Introduction
The Instagram Stories feature, which was first introduced in 2016, has grown rapidly in popularity among brands and businesses. While it’s still not nearly as widely used as the platform’s other features (like feed posts), there are plenty of good reasons to begin using the tool today. If you’re wondering how to get started with Instagram Stories or unsure if they’re right for your brand, here are six ways that businesses can use them:
Teasers
Teasers are a great way to build anticipation and excitement in your audience. They should be short, sweet and visually appealing with an easy-to-understand message that’s shareable. You can use them to tease updates on products or services or upcoming events you’re hosting, as well as sneak peeks at what’s coming up next for the brand.
When creating a teaser video for Instagram stories, keep in mind these tips:
- Keep it simple—no need for lengthy explanations or instructions here! Keep the focus on one topic so viewers don’t lose interest too quickly.
- Make sure your content is high quality—the quality of your video matters just as much as any other visual content you post on Instagram stories because it provides context for how things will look when people view them later down the line (e.g., if they decide they want more information about something). To ensure everything looks good enough before sharing it with others online via social media platforms like Facebook Live or Periscope where there’s no editing capabilities available yet available yet available.
Campaign Launches
- Use Instagram Stories to build hype and excitement. Launch parties, product launches, and other notable events are always a good idea for brands to showcase on their Instagram Story. Do you have an upcoming event that you’d like to share with your followers? Use the app’s live video feature to stream the event for all of your fans to see!
- Show behind the scenes footage of the campaign launch. Even if your brand isn’t hosting a party or other special event for its product launch, there’s still plenty that can be done with this type of content on Instagram Story: post behind-the-scenes videos featuring employees at work or closeups of products in development stages; share photos from different locations where employees will be traveling; even record audio clips from meetings where new ideas are being discussed! You never know what kinds of things people may find interesting about how things work behind closed doors until they actually see it firsthand—and then they’ll love sharing those experiences with others too through social media platforms such as Facebook Stories (for desktop) and especially Snapchat (for mobile).
Behind-The-Scenes Sneak Peeks
One of the most popular ways to use Instagram Stories is to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at your brand. This can include sneak peeks at upcoming products, or even just a setting shot that shows how your offices operate. For example, if you’re having an event in the next few days, consider sharing some photos of your staff getting ready for it or rehearsing with them.
The best part about this strategy is that it gives audiences who aren’t able to attend something like an event (or perhaps don’t want to) a chance to see what’s going on without actually being there physically themselves. It also allows them access into parts of your company that might otherwise be off limits unless someone was invited into those specific areas during their visit.
Exclusive Offers
Through social media management you can attract new customers by offering exclusive offers. If you’re an e-commerce business, this means giving your customer a reason to follow your brand and come back to shop. For example, if a customer follows a clothing store on Instagram and sees something they like in their stories, they could be offered an exclusive discount coupon code. This will make them want to buy from the brand because they feel special and are getting more out of the same experience than other users who aren’t following that account’s story!
Interactive Q&As
- Ask questions that start the story.
- Ask people to comment on the question and share their answers in the comments.
- Use polls to gather data. This is an especially good way to get feedback from your audience on new products or ideas you’ve been working on. For example, if you’re running a contest or conducting a survey, create an Instagram Story with a poll embedded into it so viewers can vote their favorite option right away!
- Use the Q&A feature to get feedback from viewers who may not be able to respond on social media (e.g., those who are deaf).
Live Events
Live Events
Instagram Stories are a great way to promote your brand’s upcoming live event, or to use the platform to engage with attendees at the actual event. By creating a few live videos on Instagram Stories, you can build hype about the event and drive people towards it before it even happens. You should also think about how you can use Instagram Stories after the event is over so that attendees can continue following their favorite brands on social media—and hopefully purchase something in the future!
To help you capture these moments, we have created an entire guide on how brands are using Instagram Story Live Videos and Hashtags for Live Events.
Businesses should use Instagram Stories to engage with their audience and increase brand awareness.
As you can see, Instagram Stories is a powerful tool for businesses to market and promote their products and services. However, as it stands now, this feature is only available to select users (brands). But if you want to be one of those select users, and learn how to use the Instagram Story feature effectively in your business strategy, then we recommend reading our article: How To Use Instagram Stories For Business Marketing With Tips & Tricks.
Conclusion
We hope this article has given you some ideas for how to use Instagram Stories. As with any new technology, there are lots of possibilities and not much guidance on what works best. But we feel confident that these six ideas will help businesses find success on Instagram, whether they’re trying to engage an existing audience, build trust with potential customers or simply showcase their product in a new way. Grab now a chance to showcase your brand through social media campaigns.
