[23] Best Instagram marketing campaigns for growth in 2018

Imagine if you could copy one simple Instagram marketing campaign, and see an instant increase in followers and ecommerce sales.

Or even better:

What if there were 23 of these campaigns…

…and each of them could get you more engagement & traffic for your store?

You’d probably be super excited to learn & copy them.

Lucky for you, that’s exactly what we’re going to share with you in this guide:

23 Instagram marketing campaign examples will teach you how to get more followers, traffic & sales for your ecommerce store.

We’ve scoured the Instagram archives from the past few years and compiled a list of the most successful campaigns from 2017, 2016 and even as far back as 2013.

Click a number in the navigation to scroll right to one of the campaigns.

How did they create buzz?

While co-promotions between non-competing brands that share a similar audience are relatively common on Instagram, GoPro chose to hook up with an unrelated brand to run joint Instagram advertising campaigns.

A little like Lego partnering with super-hero movies, GoPro joined forces with The Secret Life of Pets in a series of video clips where characters from the movie perform extreme sports stunts. At first glance it seemed a strange match but what better way to attract a younger audience than to associate yourself with one of their favorite movies?

What results did they achieve?

• GoPro got huge exposure to a younger audience
• The Secret Life of Pets was also able to market to a new demographic

How can you emulate this success?

Could you reach a wider audience by co-promoting with another brand? Most likely they will share the same target audience as you but GoPro has shown that there doesn’t have to be a perfect match – it could be an entirely different industry, depending on your campaign targets.

How did they create buzz?

In 2015, L’Oreal wanted to drive awareness of its new product line ‘Infallible’. It chose to run its campaign around a winter theme: snowy white backgrounds were the perfect settings to display the bold, striking reds and purples of its new products. It also featured models against a similar white backdrop, to stunning visual effect.

What results did they achieve?

• 7% rise in recommendations from the 25-49-year-old sector of its target market
• 14% rise in ad recall (the audience remembered the ad)

How can you emulate this success?

Seasonality and special times of the year (winter, spring, Christmas, Valentine’s) can be a major ‘tool’ for brands on Instagram. It associates your brand with relevance and connects it directly to the lifestyles of your target audience. Use seasonality in product photos and watch engagement rates rise.

How did they create buzz?

Zara recognized the power of user-generated content and influencers to drive engagement for a new product and to get exposure to new audiences.

It partnered with influencer Teesh Rosa to promote the brand’s new denim jackets and jeans, using the hashtag #iamdenim and inviting videos and image posts from other influencers.

What results did they achieve?

• The Teesh Rosa video post alone attracted over 360,000 views
• Zara was able to reach new audiences and appear more ‘accessible’ to younger people.

How can you emulate this success?

Invite content from your users when launching a new line of products; if possible, connect with influencers in your niche to showcase your products to generate buzz and get exposure to a new audience.

How did they create buzz?

Guerlain developed a campaign to reach its younger audience with one of its flagship products: its Terracotta bronzing powder, which was developed 30 years ago.

The company collaborated with Mazarine and Performics on a 4-week Instagram photo campaign.  This connected Terracotta with famous Paris landmarks in an elegant series of photos, with appropriate hashtags.

What results did they achieve?

• 965,000 women reached
• 23% increase in ad recall
• 15% increase in campaign awareness

How can you emulate this success?

Get creative with your product shots. Connect your products to other ‘lifestyle’ elements that inspire people and associate your brand with the feelings that your product generates in your target audience: in this case, class, elegance, and beauty.

How did they create buzz?

Bloom & Wild wanted to reach a wider audience but they firstly wanted to target the right audience. So they developed a ‘lookalike audience’ to their current customers, using Power Editor. They then tested out what worked best with formats (image/videos) and also engagement levels with different product photo types (wrapped/unwrapped bouquets). The SHOP NOW call to action was added to each ad.

What results did they achieve?

• More publicity and engagement
• Increased sales by 62%
• Considerable growth of customer base

How can you emulate this success?

You don’t have to be big to expand your audience: identify who you want to attract and develop a ‘lookalike audience’. Then test, test, and test again until you have the right formats and content to reach the level of engagement that starts to translate into traffic and sales.

How did they create buzz?

In 2015, the brand identified mobile as the place to be. But they wanted to increase app installs to expand its network of buyers and sellers.

Being small doesn’t matter when you represent some major brands; Poshmark was able to use the reputation of established brands like Louis Vuitton and Nike to grab attention on Instagram and Facebook, while also using discount promotions for followers to download their app with an INSTALL NOW call to action.

What results did they achieve?

• 37% increase in app installs
• 27% decrease in advertising costs

How can you emulate this success?

Use ‘star’ value when you can realistically associate your brand with the top end of town to capture attention. Also offer discounts or promotions to encourage a specific action (like a click-through or download) from your audience.

How did they create buzz?

It’s bees…they should know how to create buzz. The #delightup campaign aimed to promote the company’s new lip crayon collection by boosting awareness and increasing ad recall amongst American females, aged 18-24. The campaign posted a series of creative and playful crayon drawings over a four-week period, using the lip balm/stick colors to highlight the natural ingredients, the wide range of colors, and the precision of the crayons.

What results did they achieve?

After a month, the campaign generated:

• 16 % rise in ad recall with exposed groups when compared to control groups
• 5% rise in product awareness between the same groups

How can you emulate this success?

Get colorful and get creative with showcasing your products. Rather than pure studio shots of your leading lines, ask yourself how you can show their main features and benefits in more creative, visually impactful ways.

How did they create buzz?

In February 2014, Madewell combined the ‘pulling power’ of Valentine’s Day with the ‘pulling power’ of influencers, to reach out to its followers.

They set up a campaign for a day only, under the hashtags #flashtagram and #denimmadewell, which used their connections with different fashion bloggers and Instagrammers to request posts of the Madewell denim they love the most, tagged with the appropriate hashtags. Even the 500 Madewell employees were invited to send their pictures in.

What results did they achieve?

• The campaign generated nearly 2,000 posts in a single day
• It produced 160,000 likes
• It was an effective, low-cost way for denim to be promoted amongst the Instagram fashion community

How can you emulate this success?

Never miss the chance to jump on an occasion – be it an anniversary, Valentine’s Day or Thanksgiving. If you are able to connect with influencers in your niche, like bloggers, then invite them to take over your account for a day or encourage them to post under a particular hashtag. This adds variety to your posting strategy and can help to influence others.

How did they create buzz?

One of the best Instagram marketing campaigns in 2016 accompanied the release of their NMD Pitch Black sneakers.

Adidas ran a contest on their Snapchat account and promoted it to Instagram followers: a phone number was hidden in their Snapchat story and they asked followers to text it to enter a raffle where they could win 1 of 100 pairs of the new sneaker. The campaign consisted of one photo announcing the contest, another with the contest rules, and a third post reminding followers to enter.

What results did they achieve?

• It attracted a high number of entrants, bringing great awareness about the new product release

How can you emulate this success?

Are your social platforms linked? Like Adidas you should promote across your social channels for maximum exposure. Also – are you running contests where followers can get involved to win something? It’s a great way to create awareness and buzz around a new product.

How did they create buzz?

British Airways used the ‘pull’ of social media influencer, Lua, to help grow its younger following on its own Instagram account. Lua boasts an Instagram following of 2.1 million herself – four times as many as BA! By collaborating with such a major influencer of young females on the #bleisure campaign, BA associated itself with a new, aspirational audience.

What results did they achieve?

• Over 50,000 likes in less than 2 months
• Who will many of these followers book with when they plan their next vacation?

How can you emulate this success?

Associate with those people or brands that have the power to influence the buying decisions of your target audience, and use this ‘pulling power’ to get exposure to a new audience of followers.

How did they create buzz?

One of the best Instagram marketing campaigns of 2014 was from Marc Jacobs, when the platform became the center of recruitment for the next face of his brand. Social power was in full swing as he called for aspiring models to post their photos for consideration for the campaign for the Fall of that year. Entrants simply had to tag their photos with #CastMeMarc.

What results did they achieve?

• 70,000 applications via the hashtag
• 30 aspiring models were flown in from around the world to be photographed
• Two winners were featured in Teen Vogue

How can you emulate this success?

You may not need to find the next top model – but could you use Instagram to run a photo contest of some kind, related to your brand? Or could you use it in your recruitment strategy? Both ideas are excellent for engaging your followers with something that gets them participating.

How did they create buzz?

TOMS promised to donate a pair of shoes for every person uploading a photo of their bare feet to Instagram with the hashtag #withoutshoes. People were encouraged to tag friends and share to spread the word.

It was bold to develop a campaign idea that would result only in an expense – no immediate sales – but it was part of a wider strategy to communicate company values to its growing Instagram audience and beyond.

What results did they achieve?

• A huge total of 296,243 shoes were donated to people in need
• With the large amount of tags and shares, word spread quickly and created excellent brand reach

How can you emulate this success?

How do you communicate your charitable values (or any other values your company stands for) to your target audience? This is an important element of your brand: develop creative ways to demonstrate what you believe in.

How did they create buzz?

LiketoKnow: Is an offshoot of the affiliate sales platform RewardStyle. Despite Instagram not allowing direct links in captions, it connected followers directly to ecommerce stores, making pages shoppable.

Vogue Living became the first print magazine to launch this on Instagram in 2014. Users who “liked” an Instagram post with a LiketoKnow link in the caption received an email directing them to a point of sale for the item in the post. Vogue received a commission for every purchase.

What results did they achieve?

• Vogue has been able to grow its following from 2 million in 2014 to 14 million in 2017, all the while earning commissions.

How can you emulate this success?

Are your Instagram posts shoppable? Are you connecting your followers with the ability to buy the products and services they are reading about? By making it easier for your followers to shop, you can increase the number of potential buyers and sales.

How did they create buzz?

In 2014, Kenneth Cole used the power of the selfie to energize its followers and provide some great user-generated content. The contest ran for three months 2014, providing followers with the chance to win free shoes every month for a year, simply by posting their selfies with the hashtag #DressForYourSelfie.

For a little extra ‘share’ power, message strips were provided for people to include in their selfies, spreading the word about participating in the contest.

What results did they achieve?

• The high level of fan engagement from this campaign had Kenneth Cole’s name trending all over social media.

How can you emulate this success?

People love contests and they love taking selfies. Bringing the two together could be highly engaging for your followers: positive brand sentiments can be shared far and wide, extending the reach of your key messages and expanding your following.

How did they create buzz?

Nike got in early, as usual. Back in 2013, when Instagram was very different, (yes – all those years ago!) followers were asked to go to Nike’s PHOTOiD website to interactively design their own Air Max shoe.

Followers were able to choose their favorite Instagram photo, and the colors in this photo were used to customize the Nike Air Max shoes. From there it could be saved and shared on social media, and the customized shoes could then be purchased.

What results did they achieve?

• This was one of the most successful Instagram campaigns of 2013 for user engagement.

How can you emulate this success?

User-generated content works best when you impose some guidelines on it; Nike followers were able to customize their shoes within the confines of the PHOTOiD system. How can you allow customization and creativity, while guiding and controlling the user-generated content required to promote your business effectively on Instagram?

How did they create buzz?

RedBull was an official sponsor of the 2016 Bonnaroo music festival, which attracts around 80,000 attendees each year to a Tennessee farm. It’s a big deal that is streamed to 5 million homes.

The company launched an Instagram campaign combining this festival with the pulling power of social media star Megan Batoon. The collaboration involved Batoon showing her followers around the festival and encouraging her audience to tune in to Red Bull’s official live stream.

What results did they achieve?

• RedBull achieved brand exposure to 480,000 of Megan Batoon’s followers, as well as a potential five million homes through streaming.

How can you emulate this success?

The pulling power of events and collaborations with social media influencers is proven. Team up with an influencer from your target audience to spread the word about an event, product, innovation, or launch and get exposed to all of their followers too. Are there special events that you could sponsor and use as the hub for an Instagram campaign?

How did they create buzz?

The idea was to promote their anniversary sale by creating a 55-foot version of one of its popular dresses. Not only was the product huge; it was displayed on top of their own building in Seattle, in the form of an Instagram post, with the Instagram logo at the top, comments, and likes.

The campaign also included live social media updates of the construction process (using drones) and concluded with a time-lapse video.

What results did they achieve?

• The campaign generated a lot of media attention, introduced the name of Nordstrom to a lot of new, younger followers, and growing their account

How can you emulate this success?

Be bold. You don’t have to create a 55-foot dress but how can you make a statement that captures attention with your products? A little media coverage will have people flocking to your account, so think of ways you can provoke a reaction.

How did they create buzz?

In this case, it’s not a single campaign – it’s consistent, weekly contests. For a chance to win some of their products, contestants must double-tap their product images (to like it), follow them, and tag a friend. The company then draws a name each week and @mentions them, asking for an email address to send the prize details.

How simple can you get?

What results did they achieve?

• The contests may average less than 100 entrants each week but they are a simple way to grow their following organically.

How can you emulate this success?

Sometimes, simple is best. You don’t need to overwork proven ideas. Yes, be original, but regular contests that are easy to enter, with clear calls to action, the right hashtags, and prizes including your own products, are easy for you to set up, low cost, and guaranteed to provoke positive sentiment from followers.

How did they create buzz?

Adidas Neo was a new division of products released in 2015, specifically targeting youngsters. So what better way to engage them than by giving them the chance to be directly involved in product shoots?

The Instagram campaign #MyNeoShoot asked its followers to create Adidas-inspired posts. The best content creators then modeled for professional photo shoots, with the content shared across social media. Adidas even got Instagram celebrity, Selena Gomez, and a few other influencers, to inform followers about the contest and post their own content ideas.

What results did they achieve?

• More than 12,000 entries to the contest
• 71,000 brand mentions (talk about spreading the word!)
• 41,000 new followers

How can you emulate this success?

Need to boost brand awareness or promote a new product? Inspire your followers by getting an influencer to announce a unique contest that offers contestants the chance to be in the spotlight for a short while: it’s a surefire way to get them involved and talking about you.

How did they create buzz?

Old Spice has run several great Instagram campaigns but Dream Runner from April 2016 is one of the most memorable. To drive user engagement among its exercise community, and promote its Hardest Working collection, followers were asked to post pictures of their exercise routes in the shape of prizes they wanted to win, tagging posts with the hashtag #runoldspice. If they were able to run it, they could win it!

What results did they achieve?

• Old Spice awarded over 50 prizes to followers participating in the campaign, creating a lot of buzz and awareness on social media.

How can you emulate this success?

What creative competition can you develop to get your target audience thinking, participating, and winning prizes? Photo or drawing competitions are great drivers of engagement and you can use hashtags to create awareness of new product, events, or initiatives linked to the campaign.

How did they create buzz?

Chanel wanted to build anticipation ahead of the release of their new No. 5 L’Eau perfume in the fall of 2016. To do so, it invited top Instagram influencers (like Julie Sariñana and Jessica Mercedes Kirschner) to a beautiful retreat for stunning photography shoots amongst the flower fields near Grasse. The location of the company’s production facility in the South of France was chosen to showcase how real flowers were used in creating the fragrance.

What results did they achieve?

• The hashtag #newchanel5 attracted over 1,600 pieces of influencer-generated and user-generated content
• 900,000 likes in the first month of the campaign
• Over 9 million people exposed to the campaign

How can you emulate this success?

Eye-catching product shots promoted by influencers is a winning combination. Few can afford to hire the type of influencers that Chanel can attract, but you may be able to connect to influencers amongst your niche target audience to help build anticipation before a new product launch – and be sure to choose the right location for the pictures!

How did they create buzz?

This particular campaign encouraged people to sign up for Ipsy’s beauty subscription service by partnering with an “extended family of online beauty influencers”.

These influencers were allowed behind the scenes at Ipsy’s Open Studios, with access to all its equipment, stylists, and other facilities. All they needed to do was make a video of their experience every few weeks.

What results did they achieve?

• This team of vloggers has generated over 300 million social media impressions a month for Ipsy.

How can you emulate this success?

While this campaign was not just confined to Instagram, there are many features that you can use: behind-the-scenes content is nearly always engaging and the use of social media personalities can create exposure to a new audience and rapidly expand your reach.

How did they create buzz?

Chloé’s Love Story campaign combined several great elements of successful Instagram campaigns. Firstly, it featured several of the world’s most influential fashion, beauty, and lifestyle bloggers, notably Gal Meets Glam, Natalie Off Duty, Peace Love Shea, and We Wore What.

They were asked to create branded content on the theme of ‘Love Story’ to help promote the new Chloé fragrance of the same name. This was released around Valentine’s Day 2015, when romantic sentiments were running at their highest.

What results did they achieve?

• High levels of engagement (Likes and Comments) on influencers’ posts
• Heightened awareness of the brand and product launch
• Combined social reach (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest) of 4.6 million+

How can you emulate this success?

How can you generate huge buzz around a product launch? Get people already connected to (and influential with) your target audience to promote the product with creative branded content; and release it on a special day.

Instagram marketing campaigns to get even more followers

I hope this guide taught you how to grow your followers and sales.

But you’re probably thinking:

“Angelo, Giles, this is KILLER content. What’s the easiest way to make it practical and test it!?”

Well, we went one step further and created a free video training on Instagram.

Showcasing 3 awesome case studies and 2 bonus case studies from clients we personally helped to grow and profit.

Sign up below to watch the free video training and grow your followers now.