Instagram Stories have become a real hit for the platform since they were first implemented in 2016. As of January 2019, the global daily user count was 500 million.
This is not a wonder. After all, it’s a quick way to engage with users in creative ways. Viewers, on the other hand, don’t need a large attention span; an Insta Story only lasts a few seconds.
In the following text, we explain why you should use Instagram Stories for your online marketing strategy. Also, we suggest you some Insta Story ideas to make your brand more interesting, exciting, and fun for your audience.
Why you should use Instagram Stories
The story function has permanently changed the face of the well-known platform, which primarily focuses on images and videos. It opens up numerous new creative means of expression for its users. There are also some good reasons for companies and brands to take a closer look at visual short stories.
Unlimited content variety with only a few hours of availability
Would you like to launch a new product or service? Are you planning to give your fans an exclusive look behind the scenes of your company? With Instagram Stories you can let off steam thematically and creatively. And because stories disappear after a few hours, the rest of your feed is unaffected.
Share the highlights of the latest event or fun and light-hearted content with your followers. You can also deal with more serious topics. But it should fit your brand or be appropriate to the circumstances. Instagram Stories let you continuously generate dynamic output. When you share content with value, viewers are more likely to return.
With Instagram Stories your audience grows
Instagram Stories has numerous tools and gimmicks. These help brands expand their reach:
- Geo-Tags: Add your geographic location to your Insta Story to make it easier for users to find your business. This could be a specific place, city, or even a country — at best, people searching for these locations will stumble upon your new story and brand profile.
- Hashtags: As with videos and images in your regular Instagram feed, you can also integrate hashtags into your Instagram Stories. Post different keywords that potential customers and prospects use to find your account. However, these should be related to the underlying story and be relevant to your followers and target group.
Interact with the audience
There are plenty of millennials among Instagram users who communicate in their own specific way. Luckily, Instagram also offers many ways to engage with your audience in a casual way when it comes to Stories:
- The platform allows you to post polls in your stories. So you collect information about your viewers and determine what they like and what they dislike. Polls are popular with users because they show how other users voted immediately after voting.
- Similar to the Polls theme: Ask your viewers one or more questions. Alternatively, have them interview you. No matter which variant you choose – you ensure more commitment. You will also learn more about them and they will learn more about you and your brand.
- Instagram even allows you to tag other people, companies, and brands in your stories. The corresponding profiles can then also share your stories. In this way, they give you a greater reach.
Instagram Stories generate visitor traffic for your website
Instagram Stories redirect visitors to your website. This is especially worthwhile if you run an online shop: you can introduce a new product with a story and lead your viewers directly to the website where they can do their shopping. Blogs or online journals can also benefit from these features.
- Include a shopping bag sticker and/or product sticker in your story. This allows your viewers to either buy directly or get more information about the product if they are interested.
- With the integration of the “Swipe Up” function, you forward your audience to your blog or suitable landing pages. A suitable call-to-action provides additional motivation.
How many Instagram Stories should you post per day?
There is no flat rate number of stories a company or brand should share per day. Instagram Stories are also a special case because they are in a specific space and don’t clog up users’ feeds.
However, there are aspects that you can take into account so that you can find the right frequency without scaring off your followers:
1. Your stories should have value for your target audience. If not, you don’t have to post a story. Don’t create a story just to generate content.
2. Avoid spam-type ads. There is nothing wrong with advertising in general. However, it should be embedded in an entertaining and informative story, especially in the stories, which encourage the commitment of your fans.
3. With Instagram Insights you get an insight into the viewer statistics. You can find out how successful your stories are or whether your audience has dropped out at a certain point. This and other information will help you adjust the number of stories per day accordingly.
The ideal number per day can differ from profile to profile and from brand to brand. It depends on your audience, your industry, and your content. Ultimately, only the trial and error principle helps. In any case, strive for continuity. A shorter story per day with relevant content is better than infrequent posts that are endlessly long.
Can I preschedule Instagram Stories?
There are times when you can’t post an Instagram story for your brand. Either you are currently on vacation, on a business trip, or you are ill or prevented for other reasons. It’s also often easier and more convenient to finish producing a story, set a release date, and move on to the next task.
Unfortunately, Instagram itself does not offer a function for setting up publication dates. The following third-party tools, among others, will help you further:
- Business Suite
- Storrito
- Plan
- Later
- Planonly
- Unum
10 unusual ideas for Instagram Stories
Numerous brands, companies, influencers, and individuals offer stories to make things fun. So the competition is big. It means standing out from the crowd with unusual and interesting ideas.
That doesn’t mean you should give up promoting a product, service, or blog post altogether. But with Instagram Stories you can let your creativity run free.
The following ideas and examples should inspire you to make your next story a success.
Idee 1: Story Takeover
With an Instagram takeover (or: story takeover) you allow access to your account to a person who normally does not have access. This could be an employee, an influencer, or even a customer. It’s an exciting and interesting way to add variety and humanity to your account and stories.
Idee 2: Interview
If you do not want to leave your Instagram account directly to a stranger, the interview is a more cautious alternative. Invite a guest who is interesting to your audience and ask him or her relevant questions in front of the camera. You can also request questions from your viewers and followers beforehand.
Idea 3: Let customers and employees talk about themselves
Ask your customers, followers, or employees to tell about themselves. Publish the answers as stories. However, the stories should be related to your offer.
Coworking space provider WeWork asked employees, and even the CEO, to share about their work week with its “What did you accomplish this week” campaign. You can also make similar requests to your employees or customers.
Idea 4: Create a puzzle for your audience
A riddle can provide relaxation in between and still attract attention. Above all, it is more varied than the typical photo or video.
The mattress manufacturer Caspar, for example, posts little puzzles with cute graphics, all of which have something to do with the topic of sleep – so it fits the product.
Idee 5: Quiz
Another way to encourage engagement is by taking a quiz. For example, one day of the week could be a trivia quiz day. Here you ask your audience different questions about your brand or query knowledge about your industry. A prize can (but does not have to) wait for the winner at the end.
Idea 6: Challenge yourself or your audience
Send a challenge to yourself or your audience. You can publish the result as an Instagram story. As a plant shop, you could present a new plant every day in an interesting way and incorporate it into a story.
If you have challenged other Instagram users, you can tag them in the corresponding story. If possible, make it a contest and offer one or more prizes.
Tip
It helps to announce the challenge in advance and generate a countdown. In this way, you draw the attention of potential participants to it early enough and increase their expectations and anticipation.
Idea 7: Create a photo essay
If you create content, it makes sense to tell a coherent story or a journalistic article with the help of photos. You use existing content again and can even add a quote or two from the blog or your report.
The New York Public Library took a different approach and published passages from various novels as an Instagram story. Readers had to repeatedly pause the stories with their fingers to be able to read a whole page in peace.
Idee 8: Flash Sale
If you are active in e-commerce, you should think about a flash sale. Here you offer certain or all of your products via Instagram Stories for a short time at a lower price. You can either announce the sale beforehand or surprise your audience with it. The benefit is that Instagram users will return to your Stories more often so they don’t miss out on more Flash Sales.
Ideas 9: You are uncool
The first instinct is probably to make your brand look as good as possible. However, this is not always the most successful strategy. The American shoe brand Converse regularly chooses the opposite to differentiate itself from its competitors.
She deliberately portrays his shoes and advertising in Instagram Stories in an uncool way. This approach is not suitable for every company, but in some cases, it shows a healthy degree of self-mockery and the likable side of a brand.
Idea 10: Instructions
Show off your expertise in the stories. Share with your viewers how to cook an easy recipe or assemble a shelf. The US retailer Lowe’s, for example, demonstrated to its viewers in time-lapse how they can transform an entire room into a beautiful coffee bar.
Bottom Line: Create and share Instagram Stories to drive engagement
Building a social media presence from scratch is not easy. Instagram and creative ideas for your Insta Story help you to communicate and interact with your target audience dynamically.
With an interesting post, you can already increase your reach and ensure more engagement with your brand. However, creativity is required. The type of story should be offbeat and still fit your brand to generate attention.