9 Tactics Brands Can Learn From Instagram Celebrities
Celebrities, they’re just like us! Except for the millions of Instagram followers who worship the ground they walk on, of course.
We can’t all be famous, but we can all use the same Instagram strategies that celebrities (and their personal marketing teams, let’s be honest) use to promote themselves, sell products, and share meaningful messages. From snapping perfect photos to murders on IG Reels, these celebs have proven to be just as hot on social media as they are in real life.
Here are 9 strategies from the rich, famous and insanely powerful.
1. Lizzo: Product Marketing on Instagram Rolls
Instagram Reels is the platform’s fastest growing feature, and moving from photos to videos can be incredibly lucrative for businesses (91% of users watch reels at least once a week).
If you use Instagram for business, knowing how to promote your products on Reels will give you a big edge over your competition.
Lizzo has completely mastered Instagram Reels – she has a fun and engaging mix of funny, hot, and career related videos. In addition to posting commercials of her Target purchases and ridiculing anyone who says About Damn Time was not the song of the summer, Lizzo uses the commercials to promote Yitty, her shapewear brand.
In this video, Lizzo is using Instagram to model the latest Yitty collection and promote the sale.
Even though Lizzo’s Yitty-focused videos serve marketing purposes, they are not strictly business-like: there is always a fun, humorous and often sexual aspect that is very much in line with the Lizzo brand.
Another big thing about Lizzo’s Instagram is how inspiring it is – this celebrity exudes confidence and doesn’t give an F despite having a lot of haters (the internet sucks sometimes). The abundance of shameful comments does not stop her from sharing her content and encouraging others to do the same.
What can we learn from Lizzo:
- Instagram Reels are a great opportunity to showcase your products.
- Videos created to sell products are more effective if they don’t look like traditional ads.
- Stay true to yourself and your brand with authentic, actionable content.
- The haters will hate, but you won’t be able to hear them over the sound of the money pouring in.
2. Kerry Washington: Instagram Live and activism
Instagram Live is one of the most personal ways that celebrities (or brands, or regular people) can connect with their audience. Subscribers can comment in real time, and creators can respond to or access those comments.
This makes Instagram Live a great self-promotion tool, but it’s also an activism strategy.
Kerry Washington uses her Instagram account to share new projects she’s involved in and promote brand partnerships like a regular celebrity. But she also goes on the air to advocate for social causes that she (and her audience) are passionate about, like racism in the US and the importance of voting.
Because Instagram Live is not filtered or edited, it feels vulnerable, making it a meaningful way to communicate: going live is a statement, and sharing non-promotional content through IG Live has an impact that goes beyond making money or making a profit. followers.
What can we learn from Kerry Washington
- Live streaming on Instagram creates a stronger and more personal connection between you and your followers.
- Instagram Live can be a powerful tool for activism.
- Inviting legal experts to participate live can create meaningful (and engaging) dialogue.
3. Olivia Rodrigo: authentic photos
Photo dumps are one of the latest Instagram trends. The beauty of this kind of post is imperfection: a junkyard of photos is the enemy of a carefully curated, filtered, impossibly perfect post. Photodumps are just a collection of photos arranged in a carousel. Sometimes they refer to a specific event or point in time, but often they are just a collection of photographs that the author liked.
We can thank Gen Z for the popularity of the photodump, and Gen Z does it best. Take, for example, teenage pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo.
Olivia’s photo ladies range from food photos to blurry selfies, memes, and heavily filtered photo booth shots with friends. They don’t look like something she spends a lot of time on (even if they are).
Her junkyards of photos seem like just a random selection from her camera roll – more like a souvenir album than an aesthetically pleasing post. Photodumps may not seem like great marketing at first, but they can be very useful (we wrote a whole blog post about it), especially when paired with your regular content.
What can we learn from Olivia Rodrigo:
- Instagram posts don’t have to be perfect.
- There is beauty in authenticity.
- Photodumps are a fun way to spice up your regular content.
- Don’t go overboard with your social media posts.
4. Terry Crews: Keep an eye on drum trends
If you’re short on content ideas, check out what’s trending right now. Popular songs on Instagram Reels and issues or topics related to them are a great source of inspiration. Take it from Terry Crews.
The above example of a fairly simple trend is that it is very easy to shoot and edit this type of video. However, some trends require a little more work (like looking through tons of your old photos).
What can we learn from Terry Crews
- Instagram Reels trends are a rich source of content ideas.
- Some trends require a lot of work, and some are quite simple: know how much time you have in your budget when you decide which trend to pick.
- Contribute to the trend – don’t just copy another author.
- Trends aren’t just there for fun; you can also use trends to promote.
5. Simone Biles: Variety of Content
One of the best qualities a social media manager can have is being a jack of all trades – you don’t want to shine in just one area, you want to use Instagram to the fullest. Something like Simone Biles, who just kills on the vault, balance beam and floor exercise.
In fact, Simone also kills on Instagram. When it comes to a diverse collection of exciting content, she is a GOAT.
The gymnast uses her platform to share private posts…
…and promote your new series on Snapchat…
…and spread mental health information and support foster children…
…and, of course, to share Olympic achievements.
Simone’s account is a master class in the proper use of social networks. She shows pieces from every part of her life, balancing promotional content with personal messages and philanthropic efforts. This gives her followers a comprehensive understanding of who she is and what her values are.
What we can learn from Simone Biles:
- Your Instagram posts should be different from each other – boring when all photos and videos look the same.
- You can use Instagram to give your followers (and the world!) a better idea of who you are and what matters to you.
- Use your following for good: Consider doing charity or getting you to take care of yourself instead of focusing all your posts on yourself and your brand.
6. Dojacat: humor and brand voice
Social media isn’t easy (trust us, we’re the experts – if you want, we’ll call your judgmental aunt and tell her).
But at the same time, don’t take yourself too seriously on Instagram. Dojacket has such a specific sense of humor that her fans have already expected it.
Source: Instagram
Dojacat balances cover-worthy photos with photos that most of us would ask our friends to delete. Part of her brand is that she’s not a 24/7 retouched superstar.
And her humor isn’t just in pictures: her play with captions is also strong (though not very appropriate in the workplace).
However, not all of Doji’s posts are focused on the funny. She also has classic polished celebrity photos and always gives credit to the team that took them.
What can we learn from Dojacat:
- If you want to be funny, do it! Humor will only add to your unique brand voice.
- But make sure you balance the humor with authentic content – you don’t want to come across as unprofessional.
7. Cami Mendes: behind the scenes
Being able to see a part of a process – any process – that is usually hidden from the public is captivating and gives the viewer a sense of involvement. This is especially true when it comes to actors. And although some actors rarely let us ordinary people into their daily lives, others are happy to tell how the sausage is made (uh, the movie).
Actress Kami Mendes is one celebrity who often posts photos and videos showing behind-the-scenes looks at her daily life. She makes silly videos with her co-stars, takes backstage photos, and takes mirror selfies in her favorite on-screen outfits.
While non-celebrities may not think their “behind the scenes”content can be entertaining, such posts can be used across all industries. Think how mesmerizing videos of cake decorating are, or how great it is to see a small business owner packing a box for shipping. This is the same process content – the creators show the other side of their business.
What can we learn from Cami Mendes:
- Social media users don’t just care about the final product; they also want to see behind-the-scenes content.
- Take photos and videos whenever you can, even if the content doesn’t seem exciting to you at the moment.
- Behind-the-scenes content also helps draw attention to people who don’t get much recognition, so be sure to thank your team.
We have to pass this on to JLo, she does a great job with all Instagram features to the fullest including Stories, Reels and hashtags.
While she does a lot of promotional posts, even the most commercial ones have short and crisp captions, proper sponsor and photographer tags, and eye-catching content.
Most impressively, J.Lo uses camel case for most of his hashtags. This is important for accessibility because camel case allows screen readers to read each capitalized word in a hashtag as separate words.
What can we learn from J.Lo:
- Make your Instagram content accessible to more users by always writing hashtags in camel case.
- Tag your team! (Not only does this give credit where it counts, but it also makes tagged users more likely to share your content on their profiles.)
9. Vanessa Hudgens: Using Instagram Stores to Sell Products
With Instagram Shops, businesses can include product links in posts (which makes buying things ridiculously—and dangerously—easy). Celebrities rarely have an Insta Shop as part of their personal account, but they do use store links in their brand account.
For example, Vanessa Hudgens. She is the co-founder of the Caliwater brand and often posts about it on her personal Instagram page. She will tag @caliwater or publish in collaboration with Caliwater, which means that the post will appear in the feeds of everyone who follows any account.
Source: Instagram
And on the Caliwater page, there are plenty of links to stores (indicated by the little bag icon in the top right corner of the posts) that take users straight to the e-commerce portal.
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