Have you considered using Instagram Stories in your social media marketing plan? Here are 6 easy ways to add them to your Instagram strategy.
[updated: 9-15-2020]
Instagram Stories now has around 500 million daily active users (from the Instagram for Business site), so it’s become a major player in the social media universe!
Instagram Stories are really a platform-within-a-platform because they contain unique features, tools, and functions than your regular Instagram feed.
It may seem overwhelming to think about adding one more thing to your social media marketing plan (especially if Instagram is relatively new to you), but with the growing popularity of Instagram and Instagram Stories, it’s worth it to test them out for your business.
So here are a few easy ways to add Stories to the mix:
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Start watching other users’ Stories: industry leaders, peers, and accounts your target audience would be interested in.
You may get some inspiration by checking out other accounts and how often they post new Stories.
**Note that users can see who has viewed their Stories, so keep that in mind if you’re researching competitors.**
2. Make a goal to post consistently.
For example, start out with a goal of just one new Story per day.
Each Story lasts for 24 hours, so if you post to Stories at the same time every day, there will not be a lag in your content.
3. Keep it simple: don’t over-commit yourself.
If you normally post photos on Instagram, then start out by posting photos on Stories too.
If you’re not using video or not comfortable with it yet, don’t create another hurdle for yourself from the start.
4. Use a niche-related hashtag and a location (if your target audience is local) in each Story.
This increases the chances of your Stories showing up in the Explore section of Instagram, which means your reach may increase.
When you’re doing some research in #1, you can take note of hashtags used on other accounts or click on some niche-related hashtags to see how popular they are.
5. Plan ahead and take photos in bulk.
Since you can share a photo from your phone’s camera to Stories (instead of having to take a photo inside of Stories on-the-spot), you can take a bunch of photos one day or at one event.
Then create a folder with those photos to be used on Stories, and they’re ready to post over the next few weeks/months, whenever you are.
6. Experiment with Stories’ features that are working for others.
For example, statistics show that using the polls or questions feature in Stories results in higher engagement.
Or if you have 10,0000 or more Followers, you can use the “swipe up” feature as a call-to-action; but if you don’t have that many Followers, simply use the text overlay feature and create your own call-to-action:
“Send me a message for more information”
“Follow my account for more content like this” (and then type out your Instagram username i.e. @terryleague in your Story)
Keep in mind that you’ll want to test out a few different strategies for Instagram Stories, and be prepared to change strategies as things change on the platform.
Here are a few strategy ideas:
- Make your regular Instagram posts photos and use your Stories for quick videos
- Use your Stories for Q & A sessions or demonstrations
- Share posts from your Instagram account into your Stories strategy to save time: you may decide to post Stories 5 days a week, so 2 of those days you’re sharing a post from your regular feed, and 3 days a week you create Stories-only content.
- Let your Stories be a more casual, relaxed, human-interest platform while your regular posts are more “business-like”.
So what’s holding you back from using Instagram Stories?
Check out my Pinterest Board: Instagram Tips for more helpful resources and use the ideas shared here to put your strategy together.
If you have questions about how to use Instagram Stories or create a strategy for your business or brand, contact me for a free consultation: Free Consultation
