Snatch the strategies behind Dove’s Top 5 Instagram posts of the year

Likes, comments, shares and saves. These are the interaction metrics that drive visibility, growth and profitability for brands on Instagram. With well over a quarter of a million interactions on Instagram content in 2025 so far (and we’re only half-way through!), personal care brand Dove is leading the charge for creating content that makes an impact on the platform.

Looking to scoop up more interactions for your Instagram content? It’s time to rinse Dove of its social media marketing secrets. Using Minter.io’s new AI Analyst feature, I uncovered the top 5 Instagram posts by Dove from this year so far, ranked by engagement rate. 

Now, let’s discover what made them so good…

5. Collab with Crumbl

Coming in at number five, Dove shared a colourful collab with cookies company Crumbl. This sweet treat of a reel leans heavily on three distinct strategies: collaboration, visceral imagery and the fear of missing out.

Collaboration

Teaming up with another big brand to create a unique product is an appetising approach to getting 2 audiences' worth of interest. Dove soaked the branding of the other company in the product packaging (featured in the visual media), text overlay and a hashtag. A reel dripping in this much collaborative promotion is beneficial for both brands as it peaks interest in the crossover of audiences.

Visceral imagery

The reel invites the viewer to dive face-first into the sense of smell. The text overlay ‘Wanna smell as sweet as your Crumbl order?’ immediately evokes the smell of baked goods. The caption ‘If only the sweet smell of confetti cake could come through the screen’, which includes a cupcake emoji, washes the sense of delicious, yummy goodness over the viewer. This reel isn’t just a treat for the eyes; it's an invitation to tangibly and tantalisingly imagine you’re bathing in your favourite cookie flavours.

FOMO

Turn your attention to the hashtags. Including #LimitedEdition points to this product being available only for a short period of time. This marketing tactic provokes the viewer to take action to avoid missing out on the opportunity to own the product, which drives sales for the brand.

4. Problem-solving product

The fourth top-performing post pins down a pain point for potential customers, then provides the solution in a single product. The problem? Damaged hair that needs heat protection. The solution? A 10 in 1 serum that takes the hassle out of getting ‘good hair days on repeat’. 

This simple, yet effective reel showcases a problem-solving product, which perfectly pins down the target audience and drives sales. Clearly defining what the product looks like (through the imagery) and what the product does (through the description) primes the audience to buy. This reel is drowning in engagement because it hits a common problem for the target audience and provides a clear solution.

3. Choices, choices…

We’ve made it to the top three posts and nabbing the bronze position is a carousel that gets the conversation flowing. This product-centric post uses gamification to encourage comments and spark debate. 

The imagery and description combination invites viewers to swipe through the images while pondering the options. By labelling the options, viewers can easily respond to the post with comments that correspond to specific images. Sharing multiple images which require a bit of thought keeps people viewing the content for longer, which shows the algorithm that this is a valuable piece of content.

A big part of what makes this post so high in engagement is that it is designed with active participation in mind. The description ‘You can only choose one… go:' tells viewers exactly how to interact with the carousel, while the combination of products chosen for each image provides opportunities for viewers to share their favourite or suggest mixing up the choices for their ideal combos. 

When executed well, this is an amazing concept for multiple reasons. Not only is this great for engagement, but it’s also amazing for the community of fans and potential customers as it shows how loved the products are through essentially creating positive reviews in the comments. It’s also great for the brand in terms of customer research and social listening as it highlights the product combinations customers favour.

2. Aesthetic relatability

At number two, Dove shared a reel which leveraged three major engagement-boosting strategies: aesthetic appeal, an invitation to tag other accounts and pinning the post.

Aesthetic appeal

Instagram is the main social media platform known for its focus on aesthetic appeal. Taking the platform’s culture into consideration helps brands design content that will attract and connect with people on the relevant platform. 

Invitation to tag other accounts

The description is the perfectly crafted pairing to the visuals and it is a catalyst for engagement on this post. The caption invites people to tag someone else who colour coordinates their body care collection. This encourages comments and shares which spreads the post to more people, which ultimately leads to more opportunity for additional engagement.

Pinned post

Pinning a post to the top of an Instagram account makes it more likely to be viewed more often, which unlocks more opportunity for interactions. This is because pinned posts are the first posts people see when they venture onto an Instagram profile. It’s a common social strategy to pin well-performing posts as this highlights the best content, essentially putting your brand’s best foot forward.

1. Visceral visuals

Taking the top spot is a reel with real appeal. This gooey display is a sumptuous showcasing of a range of body scrubs. The invitation ‘Do try this at home…’ written in the description nods to the TV label ‘Don’t try this at home’ which graces the screen of shows containing dangerous stunts such as WWE and Gladiators. In juxtaposition, this reel wants you to feel the urge to get stuck in.

As with the previous reel, the top spot is also pinned, putting it in prime position to get more attention. The visuals are also extremely visceral - a common theme among a few of Dove’s top-performing posts.

Take note of the hashtags used. One is branded, another is relevant to the target audience, while the third is more broad. Using Minter.io’s optimisation graphs, notice that all three of the hashtags used in this reel are included in the Top Hashtags by Interactions graph for this brand.

Two of the hashtags feature in Dove’s Most Effective Hashtags graph.

Using connectivity functions, such as hashtags, gets content in more places on Instagram. Utilising analytical data from Minter.io makes it easier to use the hashtags that are most effective for your brand.

3 Key takeaways

Now you’ve explored Dove’s top 5 posts and the strategies that gained them the highest levels of engagement, take note of some of the common threads among them. These 3 key takeaways can be applied to any business or brand on Instagram.

1. 4 of the top 5 posts are reels

There is a lot of opportunity for reach and engagement with reels. Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri has openly explained that there is more demand for short-form video content on the platform than there is supply. Jump on reels to see bigger results.

2. The top 2 posts are pinned

Pinning your best-performing posts, or posts that you want to gain more attention, is an excellent way to get more views and engagement on the content that deserves it. You can pin up to three posts so make use of this prime real estate on your Instagram profile.

3. The top 3 have a clear call to action

Explaining the action you want viewers to take will make interaction more likely. Asking viewers to tag someone, try your product, share the post or choose their favourite options can increase engagement fast.

Get your eyes and fingers on the new Minter.io AI Analyst feature as well as in-depth analytics, optimisation graphs and competitor insights for the social media platforms that mean the most to your brand. Explore Minter.io now.