There are lots of Instagram profiles. Few stand out.
Welcome back to the fifth installment of our Social Spotlight Series! We’ve decided to start highlighting accounts that stand out in our feeds so we can share insights about what makes them successful. Our Social Spotlights focus on Instagram pages that have valuable lessons for marketers, entrepreneurs, influencers, and anyone else who wants to optimize their Instagram.
Today we are featuring @saturdaysnyc, a specialty clothing store and international lifestyle brand with locations in the USA, Japan, and Australia. Saturdays NYC embodies a minimalist ethos, high-quality craftsmanship, and a classic style. As we scroll through their Instagram, we’re invited to dive deeper into the layers of some photographs and to sit and appreciate the simplicity of others.
While there’s no question that Saturdays NYC’s page is captivating, are they doing everything they can to take advantage of Instagram as a marketing tool? Keep reading for a close analysis of their strengths and weaknesses, and see if you can gain any insights for yourself.
Featured Profile Overview
Saturdays NYC’s understated profile has attracted 164,000 followers. While their page features both appealing images of their products and posts that promote their values, what’s most notable is that it gives the viewer the opportunity to see themselves wearing each product and in each situation.
When you compare Saturdays NYC’s website to their Instagram, the brand cohesion is evident. Many of the images on their Instagram are featured on their homepage, which immediately lets you know you’re in the right place and that Saturdays NYC knows exactly who they are. The contrasting city and nature images that dominate their Instagram are easily found on their home page, which features a unique split-image design.
What We Think Is Working
The minimalist aesthetic is clear not only across their Instagram, but in the elements of their clothing as well. It hammers home the message that Saturdays NYC is above all else, a minimalist brand that can be worn by anyone.
Saturday NYC’s page features awesome product shots and stunning landscape photography mixed in with lifestyle images. They have a good formula, and everything is filtered identically. The lifestyle photos, from a vintage Mercedes to red-brick buildings, prompt you to think about who you are and where you are. They’re trying to fill in the customer’s entire identity.
Having people identify with the shots here is their clear goal. The lifestyle that comes along with the clothing is a form of identity. They make the identity piece even clearer throughout the different seasons using the Stories in their Highlights.
What We Like (And What Could Be Done Better)
Saturdays NYC has a chance to create a community, showcase their product, promote their mission, and create an enjoyable Instagram follow. Do they live up to the challenge?
While their bio states their name and the year they were established, there’s not much else. They’re underutilizing the space that Instagram provides in the bio to hone in on what they’re about and who their target audience is. However, the purpose of the ultra-simple bio could be to underscore the brand’s minimalism. Or, it could be an intentional choice to put the customer first in a more submissive style of marketing.
On their bio they do have a LinkTree link, which has seven choices – that’s way too many! Ideally, they would have one or two choices, but Saturdays NYC goes far beyond that. They do have one link to their magazine, which pulls heavily on their Instagram and offers lots of great content, as well as really powerful photos. It’s still shouldn’t be an option on their LinkTree.
On a mobile design, most of the items won’t show. You’ll probably see the first three or four options, but then the rest wont’ show up at all. This is particularly dangerous in their case because the option to go to their website is cut off at the bottom.
If you’re going to have a lot of options, they need to be tested and see how they affect downstream revenue.
Analyzing the bio and a profile as a whole: if the effect they’re going for is to create ambiguity about their purpose, then they’re nailing it. If they want people to quickly know they’re selling clothing, then it’s not working.
As far as community engagement goes, it seems to be pretty lacking at first glance. They don’t respond to comments on their posts, which is a huge missed opportunity.
Yet, in their stories they do plenty of customer shoutouts, so they ultimately do a good job of leveraging social proof by highlighting the people who are tagging them across different cities.
Moving on to their website – they have a nice split image at the very top. They use a tried and true e-Com layout which gets the product to the front. When you get to the homepage, there’s serious design thought here. You don’t see a lot of webpages that are split at the top. When you’re playing the game of niche design identity, you have to go the extra mile to pull it off. You don’t see this split-image template out there that often, so thought went into it and it works well.
When we dive directly into the store, we can see that the website maintains their essence as a piece of art and a statement. They keep their minimalistic photos, but they also dive into the art. All of the items connect to their Instagram posts (as far as images go – they haven’t made many of their posts shoppable). They’re doing a great job at tying in their high-end content and main campaigns all through their website in a really artistic fashion.
Analytics / Insights
Saturdays NYC posts consistently and at an excellent frequency, but their interactions on their page are extremely low. They get a lot of likes, but they do not engage nearly as much as other brands inside the community. By engaging more frequently, they could increase their lead flow and cultivate that sense of community.
Key Takeaways
- Saturday NYC’s has curated a strong aesthetic. By presenting their products, city images, and landscape photography in a cohesive minimalistic style, they give their customers plenty of opportunities to identify with the brand.
- By never responding to comments on posts, Saturdays NYC is missing out on an important avenue for customer engagement. Interacting with customers on posts would create a stronger sense of community.
- Because their LinkTree offers too many options, they’re losing customers by overwhelming them. Narrowing it down to one or two options is critical.
- Their Instagram is a solid reflection of their website. Both give their customers the chance to see how Saturday NYC’s clothing could be part of their identity.
Tune in next week to see our sixth installment of the Social Spotlight Series. Be sure to join our mailing list to get Goodwin knowledge and insights like this delivered straight to your inbox!