When it comes to engaging with customers and fans, there is one social media platform that outshines the rest by far. And there are many great brands and businesses in Lethbridge that are using the platform well. It’s Instagram!
We’ve picked through hundreds of Lethbridge-based Instagram accounts and selected just five of the very best, and threw in seven more honourable mentions that were too close to making the top five to leave out.
5 Best Lethbridge Business Instagram Accounts
These five accounts come from five different industries and they are all on top of their game and leading their field in Lethbridge. These brands represent snow and skate retail, photography, tattooing, food, and leather goods.
In alphabetical order, here are the five best Lethbridge business accounts on Instagram:
@theboarderlineladies The Boarderline
This Lethbridge skateboard and snowboard shop has been around for decades. As an offshoot from the main The Boarderline account, @theboarderlineladies has fewer followers but even better posts. It’s a new account with regular posts only coming in recent months, but it shows promise.
All of the images are high quality and mostly feature clothing and accessories available for women and kids at The Boarderline. But the mix of lifestyle posts and occasional video prevent it from looking like a product catalogue and becoming too predictable.
@myworldphoto Jonathan Blackwood
My World Photography is Jonathan Blackwood’s photography and videography business and his Instagram account is a collection of stunning images with a few behind-the-scenes shots thrown in to remind you that this is someone for hire.
For people who appreciate the beauty of Lethbridge and southern Alberta, @myworldphoto is a must-follow. His flyover drone videos are spectacular and the still shots and timelapses are just as impressive. He posts several times a week and has a strong following of thousands to show for all of the hard work he puts into his Instagram.
@nectarfinetattooing Nectar Fine Tattooing
With something as visual as tattooing, there are several Lethbridge tattoo Instagram accounts. We knew one had to make this list, but it was tough to choose which. But Nectar does something a little more than just post their portfolio of work like other tattoo studios. Along with the great images of beautiful inkwork, there are also snapshots and videos of the team that make up Nectar and their personalities.
This Instagram account gives followers a bit of a feel for the culture of Nectar, not just the tattoos they can create. This translates into great follower interactions.
@uncorkplum Plum Dining & Cocktails
Another popular area of Instagram is the foodie segment. Four of our honourable mentions are restaurant or cafe accounts, but Plum stands out as being a little extra special and worthy of the top five.
Though there is plenty of the mouth-watering food porn you would expect, there’s more than that to @uncorkplum. They also share their ever-changing menu, specials, upcoming in-house performers, and the vinyl that’ll be spinning that evening. It makes you want to visit!
@timberandhide Timber And Hide
This local leather craftsman showcases their products in simple, beautiful photos. Wallets, bags, belts, and more — @timberandhide show great consistency in their style on Instagram.
Product photos feature backgrounds that tell the story of who uses their leather goods. And a few shots of the people behind the brand, the workbench where it’s all made, and local market appearances mix up their feed with enough variety to keep you following.
Why Instagram Works For Businesses
Instagram is used by individuals and brands and organizations, and it rewards users with far more engagement than Facebook or Twitter while posting less content.
A study by Forrester Research, Inc. showed per-follower interaction to be 2.261%, which is miles ahead of second-best platform Facebook with 0.216% engagement. This was a study of large brands with huge followings. Small brands like some of these Lethbridge businesses will see much, much higher rates of engagement, but the 10-times ratio of Instagram interaction compared to Facebook would be similar.
For businesses that are overwhelmed by the idea of staying on top of a Facebook page or Twitter account (6.5 posts per week and 18.3 tweets per week on average, respectively), most brands are posting to Instagram just 4.9 times per week on average with great results. That’s less resource investment with a great return!
While many other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have evolved to become more and more visual, Instagram is innately visual. A great Instagram account should have stunning images, storytelling, a mix of media that includes photos, graphics, and videos, and a consistency of style.
Businesses can take different approaches to Instagram. They can maintain an account for brand awareness, to share company culture, to feature their team, to increase customer loyalty, to showcase their products and services, to enhance live events, or to share news and announcements.
Earlier this year, Instagram introduced an algorithm so that users no longer see their feed chronologically. Instagram tries to determine what users are most likely interested in and puts those posts in their feed first. Businesses need to be publishing highly engaging content or the algorithm will weed them out and their followers won’t see their posts.
With the algorithm in mind, promotional language does terribly on Instagram. Businesses cannot use Instagram to simply post an ad and expect their followers to engage with it. It can be helpful to incorporate trending topics like a holiday or a recent movie release that everyone is talking about, but keep it relevant to the brand. And the algorithm will reward more video posts and other app-created clips that create higher engagement.
There’s a lot to consider when creating a post. Make sure there is thought and purpose behind each of these areas of Instagram:
captions — You can write no caption at all or fill the maximum of 2,200 characters like a small blog post.
hashtags — None are required and the maximum is 30, but use them wisely. They’ll help you reach more people, but too many looks cluttered and too spammy.
geo-locate — Posts that are tagged with a location will also help you get discovered by more people and measurably better engagement.
tags — Users will receive a notification when they’ve been tagged, but use it for a reason, not just to spam people. Rampant tagging will do your brand more harm than good.
cross-posting — The app allows you to simultaneously cross-post to other social outlets like Twitter and Facebook. Decide whether that’s something you want to do or whether you’d be better to publish the post natively on the other platforms.
engagement — Don’t stop after hitting publish. Like and comment on other people’s posts and respond to comments. This is an opportunity to have dialogue.
bio and link — Your account has a 150-character limit on the bio and one spot to include a link. Describe concisely what the account is for and lead them to the link because it’s the only place on Instagram (unless it’s paid content) where you can create an external link.
7 More Great Lethbridge Business Instagram Accounts
It was so difficult choosing just five Instagram accounts that we had to include a selection of honourable mentions that are also doing a great job with their Instagram.
@breadmilkandhoney Bread Milk & Honey
Serving quality coffee and delicious food tied together with great design, @breadmilkandhoney shares beautiful images of their space, their people, and their food and drinks.
@crazycakes.yql Crazycakes
A cupcake shop that’s also famous for their spudnuts — Crazy Cakes also offers cake and coffee and showcases their beautiful and delicious creations on Instagram with top-quality photos.
@thehotwirepaninicafe The Hot Wire
This hot-off-the-press new panini cafe in Lethbridge had a great social media following before they even opened. They post pictures of their food and their specials, but they’re becoming famous for the sandwich puns they love to post.
@populess Populess
Populess is a lifestyle brand that creates leather goods, clothes, hats, mugs, and more, and their Instagram is a mix of their products and the prairies-meets-the-mountains aesthetic that defines them.
@silladesigns Silla Designs
This boutique clothing and accessories shop posts great photos of what’s available in store, and there’s always something unique to check out.
@typethreehomes Type Three Homes
Specializing in modern infill homes, this designer and builder showcases their beautiful builds around Lethbridge with artistic photos.
@umamishop Umami Shop
As a hybrid of specialty grocer and deli-with-more as well as cooking classes, Umami posts beautiful shots of what’s available and what’s happening in-store.
* None of the Instagram accounts featured in this post are affiliated with London Road Media.
