The number of Instagram users keeps growing, especially since the launch of its new feature “Instagram Stories” in 2016.
Indeed, in August 2016, Instagram simply launched this feature taking inspiration from Snapchat to increase its popularity.
Since then, more than 500 million people use Instagram Stories daily, while Snapchat has only about 190 million daily active users
An exceptional result in just a few years and it is not MisterWalley who will contradict it: Read these expert tips to get more followers on Instagram.
“It’s clear that Instagram Stories have changed the way we use this social network, including adding an extra dimension to the simple online photo album”
And with the many other features, Instagram offers… it’s simply become a must-have social platform.
Here’s why your business should use Instagram Stories, among other things:
- To inform your most loyal followers, while making your content accessible to a new audience. If you need more followers on Instagram, read this article.
- To let your customers discover, and even buy products directly in the app.
In this guide, I explain how to use Stories to your advantage in your marketing mix on Instagram.
But first, discover the benefits of this feature.
Why invest in Instagram Stories?
The average number of classic posts, published by influencers, has dropped from an average of 3.3 posts per week in 2016 to 2.3 in 2020 (source)
And this is not just for mega-influencers. Almost all influencers, regardless of their number of followers, are sharing less content on their feeds. Read our article on how to get more likes on Instagram.
Why?
Because Instagram Stories are perfectly suited to the user experience on mobile.
Instagram Stories: undeniable numbers
Many brands and businesses have figured this out.
The numbers speak for themselves!
With over 500 million daily users, Stories are a great way to:
- Reach new potential customers,
- And strengthen the connection with your existing customers.
Plus, they’re pretty fun to create and consume. Plus, the ephemeral format lowers the quality stakes and makes the experience less formal.
It’s finally a proven way if you want to come across as the living God on Instagram. Read these 6 Tips To Carry Out Content Marketing Strategy On Instagram.
Instagram Stories: undeniable advantages
But there are also many other reasons to want to take advantage of Instagram Stories:
- Creating a Story requires little effort. No one expects you to spend half an hour on a post that will disappear within 24 hours. Unlike Instagram posts that require perfect lighting, angles, and hashtags, a good Story just requires a good idea and a little creativity,
- A Story allows you to take risks. Instagram Stories are less exposed than traditional posts. So it’s an ideal format to test ideas. If the engagement is strong, you can then consider republishing it as a permanent post,
- An arsenal of features. There are tons of tools to draw, place stickers, and add augmented reality filters…
- An opportunity to generate even more traffic. Add links in your Stories, and promote your products on Instagram Shopping or on Explore. This way, you’ll reach new audiences even more easily,
- Swipe-Up. If you have more than 10,000 followers on Instagram and a professional account, you can even insert an external link, which is impossible with a classic post,
- Another way to be visible. With a good hashtag and geolocation, you can appear in Featured Stories and thus amplify your reach even more.
Now, find out how to use Instagram Stories as an additional marketing channel for your business. Here are 4 Methods You Can Use To Make Money On Instagram.
How to create a Story on Instagram?
Stories are extremely simple to create.
Here’s how to create your first Story on Instagram:
- Click on the ‘+’ in the bottom menu bar (or just swipe your finger to the right),
- Choose ‘Story’ from the 4 different options available (simple post, story, reels and live),
- Press the white circle in the middle to take a photo, hold it down to start a video, or press the gallery icon at the bottom left (or simply slide your finger up) to use multimedia content stored on your mobile,
- Edit your photo or video using the various editing options available,
- Tap the “Your Story” button to make your Story public, so that your profile photo appears directly at the top of your followers’ feed, or select “Send To” to send it to your followers via a private message, or “Save” to download it to your mobile device for later use.
Note: Instagram encourages you to create content with its editor. But you can still easily upload content created elsewhere and stored in your photo gallery.
Unlike the square dimensions of standard Instagram posts, the format of Stories is vertical.
The ideal dimensions are 1,080 pixels wide and 1,920 pixels high.
By the way, you can resize your photos and/or videos before publishing them by “pinching”, with 2 fingers, the screen of your phone.
Several format options are at your disposal
In addition to photos and videos, there are a variety of other format options for a Story:
- Text for text-based messages with a wide range of styles, all set against a colorful background,
- Boomerang for creating one-second looping videos,
- Superzoom to zoom in after selecting a point on the screen. You can also add many sound effects,
- Rewind to record a video that will be viewed in reverse,
- Live to start a live broadcast,
- Focus to take a portrait while blurring the background,
- Hands-Free to record a video without having to hold down the record button…
All this to say that you can really indulge yourself when you create a Story.
And why not, design on Canva (or Keynote, Slides, PowerPoint…) dividers as an introduction, calls to action, or individual slides in your Story.
Similarly, you can also use a free video editing app like GoPro Quik to work on your videos,
Note: Be careful not to upload videos longer than 15 seconds so they don’t get cut off. On the other hand, the lives (live videos) can last up to one minute.
You get it: Instagram Stories offer a multitude of ways to express your creativity.
My advice: use all the options at your disposal to bring your content to life.
To produce fun and exciting content, and stand out from your competition, don’t hesitate to combine:
- Text,
- Images and/or videos,
- But also stickers, filters, interactive polls…
Think more about “scheduling” than “publishing
And yes, just because Stories don’t last forever doesn’t mean they don’t require a little thought and planning.
I advise you to:
- Think about your Instagram Story in advance, just like any other content. Put yourself down for a few moments to think about the type of content and how your Story will play out. This helps create a more addictive and consistent experience for your audience,
- Consider and treat your Stories like a TV show with a schedule for the week or recurring episodes that happen on certain days,
- “Tease”, from time to time, your subscribers to spark their curiosity and be sure they are present when your next Story is published.
Use the right stickers, geotags, and hashtags
To increase your audience’s engagement on Instagram:
- Strategically use stickers,
- Geotagging,
- And the best hashtags.
Know that you can add a location, sticker, and/or hashtag to your photo or video from the stickers menu.
Instagram stickers
Every time you share a photo or video with your Story, you can add stickers to encourage different types of engagement.
This is done with the smiley face in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
Here are the most interesting options for stickers:
- Product stickers: once your account is approved for Instagram Shopping, when you add a Product sticker to a photo, your viewers are going to be able to access the product information and then tap again to possibly purchase it,
- Poll: With this sticker, you can collect feedback with a custom question-and-answer set. Your subscribers choose an option and you have access to the results of the poll in real-time,
- Hashtag: when a subscriber clicks on this sticker, they are redirected to the hashtag page,
- Questions: this is another option for collecting feedback. You can either ask a question to get answers from your followers or offer to ask them a question. In this case, you can answer them from your Story (or elsewhere).
Note: If you slide your finger up on your screen (or select the emoji sticker icon at the top right of your screen), you’ll be taken to a menu of all available stickers and emoticons (emojis).
My advice: use them as you wish and as appropriate in your Story to generate curiosity and engagement.
Geotagging
Geotags are geographical tags.
By geotagging a Story, you will be able to be present in the Stories related to this place (for example Paris or a restaurant in your neighborhood).
To do this, add a location sticker to your Story to show your audience where you are.
And if your Story works well, Instagram may even feature it in geotagged Stories from that location.
Hashtags
Hashtags are generally used to be discovered on social media.
But on Stories, they take your followers away from your account and expose them to other people’s posts.
So given the effort you put into recruiting them, you might as well keep them at “home”.
Tip: hashtags in Stories, like in your profile for that matter, are only effective if they are your own hashtags.
Here are some ideas for good hashtags to use in your stories:
- The contest hashtag as soon as you run one,
- Your brand hashtag if your story encourages your customers to post pictures using your product…
With your hashtags, you are sure to redirect them to a collection of publications related to your brand.
Use Instagram Live to support your Stories
Watching someone else’s Live on Instagram is one thing, doing it yourself is another.
Indeed, since it’s recorded in real-time, you have less control.
However, it’s a very interactive format that’s worth leveraging.
The main advantage of Lives is that your subscribers receive a notification as soon as you start unless they have disabled notifications.
Tip: give them time to join you before you really start. Remember to fill in a few seconds before you actually start the Live.
Since it’s an interactive format, consider encouraging your audience to participate in some way, such as collecting live comments…
After you’ve finished your live broadcast, you can upload it to your Story and make it available for the next 24 hours.
Note: Since live videos are rare, Instagram is looking to put them even more in the spotlight. They are distinguished from other Stories with a specific icon, which puts you even more in front.
My advice: if you have a substantial number of followers, take the plunge and try your hand at Instagram Lives.
Here are some ideas:
- Host a contest or invite your audience to bet on an outcome,
- Host a Q&A or AMA (ask me anything),
- Cover an event or share an interesting moment,
- Host a talk show,
- Host an influencer…
This feature can be scary, but Instagram Live is an interesting engagement tool for accounts with a considerable number of loyal fans.
Generate traffic to your website and products
Previously, the bio on your Instagram profile was the only place to add a clickable link.
With Stories, you can:
- Point them to your bio and then encourage them to click on the link,
- Or insert a link directly into the Story.
Via the link in your bio
Today, with Stories, you can benefit from 2 basic principles to convert:
- Affordance,
- And a call to action (CTA).
In ergonomics, the term “affordance” refers to “the ability of an object to suggest its own use.
Beyond encouraging your audience to click on the link in your biography, consider mentioning, in your Stories, your own account or using an arrow to point to your avatar in the top left corner.
These 2 tips lead to your profile.
That’s why before jumping in, optimize your profile and fill your feed with classic publications.
Via a link in the Story
You can insert links in your Stories, pointing to the homepage of your site, your blog, your product pages… wherever you want!
Alternatively, you can also send your audience from your Stories to your pages on Shopping. To do this, use product stickers to display your products in your Story. This is how your audience will be able to find out more and even make a purchase.
Note: you only have your audience’s attention for brief moments, so when you want them to take a specific action, be direct.
Bonus tip: The Explore tab is where Instagram users go to discover new content and accounts. It’s organized based on their interests, hashtags, and behavior in the app.
If you are present, it puts your products in front of an audience that doesn’t even follow your account.
The importance of the CTA
A call-to-action (CTA) button, on the other hand, is a direct instruction that prompts your audience to do what you want.
Without an explicit CTA, the default action is probably to move on to the next Story.
As a general rule, always add a CTA, whether it’s on your Instagram captions or in your Stories.
Here are some examples of CTAs to use:
- Check out more photos on #yourhashtagdemark,
- Swipe up to grab this product,
- Tap now to enjoy x% off…
Organize Stories as highlights on your profile
Stories are short-lived but can be saved as highlights to pin to your profile.
Note: these highlights are made up of Stories that you can organize according to your own themes with specific titles.
You can use them to:
- Introduce your account to new subscribers with a “Start here”,
- Showcase your customers, your teams,
- Present your offer,
- Announce a promotion, sales…
Analyze the results with Instagram Analytics
With a personal account, it is difficult to analyze the performance of your Stories.
Indeed, you only have a few indicators, except for:
- The number of views. You can also know who viewed your Story by sliding your finger on the number,
- And responses when a viewer sends you a message via your Story.
But with a professional account, you have access to a wide range of indicators to analyze the performance of your Stories.
You have access to :
- The number of impressions and the reach,
- Details of actions taken on your Stories such as the number of people who acted, replied, or “leaked”.
Use this information to determine what is bringing you the most engagement and where you are losing attention.
Whether it’s because your Stories are too long or too short, you can improve your content over time. Read here How to use WhatsApp for your Marketing.
FAQ – 3 questions about the importance of stories for marketing on Instagram
#1. Does it make sense for a business to invest in Instagram Stories?
Yes. The benefits you can get from them are undeniable, regardless of your industry. If over 500 million users use Stories daily, it’s not without reason.
#2. Do Stories help increase engagement with your audience on Instagram?
Yes. They are great tools for increasing engagement with your audience. Just strategically use stickers, geolocation, and the best hashtags.
#3. Is it possible to embed a link in Stories?
Yes. You can add a clickable client in your Stories and not just in your bio anymore. You can insert a link directly into the Story or direct your audience to your bio and encourage them to click on the embedded link.
Conclusion on the use of Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are a great tool to reach and win new customers, but also to strengthen your connection with your existing customers.
Integrating them into your Digital Marketing strategy can only be beneficial for your business, especially with the many benefits you can get from them:
- An arsenal of features at your disposal,
- An opportunity to generate even more traffic,
- Another way to be visible…
In addition, creating a Story requires very little effort.