Inside Nike’s Instagram Strategy

June 13, 2015

Instagram tips from one of the top brands


Instagram_NikeWe always aim to provide you with best practices from brands to serve as helpful resources to improve your Instagram marketing. And as one of the top brands (if not the top brand) on Instagram, @Nike is a great account to learn from. Nike has the highest follower count of any brand on Instagram and they’re consistently posting content that performs well above Instagram’s average Relative Engagement rates.


When you’re running an account that represents a large consumer brand like Nike there are a lot of opportunities for you to build an engaged following. But there are a lot of valuable lessons from Nike that can apply to anyone from small local shops to large brands. If you’re trying to grow your following and improve your Instagram marketing strategies then read on and we’ll outline some of the best practices from Nike.


Run great Instagram campaigns

One of the most successful campaigns that Nike launched was their PHOTOiD program, which gave their community the unique opportunity to create custom Nike’s based on the colors in their favorite Instagram photos. Participants could upload photos to a Nike PHOTOiD landing page and where the tool would automatically design their very own custom shoes based on the colors featured in the photo. Campaigns like these are great examples of Nike’s focus on their audience and the ways they bring them into the content creation to inspire action with the brand.


Takeaway


Look for campaign opportunities that bring your audience front and center and incorporate their passion with your products.





Focus on your audience

This focus on their audience is something that Nike is clearly committed to. They do a great job with their content of focusing on their community and encouraging them to participate in the sharing. Nike regularly gives shout-outs to members of its community to highlight their sharing and inspire the rest of the community to share. They also thank their audience for this participation and bring their community together by inviting the members of their community to follow each other. By focusing on their audience, Nike is highlighting their overall lifestyle rather than just promoting their products.


Takeaway


Highlight your community and get them involved with your sharing to build relationships that audience.





Don’t sell, inspire action

Even with this audience focus, you’ll still occasionally see product shots in Nike’s feed. But always in ways that fit their visual storytelling on Instagram. The use of the shoes and Nike products in their feed serves the purpose of inspiring action from their community and getting them involved in the fitness experience that Nike creates. Instagram helps brands evolve past self-promotion to being a visual storyteller that shares equally with their community. Nike is a great example of this. The content they’re sharing on Instagram highlights the lifestyle that Nike represents and improves their overall branding.


Takeaway


Focus your Instagram efforts on lifestyle branding.






(June 14, 2015)’s blister is tomorrow’s trophy. #justdoit @rafaelnadal


A photo posted by nike (@nike) on



Share stunning content

Most importantly, Nike shares great content. All of the work that Nike puts into Instagram is effective because the content they’re sharing is smart and stunning. It’s difficult to build a community when there isn’t good content for that community to view and interact with. Nike shares their products in unique views and captures the moments that are significant to the athletes in their community.


Takeaway


Share content that authentically shows your lifestyle in stunning ways.





Nike offers some great lessons for your Instagram activations to improve your presence on the visual network.

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