Natgeo just crossed their 100 million followers on Instagram. This social media platform itself has over 1 billion users, so Natgeo has a hold on 10% of them and its growing!
With this, Natgeo became the biggest brand name present on this platform and the only one with 100m followers.
How does one do this? How does one become so popular?
I have been following Natgeo and their shows for a while now, so I thought I can draw a small post to lay down what I think is working for Natgeo.
Brands should have a Purpose
I watched one of Simon Sinek’s TED video some time ago. He talks about the Golden Circle, a model which inspirational leaders follow.
According to him, the greatest leaders and the greatest marketers have so many followers because of the “Why”.
Why is it that you do what you do? And why should people support you for it?
In simple words, you need to give people a reason to believe in you. And when I say, “You”, I mean your purpose.
So, why should you believe in Natgeo?
Here’s their purpose:
The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization committed to exploring and protecting our planet. We fund hundreds of research and conservation projects around the world each year and inspire new generations through our education initiatives and resources.
https://www.nationalgeographicpartners.com/about/
There is a clear purpose to Natgeo’s existence. And there would be very few who do not believe in their purpose. We love the reason for their existence and what they do.
No wonder Natgeo is a strong brand name.
(For more pearls of wisdom from Simon Sinek, you can follow the link to his TED video here.)
Brands must be Consistent
When you stand for something, you need to hammer that in each day to re-emphasize your purpose. People should be able to see what you want them to see each day.
And that’s what Natgeo did through and through. They have been consistent about their purpose, and they made that clear through all their posts consistently on Instagram.
I follow their feed. Being an amateur photographer myself, I find their work inspirational.
Brands Must provide quality content
It is needless to say that Natgeo ticks off this requirement easily.
There are 1000s of wonderfully captured stories in its feed. And they are in the form of high quality, rare images and footages.
That’s all that users want. Trust me I find it better than Netflix at times.
Check out the stories below from their feed.
The best quality content! Powerful stuff!
Authenticity of Content maintains trust
Natgeo boasts of having over 130 photographers on the field who upload content without much filtering.
Now, that’s some level of authenticity!
Most of these photographers themselves are very popular and have tremendous following and credibility. @amivitale, @paulnicklen, @ladzinski, @russ_wildlife and @shaazjung are some of those that I follow.
These guys are doing brilliant work related to conservation.
100% authentic! Nothing fake.
Engagement is so essential on social media
The first time I considered searching for Natgeo on Instagram was when I heard about #natgeoyourshot.
Well, like I said, I am an amateur photographer. I love shooting wildlife and the night sky. #natgeoyourshot gives people like us a chance to get featured.
Check out the natgeoyourshot image below.
How cool is that!
I have never been featured (…. yet), but hey, as a marketer, I find this to be a brilliant engagement platform.
And look, if you scroll up again, you will see how Natgeo has again declared a contest on the occasion of its 100m followers.
If you do the engagement right on social media, your followers will not only increase, you would also gain excellent content for further use.
Its a win-win-win! (win number 3 being for the winners of the contest).
The World is finally waking up to Extinction
Truth be said, there is much awareness now about the need to act more responsibly towards the world. Although most people are doing nothing about it, but still there is a rising sentiment about it.
I believe some of this has rubbed off on the popularity of initiatives toward conservation of nature. And Natgeo is of course one of the foremost organizations doing this.
That being said, I believe Natgeo deserves more followers. The world is dying slowly and we must all act to save ourselves and those who are helpless.
So, cheers to the 100,000,000 people on Instagram who feel the same way. And hope many more join in!
If you have any more to add to this, please feel free to leave your comments in the section below!