Instagram Stories: A Social Media Must
If you haven’t been using Instagram Stories, you are missing out on one of the most influential social media trends out there. Instagram campaigns have helped visuals become the single biggest social media content contributor. After topping a billion users in June, Instagram is vital for the success of your next campaign endeavor.
Instagram stated that it’s “stories make Instagram a place for people to share all of their moments—the highlights, and everything in between.” These stories offer the audience a behind-the-scenes insight of their favorite brands. When Instagram stories turned 1, it had 250 million daily users compared to Snapchat’s 166 million, proving that these insights are what the audience wants to see.
Interactive Content
There are also two major contributors to IG’s dominance over Snapchat. The first of which is interactive content.
Using polls and asking questions better connects your audience with your brand. You can create polls in IG that are full of character and expression, like this “Soup of the Day” poll created found on Socially Sorted.
Questions and other interactive content allow for 1-on-1 communication between you and your customers.
Before forms of interactive content can help build brand loyalty. They also provide you with insight about what your audience wants to see in future Instagram campaigns.
Pro tip: stage your IG stories in a white iPhone. This makes the images look more real.
Maille and Instagram Stories That Stay
Instagram Stories also lets you save content so that it won’t delete after 24 hours. While there’s a sense of excitement to see a story before it erases, some content is worth saving for future use.
Maille saves some of their Instagram Stories so that their customers can use some of their recipes:
(Photo Credits: @Mailleus)
By saving these stories, Maille followers can access these recipes (and many others) any time they wish.
In addition to recipes, @maillecanada has also saved a series of 6-second videos that portray fun and, diverse uses of their product.
Other Instagram stories that could be worth saving are seasonal ideas that will likely be trending next year as well.
Companies can find it easy and practical to repost holiday ideas from previous years rather than creating all new content. They can also save their favorites to keep in mind what has worked in previous campaigns.
Making Your Instagram Campaign Successful
When planning your next Instagram stories campaign, monitor your previous stories. Which ones were the most successful and what contributed to their success? Specific hashtags, times of the day, and color schemes could indicate that your audience is drawn to some aspects of your product more than others. If you’re still unsure what your audience likes, ask them!
Next, you need to develop a plan to create content for IG use consistently. Also, make sure that your content is Instagram stories ready. Your content must be:
1. High-quality,
2. Engaging
3. Visually attractive
4. Shot vertically
Don’t be afraid to experiment, either. Post a story or two a day and keep tabs on audience engagement. Archive your more successful Instagram stories. Experiment by posting with different hashtags and during different times of the day. Cross-promote your stories on other social media platforms to increase your following on sites like Facebook and Twitter as well.
Instagram stories also as a live video feature. This allows you to record everything from tutorials to amusing shorts. The more creative you are, the more successful your campaign may be.
Last, but not least, don’t forget to interact with your followers. Comment, like, and share their stories. Also, don’t hesitate to repost the best user generated content—especially if it’s relevant to your brand. When your audience sees that you’re interested in their content, they will be much more likely to share yours and help you grow your IG community.
Now that you know how influential Instagram stories can be get started on planning your next campaign today!