Social media has become a substantial part of what it means to live in modern society. People are checking their pages multiple times a day, updating their statuses, posting pictures with their friends, tagging locations and events they’re attending and using hashtags to connect themselves to different brands and groups. Social media users are clocking hours of screen time a week; that translates to a lot of potential customers for companies utilizing social media advertising.
Instagram is one of the most widely used social media apps and has gone through many updates and changes since its first launch in 2010. One of the more recent features added was Instagram Stories.
What is an Instagram Story?
An Instagram Story is a series of photos, videos and/or content that can be uploaded to an Instagram profile. Stories can be uploaded throughout the course of a day and are only visible to the public for 24 hours unless that story is made a Story Highlight. A Story Highlight can be added to a profile and is visible permanently on an Instagram page. A user can view Instagram Stories of anyone they are following simply by going to the Instagram app and looking at the top of the main Instagram page. Instagram Stories appear as circles with the profile name of the account who’s story it is underneath them.
How can Instagram Stories be used to benefit your company?
- Increase Reach and Frequency
According to Sprout Social, the percentage of adults in the U.S. that use Instagram is 37% and the number of users that are active is around one BILLION people! Using Instagram Stories will help increase marketing and advertising reach given this large number of users. The more people that see an Instagram Story, the more potential followers and customers.
Since a profile page can have many different Instagram Stories each day, this feature will also increase the frequency an audience is exposed to a company and their message. A customer could view a story or message, multiple times a day, every day of the week.
- Branding
Each company has a unique style, format and logo they utilize in any content they produce, called branding. Instagram Stories are a great way to get a business’s brand even further associated with their company. Photos on an Instagram Story can be taken with a company logo in them for brand association, or pictures of a company’s location can be used and tagged with specific geography making it easy to visit the business’s location. Even photos of products or specific sales could be used in an Instagram Story. These are great ways to get a customer exposed to a company brand and business.
Companies can also create their own hashtags called branded hashtags. These hashtags can be shared on a business’s Instagram Story and allows the user viewing to click on and see other posts related to that business’s branded hashtag.
- Call to Action
Instagram Stories also allow utilization of a call to action. If an Instagram Story is selling a product a “Shop Now” button can be added at the bottom of that story. This allows the user to immediately shop on the company’s page or website and purchase the product illustrated by the Instagram Story. The call to action could be “Shop Now,” but could even be something like “Learn More” to simply drive traffic to an “About” page on a company profile page.
No matter the company, Instagram Stories is clearly a great asset and tool in any social media campaign to brand a business and further sales.
