Now that you’ve learnt how to maximise Instagram for your business, the next step is to optimise your use of one of its most popular features, Instagram Stories. Don’t worry if you haven’t read that blog yet, but we recommend starting there and coming back.
Instagram Stories
We all know how addictive Instagram Stories are. As we mindlessly tap our way through story after story, we are unaware of just how much content we are consuming. We also can’t recall where the last half an hour went. This ability of Instagram Stories to lock users in is what makes them a prime location for businesses to target customers. As Instagram also intersperses sponsored content within stories, putting some spend behind Stories Ads allows brands to reach widespread audiences.
Not only do Instagram Stories enable brands to be creative and display personality, but they are a powerful tool for growing engagement, building brand awareness, and even driving sales. In fact, did you know that 83% of Instagram users discover new products and services on Instagram?[1]
Instagram Stories have grown in popularity over the last few years. Their instantaneous nature allows brands to deliver timely content and receive immediate feedback straight from their target audience. Not just that, but the more stories you post the more visible you are, overcoming the algorithm that prevents feed posts from being seen by the majority of your followers
With over 500 million daily Instagram users[2], it is vital that brands can cut through the noise and connect with new and existing customers. Luckily, there are tons of easy-to-use features on Instagram Stories that can drive more audience engagement.
Here are our top five features to create bold and beautiful stories:
- Questions Sticker
From gathering feedback on a product or service to inviting questions for a brand Q&A, the Questions sticker is brilliant for collating timely responses from your audience. It also shows that brands are actively listening to their customers and care for their opinion.
- Countdown Sticker
The perfect tool for building hype around an upcoming event or product launch. Followers can even tap the sticker, automatically setting a reminder for when the countdown ends. Generate excitement, generate more sales, that’s the name of the game.
- Links
Albeit a feature currently only available to accounts with over 10,000 followers, the swipe-up link is an incredibly effective tool for eliciting more web traffic. It can take users directly to a business website, all whilst still being on the Instagram app. If a brand launches a new product, with a swipe of a finger, its customers can have it right before their eyes (and then hopefully in their basket).
- GIFs
GIFs are a fun and creative way to show brand personality. But that’s not all they’re good for. To get around the above 10k follower swipe-up link rule, text GIFs can also be used to guide followers to your ‘Link in Bio’, producing the same result.
- Music Sticker
Last but not least the Music Sticker, which allows users to add official tracks to their stories. Adding a soundtrack makes stories instantly more engaging and can help brands set the overall mood they wish to convey.
Whilst there are many awesome built-in Instagram features, external design apps are also brilliant for creating high-quality stories that are bound to pique audience interest. Canva, Storyluxe, Unfold and Over are just some of the brilliant free apps that provide fonts, graphics, templates and more to help design professional on-brand content.
After we created the online fitness suite Everyone on Demand for our client Everyone Active, our next step was to maximise its exposure. Of course, Instagram Stories provided a vital opportunity to do just that. Have a look at one of our stories below and see if you can spot some of the top features we’ve mentioned in this blog!
If you would like social media marketing support, we can help. Get in touch via info@action-group.co.uk
[1] https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/
[2] https://later.com/blog/instagram-stories-for-business/