10 Recent Brand Posts I’m Into and Why
Featuring a TikTok from Arc'teryx, a Reel from Jacquemus, and a post from Fly By Jing.
Hi everyone! Hope you’re having a lovely week where all of your posts are getting good engagement, nobody has said “you’re so lucky you get to play on your phone all day!”, and multiple people on the internet have commented that you deserve a raise. I’m personally still riding the high of finding out the panel I put together with Zaria Parvez (Global Social Media Manager at Duolingo) and Julian Gamboa (Social Media Director at Maximum Effort) got selected for SXSW! See you there?
Today’s newsletter is a new format that I really enjoyed putting together! It’s inspired by my former co-worker Emily’s new IG account @social4brands where she rounds up interesting social posts from brands. It’s a simple but impactful idea. Most people don’t interact with the majority of the brands they follow, meaning those posts are often the first to go in the cutthroat engagement-driven algorithm. Yet it’s those brand posts that often inspire me in my work. Just because I’m not physically liking it doesn’t mean I don’t want to see it! So this newsletter is my attempt to resurface some of those creative, cool, weird brand posts. Below are 10 recent ones that I’m into. Let’s get to it!
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I am new to Arc'teryx TikTok but I’m so glad I’m here. It’s funny, weird, educational, inspiring, everything! I particularly like the above video as a brilliant example of how to take a product education moment and make it entertaining. It’s fast-paced, personality-forward, and still teaches you how to wash your jacket. I don’t even own an Arc'teryx jacket but I still watched all the way through.
The way Fly By Jing rolled out their Chili Crisp Vinaigrette on Instagram was so good. They basically flooded their feed using every feature within the platform: there was a teaser Reel, announcement static post, personality-forward announcement Reel, and even more beautiful creative over the next few days. When announcing a product on social media, I truly think you can never post too much about it. I usually dedicate an entire week or two to continuing the drum beat of a new product announcement. Fly By Jing made sure their audience (and beyond!) would hear about this new launch by posting in lots of different formats.
Whenever a new platform feature rolls out, all social teams should ask themselves “Is there a way in for us?”. Oftentimes, it’ll be no—but it’s important to still ask. Netflix seemed to have asked themselves this when Twitter announced that you could edit tweets. They found a genius way in and teased a new character announcement for an upcoming series. Very curious to see how other brands will use this feature.
You know how there are those vibe-y, internet-y images that every cool person you follow adds to their story? For example, this image of a martini with too many (well, just enough imo) olives was all over my stories the other week. Well, Panache’s whole grid is that. Their imagery captures a certain shareable, cool-person aesthetic that most brand’s would dream of coming up with. A rare thing to find in a Reels-dominated algorithm.
When I think of brands that I have the most loyalty to or feel the greatest digital connection with on social, it’s often the ones whose founders are built into their feeds. Trinity, co-founder of Golde, is a great example of a founder who is clearly very invested in and present on social. Whenever small businesses feel lost with where to start on social, I always recommend documenting their founder or team journey—take us behind the scenes at the office, show us a recipe you make that uses your product, etc. You can always then build a broader strategy from there.
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I think a key part of any good social strategy is understanding your audience. That means speaking to the inside jokes your customers might have or building upon the core reasons they are using your tool. Notion has done such a good job of this on TikTok by really engaging directly with their followers in a relatable and helpful way. Posts use trending audio to talk about the satisfying feeling of an organized Notion workspace or what it’s like when someone accidentally deletes your Notion page. It’s a channel for them that really does it all: educates, entertains, takes us behind-the-scenes, and ultimately builds brand love. Another bonus: It makes me want to work there.
BarkBox is a perfect example of a brand that knows its voice and seamlessly carries it across platforms. Their Twitter is particularly good. It never feels like they are trying to push their subscription or products overtly—just good dog-related conversation starters, silly product posts, and very cute dog pics. I personally think Twitter should be seen almost solely as a brand building platform (the less links or CTAs the better) and BarkBox seems to very much get that.
What I love about Jacquemus’ social is how they still make high production, artful Reels that actually perform. That’s hard these days! Most brands (even the big ones) have shifted to more iPhone, lo-fi video content. Or they continue to post beautiful videos that flop. Jacquemus creates interesting and unique video content that actually does well, which you can see here and here. I think part of it is that their audience appreciates the art of it and are willing to watch more than 1.5 seconds before scrolling and that the ideas still feel social and fun despite being shot in a more buttoned up way.
I feel like the best way to describe my feelings about the brand Praying is that I can’t look away. Every photo and post is some perverse, fucked up way of marketing their products. But…it works. And it’s not like much else I am seeing on social media right now. For example, they announced their nail polish line by printing a photo of someone applying it to their lips on a canned beverage? It grabs your attention and ultimately that’s half the battle on social these days. More posts that make it so I can’t look away are here and here.
The amount of information that MAMA, a brand dedicated to preserving immigrant culture through food, packs into one Reel or TikTok is astonishing. It feels optimized for social without compromising on deep storytelling. I haven’t seen many brands be able to nail this balance and I am almost constantly scrolling their feed for inspiration. Here is one of my favorite Reels.
Thanks as always for reading! My emails are open—let me know what you thought of this format or if there’s any person (or brand) you really want to hear from. And if someone forwarded you this email, you can subscribe to Link in Bio here.
Love this format! Definitely got my brain moving in new directions. Thank you!
Love this format!