How Start-Ups Have Used Instagram to Build $1Bn Businesses
Mattress company Casper and beauty brand Glossier leverage social media marketing
By Camilla Hodgson
A woman’s manicured hand clutches a glass filled with a clear liquid poured over ice, her first and middle fingers each adorned by two sparkling gold rings.
“Two finger ring stacks are in. Millennial pink is basic. Ugly shoes are money. Juice cleansing is dead. U follow?,” reads the photo’s caption.
It is just one of Dirty Lemon’s more than 3,000 posts on Instagram, the social media platform that has been key to the direct-to-consumer beverage brand’s growth.
“I have an order issue,” wrote a customer in the comments.
“Checking now x,” responded Dirty Lemon, whose products include a “collagen beauty elixir” and “charcoal daily detox”.
Dirty Lemon, which raised $15m in seed funding at a valuation of $60m last December, is just one of dozens of start-ups that have leveraged Instagram’s 1bn users to build their businesses. Larger examples include beauty brand Glossier and mattress company Casper, both of which became “unicorns” last month, after raising another $100m each.
