The one-liner: National Geographic’s Instagram feed, which is curated by 140 photographers in the field

The context: The most followed non-celebrity feed (discounting Instagram itself), the brand has a community of over 93m at the time of posting. They’re not just bots either, as Nat Geo has consistently been placed at the top of ‘most engaged’ lists for years

Why it’s great: Nat Geo’s digital strategy truly delivers on its brand promise to ‘explore and protect our planet’. By providing an unfiltered, real-time access to the storytellers who take their phenomenal imagery, sponsors get excited and the company can continue to donate 27% of its proceeds to non-profit National Geographic Society – which funds research, science, conservation, and exploration

The takeaway: Doing something risky (like handing your feed over) is often the very thing that makes the magic happen. The brand takes back the control for certain activations (like Emma Watson’s curation for International Women’s Day), but for the most part, it’s completely in the hands of their photographers

Photo: One of Nat Geo’s most popular Instagram shots of 2017