The Best of the Best: Instagram

Instagram has and will always be one of my favorite social media outlets. While I may not be the most active Instagram user, I love following a bunch of different brands and scrolling through their posts multiple times a day. Here is a list of some of my favorite Instagram accounts right now.

Hungrygirlsdoitbetter

Everybody loves food, but I consider myself to be a "foodie". I am always hungry, always ready to go out to eat, and always willing to try new things. This blog is one of my favorites because its about the best food around Atlanta. Every post features a beautifully crafted item with a mouthwatering description, but most importantly, the restaurant location. Needless to say, my list of restaurants, brunch locations, and food trucks to try is a mile long. With over 25K followers, this Instagram account has successfully marketed the top Atlanta locations to a very hungry audience. 

Starbucks

Calling all coffee lovers. If you aren't following Starbucks on Instagram, you need to do that as soon as possible. While Starbucks focuses on their coffee in all of the Instagram posts, they are not boring and repetitive. All of the posts feature coffee in cute and funny ways for each season such as an Iced Coffee on the beach with sunglasses and the new Fall flavors painted on pumpkins. Every time I see a Starbucks Instagram post, I immediately want to jump in my car and buy some coffee. Starbucks does an excellent job promoting an everyday drink into something beautiful and artistic. 

Anthropologie 

Some people might think Anthropologie is that boring class they took college when it's actually one of the most beautiful clothing and home decor stores out there. While Instagram can't fully capture how wonderful the products are, it does give viewers a glimpse into how unique and detailed the style is. This Instagram account gives me the urge to go shopping almost everyday because no one can have enough clothes, right? Another great thing about this account is that Anthropologie posts more than just their clothes. Bedding, books, jewelry and even scenic pictures fill their social media platform to better appeal to the consumer and tie in with their overall feel. 

Delta Airlines

Airports may not be everyone's favorite place go to, but traveling to a new place is completely worth it. If you're always one to book a last minute vacation and hop on the next plane out, the Delta Airlines Instagram account might be made for you. Delta has beautiful and jaw-dropping pictures from all around the world, making everyone want to book a ticket right away. This is an excellent marketing technique for Delta because people are always looking for new places to visit and want a reliable airline to book through.

 

Patagonia 

I have always loved being outdoors and taking adventures and Patagonia is the only company that inspires me to do that. Their Instagram account is incredibly beautiful and full of adventure while promoting their gear at the same time. While Patagonia is on Instagram to attract people to their store and products, they don't do it in a flashy, over the top way by constantly showing their logo in every picture. I can't help but want to online shop after seeing their inspirational pictures ranging from mountains to beaches, . 

E-Cookbooks

As I'm going through my last year of college and preparing for the real world (pray for me), I'm learning how to take care of myself and eat more than cereal or grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Cookbooks used to be THE thing, but now they seem to be on the decline thanks to the wonderful World Wide Web. While my family only found recipes through cookbooks and writing them down on index cards, I can find recipes online for any cuisine, occasion, allergy, and season from the top chefs to the everyday experimenters. The best part about this new wave of cookbooks is that they're easy to find, the possibilities are endless, and they're free! Whether you're on Pinterest, Facebook or Google you will find hundreds of recipes that match your dinner ideas or snack cravings. 

Every week I plan out my meals to help me stay on track and keep me from going to the Taco Bell right next to my apartment. My Sunday afternoon ritual is browsing through Pinterest or my saved videos on Facebook for healthy, simple and delicious recipes I can cook throughout the week. Some of my favorite online recipes have been Chicken Fried Rice, Cajun Chicken Pasta, and Chocolate Banana Muffins. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the visual appeal of a cookbook when I flip through the pages and see the beautiful pictures. Whenever I'm in a bookstore or a cute boutique, I'm always tempted to buy all the cookbooks, but I just can't get myself to spend $20-$30 when I can look up recipes on my laptop, phone, or tablet. This doesn't mean that cookbooks will be gone forever. Just like books, their sales are dropping but there are still some loyal cookbook lovers that aren't giving in to the digital craze. 

Check out my favorite recipe sites! Go to http://damndelicious.net/ and http://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/

The Pumpkin Spice Latte is back!

Calling all fall lovers. It's that time of year again, so grab your favorite scarf, boots, and of course the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. 

As of September 1st, PSL's are back in our lives for the Fall, which isn't complete unless we have pumpkin spice lattes available at every block. Starbucks is the leader, per usual, in the obsession with pumpkin spice. Now almost every coffee shop and grocery store offer some kind of pumpkin spice coffee and creamer. With the wide success of PSL's, Starbucks has started marketing in new and intense ways through Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Pinterest.

If you follow Starbucks on Twitter, then you saw the tweet on August 31st about a PSL fan pass. If you're just that obsessed with PSL's, you had the chance to buy it a day early (one day really makes a difference) by entering in the code word "Pumpkin" to get a fan pass. Starbucks also featured pictures of overly excited customers who were the first to order the Pumpkin Spice Latte this season.

On Tumblr? Don't follow Starbucks? Well now you're going to want to because they have an entire blog dedicated to Pumpkin Spice Lattes! With cute pictures of the PSL to images of Fall, Starbucks got its fanbase excited for the release way before the season even began. 

Starbucks will find a way to promote the Pumpkin Spice Latte every year through any and all social media platforms, but they do it in such a good way. Posting regular pictures of coffee on social media does nothing for me, but seeing the Pumpkin Spice Latte dressed up in cute fall attire and having ways to interact with the company encourages me to jump on the bandwagon. If the marketing techniques for the PSL are this good, I can't wait to see what they do with the Starbucks red holiday cup this year. 


Check it out for yourself and go buy your first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season: http://therealpsl.tumblr.com/

#StrangerThings

If you haven't seen the new Netflix Original series, Stranger Things, then you really need to get out more. Stranger Things is a supernatural mystery show set in the 1980's about a young boy's disappearance and a telekinetic girl who helps with the search. I know it sounds weird, but it's easily one of the best shows I've seen. Not only is the storyline fantastic, but the acting, cinematography and music is top notch. 

 I watched Stranger Things right when it came out on Netflix, but if you're just now jumping on the bandwagon, then you've seen the hype all over the internet. The only time I have ever seen this much talk about a TV show on social media was when JoJo was on the Bachelorette. Everyday I see people posting about Stranger Things on Facebook or Twitter using #StrangerThings. This fanbase has turned to the internet into a community for those obsessing about the show. This community is sharing their favorite moments, favorite characters, favorite episodes, theories, memes, and most importantly concerns about Barb. 


I am obviously part of this community myself and enjoy getting deep into Twitter to see what people are doing. One of my favorite tweets is about a missing person flyer posted up on a telephone pole for Barb in San Francisco. Another great one is creating gifs about the telekinetic character, Eleven, stealing Eggo waffles for National Waffle Day. Now even though this is just a fictional TV show, fans are getting so wrapped up and making it a part of their lives.

   

I've already converted 3 of my friends into huge fans of the show just by the amount of content I tweet or repost. I love being able to express my love for the show while also encouraging others to check it out for themselves. Social media has dramatically impacted the widespread success of the show. 

If you're a Stranger Things fan, I have some great news. The Duffer Brothers have officially announced a season two of Stranger Things that will be released in 2017. That's right, A SEASON TWO. Get ready to be glued to your couch for about 9 hours and revisit the Upside Down. 

P.S. Shoutout to my twin Nancy for killing it out there