How Today’s Brands Use Instagram Stories to Promote Engagement

Instagram Stories debuted in August 2016 and since then they have risen in popularity and use among consumers and brands. They are the quick snippets people have become accustomed to that help to increase viewership, interest, and audience engagement. For brands who wish to connect with their consumers, Instagram reached one billion users as of August 2018. Is it where your audience is?

Much like with other social media channels, Instagram Stories are best used, well, to tell a story. The good news is you can repurpose longer pieces of content to create an Instagrammable moment. Think of the whitepapers, blog posts, case studies, and videos you’ve created for your brand storytelling. Now envision how you can break down those content pieces into shorter snippets that have high visual appeal. It doesn’t make sense to add emojis and filters to a case study in its natural form, but for Instagram Stories, the addition is welcome.

To increase audience engagement, brands must speak to their audience where they’re at, in the language they are using. Whether language includes statistics and fact-based information in blog posts or emails to the short opinion-based polls and “thumbs up” emoji of Instagram, get on the level of your consumer when delivering a message that you want to resonate. If you’re not sure where to begin, we’ve got some ideas to get you started.

Promote New Products

E-commerce brands understand the value of Instagram for users who shop online. Now people can view what’s new or trending and shop directly from the post. This is valuable to announce new products, give shared love to products that aren’t as popular, and attract new online shoppers to the brand. With over a billion users monthly and 38% of those users checking Instagram multiple times a day, it’s safe to say there’s a good chance for your brand to connect.

Go Behind the Scenes

Take your viewers behind the scenes of a project your team is working on or host a Q&A with a leader in your organization. The power of a good story helps promote your brand as a relatability to a large audience. Use this opportunity to show “real-life” moments to your current customers while also, attracting new fans.

Multiple studies have shown that people want authentic content marketing. Everyone likes to pull back the curtain to see how the magic happens. Give a little glimpse into the life of your brand with behind-the-scenes Stories.

Tell a Success Story

Case studies are one of the biggest allures when attracting new customers or clients. Depending on your industry, this may be a customer review, a quick shout out, or a full-fledged report on how your strategy achieved great success. However it’s presented in its original format, it can always be repurposed for the ‘gram.

Be creative and concise with your case study and link to the larger piece to get more traffic to your site. Better yet, walk your audience through real-life demos of the tactics and tools you used to reach success.

Include Instagram Stories In Your Marketing Strategy

Create space within your content and social media calendars to add Instagram Stories. Create a message that is informative and exciting, unique, and inspiring. There are so many ways people consume content now that it can feel hard to keep up with the trends. The good news is you don’t have to start from scratch when creating Stories.