Need a little help standing out on Instagram? With over 500 million active users – companies are starting to pay attention to the positive impact of using Instagram stories in their marketing strategy. This is a great way to interact with consumers and increase your engagement.
If you remember, in our previous blog post, 8 reasons you should be using video for your business, we mentioned the importance of using video for your business marketing! According to Forbes, Instagram is now considered the best social media platform for customer engagement – and you should take advantage of that!
While it is still good to post at least once, daily, on your IG feed… it is highly suggested that you start using your Instagram stories function more and more (still don’t know what it is? Check this out!)
With that said – we have compiled a few really great ideas you can use so you can start using the Instagram stories feature! (TIP: These are also really great ideas for Facebook Live videos.)
- Sales and special offers: Run special offers on your Instagram story! Add great photos or video with specials and promo codes etc. Make sure you include a call-to-action (lead them to your website or where/how to buy). At this time – verified IG accounts do have the ability to include clickable links in their stories. Non-verified accounts will unfortunately have to wait until IG rolls this out to the public. However – when it does, this can definitely skyrocket sales. Especially if you have made your presence known already. So – start now!
- Provide Tips: Keep your audience always coming back for more. Offer them tips (daily or weekly). Not only will you position yourself as an expert in your field / niche – you will leave your audience with valuable and actionable information that they will appreciate.
- FAQ’s: Have you noticed that there are certain questions you always get asked in regards to your profession or particular products you offer (or that are offered in your niche/field). Answer those questions on a FAQ / Q&A on Instagram Stories. Remember – these stories only stay up 24 hours – so you can also download the video and share it later on your IG/FB feeds.
- Behind the scenes: You have probably seen some companies already do this – and you know what – followers LOVE IT! Who doesn’t like to see some behind the scenes footage of their favorite business’ or how stuff is made (like a behind the scenes factory tour!). Give them a glimpse! Also – remember, people love sharing things they find that are awesome and unique. So if your office is pet-friendly for example – let others see the office fun with the four-legged employee’s =).
- Guest spots: Have fun guests or influencers who can help you promote your business, deals, answer questions, tips, DIY tutorials etc.? Let a guest take over for a day and host your IG stories! Don’t be afraid to think outside the box for this!
- Give a demo: Can you demo one of your products or services? For example – if you are a beauty company, maybe give a little DIY demo of how your new lipstick formula doesn’t rub off. This will surely attract and inspire followers and sales!
- Celebrate “National Days”: Take advantage of all the fun and silly “national days” (like National Hot Dog Day or National Donut Day, etc.) and fill your stories with fun and relatable “holiday” images. Get inspired with this National Day Calendar! Followers LOVE these posts, BTW!
TIP: Make sure you are adding your location (City and State) as Instagram does allow its users to find and search for stories based on location (and hashtags)! Make sure you are taking advantage and allowing yourself to be discoverable.
Has this inspired you to create a few Instagram stories of your own? Let us know in the comments if you have already started using the stories function and how that has worked for you!