In the ever-evolving world of social media marketing, Instagram stands out as a vibrant platform where brands can flourish, engage with audiences and leave a lasting impression. Within this digital landscape, certain brands have perfected their use of Instagram, solidifying their positions as trendsetters and influencers within their respective industries. Exploring these top brands not only inspires but also gives valuable insight and a learning experience for social media managers and their teams through the identification of emerging trends and understanding of engagement strategies.
The Top-Performing Brands on Instagram
While social marketers strive to navigate this ever-evolving landscape, exploring the tactics employed by top-performing brands can be a great source of insight and inspiration. From fashion brands to tech innovators, each brand's unique approach presents lessons that can benefit marketers across industries, enhancing their own Instagram presence and engagement strategies. Here are some of the top-performing brands on Instagram based on engagement rate.
1. Betches (@betchesbrides)
- Average Engagement Rate: 5.4%
Betches Brides is a subsidiary of the popular media company Betches, which offers a unique take on wedding-related content on Instagram. Their Instagram puts focus on humor, sass and modern perspectives, offering an alternative to traditional wedding media. Their feed features a mix of relatable memes, witty captions and stunning wedding inspiration, catering to brides-to-be who are looking for entertainment as well as advice for their special day.
Betches’ Instagram strategy stands out for their content mix and ability to jump on trends quickly — this tactic helps them reach users who might not be brides, but might have weddings on the brain or simply find their content amusing. Another way they diversify their audience is to create wedding-centric content that’s geared towards guests — for example, its ‘Can I wear this as a wedding guest series?’, helps answer the question that’s often asked on social media, while their other content surrounding wedding-themed topics like bachelorette planning add value and entertainment for those who aren’t necessarily planning their wedding.
2. ESPN College Football (@espncfb)
- Average Engagement Rate: 4.1%
ESPN College Football’s Instagram serves as a hub for all things related to college football. Through a combination of captivating pictures, engaging videos and informative captions, the account provides fans with a rich multimedia experience. It covers a variety of content including game highlights, player features, behind-the-scenes moments and expert analysis.
ESPN’s College Football account shows a deep understanding of their audience and the content they’d like to see. They use an engaging content mix, real-time updates and interactive features like polls, quizzes and Q&A sessions in Stories to actively involve their audience in conversations around the latest college football news. Along with their focus on maximizing engagement through interactive elements, ESPN College Football approaches much of their content through a storytelling lens, weaving in player and team history along with interesting game analysis, data and statistics. This approach to content aims to both entertain and educate, adding depth to their posts.
3. Koenigess’ (@koenigsegg)
- Average Engagement Rate: 3.9%
Koenigess’s Instagram offers a tantalizing glimpse into the world of hypercar engineering and design. They post a blend of high-quality images and videos, highlighting their cut-edge automotive creations. From sleek exterior shots to detailed close-ups of engine components, Koenigsegg's feed exudes luxury, innovation and performance.
Koenigess’ Instagram strategy is a great use-case for luxury brands — they use high-quality visual content that show the unique details, design and craftsmanship of their vehicles. They also encourage a sense of exclusivity, by debuting new vehicles and limited edition models to build buzz. They also foster a sense of exclusivity by sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of manufacturing processes, research and development and day-to-day operations.
4. Wingstop (@wingstop)
- Average Engagement Rate: 3.7%
Wingstop’s Instagram serves as a flavourful destination for the popular chicken wing restaurant chain. They incorporate a mix of enticing food pictures, fun captions and interactive content. By doing so, they showcase pictures of their mouthwatering chicken flavors and dipping sauces. Wingstop fosters a sense of community and engagement by posting user–generated content and memes to capture their audience’s attention.
Wingstop’s Instagram strategy is perfectly aligned with their brand identity and target audience. Through playful language and interactive content, they generate a feeling of entertainment that’s essential to a robust social media advertising strategy that feels organic — not pushy. Wingstop also engages with their audience in a fun, humorous way, encouraging others to engage with their account and bolster their brand as a lighthearted, lively brand.
5. Bratz (@bratz)
- Average Engagement Rate: 3.6%
Bratz’s Instagram (@bratz) offers a colourful and nostalgic journey into the world of the iconic fashion dolls. Their Instagram showcases a mix of vibrant visuals, stylish edits while highlighting the unique personalities and diverse styles of the different bratz doll characters. Their feed fosters a sense of nostalgia for fans of all ages with the latest doll releases, to throwback bratz doll images.
Bratz’ Instagram strategy is notable for their balance between nostalgia and modern trends. This allows them to reach new users who find their content humorous or relate to the trends they share, while reaching Millennials and Gen Z who played with Bratz’ growing up. Another way Bratz’ excel on Instagram is their commitment to diversity — despite featuring dolls, they make an effort to show diverse styles, ethnicities and even body types to relate to a plethora of users.
6. New York Times Kids (@nytkids)
- Average Engagement Rate: 3.3%
New York Times has created an Instagram account for kids as an educational resource for kids and families alike. Through a mix of engaging visuals, interactive features and informative content, the account provides a platform for young users to learn about the world around them. Their feed consists of many colourful illustrations, fun facts and interactive quizzes. They put emphasis on providing educational content for their young viewers in a digestible and visual format they can understand and capture their attention.
The New York Times Kid’s Instagram account visual content aims to engage younger audiences (and parents) with news and learning. They incorporate quizzes, puzzles and simple Q&As in their posts and Stories to make learning more fun, while encouraging engagement. They also preview the contents of their physical magazines, which is useful to drive brick-and-mortar sales and get parents and kids alike excited about its contents.
7. Lacrosse Network (@lacrossenetwork)
- Average Engagement Rate: 3.2%
Lacrosse Network’s Instagram is a vibrant hub for lacrosse enthusiasts, offering a diverse range of content related to the sport. Their content ranges from action shots and player highlights, to instructional videos. Through posting engaging visuals and informative catchy captions, Lacrosse Network celebrates the sport and nurtures a sense of community among fans of the sport.
Lacrosse Network’s Instagram presence is notable for its combination of educational, player development tips and focus on youth engagement — they often highlight both youth games and pro leagues, and educational content about the sport. This is a great approach as it appeals to both players, fans of lacrosse and even someone who might be interested in getting into the sport. In addition to this balance, they also incorporate trends when relevant to lacrosse — for example, sharing a photo from a Rolling Stone profile where Billie Eilish sports a lacross mask. This is a great way to keep their finger on the pulse of trends, while still catering to the wants and needs of their target audience.
8. The Office (@theoffice)
- Average Engagement Rate: 3.1%
The Instagram account for “The Office” offers the television series’ fans a nostalgic journey through the show. Their feed consists of a mixture of iconic quotes, memorable humorous scenes, as well as behind-the-scenes and never seen before content. This is all captured through the use of pictures, collages and Reels. Their account ensures to capture the humor and charm of the show that is known as a cultural phenomenon. "The Office" Instagram account ensures to keeps fans engaged and entertained, even years after the show's conclusion.
9. The Outset (@theoutset)
- Average Engagement: 3.1%
The Outset, the only celebrity-owned beauty brand on our list features an Instagram feed with pops of their signature blue shade woven throughout a clean, white and neutral backdrop and color palette. They also spotlight their famous founder Scarlett Johansson fairly consistently in a variety of content — a pinned, glossy advertisement featuring its other cofounder, Kate Foster, a funny Reel leveraging the recent ‘POV’ Reels trend and another Reel that uses the ‘Send it to me Rachel’ trend while unveiling their newly-dropped makeup bag and mini gift set. However, the brand also shares UGC on its platform, showcasing creators’ favorite Outset products and hauls, and educational content, like their ‘Ask a Derm’ post.
Their visual marketing strategy strikes a delicate balance of incorporating skincare and product knowledge, trending memes, aspirational and relatable images and behind-the-scenes content to generate user interest and get users clicking, commenting and sharing. They also have the highest engagement rate among beauty brands measured in our latest social media benchmark reports at 3.1%, and a 2% engagement rate for Reels specifically (compared to the industry average of 0.2%).
10. Jack in the Box (@jackinthebox)
- Average Engagement: 2.8%
Jack in the Box’s Instagram account uses a quirky, humorous brand personality that aligns with the voice and tone used by other fast food brands in the social media space. The feed is a playful mix of vivid, eye-catching graphics, humorous skits and mouth-watering food photography that reflects the brands fun and irreverent tone.
Jack in the Box uses popular memes, cultural references and witty captions to stand out on social media. They consistently blend humor with promotional offers in a way that feels organic and engaging rather than overtly sales-focused. They use stickers, games and contests to make their content interactive and engaging for users. By maintaining a strong, distinct voice through its posts, Jack in the Box creates a memorable experience.
The Most Followed Instagram Brands
Certain brands have achieved remarkable success on Instagram by gathering a loyal following and setting the standard for innovative content and engagement strategies. These ten most followed Instagram brands have mastered the art of captivating their audience’s attention and fostering a community on the platform.
1. Instagram (@instagram )
With 670M followers, Instagram uses this account to offer a glimpse into the diverse and creative content shared by its users around the world. From stunning photography to captivating videos, its feed showcases the platform's versatility and the talents of its community members. Additionally, Instagram's account highlights new features, initiatives and partnerships, providing followers with insights into the company's latest developments and endeavors.
2. Nike (@nike)
Nike’s Instagram represents the global athletic apparel and footwear brand with 305M followers. Being one of the most followed brands on Instagram, Nike showcases their products, athletes as well as inspirational content. They highlight this through pictures, videos and empowering messaging captivating their audience’s attention time and time again.
Nike's Instagram strategy stands out due to its masterful blend of inspirational content, high-profile collaborations and culturally relevant campaigns. Nike leverages storytelling to highlight athletic excellence and social issues, engaging users by merging motivational narratives with sleek, high-quality visuals. This approach not only promotes their products but also builds a strong community around sports and social progress, distinguishing Nike's presence on Instagram.
3. National Geographic (@natgeo)
National Geographic’s Instagram account serves as a captivating window into various wonders of the world for its 284M followers. Their feed showcases incredible photography and videography, as well as storytelling and educational content celebrating the beauty of nature, the diversity of cultures and the importance of conservation.
National Geographic’s Instagram strategy is distinguished by its exceptional use of compelling photos to craft narratives surround the planet, wildlife and people. By leveraging their network of photographers and storytellers, Nat Geo offers a window into the rare aspects of the world, combining educational content with breathtaking visuals.
4. Real Madrid (@realmadrid)
Real Madrid’s Instagram offers an immersive experience into one of the most iconic football clubs globally. With 153M followers, their Instagram is a place where fans can discover the latest news, watch match highlights, learn player insights and check out behind-the-scenes clips. Real Madrid assures to capture passion, excitement and the legacy of the club through their Instagram.
Real Madrid's Instagram strategy capitalizes on the club's rich history and star-studded roster to foster a deep connection with fans around the world. They blend real-time updates, behind-the-scenes footage and historical highlights to create a dynamic fan experience that extends beyond the pitch. This approach celebrates current achievements and future
5. FC Barcelona (@fcbarcelona)
FC Barcelona provides their 125M followers with a peek into the world of another one of the most renowned football clubs in the world. Through Instagram they share player stats, behind-the-scenes moments, highlights and news revolving around their brand. Their feed is primarily focused on the colours of their branding capturing the passion and excitement of the club.
FC Barcelona's Instagram strategy focuses on community and inclusivity, emphasizing the club's motto, "More than a club." Through a mix of live match updates, player features and engaging content, Barça cultivates a strong, global community of fans. This inclusive approach helps celebrate the club's Catalan heritage and on-field successes, fostering a sense of belonging and loyalty among its diverse fan base.
6. Champions League (@championsleague)
The UEFA Champions League opens up a captivating gateway to one of the world’s most respected football tournaments. Their account gives their 113M followers an engaging experience with highlights from games, exclusive interviews with players and coaches and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage. Their use of captivating action shots, as well as Reels grasps their audience’s attention, bringing fans closer to the action than ever.
The UEFA Champions League's Instagram strategy stands out by leveraging the drama and prestige of Europe's premier football competition. It showcases thrilling match highlights, iconic moments and exclusive behind-the-scenes content from various clubs and star players. This strategy amplifies the excitement of the tournament and builds anticipation for each round, using storytelling to create a narrative that fans can follow throughout the season.
7. Nasa (@nasa)
NASA gives its 97.9M followers a journey through the wonders of space exploration and scientific discovery. Their high-quality breathtaking images, as well as ground-breaking discoveries, captivate their followers' attention and engagement. Their feed is primarily mesmerizing pictures of the universe and various planets and galaxies with informative educational content in the captions for users to learn from.
Nasa’s Instagram strategy excels by transforming space exploration into concepts that are accessible for a range of audiences. They share extraordinary images of space, detailed updates on missions and educational content highlighting the innovation and teamwork behind projects. This simultaneously spreads awareness about their work but also inspires curiosity in science.
8. Victoria’s Secret (@victoriassecret)
Victoria’s Secret provides its 76.2M followers a glimpse into the world of fashion and lingerie. Victoria’s Secret takes advantage of its Instagram to showcase new launches, runway fashion shows and behind-the-scenes moments. They find ways to capture their audience’s attention whether it be through glamorous photoshoots, engaging videos or influencer collaborations. Their feed exerts fun with the pops of colour in their feed, confidence and sensuality.
Victoria's Secret's strategy stands out through its sophisticated use of glamorous visuals and influencer collaborations that highlight luxury and inclusivity. The brand strategically showcases its product range — from lingerie to beauty products—via high-quality, aesthetic content that resonates with a broad audience. By engaging with diverse models and voices, Victoria's Secret emphasizes empowerment and body positivity, evolving its brand image to align with contemporary values, which enhances its appeal and market reach.
9. NBA (@nba)
The NBA’s Instagram account gives basketball fans and its 86.7M followers an immersive experience into the National Basketball Association’s world. Their Instagram hosts diverse content from, game highlights, player features, interactive fan-engagement and behind-the-scenes footage. This account serves as a digital hub for all things NBA and they provide this through captivating images, edits, videos and the use of hook captions.
The NBA's Instagram strategy is unique in how it leverages real-time highlights, player personalities and fan interactions to create an immersive and interactive fan experience. By posting clips of jaw-dropping plays, behind-the-scenes footage and personal stories from players across the league, the NBA maintains a constant connection with its global audience. This approach not only celebrates the sport's excitement but also fosters a sense of community and engagement among basketball fans worldwide, keeping the conversation alive well beyond the final buzzer.
10. Marvel (@marvel)
Marvel’s Instagram gives fans an exhilareating journey into the world of superheroes. Their Instagram serves as a hub to its 66.9M followers for all things Marvel from movie trailers to comic book art and fan artwork to behind the scenes content to Marvel films. Their feed consists of vibrant colours and images, as well as videos. Their Instagram ignites excitement and nostalgia amongst Marvel fans of all ages.
Marvel's Instagram strategy is distinctively engaging due to its skillful blend of nostalgia, sneak peeks, and fan-focused content that capitalizes on its extensive universe of characters and stories. The brand expertly uses teasers, trailers and exclusive artwork to build anticipation for upcoming releases, while also celebrating iconic moments and fan creations.
Build Your Instagram Strategy to New Heights With Dash Hudson
Brands can utilize Dash Hudson to enhance their Instagram strategy through a variety of features designed to optimize content, engagement and performance tracking.
- Instagram Insights feature provides brands with in-depth analytics to track their performance metrics, including engagement rates, follower growth and content reach. By analyzing these insights, brands can gain a deeper understanding of their audience’s preferences.
- Vision uses AI technology to analyze and predict the performance of visual content. By assessing factors such as color scheme, composition and subject matter, Vision helps brands identify which images are most likely to resonate with their target audience.
- LikeShop feature enables brands to monetize their Instagram content by turning it into a seamless shopping experience. By linking product tags directly to an e-commerce store, brands can drive sales and conversions directly from their Instagram posts.
- Campaign Reporting allows brands to track the performance of their Instagram reports in real time. With this feature, brands can track key metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates and ROI, enabling them to assess the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.
All of these features and more allow Dash Hudson users to make data-driven decisions to optimize future content and campaigns for Instagram and beyond.
FAQs
What is a good engagement rate on Instagram?
A good engagement rate will depend on your team's social goals, but a strong engagement rate on Instagram is between 1% and 3%.
What clothing brand has the most followers on Instagram?
With 306 million followers, Nike is the most followed clothing brand on Instagram.
What brands use Instagram?
Over 200 million brands use Instagram. It has become the ideal platform for promoting products and showing current and potential customers behind the scenes and sneak peeks. An active Instagram account is crucial for any brand's marketing strategy.
