9 ways to use Stories for a business account
Instagram’s Stories feature was launched in August 2016. It quickly became popular not only among private users, but also as another effective tool for promoting a business.
based on photos and videos. It is valid for 24 hours, deactivation occurs automatically.
Why use Stories when promoting your products or services? Instagram recently released statistics showing that 250 million people use this feature every day. About 70% of all stories are viewed with sound, and the ability to use the @ (mention) sign allows you to go directly to the profile.
All types of stories can be conditionally divided into 2 categories: advertising for the target audience and manifestations for profile subscribers. The first is aimed at attracting new users, and the second is aimed at increasing loyalty, forming stable connections, which is much more important and valuable for business.
As for the content of Stories, there are 10 main ideas. This does not mean that all of them are right for you, but variety is also necessary.
1. Backstage or Behind the Scenes
Essentially, this is the process of creating a product or providing a service. After all, many users subscribed to you are interested in seeing how a photo session is going on, a bouquet is being created, a dress is being sewn, furniture is being assembled.
Among the advantages of this type of content:
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- You show that your company is not only a pretty picture, but real people ;
- Demonstrate transparency of the process that everything is done according to the rules.
Don’t show your employees banging on keys or doing bookkeeping – users are unlikely to enjoy it.
2. Announcements
Are you planning to hold an entertainment event, webinar, promotion, launch a new product? Then telling about it in Stories is an opportunity to inform a much larger audience than just posting the same information in the feed. What you can use as an announcement:
- a prepared poster;
- a video message inviting you to attend the event;
- a series of short videos on why you need to come to the event.
The main thing is to get creative with the content, make it interesting and memorable, so that you want to go where you were invited.
3. Getting to know what’s new
Stories is the place where you can do it most effectively. It is not at all necessary to describe all the advantages or features of a new product, line or service. The main goal is to generate interest, so such a demonstration should be non-trivial. For example, you can show the “unpacking process”, the product in action, demonstrate its important technical features.
4. Reviews or work results
Reviews from other users are one of the main factors that you trust when deciding whether to buy products or services. If others like it, then you should be contacted. At the very least, you won’t cheat. For this reason, ask your customers to give you feedback with photos of them using or trying on your products.
Another option is to compare “before” and “after”. This is more related to services, for example, restoration of something, dentistry, cosmetology, hairdressing or makeup – there are a huge number of options.
5. Prize drawing
If you ran a promotion on Instagram that included a prize drawing, you can make this process as transparent as possible in “stories”. There are a number of randomizing sites that independently choose the winners (the principle of random numbers). Record their work on video and post it in a story. Then you will not have any questions about objectivity.
6. The process of resolving issues
No, this is not about showdowns, but about taking care of the client. For example, in one of the reviews you found a user’s complaint that the product was ordered for a gift, but “what a pity that there is no special gift box, because you had to suffer, look for something suitable.” We are not going to talk about the fact that this, in principle, cannot be ignored.
As soon as you find a solution to the problem that has arisen, run in Stories. And do not forget to indicate that you heard the complaint and was quick to find ways to get rid of it. Believe me, your customers will appreciate this concern.
7. Conducting polls
We are not talking about complex research, but getting the opinion of subscribers about which color of the label is better, what kind of coffee they prefer, whether they use any product. Such surveys allow:
- to increase the engagement of the target audience;
- to increase subscriber loyalty;
- to understand development trends and consumer preferences.
8. Question-answer
A kind of interactive that allows anyone who wants to ask questions to the manager, business owner or, for example, a technologist. This is informative for users, because they find out what interests them, and also useful for business, because closer contact with the audience is established, openness is shown.
9. Product by face
Do not sell the product, sell the benefits from its use. And to better understand them, show how your products can be applied. For example, what will a room look like if you glue your 3D wallpaper, a cozy bedroom – with bed linen. You have a fairly trivial product, but do you know how you can use it, besides the usual methods? Then feel free to share it.
Here are some Instagram Stories tips you can use
As the statistics of any business page show, stories gain more views than posts in the feed, so you shouldn’t even doubt whether it is worth using such a tool. But to increase efficiency, it is worth considering a few more points:
- Make the content interesting. For example, the backstage can even be filmed on a mobile phone. The quality of the picture is not as important here as its content. This will at least make you stand out from your competitors. But don’t go overboard with creativity.
- Use hashtags. They not only allow you to quickly go to the desired account, but also improve search results.
- Stickers, geolocation, all sorts of effects make videos or photos more “alive”.
- Do not spontaneously upload materials to Stories , like for main publications, prepare a plan placement. For some stories, you will need to collect material.
Summing it up
Regardless of the type and size of business without Stories, Instagram promotion will be less effective. Still in doubt? Then try posting the same photo in your feed and Stories and see the result for yourself.
Don’t be afraid to be funny – your subscribers will appreciate it. But content doesn’t have to be just entertainment – you are a serious company. There should also be some benefit to the user from such placement, otherwise your stories will no longer be watched.
The effectiveness of this tool has been proven by world-renowned companies. For example, LG, Burt’s Bees, Away, Huffington Post and even NASA. If this is an organic placement, then its cost in the end will be minimal (all costs are only for preparing a photo or video).