Learning from the best of February on social media

How do people feel about H&M - From Maybe*

H&M are sleek and chic on social

H&M’s social feed keeps colour combos to a minimum, without it feeling stripped back. They do this through colour repetition, natural tones, and simple, stark backgrounds to help their content really stand out.

This post is all about contrast: the muted tones and textures of the clothing, offset by the pop of green in the jumper and the black in the sunglasses. It’s simple, clean, classy and confident.

H&M aren’t afraid of the odd pop of colour, far from it, but tend to balance their use of colour with a lot of black and white, alongside a hefty dose of neutrals. They use colour to draw the eye around their feed, creating contrast and making their content more visually exciting.

If you fancy a pared back look à la H&M, consider how you can keep your colour palette to a minimum. This doesn’t mean you’ll need to stick to muted colours, simply aim for 2-3 main tones per image to keep things nice and clear. Keeping your content tonal; using colours that complement each other, as well as a little bit of contrast for some drama, will go a long way towards achieving that sleek look you’re striving for.

Colourful cuddles from Lucy & Yak

In cheerful contrast, Lucy & Yak love a bit of colour. This carousel post (aka Instagram’s term for a post featuring a series of photos or videos that you have to scroll through, rather than just one) from Lucy & Yak is a sweetly joyful, vibrant example.

Lucy & Yak favour a more low-key approach to their content, with styled model shoots interspersed with regular reposts from Instagrammers looking merrily colourful in their Yaks.

One of Lucy & Yak’s bio taglines reads ‘join the Comfort Movement’, which fully encapsulates all that they are, and you can see this ethos clearly reflected through their content. Lucy & Yak want you to feel comfortable, relaxed and at ease – in their clothing. All their posts come together to build a feed that is warm, relaxed, diverse and engaged, and they use colour as a tool to bring their message home. Dress happy, feel happy.

If you and your customers are colour-lovers too, lean into it. Showcase your top-selling items on social. Invite your customers to share their own images with you, too. Let your customers’ choices – the items they buy from you and their own content that they choose to share with you – guide your content. Bring all these elements together to help you build a social feed that truly reflects your customers and your business, just as Lucy & Yak have done.

How do people feel about Lucy & Yak - From Maybe*

How do people feel about Toni & Guy - From Maybe*

Magazine style inspo from Toni & Guy

Toni & Guy know hair. They want us, the viewer, to really believe that. They’ve created a social feed designed to convey their expertise to their followers, and they do it so well. This post, titled ‘Ethereal Beauty’ is a great example of their approach. They’ve not shared any tips on how to recreate this dreamy, wispy hairstyle. They want it to serve as inspiration to their followers, instead. The styling of the photo is quite timeless, it could have been taken on a recent shoot or the distant past, it doesn’t matter. The model looks off-camera, she does not engage with the audience, she doesn’t need to.

This post is in harmony with Toni & Guy’s social feed as a whole. They let their content do the talking. You won’t find them in the comments section very often, which might feel like a radical approach to take in 2023, where the recommended advice – consistently – is to engage with your customers online. The end result is that their Instagram feed feels more like a magazine experience, with their sleek, polished imagery featuring celebrities, models and catwalk show prep. It’s a snapshot into another world. Through their content, they create a sense of distance between us and them, and present themselves as the expert, by virtue of the place they hold in this other world, in their place of industry. Their followers can then choose how to react to the content they see. Instead of folding down the page of a hair magazine, they can hit ‘like’, and save their favourite posts.

If you want to adopt a similar approach with your own socials, you will need to put in the legwork with your content, as Toni & Guy have done. To do this, your social channels will need careful planning so that they feel polished and well put together. Above all, you’ll need beautifully shot images and videos to showcase your products or skills at their best. A professional feel will bring your social media to life, and lend a sense of gravitas to the content you share.

The customer knows best with ghd

ghd, on the other hand, favour a wholly different approach. Rather than presenting themselves as the experts, all their expertise goes into the hair tools they create. ghd's success is reliant on their customers understanding how to use their products properly. To that end, they work with a team of influencers who create content for them, which ghd share and engage with on their own channels. 

It's relatable, friendly content: 'if they can do it, I can do it, too'. ghd empower their customer by sharing these easy to digest tutorials, to help their customers get the most out of their products. The onus is then on the customer to work their magic and create fabulous hairstyles.

This post, showcasing their latest styling tool, is part of a Reel series featuring influencers with differing hair styles and textures, all using the tool to style their own hair, demonstrating to ghd’s customers how they can get involved, too.

ghd are very active in the comments sections of their posts – they want to connect with their customers on a personal level; fielding stock queries and complaints alongside reactions to the content they’ve shared. Models and celebrities are no strangers to the ghd feed, either; but the content is less polished, the captions more conversational and engaging. Where Toni & Guy are comfortable with some distance between themselves and their followers, ghd need to close the gap. They need to be personable. So they make it their main focus.

How do people feel about ghd - From Maybe*

How do people feel about University of York - From Maybe*

Magic moments make a love story at York

The University of York have enjoyed fantastic engagement with their #HumansOfYork posts (an irresistible take on the hugely successful #HumansOfNewYork series – see what they did there?), telling the stories of students and staff, past and present. This particular post is part of a miniseries all about love that blossomed on campus, which they’ve been sharing in the lead up to Valentine’s Day. Ah. It’s an engaging carousel post (aka Instagram’s term for a post featuring a series of photos or videos that you have to scroll through, rather than just one), with a striking, joyful opening image, and a sweet love story in the caption. 

People love love, and they also enjoy sharing in other peoples’ happiness, as shown by the number of likes and comments on this post. Sharing the stories of the people who make up York; its staff and students, is a fantastic theme for the university, and alongside their other content, creates a social feed that is warm, personable and engaging.

UEA know how to build a good connection

The University of East Anglia have also focussed on a non-academic part of university life, this time with a post showcasing some fantastic Brutalist Architecture from across the campus. Like York, they’ve also opted for a carousel post and a brilliantly striking cover image. They’ve gone for a short caption to let the images speak for themselves, and in doing so, have given their followers an opportunity to share their own thoughts and memories – past or present – of their time at university.

Nostalgia is powerful, and you’ll see that the bulk of the comments are from alumni. Unlike York, UEA have opted to use a social media-wide hashtag as the main focus of their post. This is a great move to get more eyes on your post than your typical audience, but they’ve added some UEA-centric hashtags to their caption too, such as #ThisIsUEA.

How do people feel about University of East Anglia - From Maybe*

How do people feel about Dolce & Gabbana - From Maybe*

La dolce vita with D&G

Take a scroll through Dolce & Gabbana’s grid and it will feel like flipping through the pages of a fashion magazine - their content has an editorial feel, with beautiful styling and regular appearances from the great and the good. It’s light, aspirational content: for those aiming for a version of the lifestyle they represent, or those seeking diversion from their day-to-day. Whatever the motivation, their followers will find what they're looking for in D&G’s content.

Onto the post itself: shot - and presented - like a film advert, this Reel from Dolce & Gabbana is all about escapism. Quite literally. In an unfamiliar desert setting, our protagonists meet for some slo-mo dusty cavorting. This post is all about the performance, and it’s echoed in the caption, complete with credits and a cast of creatives. It’s all very evocative, isn’t it.

Primark: posts for the people

Ah, Primark. Primark are cracking on social media: active, reactive and engaging, and it’s all down to the way they make their customers feel: seen. They’ve posted a host of relatable, wintery content - cosy flatlays, pyjamas galore, day to night styling… and they also use a strong team of influencers to help promote their products.

This image could have been taken anywhere (it was in Prague, btw), and features one of their influencers posing at the foot of a set of steps in her gym leggings and pink headphones. She could be any of us, and that is the point. It’s a very tonal image, there’s nothing harsh, sharp or provoking and ties right in with Primark’s feed as a whole.

How do people feel about Primark - From Maybe*