Events — 27 Sep 2022
How to Improve Your Reach Using Instagram Stories?
Out of many cool features, Instagram Stories is one of the platform’s most used and liked features. According to stats, more than 500 million people use Instagram Stories regularly.
It goes without saying that most Instagram users have a sharp eye for new things. 58% of users say they become more interested in an item or brand after seeing it in their Story. At the same time, half of Story users visit a brand’s website to buy something after seeing it in their feed.
Knowing this, it’s not surprising that between 15% to 25% of Story viewers actually click on the links included in a story. A not insignificant number. The platform offers an incredible reach for brands thanks to its more than two billion monthly active users. This impressive reach continues to grow, with new users continuing to join the photo-sharing platform in the last quarter alone.
When it comes to using Instagram for marketing, the Story feature is a no-brainer. In-built features like boomerangs, add music, and ask question stickers make your Stories more interactive and capture your audiences’ attention. Apps like Instagram Video Maker can also help you make interesting videos to upload to your Story.
Instagram Stories are vertical, full-screen images and videos that disappear 24 hours after posting. They appear at the top left corner of the home screen rather than in the feed. You can use add-ons like music, stickers, GIFs, polls, countdowns, hashtags, and much more to customize these Stories and make them fun.
Such add-ons are a great way to make your Stories more interactive and appealing to users as they swipe through them. Take a look at the tips below to help improve your reach.
The Instagram Story feature offers a unique way for brands to collaborate with famous influencers and content creators. As a brand, you can team up with another brand to reach a wider audience or approach an influencer whose audience can benefit from your product.
Take the example of Content Guardians. They are a small-scale start-up whose Instagram account centers around remote work and collaborative pieces.
During the Pandemic, when the whole world was working from home, Hopper HQ was working from another country. This created an unbelievable opportunity for collaboration. ‘A Day In The Life Of A Remote Team’ series was recorded in partnership with Content Guardians. They posted it as an Instagram Story and got massive appreciation.
Want to take full advantage of these tips? Start by making sure your Instagram account is public and for business.
An Instagram business account gives you access to many valuable features not available for private accounts. These features include:
A professional account has a variety of useful features for content creators. But brands should always opt for a business account. So, if you haven’t already, go to your Instagram settings and switch to a business account.
Knowing your audience is an important step in leveling up your branding using Instagram stories. A little research can help you figure out your target audience, their pain points, and how you can use Instagram’s Story feature to reach them.
Stories have amazing features like Polls, Ask Me a Question, and many more that offer an excellent way to know your audience. You will be able to know all about their likes, dislikes, and what they would like to see on your feed.
Instagram Stories is also a great platform for doing market research if your target audience is people in their 20s. Make sure to use this data when creating content for both your feed and Instagram promotions.
Creative Instagram Stories attract more clients than dull and boring ones. Don’t fall into the second category!
There are many types of Augmented reality (AR) filters available on Instagram that you can use to make your stories more interactive and fun. From Retro film to Old School camera, you can use any of them to jazz up your boring snaps.
You can also experiment with Layout mode and create a collage-style graphic using up to six photos per story. You can add stickers, music, or text to your story for extra effects and make them more interesting.
Moreover, there are many different types of fonts available. You can play with them and even add a Halo or sparkling effect to the text.
Many marketers don’t think highly of Instagram Stories. Still, they are a great tool for making announcements about new products, staff, and general updates.
Stories offer an excellent opportunity to post behind the scenes that won’t take a permanent spot on your feed. This makes your followers feel like they’re getting to know you and your brand. Posting behind the scenes is a great way to keep your followers up to date with what’s happening in your business.
You can also post other updates of your day on your Stories to make them more appealing to your followers. This can range from packaging an item to playing a prank on your colleague. Such Stories help convey the human side of your business and support brand care and responsibility.
Instagram Story Highlights is a collection of past Stories that stay on your profile permanently. These can be found right under your profile bio.
Also referred to as “albums,” they’re one of the best ways to promote your product or service.
To take full advantage of this feature, make a collection of pictures, videos, and posts dedicated to your product or service. Then add it as a Story Highlight. This helps new customers browse your profile and explore what you have to offer instead of scrolling through your entire feed.
You can then direct these new customers to sign up for your newsletter or visit your website. Once there, they can buy your product. This method of tagging products in your highlights using stickers helps you get more sales without being direct.
Your logo represents your brand, and using it as a profile picture helps improve brand awareness. It gives legitimacy and gives your audience an idea of your brand personality.
However, an Instagram profile photo should be 110×110 pixels, managed inside a circle. There isn’t much room for a lengthy tagline or complex logo in this size. Hence, something simple but catchy is the way to go.
Keep in mind that the profile image is displayed as a circle. So, if your logo is a square, make sure it has a high resolution.
A Boomerang is a high-quality mini video that plays back and forth on a loop. You can post a Boomerang to your Instagram Story either using the Boomerang app or through Instagram’s built-in Boomerang feature. This is a fun and creative way to market your brand while increasing your engagement.
Another useful Instagram feature to increase your visibility is Instagram Live. Live sessions offer an extraordinary way for brands to interact with their target audience. This drives sales and traffic.
Your followers get a notification when you go live. And a small “LIVE” badge appears on your profile picture at the top of their feed. Not to mention, live videos have their own ‘Top live’ section on the Explore page. You can get featured here if you get enough views on your Live video. This further increases your reach and visibility.
Adding a hashtag to your Instagram Story makes it discoverable to a wide crowd.
Once you begin typing, Instagram will start proposing to you some well-known hashtags. Brands can use these to reach a wider audience.
You can add up to 10 hashtags to your Story. If you decide to do so, size them down and conceal them behind stickers, GIFs, and emoticons.
It goes without saying that Instagram is a visual medium. But that doesn’t mean you can disregard your captions. What you say about an image is just as significant as the image itself.
Like your visuals, your captions also need to be consistent across your stories. If it’s an image, you can write something to describe it. If it’s a video, you can write down the subtitles for people who aren’t watching it with sound on.
Statistics show that only 60% of users watch Instagram Stories with the sound on. That implies that 40% of people watch with the sound switched off. Assuming you are posting recordings, captions are an extraordinary method for making your content reach that 40%.
Want to use Instagram auto subtitles for your video Stories? Tap the sticker icon before uploading the video. Then choose the Captions sticker.
In case the auto-generated captions are wrong, you can tap on the text to alter it. You can also customize the text style of the captions and resize them as you would do with any other sticker.
The Question feature in Stories is a great way for brands to invite their followers to ask questions to get feedback. This helps brands to create a bond with their customers and get to know them.
What happens when brands show that they care about their customer’s opinions and are available to resolve their questions? People see them as humane and responsible, which increases customer loyalty. Not only that but asking your followers thoughtful questions opens the conversation, which increases engagement and traffic.
Once upon a time, Instagram allowed brands to add external links to their Story. This feature became available when they reached 10k followers.
But the latest update allows everyone to add external links to their Story irrespective of the number of followers. As Instagram generally limits its users to one permanent link in their bio, this new update is a serious prize.
The Link sticker allows you to redirect viewers to your website or blog. This helps your business get more views and sales. You can also use this feature to promote events, videos, or curated posts, increasing overall traffic and engagement.
Here’s how to make the most out of this feature. Add a call to action in your Stories like ‘SHOP NOW,’ ‘Start FREE TRIAL,’ ‘BOOK TODAY,’ etc., so people know where to click.
Feel free to add Location stickers to your Story. This is because doing so boosts your ability to reach new customers and gain exposure. This is especially true if you are a local business looking for nearby clients.
Adding your location on platforms like Instagram and Facebook lets your customers know where to find you. This helps increase your reach. You can also use this feature to find content shared by customers marked within your area.
In this article, we shared a lot of different ways for businesses to use Instagram Stories to help increase their business growth and improve engagement. You can incorporate these tips when promoting your work on Instagram, especially on Story, and you’ll be able to 2x both your reach and sales in no time. Not only businesses, but content creators can also take advantage of these tips and tricks.
Written by
Valeria Santalla is a content marketer that loves to write helpful marketing insights for all kinds of business owners. She currently collaborates at <a href="https://placeit.net/">Placeit</a>, one of the largest logo maker and design template libraries on the internet.
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