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The Power of the Instagram Story

Not all that long ago, everyone was up in arms about Instagram adding a “story” feature to the app. A wave of Millenials and Gen Zs even took to posting their Snapchat usernames on their Instagram stories in a comical protest. But after accepting the feature and beginning to use it, those same people have contributed to Instagram far surpassing its competitor at an average of 250 million posts a day, compared to Snapchat’s average of 166 million. So, how can a business use this enormous platform to market itself?

Use the “Swipe Up” Feature

Instagram Stories thrive because of their “top of mind” nature. If you’re selling a product or service, stories are the perfect way to stay on top of a consumer’s mind, allowing them to make a purchase or order a service by simply “swiping up” and entering your website in seconds. If you target a younger audience, this is the perfect method to boost your business’s online shopping numbers. Keep in mind that you must have at least 10K followers to enable this feature. 

Plan Story Takeovers  

Story takeovers are useful for a number of reasons, a few of our favorites being how they allow you to interact with the community, provide a personal appeal, and give insight and personality to your brand. Take FabFitFun for example. They could post all day long trying to encourage women to order their monthly subscription box, but instead, they have celebrities take over their Instagram Story and open their boxes while talking to the audience. A woman seeing her “role model,” like Jessie James Decker, open her FabFitFun box makes the products far more appealing than a cold sales pitch. FabFitFun, and many other companies, use this method often because it works.

Create Highlights

Instagram stories no longer have to disappear after 24 hours. You can now add any picture, video, or boomerang on your story into an Instagram highlight. Highlights stay on your homepage and can be viewed forever. They can be organized by events, products, services, dates, or any other possible category you can think of. Bonus – there is no limit to how much can be added to each highlight. This is a great feature that allows your Instagram Story (and all the hard work you spent on it) to permanently stay on your page.

Start Using Instagram Stories

With 250 million people posting to and watching Instagram Stories each day, it is imperative that your business uses this feature in order to stay relevant, develop a recognizable brand, and connect with your target audience. It’s also fun, so why not get started today?! Give us a shout if you need any help along the way.