The 17 Best Brands on Social Media (With Examples)

Do you wonder how brands reach out to millions of people and build audiences online?

Social media platforms have become the essential place to be for brands, in order to connect with their target and build loyal audiences interested in their products and philosophy.

In the UK there are more than 45 million social media users across the different platforms & more than 73% of marketers believe that investing in social media marketing has been effective.

This means that is very likely that your target audience could find you online and generate traffic and conversions for your business, as well as building a community of brand enthusiasts online.

But, how to stand out from the crowd and be one of the best brands on social media?

This is the reason why we put together this article, to showcase the most exciting, engaging and forward-thinking brands on Social Media in 2021 for you to get inspired.

You’ll find brands that not only do well on one individual social media platform, but we’re going to show brands who do well in the entire social media strategy.

From brands in eCommerce, Beauty, Skincare, B2B, travel, food, drink and more.

Ready? Let’s get stuck in.

ASOS

ASOS is an online fashion & beauty retailer based in the UK that sells its brand and 850 brands more. They have become one of the top fashion eCommerce in the UK and across the world.

They use Snapchat (as their target is young adults), Instagram (focused on UGC and outfits posted by their customers) with cross-posting on Facebook, and TikTok to give as much fashion inspiration as possible with entertaining and trendy styling videos.

For example, this "Outfits Inspired in Phoebe Buffay" is one of the best performing TikToks on their page since it brings outfit inspiration and has a very clear topic (or character, in this case) that people search online. Other good performing variants of this video would be recreating supermodel outfits.

Love Leggings

Love Leggings, as the name suggests, is a leggings brand based in the UK. They focus on highlighting that their products are for all women and provide total comfort, confidence and coverage.

Their social media presence and communications are aligned with this philosophy, sharing UGC pictures of happy clients across Instagram and Facebook, building a community and providing feedback through Twitter, and inspiring their community through Pinterest.

Corston

Corston is an interior detailing company producing design-led fixtures and fittings. They focus on communicating their high-end products to help your house get those little details that make the difference.

Their social media focus is also on showcasing their products through house and room inspiration pictures and more detailed shots on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

MESOA

MESOA is a premium skincare brand for men. They focus on providing the best products for each skin type and enabling men to have a good skincare routine.

Through platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, they educate their audience on how to use products, which ones are the best for their skin type and concerns and other valuable information to take better care of their skin.

For example, this TikTok shows some facts about men's skin while showcasing different products by the brand.

Lush

Lush is a UK cosmetics retailer that became famous thanks to their bath bombs, but that also sells other cruelty-free and handmade products such as soaps, face masks and makeup, among others.

On Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube, they focus on promoting their products and brand philosophy. And, on TikTok, they do product reviews and trending videos using UGC.

A good TikTok example would be this one, on-trend with the newest Ru Paul season on Netflix, and showing an end-of-the-day routine to take off the makeup and take care of the skin, using Lush's products. A perfect mix of relevant content, entertaining, while still promoting the brand's products.

The Inkey List

The Inkey List is an affordable skincare brand. They want to make skincare accessible, easy and educate their audience to take the best care of themselves.

On their social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook), they’re consistently sharing educational content on skin types and concerns. Also, how to create routines, invite professional guests for advice and skincare lessons, which products will work best for you and introduce new products.

A very good example is this guide to Dark Spots they've recently shared, where they explain the different types, advice, which are the best ingredients to treat this skin concern, and which products of theirs they recommend. This way, they bring valuable, educational and promotional content all in one.

Fenty Beauty

Fenty Beauty is a cosmetics and beauty brand created by Rihanna. This brand gained popularity thanks to its wide range of foundation colours and being inclusive with all skin tones.

Their content is focused on communicating inclusivity and embracing all kinds of beauty. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are focused on UGC and sharing new products, and their TikTok is full of behind the scenes, review videos and UGC. Lastly, they use YouTube as a platform to share more professional tutorials and product demonstrations by Rihanna and other well-known faces.

For example, they partnered with the beauty YouTuber Alexandra Anele to create a makeup tutorial using the brand's products and they share it on their socials. Alexandra, with almost a million followers on her YouTube channel, is a well-known face in the industry.

Choose A Challenge

Choose a Challenge is a travel company that creates challenges worldwide for students and the general audience and fundraise money for charities. At The Social Shepherd, we are in charge of creating and managing its social media strategy and channels.

We use Instagram and Facebook to inspire potential travellers and share relatable content and memes that are more appealing to younger audiences.

A great example is this Instagram Carousel with very relatable statements that we all feel when we go on a trip or vacation. The audience relates to the post and it encourages them to save it and share it with friends, getting the brand a better reach.

Airbnb

Airbnb is a company that manages home rentals for holidays and vacations worldwide. They allow hosts to promote their places on their website, as well as promote tourism activities.

On Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, they promote some of the places advertised on their platform, using UGC and tagging which place it is (and linking it on their bio). And, on their Pinterest page, they give inspiration to hosts to make their houses and apartments more appealing to the public.

For example, this temporary Airbnb inspired in the Winnie the Pooh house to celebrate its 95th Anniversary. It's quite a unique stay that Airbnb really wanted to promote and get more customers to book.

Booking.com

Booking.com is an online travel agency that helps customers find transportation and accommodation for their holidays.

On YouTube, they focus on providing city guides in short-form videos and promotional and inspirational videos. On Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, they promote different destinations and locations and what to do and where to stay. Lastly, on their Pinterest page, they provide plenty of top 50 accommodations for each city, hotels organised in different types and locations, and what to do and see.

Keeping up with the "Squid Game" popularity and trend of sharing content related to the most popular Netflix show of all time, Booking.com did an Instagram post promoting a location in Spain that looks very much like the one on the series. Will Booking.com customers dare to go?

Drift

Drift is a conversational marketing and sales technology B2B company.

They maintain a consistent LinkedIn page to find new potential customers and have a YouTube page where they share advice and conversations with business owners, which they then also reshare on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in little clips.

Gong

Gong is a B2B company whose service analyses customer-facing interactions across phone, email, and web conferencing to deliver insights.

They use LinkedIn to reach other brands that could become customers and Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to share advice, best practices, and funny posts once in a while to keep up with the content trends.

MailChimp

MailChimp is an email marketing service and automation that helps businesses create lists and email campaigns to send to their customers.

MailChimp focuses on giving visibility and keeping up with the current conversation on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Then, as for educational content to improve email marketing campaigns, they share tutorials and advice on Pinterest and YouTube.

Johnnie Walker

Johnnie Walker is the best-selling Scotch Whisky brand. They sell a variety of Scotch whiskies that they promote across all their platforms.

Through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter, they showcase the range of products they sell, as well as easy cocktail ideas to recreate.

Waitrose

Waitrose is a groceries shop owned by John Lewis that sells across the whole UK. They’re well known for their high-quality products and wine selection.

Their social media platforms(Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube) consistently share recipe inspiration using their products to promote them.

Nuts Pick

Nuts Pick offers a wide range of fresh nuts. At The Social Shepherd, we manage their Social Media platforms, as well as their paid media.

Through their platforms (Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter), we promote their products through recipe ideas, funny animal pictures, and educating the audience about the nutritional benefits of eating nuts.

These are great examples of brands making the most out of each social media platform and connecting with their audiences to generate conversation and traffic. This is why you might want to consider working with one of the Top Social Media agencies.

However, it’s needed to have a social media content strategy to stay consistent and share content with a purpose and a clear marketing goal.

Not only maintaining the brand’s personality and image are important, but bringing value, being reactive and figure out trends early to keep up with the conversation and our audience’s interests.

Here, at The Social Shepherd, we work with many great brands that have built online communities thanks to a solid social media content strategy. If you’re interested in improving your social media channels, book a free strategy call with our Social Media Management team.