Instagram Stories launched in 2016 and has been gaining popularity with businesses ever since. With Stories, you can post videos and photos that disappear after 24 hours. Rather than showing up in a user’s news feed, they are at the top of the Instagram feed and are highlighted when updated. There is less competition to be seen with Stories than there is hoping the algorithm shows your regular post in a user’s news feed. If you aren’t using Instagram Stories for your business, here are some compelling reasons you should:*
- 500 million people use Instagram Stories every day
- Instagram Stories has increased the amount of time spent on Instagram to more than 28 minutes.
- 1/3 of the most-viewed Instagram Stories come from business accounts.
- 1 in 3 daily Instagrammers say they have become interested in a product they saw on Stories
Now you know why you should be using stories in your business, so what do you post? Using the 24 hour only time frame is a great way to create a buzz or to use for a limited promotion or discount. Here are some ways you can use Instagram Stories for your business:
- Behind the scenes is all the rage on social media and Instagram Stories is a great way to show the day to day in your business.
- Creating a few graphics to promote your blog post is a great way to use it. If you have more than 10,000 followers, you can even add the link right in Stories. If not, you can still point them back to your bio where you can add the blog link.
- If you are selling a product, it’s a great way to show what your product can do! Take a few short clips of your product in action and then give your audience a way (link or link in bio) to find out more.
- Gain intel on your audience. Want to know more about what your audience likes? This can be huge for both product development and creating social media content that engages. Use Stories to ask questions or to take polls to gain this valuable insight into your audience.
- Have loyal customers who love to promote you? Have them take over your IG Stories for a day and talk about why they love your product or service and link back to their account. What better way to gain new followers and potential customers than glowing testimonials from people who use your products and services!
- Create tutorials. Show people how to use your product or give them tips on how do something related to your business. This is not only interesting to a vast majority of your followers, but it sets you apart as an expert in your industry.
While you can certainly create your Instagram Stories graphic right in the app itself, many graphic sites also have Instagram Stories templates you can use if you are looking for a quick way to get your stories up and looking professional. I like Adobe Spark and Canva for all my social media graphics. Both have free versions so check them out!
Final Tips. Make sure to add a hashtag, tag an account if applicable, and use a location when appropriate. All these things help your Story be seen by more people. Creating a Poll if it works with your content is always a great way to get more engagement too. If you are going live on Instagram, make sure you have a Story up to get even more benefits. When you go live, IG boosts you to the first circle on the news feed which can get you extra views. It’s really that easy. Be creative and have fun!
Have any questions? Feel free to reach out to me: LoriCaralis@gmail.com