If you’re struggling to find inspiration for your business’s content or simply want to benchmark yourself against the competition, it’s vital you check out what other brands are doing on social media – and boy, are some of ‘em absolutely killing it!
The diversity of content we’re seeing on TikTok and Instagram is at an all-time high, with brands considering everything from UGC to social proof, trending memes, and founder-led content in their carefully curated social media strategies.
To give you a taste of who’s acing their content right now, we’ve rounded up 7 of the top brands on social media, according to the Plann experts. From feel-good fitness apps to the skincare brand behind a viral pimple patch collab, here’s who made the cut for the best brands on social media.
Brand 1: Kic
- Known for: Butt-kickin fitness content for the everyday gal trying to improve her health (and how to have fun doing it).
- Key takeaways: Put the focus on your founders to provide a peek behind the business curtain | Don’t be afraid to be silly
- Follow them here: @kic.app on Instagram
Kic is the brainchild of Aussie fitness influencers Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw. These besties started by offering workout advice and healthy recipes before launching the Kic app and community, which focus on a ‘feel-good approach to fitness’.
So, what’s Kic doing to earn the title of one of the best brands on social media, according to Plann? If we were to pick one social trend that has dominated 2024 thus far, it would be founder- and employee-led content, and the Kic team is out there leading the way. The brand’s social presence feature Steph and Laura throughout their feeds so often they feel like your best friends or big sisters, rather than the CEOs of a successful company.
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The Kic tisn’ten’t afraid to look silly in the name of social media success – just take their mid year sale social post. Instead of going down the traditional route with a branded tile, they created a hilarious Reel with their take on the viral ‘Man in Finance’ song. They immediately caught viewers’ attention by using a trending sound paired with new lyrics, and held it by switching between visual ‘scenes’.
The result? A comments section flooded with happy customers joining and rejoining the app.
Brand 2: Gem
- Known for: Spending just as much time testing beauty hacks and pranking their boss as they do selling their cool-girl dental and personal care products.
- Key takeaways: Embrace self-aware content to improve brand perceptions | Provide insights into your brand’s office culture | Use hooks to increase virality
- Follow them here: @gem.au on TikTok
Based out of Australia, Gem offers a range of beauty products including teeth whitening kits, toothpaste, mouthwash, and deodorant. While their products have certainly caught our attention, their social media strategy is the real MVP here, blending employee-led content with new product info, social proof, and trending topics in their niche.
Something unique that the Gem team do is embrace their flaws – even going as far as to make it seem like they’ve messed up to pique viewer attention. One of their top-performing pieces of content on TikTok shows their social media manager in distress after ‘accidentally’ giving away $2 million worth of gift vouchers to their email database. Smart marketers will clock it as a gag, but the general public didn’t, which skyrocketed engagement on the video.
@gem.au So yeah this just happened 😖 if you were one of the lucky ones who received the email… happy birthday?! 😅 #emailmarketing #marketingfails #smallbusinessmistakes #workfails #businessfails ♬ original sound – Gem
While we can’t guarantee this strategy will convert to sales, it will improve customer recall of your brand. People will either love it or hate it, and those who love it are bound to keep Gem top of mind the next time they’re shopping for a new oral care product.
Brand 3: tbh Skincare
- Known for: Creating skincare and pimple patches so cool that even the Matildas want a piece of ‘em!
- Key takeaways: Know your target audience’s likes and dislikes | Create serialized content to keep viewers on the hook
- Follow them here: @tbhskincare on TikTok
tbh Skincare are a fun, affordable Aussie skincare brand aimed at younger consumers. Their social strategy includes a healthy mix of employee-led content, trending sounds and memes, and product-specific videos. But what they do especially well is figure out what their viewers want, then serve it up to them in bite-sized pieces as a content series.
If you’re scratching your head wondering, ‘Where have I seen these guys before?’, let us introduce you to their viral social media success from early 2024. It all started with a product pitch from tbh’s social media manager to their exec team – and the product in question? A limited-edition pimple patch shaped like a soccer ball to satisfy the nation’s growing obsession with the Aussie women’s soccer team, the Matildas.
@tbhskincare 1 like = 1 prayer 🙏 #tbhskincare #GoMatildas #pimplepatches ♬ original sound – tbh skincare
What ensued was a series of 20+ content pieces over two months. Most of the videos received well over 10k views a piece, as well as an influx of comments from people asking where they could buy the pimple patches. Whether this was a real stunt that turned into a collaboration with the Matildas, or a planned product launch marketed in an exceptionally smart way, we’ll never know – but we can bet those pimple patches flew off the shelves faster than the the Tillies’ speediest player (Hayley Raso averaging 29.65km/hr, if you were wondering).
Brand 4: The Nitro Bar
- Known for: Brewing bright, fun coffee- and matcha-based drinks out of their Rhode Island-based cafe.
- Key takeaways: Be a reliable source of bite-sized entertainment in your followers’ days | Don’t be afraid to weigh in on current events and trends
- Follow them here: @thenitrobar on TikTok
As well as caffeinated brews, The Nitro Bar in Rhode Island is serving up exceptional employee-generated content, where owner Audrey asks burning questions like ‘What’s the weirdest drink order you’ve gotten recently?’ Their social media strategy is almost entirely founded on the visual appeal of different drink concoctions – but even with minimal variety, they keep their 300k+ followers engaged.
Nitro Bar content averages hundreds of thousands of views per video (you read that right). Every few will crack the million-plus mark, usually when they’re weighing in on a culturally relevant moment – like the Clinton Kane drama that swept TikTok in July 2024.
In the video, Audrey makes a gross-looking – and presumably, tasting – drink ‘for Kane’, narrating in a mock Australian accent. Over 2 million views and hundreds of comments suggest The Nitro Bar has effectively joined the conversation, using it in a brand-aligned way.
@thenitrobar this one’s for you @Brooke Schofield 🫡🩷 #coffeetok #clintonkane #supportsmallbusiness #newportri #providenceri #newenglandsummer #icedcoffee #rhodeislandtok #brookeschofield ♬ original sound – The Nitro Bar
The Nitro Bar does this well and without repercussions because their brand persona is cheeky and unserious. If your brand has a similar tone of voice, consider trends you could capitalize on to strengthen your following and increase engagement.
Brand 5: Strong Pilates
- Known for: Hooking in the pilates girlies with relatable, laugh-out-loud content.
- Key takeaways: Leverage trending sounds for improved engagement | Say what your customers are thinking
- Follow them here: @strongpilates on TikTok
Founded in Australia in 2019, Strong Pilates is one of the most well-known reformer studio franchises in the world, and their social media content reflects their trendsetter reputation. Amongst behind-the-scenes videos and snapshots of their high-energy classes, you’ll find hilarious pilates memes and a great use of trending sounds.
@strongpilates Gotta do what you gotta do 🤛 #pilatesworkout #athomeworkout #pilateshumour #pilatestiktok #strongworkout #pilates ♬ original sound – Marian Rivera
Brand 6: Fayt the Label
- Known for: Hilarious employee-led content that showcases behind the scenes of this Aussie fashion label’s office and warehouse.
- Key takeaways: Involve your customers | Set your own social trends | Spotlight your team, flaws and all
- Follow them here: @faytlabel on TikTok
The best brands on social media right now are doing founder- and employee-led content well, and Fayt the Label consistently ace it. Set in their warehouse and head office in Newcastle, Australia, their videos are built on a simple premise – founder Brittney Saunders (an OG YouTube influencer) and her team having fun at work. This endears the brand to viewers and portrays them as trustworthy and genuine.
@faytlabelA customer ordered 38 of the SAME item and we thought this has to be a scam!! Turns out she was ordering some work uniforms, how iconic is that?! Thank you so much Tayler, we hope you love your extra goodies we put in your shipment and hope to see a staff photo 😍 📸♬ original sound – faytlabel
Whoever came up with Fayt’s viral idea of packing warehouse orders on camera deserves a raise, because these are the brand’s best-performing videos. They provide insight into working in a warehouse, show off Fayt’s products, and create a sense of anticipation for viewers hoping their order will be packed on camera.
This one, which garnered 5.2 million views, shows Saunders adding Fayt freebies into an order of 38 shirts, a bizarre detail that had viewers puzzling in the comments – and coming back for more pick-packing videos.
Brand 7: Sweetgreen
- Known for: Dishing up drool-worthy salads with a side of viral trends, aesthetic cooking videos and sweet memes.
- Key takeaways: Define separate (yet complementary) TikTok and Instagram strategies | Engage influencers or UGC creators to create social proof
- Follow them here: @sweetgreen on TikTok and Instagram
While you’ll notice lots of brands focusing on just one platform, something we adore about US-based salad chain Sweetgreen’s social presence is that they share the love between TikTok and Instagram. Each channel has a tight, effective strategy with diverse content, but their brand voice stays the same wherever you’re consuming their content.
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Sweetgreen’s strategy also utilizes lots of awesome UGC and influencer-led content. Whether they’re stitching videos from other TikTok creators, working with beauty gurus to create salad-inspired makeup looks, or sharing beautiful user-generated content round-ups, Sweetgreen’s take on social proof is pitch-perfect. By showing satisfied customers enjoying their products, they’re building a positive brand reputation and breaking down barriers between potential customers and their first (or next) Sweetgreen salad.
Level up your social media marketing game with Plann
Whether you’re struggling to keep up with the fast-paced nature of social media or simply want to devote more time to growing your business and focusing on those tasks that take place offline, Plann’s range of features is sure to help save you time with an automated social media strategy.
From AI-generated captions to cross-posting, analytics, hashtags and more, Plann can help you maintain a consistent posting schedule while you remain focused on business growth. We even auto-post your Instagram Reels to take the hassle out of growing organically on the platform!
Go on, and redeem your 7-day free trial of Plann Plus. If you don’t like it, keep using Plann for free!
