketing strategy, Instagram presents a unique opportunity to visually represent your brand, celebrate its personality, and keep it top-of-mind for all those users who scroll through their Instagram feeds every single day.

Although they're few and far between, there are some brands out there -- in every industry, and with every type of target customer -- who are doing really, really well on Instagram.

Ready to get inspired? Check out this list of brands that are thriving on Instagram right now, and what about their posts sets them apart....

This is a big statement from MDG Advertising: Instagram may be the single biggest opportunity for social media marketers next year. Can it be true?

We’ve heard plenty this year from Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, as their uses and back end business deals fluctuate, but Instagram has been the steady social platform not making too much noise. But that just might be what makes it 2016’s winner. Its consistency has made it the fastest growing platform around right now, and MDG has gathered fresh data to prove why marketers everywhere should be factoring Instagram into their budgets.

A few key takeaways from the infographic....

It’s no surprise then that visual content is 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content. That’s why social media platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat continue to grow in popularity.

They are visual, and have a unique way of delivering a complex message all within a few seconds.

The more reliant the world becomes on these visual social media platforms, the more pressure there is for digital entrepreneurs like you and I to adapt quickly and find ways to engage our audience.

Because engagement is a scarce resource, you now have to earn it.1Some of you may see this as a direct challenge to the way you currently understand social media marketing and engagement. But for others, those of you ready to move fast, it’s a huge opportunity to capture a new and highly engaged group of people.

If you’re ready to take a few risks and diversify your digital strategy, Instagram is a great place to start....

While Facebook is not yet a full-fledged ecommerce platform, its ability to help businesses connect with fans is huge. For example, a mom’s Facebook Live video went viral after she tried on a Chewbacca mask she had purchased at Kohl’s. It’s the most watched Facebook Live video ever, with over 150 million views. Kohl’s quickly responded with its own video, and with dropping off Star Wars toys and gadgets for the entire family.

For small businesses interested in using Facebook to grow their brands, the social network has a large collection of helpful tutorials and webinars. There are basic and advanced tutorials in Facebook’s Blueprint eLearning Courses, using the Exceed Learning Management System, with courses on Instagram as well as Facebook. There are also excellent up-close videos with some of the brightest creatives and publishers around in Facebook’s “Pub in Pub” series....

Meet Frank, the cheeky Instagram persona of the Australian skincare startup Frank Body.

Frank likes to casually call you "babe," jokes about wanting to get in the shower with you, talks about your buns, and doesn't go more than five hours without popping up on your feed. If you were to meet him in a bar, you might find him a bit of a sleaze. But as a social media personality? Frank is hilarious.

According to cofounder Erika Geraerts, Frank's been crucial in helping Frank Body, which is known for its coffee-based scrubs, build brand awareness around the world. "We were essentially dealing with a product that looked like dirt in a bag," Geraerts says. "We wanted to cut through the beauty industry jargon—be it scientific, flowery, or hippy—and speak to our customer in an honest, direct, and frank way. From here our lovable character of Frank was born."

Frank Body has used Instagram as its primary marketing tool. "It allowed us to take risks and to connect with our customers directly without the costs of traditional advertising," Geraerts says. In three years, the account has garnered 682,000 followers, and Geraerts says this has been crucial to driving sales.

The company has managed to sell over 1.5 million products across 149 countries since its launch. It is now so popular in the United Arab Emirates and Russia that the company is planning to set up local operations in those countries. "It took time, consistency, and dirty work," she says....

Wow I can’t believe it’s already year 2 in our top 100 Instagram series. Last year’s list was amazing (and actually contained 150 awesome Instagram accounts) but this year is equally stunning — if not more so! This year you will find a LOT of nature, outdoor and adventure photography. I guess that’s just what I ran into most over the last 12 months.

Regular readers know that I build my top 100 lists over the period of 1 year, adding items to an Evernote list as I organically encounter them. And the result is a list of the 100 best Instagram accounts I ran into during that time that I think you should check out over the next 12 months!

If you’re new to DailyTekk, be sure to check out our other annual top 100 lists. This is already year 5 for our top 100 websites and we’ve already put up a brand new list this year of the top 100 podcasts. But don’t miss the top 100 YouTube channels, top 100 Viners and top 100 Pinterest accounts!...

Influencer marketing on Instagram is a valuable asset for your social media activations. We’ve worked with a wide variety of brands and agencies on different influencer campaigns, which has taught us a lot about the best strategies for running influencer promotions on Instagram.

We outline the 10 best practices for influencers on Instagram and provide some real life examples from some of our partners....