Each week we round up the best social media posts from across the UK. See who's coming out on top and copy the winning moves for yourself. The tips and tricks are easy to replicate for any business no matter the size. Don't forget you can compare your social media performance with any brand using Maybe*
Learn from the best social media posts of 2022
December 2022
It’s Christmastime, so naturally content featuring delicious treats is dominating our feeds. This recipe post from M&S is a great way to add value and lure customers in with a cracking cover image. It serves up some festive joy and is an engagement win for M&S from followers eager to try their recipe - freely given, which is where the added value lies for their customers.
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Getting in on the giveaway action on social media this Christmas can lead to some fantabulously festive engagement. Giveaways don't need to be as generous as this one from New Look, but theirs is a great example of how to keep things short, sweet and most importantly, straightforward to enter.
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Quick and easy crafty ideas always go down well on social media, and this festive step-by-step from Flying Tiger is no exception. It's a short, sweet and topical post that can be easily shared across their channels and by their followers, too. They've also pre-empted questions by sharing some of the products used, and are signposting their customers to their website for more info.
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November 2022
Possibly the most engaged Instagram post of all time? This advert for global clothing brand Louis Vuitton featuring footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi playing chess on a suitcase, has achieved astonishing levels of engagement.
It's a hugely evocative image. The two footballers have paused in their journey (could they be off to the World Cup, perhaps?), for an impromptu game of chess; as focussed on their game as they are their football. The staging of the photo is deliberately moody, with the light capturing their faces, hands and the chess pieces.
The two footballers shared the image on their own social accounts, as well as Louis Vuitton's, which proved to be a master play in engagement - the combined total of likes across those accounts is around an incredible 76.6million, and counting.
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Covent Garden are definitely fully embracing the festive season. They've put together a lovely Reel for their Instagram feed, where they've shared some snippets from their Winter Warmer Festival. This should entice their customers and lure them in with promises of some delectable festive treats...
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Christmas is firmly on its way, and for retailers, this means the return of their festive ads. More retailers than ever before have either teased or posted their full advert on their social channels, and M&S is no exception. Their Christmas Food ad featuring comedy duo French & Saunders is a lighthearted counterpart to their main (adorable) festive advert, and it's gone down deliciously well with their followers.
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October 2022
Jewellery brand Pandora have recently launched a new range of charms, in collaboration with Marvel. This launch has offered up tons of great inspiration for the brand and they created a series of posts as part of their announcement. With themed captions - using Spider-Man's catchphrase, and fun Reels featuring the little gems getting up to all sorts of superhero type antics, they certainly upped the ante in the engagement stakes.
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Visit Sheffield have given us a bit of a master class in celebrating all things place. The organisation have rounded up five positive news stories from the week celebrating the best Sheffield has to offer across food, tourism, the arts and music. Each story had a post earlier in the week in its own right, but the round up post has greater impact, giving multiple 'pride in place' moments.
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After two years of seasonal events cancelled or operating at a reduced capacity, 2022 marks the return of the holiday season in full force. Silverburn's Halloween fun fair kicks things off with a fright night twist. The shopping centre have used Instagram Reels showing off all the fun of the fair from multiple angles and perspectives so you get a sense of the buzz and excitement. Use this approach as you start to think about how to bring your Christmas events to life.
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Ikea have come up with three alternative uses for one of their chopping board products. From bookends to laptop trays and a tiered kitchen storage solution, the Instagram Reel post gives customers ideas and inspiration for how they could use the product in multiple ways. In the process they've also given customers multiple reasons to buy.
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Fortnum & Mason's window displays and in store merchandising are world renowned. This terrifying toad, while scarily realistic, is actually sweeter than you think. It's made out of chocolate! Fortnum's know that their displays are a talking point. People will make a trip to the iconic Piccadilly store to see them. Social media gives them an opportunity to share their creations further, increase post engagement, and most importantly, inspire more visits.
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September 2022
Marks and Spencer's Christmas spread is now available in stores and it looks delicious. The annual rush to order turkey and the trimmings is well underway. M&S announced the news with multiple mouth-watering images of what customers can expect to add to their festive feast for 2022 while the post copy set expectations on availability and where to find out more. Anticipation is already peak. The comments are flooding in with customers already asking whether their favourites are part of this year's offering.
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Camden Market are readying us for that chill in the air! The quirky but iconic market have rounded up their best of Autumn's essentials getting us all excited for the change in seasons. The video opening gives you a sense of place and time of year and then its off to the retailers for a browse. All the retailers and their location are tagged into the post increasing the likelihood of it being shared.
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High Street stationery business The Works teamed up with a mummy influencer to help them with their Back to School campaign. The influencer filmed her kids showing off all their new school swag. Not only is it impossibly cute but it also gives everyone a real view of what is available at The Works for under a tenner. The beauty of this post is that by partnering with an influencer, the post is also shared with her audience. The Works stand to benefit from this by reaching a whole host of customers who follow the influencer.
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August 2022
Pandora are famous for their enormous collection of bracelets and charms. New products, themed beads and limited edition items frequently get their customers flocking to add to basket. Pandora are really good at having a charm or collection for every occasion and every type of hobby or interest. This post appealed to the pooch and pup loving customer, and was timed to perfection to coincide with International Dogs Day.
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Innocent's social media team are really not that innocent. They always bring a cheeky sense of humour to their posts. From taking the micky out of their boss, to encouraging office banter, posts that come from Innocent HQ always give you a sense of what it is to work there. In fact there's as much behind the scenes content as there is product content.
Innocent show us that social media does not need to be all work and no play. Relatable memes, office related jokes and dry humour really give you a sense of the personalities and people behind the brand. They also happen to sell great juices.
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Asda have given us quite the treat this week. Not only have they crafted an awesome social media post with a little life hack, but they've also inspired us to give it a go.
At a time where people are concerned about spending money and wasting food, Asda have tapped into this in a fun, creative way that's got everyone talking.
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As England's Lionesses stormed to victory in the Women's Euros, Specsavers got in on the action with this mocked up billboard. The tweet was timely, relevant and unmistakeably on brand with the eye test twist on "It's coming home". The social team made sure to add existing hashtags to ensure they were part of the Euro's conversation.
56 years of hurt over. Amazing sight.#Lionesses #WEURO2022 #ItsComingHome pic.twitter.com/dd4u6ItzuH
— Specsavers (@Specsavers) July 31, 2022
July 2022
Fitness fanatics Gymshark responded to research that showed men are more comfortable opening up about their mental health and challenges they face, to their barber. The brand have opened a barbershop where men can open up. To get the word out they've teamed up with a men's mental health charity and online content creators. The initiative raises awareness of the mental health challenges men face while providing a real solution to a real problem backed by real action.
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So we had a heatwave for a handful of days, the kids have broken up and summer is in full swing. But in the world of retail things move fast. Bath and Body Works are one of the businesses on the High Street already making a spooky song and dance about Halloween. Think it's too early, think again. It pays to plan.
Customers are loving the head start on Halloween if the likes, comments and shares are anything to go by, and the business benefits from this. Not only are they increasing the conversation and comments about them, which is great for visibility, but they will be beginning to gain an understanding of the tricks and treats likely to sell well for them.
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Temperature's rising, barometre's getting low. According to all sources, the street's the place to go. Except its not because its too hot out there. And The Range know that. To help customers hack their way through this stifling heat, they created a totally topical TikTok that they then shared to Instagram, with a few hacks to cool things down a bit.
The post checks all the boxes for being timely and relevant. It increases awareness and interest in The Range's product lines, and by inviting customers to share their own hacks, The Range have encouraged commenting and conversation among their community, helping them further increase reach.
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As the annual drama on Wimbledon's Centre Court unfolded there was a chance for shoppers and tourists in London's West End to get in on the action. Covent Garden installed a big screen where people could gather for a spot of Pimms and strawberries while enjoying the tennis.
Covent Garden and other shopping centres regularly provide entertainment and installations that offer shoppers other things to do while they are visiting. Sharing the activity on social gives the customer extra reasons and increases spend at the destination's Piazza, benefitting the businesses in the area. They get extra points for providing activities that people want to take pictures of and share on their social media feeds, increasing the reach of the event and activity further.
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Where there's a supermarket scandal, there's an Aldi way. As the cost of Lurpak butter hits the headlines, Aldi were quick off the mark to remind customers of their lower price point alternative. You can always rely on Aldi to add a well humoured and well intentioned response that gains traction in terms of comments and retweets.
meanwhile nordpak still gives you change from £3 https://t.co/pAT4UWUzZs
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) July 5, 2022
June 2022
Glastonbury re-opened its gates to festival goers for the first time in two years last week. And of the festival's headliners, this post from Billie Eilish's set scored the festival the most engagement. The moody, close up image gave followers not at the festival a view of the action and those who did attend, a chance to reminisce. The image does the talking with a simple caption noting the artist and the stage they performed on, alongside the #Glastonbury2022 hashtag.
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It's Independent Book Shop Week, and north of the border Scotland are celebrating a year of stories. This post by Visit Scotland combines two relevant events to rally the content around. The image invites you to discover a bibliophile's paradise and lose yourself among a labyrinth of books while the post copy makes use of local and bookshop related hashtags, crediting the photographer and the bookshop featured to share the love!
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Aldi are up to it again and setting tongues (and tails) a wagging. The supermarket is set to launch an ice cream for your pooches. To announce the Labrador friendly lollipops, there's a woofingly wonderful video over on Facebook. Customers are rushing to share pics of their pups in the comments online; and desperate to load up their trolleys offline. Perfect product, the talk-ability factor and cutesy content makes for a winning combination of engagement, sales, and happy hounds.
Well this is New is an Instagram account that rounds up the best of novelty and newness across retailers in the UK. It's a simple premise that has amassed 54,000 followers who love to have their say on what's coming to market. The comments are laughter inducing and at times blunt - yikes. But this presents an opportunity for retailers to lean into those uncomfortable conversations and find out what's working.
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May 2022
Boohoo know their customers love a bit of celebrity culture. In the last week they’ve posted two celeb news stories - Rihanna’s had her baby and Kourtney Kardashian got married both racking up engagements in the tens of thousands.
Boohoo have a customer base that is young, fashion forward and influenced by celebrity. By creating content that celebrates their audience's favourite celebs - they rack up easy engagement by being relevant and jumping on trending conversations.
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BoxPark are getting a new venue in an indoor space called BoxHall. BoxPark is famed for combining retail with entertainment, art and dining, giving people a reason to visit for something unique that involves shopping and experience. it’s new venue, BoxHall opening Summer 2023 is set to bring together emerging and established indie food outlets, catering to city dwelling foodies and London’s visitors.
This post was shared by all of its sites who have their own social media accounts as each site, while part of a family, also has its own identity and offering. This premises will open in an old entrance to a train station and the post tags in Transport for London who have plenty of reach with Londoners and tourists.
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April 2022
Asda make it their business to celebrate their team on the regular. Anytime a team member goes above and beyond for a customer, you'll hear about it on social media and see the engagement soar. People love acts of kindness and positive news stories and can't wait to comment and share them.
M&S have taken their famous chocolate biccie and smooshed it together with an Easter Egg and come up with something in between.
Launched on social media, voiced over by Dawn French and soundtracked with the trademark M&S TV ad music, the bisc-egg or egg-scuit has social media hyped up and leading the Easter engagement stakes.
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March 2022
Primark are a long time social media favourite at Maybe*. We love this post that lends a fashion forward edge to introduce the key trends for Spring.
The post invites customers to vote and comment on their favourite colour trend with multiple image posts.
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Fortnum's have launched a rapid delivery service shipping Fortnum’s favourites direct to the doors of Londoners.
The delivery services is available in London to doors within six miles of the Piccadilly store in under two hours. To announce and create a bit of intrigue into the service, Fortnum's have installed a 'Fortnum's' blue' delivery bike in the store so curious shoppers can find out more..
Fortnum's have chosen Supper London, a luxury delivery service over the likes of Deliveroo or Just Eat as its more in line with their own brand positioning.
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Cath Kidston generate engagement by introducing key team members from the store environment and in Head Office. Followers are invited to pose questions to the team members via stories. For businesses like Cath Kidston with a cult following and a distinct brand, it also gives diehard fans a sneak peek behind the scenes.
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February 2022
Liverpool Football Club scored a social media high celebrating a winning goal. Sports teams whether national or local present an amazing opportunity to unite communities online and offline around a common passion, which often translates to place.
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Missguided celebrated Twosday on Tuesday February 22nd 2022 with a killer comp and social media post. The post offered up a £2222 cash prize, and to continue the Twosday theme, invited followers to tag their BFF.
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Relative lingerie newcomer, Bluebella set pulses racing on Instagram. Their content can frequently be found in the best social media posts. As well as sumptuous and sexy styling, Bluebella is famous for its inclusive celebration of all shapes, sizes, skin tones and genders, and puts self-love firmly at the heart of everything they do.
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Who said romance is dead? There’s no harm in using seasonal events like Valentines Day to offer competitions around. And who doesn’t love flowers. B&M invited customers to comment when they last received flowers to be in with a chance of winning.
The mechanic to enter gives people the chance to vent and tell funny stories, all of which B&M can engage with and reshare or use to create conversation among the community.
? #COMPETITION TIME?
Don't forget your #ValentinesDay flowers this year - we're giving away THREE chances to #WIN a stunning roses bouquet!
For a chance to #WIN, simply FOLLOW US, RT this post & COMMENT WHEN the last time you received flowers was!
Competition ends 9am 4/2/22 pic.twitter.com/IdbW7Tg83y
— B&M Stores (@bmstores) January 28, 2022
January 2022
Pop star and all round heart throb Harry Styles is going on tour and there was a teenage scramble for tickets. Lidl were quick off the mark and got in on the action and conversation. Referencing the star’s hit single Watermelon Sugar High, Lidl playfully pointed out to those disappointed fans who didn’t score tickets that Watermelon and sugar are both available at Lidl. . .
If you missed out on Harry Styles tickets, you can in fact get both watermelon and sugar at Lidl ?♀️
— @LidlGB (@LidlGB) January 28, 2022
Boots got in on the Veganuary action last week by featuring cult skincare favourite, The Ordinary.
Veganuary may traditionally be something supermarkets and restaurants can get on board with, however skincare and beauty brands also have the opportunity to maximise their cruelty-free or plant based offerings at a time of year where customers are doubling down on the self care and lifestyle changes.
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The travel industry has been the hardest hit by the pandemic and ongoing changes and restrictions. As news emerged that Boris Johnson hosted a party (or work meeting depending on whether you accept the official line or not), while the country were following government rules, Ryanair upped their social media game.
The outspoken approach was witty, pithy and wry and earned the airline tens of thousands of engagements, as they took aim at the PM and wider government. Ryanair get the tone right with this one - pulling punches in a humorous way but in a way that accurately captures the mood of the public.
Boris Johnson for 25 minutes on 20 May 2020 pic.twitter.com/pFqIz6dIqr
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) January 12, 2022
Nike continue to spotlight both professional and grassroots community sports clubs and athletes from across the globe. The featured team in this post hail from Japan and the post celebrates a local marathon in Tokyo.
With these posts, Nike continues to feature real people who share the brand’s passion for sport and wellness. At the same time they champion global sporting communities in an inclusive way, rather than just focusing on elite performance athletes.
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M&S won Christmas hearts on social media in the week leading up to Christmas announcing on Instagram its store colleagues, customer care team and social media team would be offline and at home with their families until December 27th.
Like 2020 when supermarkets opted out of trading Boxing Day to give their teams chance to regroup, M&S went for a similar approach for Christmas 2021. While contracted staff made up the hours elsewhere or could take it as leave, the foregoing of a Boxing Day sale start when down well with the public earning over 54,000 likes for the business.
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