In this year’s Top Food & Beverage Brands on Instagram report, we looked at which brands gained the most new followers between March 2024 and March 2025. Liquid Death came in second overall, adding 2.6 million new followers in just 12 months.
That kind of growth didn’t come from traditional product marketing. It came from building a brand that feels more like a subculture than a company. Liquid Death doesn’t just sell canned water. It sells a point of view – one that’s loud, messy, and totally uninterested in fitting in. And it’s working.
Not your average beverage brand
If you scroll through Liquid Death’s Instagram feed, you might not realize right away that it’s a water brand. The account feels more like it belongs to a tattoo studio, a punk label, or a dark-humor meme page. You won’t find bright, polished product photos. No glossy lifestyle shots or influencer poses either.
Instead, you’ll see surreal edits, irreverent jokes, weird skits, and gritty footage from barbershops, art spaces, and live events. Some posts barely mention the product at all. The brand leads with its identity, not the drink.
That’s a deliberate choice. Liquid Death’s goal isn’t to fit into the beverage aisle. Rather, it’s to stand out in the feed. By focusing on tone, aesthetic, and cultural references, the brand makes sure its content always reflects its values. And people notice.
Community-driven content without the polish
Liquid Death’s creator strategy is built around cultural alignment. They don’t work with traditional influencers. They partner with tattoo artists, muralists, musicians, skaters, and barbers; people with a strong voice and local presence in their community.
These creators don’t tailor their content to hit brand KPIs. They do what they’ve always done, and the brand fits naturally into it. That means the posts feel authentic because they are. And the connection between brand and creator feels less like a sponsorship and more like shared DNA.
This approach also means the brand doesn’t need to micromanage content. The creators understand the tone and style because they already live it. As a result, the feed stays unpredictable but cohesive, gritty, fast, and unapologetically odd.
Focusing on the culture
Liquid Death doesn’t try to appeal to everyone. The visual style is dark and aggressive. The humor is specific. The voice is blunt. It’s not trying to please the algorithm. It’s trying to speak to a particular kind of person. And that focus pays off.
Rather than scale through broad messaging, the brand digs into niche communities with high engagement. That includes scenes like heavy metal, underground art, skate culture, and tattoo shops. These groups may not be huge, but they’re loyal and vocal. And when the content clicks, they drive real reach.
This focus also keeps the brand interesting. Every post feels like it was made for someone, not for everyone. That kind of clarity helps the feed stand out and helps followers feel like they’re part of something specific, not just another consumer group.
Global appeal rooted in local scenes
Liquid Death’s strongest markets include the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. All are places where alternative culture and humor-driven content tend to perform well. But the strategy isn’t based on market-by-market planning.
Instead, the brand keeps its tone and visual identity consistent everywhere. The themes are familiar: bold visuals, anti-mainstream messaging, and offbeat humor. Creators from each region bring in their own style, but the core feeling stays the same.
This makes it easier to scale the brand while staying true to what makes it distinct. It also helps the content land well in different regions without having to over-localize the message.
Liquid Death’s Instagram performance: March 2024 – March 2025
Based on HypeAuditor data, here’s how Liquid Death performed during the period:
Follower growth: +2.6 million
Reach: 1 billion
Engagement rate: 3.7%
Influencers activated: 2,722
Posts featured: 4,581
Average views per post: ~10,324
Average likes per post: ~1,321
Average comments per post: ~28
Top markets: United States, UK, Australia
Most common content types:
Bold product placement in edgy environments
Comedic or “shock factor” skits
Alt-style visuals with an irreverent tone
For a niche beverage brand with a visually unconventional style, a 3.7% engagement rate is impressive. It shows that people aren’t just watching; they’re reacting, sharing, and sticking around.
What other brands can take from this
1. Clarity matters more than polish
You don’t have to make the cleanest content. You just need to know what your brand stands for. Liquid Death is clear about what it is and what it isn’t, and that consistency makes a big impact.
2. Community focus
Focusing on specific communities helps Liquid Death build stronger loyalty. When your content speaks directly to people who already care, they’ll do the rest by talking about it and bringing others in.
3. Choose creators who live the culture
It’s not about reach. It’s about alignment. The people Liquid Death partners with already live the life the brand reflects. That makes the content feel natural and keeps the tone consistent.
4. Don’t aim to be everything to everyone
Liquid Death knows its lane. It’s not trying to please the masses. That gives it room to experiment, take risks, and build an audience that actually wants to be there.
5. Let your content show, not explain
The posts don’t over-explain the brand. They don’t need to. The visuals, tone, and creator alignment do the work. And that keeps the brand from sounding like it’s trying too hard.
Final thoughts
Liquid Death’s growth on Instagram is a good example of what happens when a brand stays focused. It doesn’t pivot every quarter. It doesn’t chase trends. It knows who it’s for and it sticks with that.
By creating content that feels more like a creative outlet than a product push, the brand keeps people interested. And by working with the right creators, it keeps the voice consistent without becoming repetitive.
You don’t need to be everywhere or do everything. But you do need to be unmistakable. Liquid Death gets that right.
Want more examples like this?
Download the Top Food & Beverage Brands on Instagram 2025 report to see how other fast-growing names are showing up, standing out, and getting results across the platform.
