Like millions of people out there, I had the following question in my mind when the Instagram stories feature was launched back in November 2016:
What’s the purpose?
Everything seemed perfect about the Instagram app. Killer design, intuitive user interface, and a collection of handy features – we seldom wanted anything new in the utility.
Amidst this, Instagram stories features appeared an impulsive decision to me that Instagram had taken just to compete with its nemesis Snapchat.
However, if I look at the feature after exactly one and a half years later, I realised that I had underestimated Instagram Stories. All thanks to marketing experts who realised its potential, the feature has become an effective marketing tool that many businesses are using to promote their businesses.
This also includes leading IT firms, tech giants, and app development firms in UK, US, UAE, and Singapore.
Now, the question is:
Why Instagram stories are so popular?
There are a couple of reasons behind this, such as:
- Creating stories takes very little effort
- They appear more trustworthy and authentic compared to Instagram posts
- Instagram stories have loads of features and special AR effects
- It’s possible to conduct polls and surveys in Instagram stories
- Instagram stories stay in user’s feed only for 24 hours and disappear later, which is good as they don’t clutter the newsfeed of your followers.
Hence, Instagram stories prove to be a better alternative to main posts and can give more boost to your business.
So, how to use Instagram stories for brand promotion?
- Test new ideas
You can’t do much experiment on Instagram posts. A slight change in strategy can cause major impact on traffic. There’s a probability that your followers may escalate or some people may unfollow you.
You probably wouldn’t want to take a chance.
Instagram stories offers you a chance to test new strategies before putting them into action. All you need is to create a post based on your new strategy and publish it in your stories.
After that wait for the audience response.
If the response is good, go ahead with main publishing. Otherwise, you need to make it better.
- Conduct polls
Poles are yet another way to generate user engagement, boost traffic, and improve brand value. They are more interactive, can be easily conducted, and more people take interest in participating in them.
So, keep conducting polls and surveys from time to time.
- Ask for suggestions
There is yet another alternative if you don’t want to do much hard work, i.e. directly ask for suggestions. Not all of them but some will reply and come up with good suggestions which you can implement for your business growth.
- Upload user generated content
Uploading user generated content is a clever strategy. You don’t have to invest any resources. All you need is to present the content created by users to your audience and mention those users.
Try it, the strategy can give you great results.
- Mention other people in stories
Instagram stories are great way to mention your special customers, favorite brands, and influencers. While it will help these people get noticed, you’ll get in touch with these people. Also, the followers of these people will be interested in checking out your profile, which will ultimately increase your traffic.
- Interact on the stories of other people
It’s a tried and tested strategy, which helped grow my Instagram handle in a small amount of time. And guess what?
The strategy requires little effort for execution and guarantee great results. So, try it.
- Go Live
What can be a better than going live and interacting with your followers face to face? This improves your credibility, builds trust between you both and increases the chances that your product will be purchased.
So, go live often and here’s a tip. Be prepared! Followers can ask anything.
Also, here are a few things you can try:
- Run contests
- Host Q&A sessions
- Host talk shows
Verdict
Instagram stories have great potential. If properly used, they can help grow your business magically . All you need is to follow these tips and implement them in your workstyle. Also, feel free to ask if you have any queries.
