Due to Facebook’s shift in emphasis away from user-generated material and towards branded content, many businesses have turned to Instagram as their primary social media marketing and advertising platform. In fact, Instagram already boasts more than 25 million company profiles across the world. Over three-quarters of American businesses have an Instagram presence (75.3%). Using Instagram for Business as part of a company’s digital advertising and/or marketing plan can help that company reach its audience growth, engagement, brand awareness, and loyalty goals.
There is a lot of room for experimentation when using Instagram for Business due to the wide variety of available features and strategies. But if done properly and efficiently, the payoff can be substantial.
Tell Me About the Type and Subject Matter of Your Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are perfect for experimenting with new forms of expression due to the fact that their content disappears after 24 hours. But it doesn’t mean they can’t have a signature tone and style that sets them apart from the rest. You want consumers to be able to recognise your brand anytime one of your Stories appears in their feeds. This encompasses aesthetic choices like typeface, colour, filter, and so on. Using a third-party application like Canva to achieve this level of uniformity is highly recommended. You can use the platform’s many tools, such as the Colour Wheel, Font Pairing, and Magic Resize, to make content that is both aesthetically beautiful and functional.
How Often Do You Update Your Instagram Story?
Instagram Stories, in contrast to ordinary Instagram posts, are meant to be viewed as a series rather than as individual images or videos. While anyone can share a single photo or video in the Instagram Stories portion of their feed, most users expect to see a string of updates. The general consensus among industry professionals is that a three-to-seven post sequence works best. The majority of viewers lose interest after the seventh minute. This series of tales should be as little as 35 seconds and as long as nearly 2 minutes, depending on the medium(s) used. Even while Instagram Stories feature more lighthearted content than regular Instagram posts, a lot of thought and preparation still goes into making them. But this also means you shouldn’t promise to post seven times a day, seven days a week if you can’t realistically deliver on that schedule.
The Best Times to Post Instagram Stories
Finding the optimal time to post requires knowing both the nature of the information and how often it will be published. There is, for better or for worse, no ideal time to post Instagram Stories. During a live event, for instance, the content you can share is limited to what is happening in real time. Other times, it depends on when your target audience is most active. However, due to the transient nature of the information, you’ll need to pay close attention to the specific times and days of the week that you post in order to maximise your reach, views, and engagement.
Growth Hacks for Instagram Stories
Hashtags, location tags, @-mentions, polling stickers, and emoji sliders are just a few examples of interactive components that may be used in Stories to get your audience talking and having fun with your content. Interactive stickers have become a popular way for both individuals and brands to communicate with their fan bases. It’s estimated that over 60% of Instagram businesses that use Stories also use at least one interactive feature every single month. Here are some examples of engaging content you may add to your Instagram Stories.
Including Keywords and Geotags
Instagram hashtags or location tags are among the most effective strategies to increase your audience organically. All content connected with a hashtag can be viewed by anyone who follows or searches for it on Instagram. Your material will be more visible to users who aren’t already following you. Similarly, if you include location tags, you will see a boost in traffic because so many people conduct localised searches.
Sliders & Stickers for Expressive Polling
When given the chance, Instagram users are always eager to add their two cents. That’s why it’s useful to ask for their input by posing a question or posing a statement. Thankfully, you can do this with stickers in Instagram Stories. Stickers for Instagram Stories have been shown to improve video views by 83% on average. Stickers like these should be used with caution and only when additional information has to be conveyed.
Advertorial GIFs
Using branded GIFs is a fun approach to inject some character into your branded Stories. In addition to using GIFs to highlight a certain section of your Story, you can also use them to incorporate call-to-action terms like “link in bio,” “sound on,” or “swipe-up.” They facilitate conveying information to the target group on what they should do next.
They can be made more visually appealing with the addition of any number of stickers or images based on popular culture. In a similar vein, Giphy allows you to make your own branded GIFs. They are less time-consuming to make than you may imagine, and they help spread the word about your company while maintaining cohesion in your social media updates.
Statistics for Instagram Stories
I really like what you’ve said so far. However, in addition to what you’ve already mentioned, there are many other ways to increase your audience on Instagram Stories. Is there anything you can write about below?
Business Influencer Takeovers, Brand Partnerships, and Announcements, Videos pinned to a highlight reel, discussion-starting questions, Sliders, counters, and buttons for responses Streamlining your efforts using premade, regularly updated templates, announcing a NEW POST, running a contest, or going LIVE on Instagram Stories.