In this era of social media where everyone is 24/7 actively scrolling their feeds, businesses have a great opportunity to come into the eyes of their targeted audience easily.
Instagram is one of the best social media platforms with a wide and strong audience base today that provides a strong platform for businesses to grow. Instagram offers various features through which businesses can interact with their targeted audience. One of those features is Instagram stories which have become a big deal for the business to utilize.
Instagram stories are very influential for the successful marketing of brands and that is why 83% of marketers have planned to add them to their marketing strategy (Source: Sproutsocial). That is why marketers and businesses have started to embed Instagram stories into their website which has proven to be very effective for their business growth. Instagram stories humanize your brand showing authenticity to your potential customers.
However, if you are struggling to understand how to utilize Instagram stories for your business growth then this article is for you. This article will explain everything about Instagram stories and will break down how to make the best out of them for your business growth.
Thus, without skipping continue till the end of this article.
The Basics Of Instagram Stories
It will be the best idea to start with knowing about the basics of Instagram stories to understand the rest of the article about it.
Instagram stories are one of the features of Instagram that allows you to put your business feeds which can be photos and videos that disappear in 24 hours after uploading. The feeds that will be uploaded on the Instagram stories are different from your normal feeds.
You can see the photos on the story in a slide show manner for a maximum of 7 seconds and the video can be watched for a maximum of 15 seconds. You can hold them if you like and rewatch them for 24 hours only which will disappear after that. If you use Instagram you will notice a purplish orange ring appears in the profile picture. This ring depicts that the user has uploaded fresh content to their Instagram stories.
Moreover, the stories can be added on highlights that appear below the bio section of the Instagram page. The highlights can be categorized accordingly and when stories expire audiences can watch them from the highlights. Your most dedicated followers or customers will follow your stories to be updated about your business activities.
Cruciality Of Instagram Stories For Your Business
Posting Instagram stories by the brands is very beneficial which has been discussed below for better understanding.
It has been found in the statistics of Instagram that 50% of the users on Instagram redirected themselves to the website of a brand to learn more about them after watching their stories (Source: Sproutsocial). Thus, Instagram stories play a vital role for brands in attracting the right audiences to their website.
1. Instagram stories help to be visible to your followers
By constantly posting stories on Instagram your brand will be visible to your follower’s feeds. This way your brand will be on your follower’s minds all the time. So, you can able to engage your audience with your brand more effortlessly. As the algorithm of Instagram constantly changes, Instagram stories have become a very important tool of marketing for brands.
2. Instagram stories show the human side of your brand
Brands mostly post the informal content of their brands in the story which is different from the main content. Snaps of behind-the-scenes, pictures of the team or any kind of unwinding moments that tell a different story to your audiences. They are perfect content to show the personality and voice of the brands.
3. More engagement
The audiences love entertainment and fun to get engaged with the brands on Instagram. Instagram stories like polls and quizzes attract followers to take part in. Thus, posting such interactive content on Instagram stories brands can bring more engagement.
The Way Businesses Can Utilize Instagram Stories
If you are marketing your brand on Instagram then Instagram stories must be the prime part of your marketing strategy. As already said the algorithm of Instagram today gives importance to the Instagram stories to highlight your brand to the large base of audience.
You may first feel creating engaging content for your Instagram stories can be daunting. Don’t stress just read the below tips that will tell you how you can make effective use of Instagram stories in your marketing strategy. Have a look into them.
1. Take the help of bite-size knowledgeable content
Make the content of your Instagram stories super engaging for your audiences. So, it will be a good idea to utilize the bite-size educational content. Thus, post on Instagram stories like quick step-by-step tutorials that are easier to follow than traditional videos. You can also create quick hack or DIY-type videos that audiences find highly engaging.
2. Posts polls, quizzes, and quick questions
The stories are a great place for the brands to start a conversation with the audiences and learn about their interests. So, polls, quizzes, and quick questions can be fun ways to engage with the targeted audiences of your brand. These entertaining features of Instagram stories are an effortless way for brands to impress and connect with the wide audience base of Instagram.
3. Announce anything related to your brand
Planning to launch new products or upgrade the features of your product? Well for that gathered the attention of your audiences previously to boost sales. So, the best idea for that is to put Instagram stories. Creating a buzz of new products on Instagram stories will easily capture the notice of your potential customers which encourages them to follow your brand for more latest news.
4. Share the latest posts on stories for the hype
There is the possibility that your audience has accidentally skipped your latest posts on main feeds. This can slow the traffic on the latest main post of your brand. Thus, resharing them on Instagram stories will help you to hype them to your followers and audiences. This way your followers and audiences will redirect them to the main post from the stories which will maximize the reach of your post.
In A Nutshell
No doubt, the correct utilization of Instagram stories in your modern marketing strategy can be a whole game-changing situation.
This article has explained to you the basics of Instagram stories and how you can utilize them for your business growth.
Moreover, this article will help you to understand the importance of Instagram stories for your business and share with you the best way to utilize them for your business.
Thus, take the smart move for your brand and utilize the power of Instagram stories for successful marketing.