Stories on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and more are here
to stay. Many users now go their chosen
social media platform to view stories and leave without scrolling through any
of the organic posts. There are multiple platforms that use stories, but we
will focus on Instagram for the purpose of this blog post.
Stories are photos and videos which can be temporarily viewed or shared for a period of 24 hours. These stories make an ideal social media marketing tool for business. Sharing a story from your account lets your customers engage with your business on a day to day basis. Stories enable people and businesses to express themselves creatively, experience moments outside their everyday lives and feel part of your business on a personal level. Stories that feature the behind the scenes at your business, promotions & sales, or that introduce new products are an excellent way to leverage this feature. A video uploaded on a story is 15 seconds in length but multiple stories can be uploaded in unison so there is no disruption to the story.
As social media continues to evolve and change we need to
adapt to ensure customers are still seeing content from your business, here's some
tips on how to use them to their full potential:
Start with Instagram Stories. Instagram stories are user friendly and have some of the best tools to create with as most of them are prebuilt into the app. Start your story sharing gently and master this platform before moving onto the next.
Increase website traffic using links in your Stories. Instagram and Snapchat allow users to embed links directly to your website products in stories. This can be very useful for a special offer or launch of a new product as regular posts do not allow you to add a linkable URL.
Use the Tools available. There are many useful tools within Instagram. These include Instagram Stories polls, drawing tools, text/typing tools, boomerangs, reverse video, filters, story highlights, video, music, images and many many more. If you are collaborating with another social media personality, ensure to tag their account on the story.
Reuse and share your content across multiple platforms. You can save your Instagram Stories and use them on other platforms but just be aware that you may have used some Instagram only features i.e. Instagram Stories polls/music, and these will not transfer over.
Use Hashtags There is also a very handy #HASHTAG sticker, this will help increase your reach, as Instagram users can now follow and search for hashtags. See the benefits & how to use hashtags here!
Don’t forget the social part! Its important not to make your social media platform all about promoting your business. Yes, use stories to promote certain important aspects of your business but use them to try to grow a personal connection with your customer base by using the unique features on Instagram stories to interact with your customers.
Highlights This feature consists of Stories that you select to last beyond their 24-hour only lifespan. Highlights will appear on the top of your profile page, this gives viewers access to the content you most want them to see on an ongoing basis .Each highlight can include as many or as little stories as you select, add more stories to your highlights as and when you want. After you post a story open it and, in the bottom, right hand corner there will be highlight press this and save!
