We’ve covered Instagram a lot on our blog, from the benefits of using Instagram Reels, to building relationships with Instagram influencers through Instagram influencer marketing, to Instagram monitoring best practices. However, one of the most common questions we get asked is “How can B2B companies, get the most out of Instagram?”. In this blog, we wanted to dispel the myth that Instagram can’t work for B2B brands or ‘boring’ industries.
Below you’ll find 7 great examples of B2B Instagram profiles across a range of industries from manufacturing to software, to healthcare, and why they work.
Why Use Instagram For Your B2B Business?
Instagram is a great medium for showcasing not only your products, but the people behind them. A number of the examples below do this to great effect, highlighting office culture and putting their employees front & center.
It's also a great place to demonstrate your products in creative, engaging, or humorous ways which not only gives your brand a personality, but also illustrates how your target customer could get good use out of your services.
And then there's the numbers to remember!
- 2 billion monthly active users (Omnicore)
- 200 million businesses use Instagram (Omnicore)
- One third of the most viewed Instagram Stories are from businesses (Omnicore)
- 15% of US shoppers say they start their product research on Instagram (Hootsuite)
Tip: Learn more about the latest IG statistics and about how to use Instagram for Business.
Which Are The Best B2B Instagram Profiles?
The stats speak for themselves. Use the examples below as inspiration to get your Instagram profile off the ground!
1. John Deer: Manufacturing
2. MailChimp: Software
3. Shell: Oil & Gas
4. Boeing: Manufacturing
5. FedEx: Logistics
6. Intel: Computing
7. Abbott Global: Healthcare
1. John Deere: Manufacturing
John Deere is a great example of how a B2B brand can use Instagram to their advantage.
The profile has 1M+ followers and garners an average of 13.4K likes per post (according to our Meltwater Social Media Influencers tool). This just goes to show that even manufacturing companies who are typically viewed as anything but “sexy” can create engaging visual content.
As you can see from the screenshot of their profile above, John Deere sticks to a green color scheme helping the brand become more recognizable. You may have thought having an ‘Aesthetic’ is just for celebrities like Kim Kardashian, who reportedly has her own signature Instagram filter. However, John Deere proves this isn’t the case.
Takeaway: Create a unified Instagram aesthetic
Choose a color palette, theme or filter and use it consistently. When someone views your profile as a whole, it’ll be more visually appealing and identifiable.
2. MailChimp: Software
Mailchimp uses their Instagram profile largely to highlight clients, focusing on their stories and how Mailchimp helps their businesses grow. They have also focused inward, however, using their Instagram Stories to profile their employees.
Their ‘a day in the life’ series shows a typical day for an employee in the office. They also have ‘MailChimp has talent’ where they show off hobbies and talents of their employees.
Takeaway: Profile your employees
Profiling your employees using Instagram helps attract new talent, showcase your brand and company culture. Not to mention co-creation and co-branding of content gives us a little more breathing room when it comes to the amount that we produce.
3. Shell: Oil & Gas
Shell posts about events they sponsor and also profile their employees. In addition, they have a focus on innovation and getting young people and women into STEM subjects.
To do this, they profile these kinds of people in inspiring and engaging ways. This enables them to humanize their brand and make it more relatable.
Takeaway: Look beyond your product
One of the biggest lessons to take away from all of these Instagram profiles is that the companies don't post exclusively about their product.
If you’re a B2B company, chances are your product won’t have the same visual appeal as some consumer brands.
Many of us assume that because we’re not a food or clothing brand, our content won’t be interesting. However, creating a good Instagram profile is about thinking outside the box.
4. Boeing: Manufacturing
Using Meltwater's Social Influencer Tool, we found that Boeing gets on average 23.5K likes, and 150 comments per post. What’s their secret you may ask? High-quality images and video.
Video is a great way to boost engagement across social media. Videos quickly get a story or message across and generate 1200 more shares than text and images combined.
Takeaway: Use of video
If you haven’t got the time or resources to create professional videos like Boeing, create videos on Instagram Stories — you can show behind the scenes, profile employees, or events.
Tip: Get inspired by these 50 Simple Video Content Ideas For Your Business
5. FedEx: Logistics
Try and tap into the human interest element when thinking of what to post on Instagram as a B2B company. Food, traveling, art, music and animals are all areas that are likely to appeal to a large audience.
Takeaway: Get your logo out there
We also love that both Mailchimp and FedEx include their logo in almost every post, but find a creative and artistic way to do it. Even if your product isn’t ‘interesting’ you can still show your audience something cool with your logo on.
6. Intel: Computing
Intel boasts over a million followers, and their posts tend to focus on innovation and taking their audience behind the scenes of their brand.
A feature that Intel makes use of, is placing links in their bio and stories. As you may know, Instagram doesn’t let users post clickable links in actual posts. Utilizing this feature means users can easily further explore Intel’s content.
Takeaway: Give your followers more to explore
Either add your website in the bio or post a link from your Stories to more content that your fans can enjoy.
7. Abbott Global: Healthcare
You may have expected to see images of medical equipment and drugs when searching for Abbott Global’s Instagram feed. However, this is not the case! Abbott posts images of people living #lifetothefullest as part of a campaign to encourage going after your dreams. It celebrates people young and old achieving dreams like learning ballet, play the piano, or swim.
They’re also another B2B brand using stories in a really engaging way. Their profile highlights causes such as poverty, International Women’s Day, International Day of Women and Girls in Science and more.
Takeaway: Highlight social causes or initiatives related to your industry that your brand supports or is involved with on your profile
That’s a wrap!
Hopefully, these Instagram accounts will provide you with some inspiration for your B2B Instagram profile.
Curious how Meltwater can help you with your social media management strategy? Fill out the form below to schedule a demo!
