Why you should use instagram stories as a marketing tool?

Instagram clearly emphasizes something that we already knew well about our time: visual information matters more than any other. Monthly, a billion users post pictures, stories, IGTV videos, go on live and scroll the feed.

From a simple app where people can share personal photos or make pictures, Instagram has changed to an important marketing space that can lead to significant improvement in a brand’s recognition. More than half of Instagram users consider the platform as a great web space to look for brands. So, you may be surprised to learn that, with the exceptions for individual accounts and the pages of celebrities, a big part of most-viewed stories are from brands and companies. Which make us suspect those stories are most likely made for marketing purposes.

People are using social media today not only to share something they just saw or to post another photo, but sites like Facebook and Instagram are used by many users to learn more about brands and their products. To build an appealing page on social media is a way to build trust with the customers.

If you have a brand that you’re trying to build recognition with, you should consider every social media as an excellent platform to talk about your business. No brand can genuinely flourish without a presence on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Besides, times have changed, and today you can find out how to make real progress without having a huge budget. Instagram story is a perfect marketing tool – it’s very easy to use; it’s very easy to share. And it won’t require money or sophisticated equipment from you.

Maybe you have just started to use the app, or perhaps you’re already an experienced user, but if you still hesitating on if it’s a good idea to use stories for a brand, we would strongly recommend you to consider it as a marketing tool.

Instagram also could be the least expensive way to build an engaging marketing strategy and attract more people to follow you and, eventually, buy your product. It is effortless and trendy. Instagram stories, as well as IGTV, is an ideal way to use video marketing outside actual video platforms.

Photos on Instagram are as important for brands as videos are. But what is the main difference between these types of content? Even though Instagram from the very beginning was designed to share photos, video slowly gains more popularity. This tendency perfectly aligns with the general marketing assumption: video is the most popular medium for every type of content.

Note: We are not discouraging you from posting photos. It’s an entirely different form of marketing, and it has only a little to do with our topic. Regular posts on Instagram help build brand recognition, and increase your number of followers too.

Why Instagram Stories?

What is great about the Instagram stories feature is its ability to convey a message in seconds. In a case with regular posts, you have to explain the concept behind a particular image with a text. Sometimes, the photos are there not so much to say something important for the future of the brand, but to keep up with aesthetics. What about the stories, then? The stories are helping the audience grow much closer to the brand, its history and the people who work on it.

If you know how to use branded Instagram Stories wisely, you could attract an audience and future customers. The good thing about Instagram stories is their short life. If you really get the user interested in your brand’s activity, your audience will be watching stories every time you upload them. Even if you fail once or twice – it’s not a big deal, because the stories are not designed to exist more than twenty-four hours. So, you will always have another try.

Instagram story highlights

On the other hand, Instagram story highlights allow you to establish a narrative. Instagram highlights are just stories that will be displayed on the top of your page as long as you want it to be there. The look remains the same, like ordinary stories. However, one of the primary objectives of using Instagram story highlights is to create more extensive communication between your brand and the followers, especially new ones. From these narratives that you put into highlights, a user can construct a portrait of the brand.

You can make it look thematically with Stories highlight covers. Instagram possess lots of elements that attract attention and make followers stay and explore your page for a while. Highlights and the way you design it—are only some of these elements.

A common approach is to use Instagram Highlights to answer questions and explain a product. This helps to inform customers and save your team from having to answer unnecessary questions.

What kind of Instagram stories should you make?

If you look on popular Instagram pages, you’ll probably notice that the style of these are usually casual and fun. The idea behind Instagram, it’s aura, if you like, is built around the feeling of easiness and fun more than anything else. Brands, companies, and organizations from all over the world learn how to talk about serious subjects with humor, providing a better form of information for the audience viewing the video.

A great example of this is NASA. Most of the people who follow their account don’t have any scientific background. But NASA turns out to be extremely fun (sometimes even funny) when it comes to stories. They post the latest news, concepts and achievements explaining it in a humorous, easy-to-understand way.

What is interesting to learn from NASA, is their approach of using visual information. If your brand is about something that somewhat hard to show, and even harder to explain, use a bit of text, humor and the subject itself. Putting some parts of explanations into words in the Instagram stories could actually enrich the whole message. NASA used funny metaphors to explain a scientific concept. The unique thing about Instagram stories is its ability to combine video and text to reach a more in-depth level of explanation.

Netflix, on the other hand, usually offer its followers quizzes based on series, characters or actors.

A lot depends on your targeted audience. Yes, the key of Instagram stories and its main feature is to create stories that most people on the platform can understand. But if your audience is pretty selective, or if it consists of several thousands of followers, stick to the topics that will talk directly to them.

Interactive elements are generally on the same page with what Instagram is about. The more creative ways you give information, the more interest people will have in your account. Consider making checklists, interviews with people from your team in the highlight section, a bit of life inside the company, quizzes, and more creative stories. A great idea is to add some video infographics to make your story even more attractive.

Giveaways, a great way to treat the audience now, is available on every platform from most brands. It works exceptionally well if you want to grab an audience’s attention and get new followers acquainted with you. Giveaway one or several products, choose the winner randomly, and people will treat your company differently.

Use stories to demonstrate your achievements or noteworthy mentions from other platforms. Many accounts do that just to celebrate success with their followers. This approach may not affect the engagement level or any other data you are looking to improve, but it will give people a better image and the idea about the brand.

When your new product is about to launch, use stories to talk about it. And put it to the highlights section later.

Create gifs. Gifs are always about fun, even when serious topics have been taken. If you have silly, creative ideas about the ways you could communicate with your audience, act upon them.

Switch images to text. Use stories to show valuable information and then switch it to text with details. Such an interactive approach will get a user to engage.

Use animation. Animated stories are not really in the trend now, but it’s rather a question of time. Why don’t you try it then? The 2d animated videos is one of the most engaging forms of video marketing nowadays.

High-quality is undeniably vital. If you are making products, people who look at them can’t really evaluate how good it is. Use high-quality images that will give your audience an idea of how good the product is.

Stories must be short. The best approach is minimum text reduced to its main points, and a short motion graphics video. If your stories are too long, people might stop watching them.

Add a swipe. Instagram is only a part of your marketing strategy. It is unlikely that your brand doesn’t have another page. Use the swipe option to generate traffic.

When is the best time to post stories?

An important question, because people actually don’t spend all of their time on phones, contrary to popular opinion. But it is a question that makes sense to ask if you wonder when to schedule Instagram posts. Stories can be posted anytime, since they will be active and present for twenty-four hours. Your audience can access them anytime for one day.

Summary

Instagram has opened up a lot of new possibilities for attracting an audience. With the features designed by Instagram, followers can better interact with the brand you have. Since this platform has two million advertisers each month, you have to keep up.

Instagram stories feature only one of many reasons to use it for your brand. Instagram offers other forms of content, and each of these can bring significant benefits. Stories are encouraging for creators to represent their products with creativity more than any other social media formats.

Besides, with the modern tendency to document everything – from the food people eat to how they spend their lives, you could represent your values better by showing something from the office or by doing short interviews with the team.

Instagram may be only one platform where you can take such creative approach and get more freedom in producing different types of content. Your brand strategy will only win you more followers and attention.