Facebook and Instagram stories are quick updates that disappear after 24 hours. Instagram Stories Ads pop up between users’ Stories in a single photo or video up to 15 seconds long and lasts for 24 hours from the time of updating.
Instagram Stories has surpassed 400 million daily active users in June 2018 dominated by a younger audience of 18-34-year-old. No doubt, Instagram Stories is worth a platform that many brands will want to be on and quickly. The question is, how do you attract new followers to watch and engage with your brand’s content on the platform. You can tell your followers to click the link in your bio, follow your account, discover more information to drive traffic to your site or Facebook page.
How to increase your Instagram and Facebook Story views?
How your stories gain a larger audience? There are some insights and tips to consider while you are making stories.
Thumbnail
The most important thing to remember when uploading a video is to choose a thumbnail that will look good as a square even if you are posting a 9×16 video.
Hashtags
Hashtags make your content discoverable. The limit is up to 30 in the main body of your image’s caption, or in the comments which is more than enough.
Special fonts to your bio
Apart from adding emojis to your Instagram bio, tag other Instagram accounts, and link to your website, you can now change how the fonts look, by using a third-party site such as LingoJam, and copy-pasting the text into your profile bio.
Product Usage
Here you provide a video of your product in use before the customer commit. Customers like to see how a product is easy or difficult to use. For a better option to display your product like just uploading a demo video or a marketing video, put up a video of some user using your product or service in everyday use.
Stories
Subscription dog accessory brand, BarkBox created an “interview” story which had collective clips from a “doggie interview” between an employee and a delightful little pug. It was hilarious which their customers loved. You could come up with a role-playing scenario that your customers regularly face where your imagination is the only limit.
Instead of going with any story, tell a story which is likely to resonate with your social media audience, which includes a reference to your product or company culture.
Behind-the-Scenes Content
Fans love a more in-depth, more intimate and authentic look into something they love and appreciate. It can be a fascinating experience for the followers. If you are onto some brand or business which hosts events or sports “behind the scenes” content might be compelling to your fans.
UCLA Athletics uses Instagram Stories to show an audience what goes on behind the scenes at practices and games.
Create tutorials
Brands, like Etsy, are creating tutorial Instagram Stories and capitalizing on their audience’s innate desire to create the things they want instantly and seamlessly.
Shout out to followers
Few gestures are as satisfying for the fan of a particular brand than seeing their work recognized by the brand they love.
During Starbuck’s #RedCupContest, the coffeehouse giant invited users to share content which featured their iconic red cup. The best posts included into an Instagram Story that gave shoutouts to the individual creators.
CTAs
CTAs embedded in videos generate 380% more leads than CTAs in more traditional places like a sidebar or on a website. Using Instagram Stories, you can point your followers to your website, to a specific product page, or get them to use a hashtag to get them interacting with your brand and buying your stuff.
Ask for feedback
The Instagram story has a new feature that lets you ask questions (or anything else) and get responses from your followers and audience. Earlier when you posted a story and asking your followers to DM you, it just makes it all easier and apparent for that to happen. It has drastically improved the conversation potential of Instagram as a platform which it somewhat lacked till now, which platforms as Twitter did well.
You’re always brimming with ideas, new content or things to try while making your stories. Is it a good idea to get your audience’s feedback to help you improve as a creator?
Some of the Brands that know how to use Instagram Stories
Interesting till now. Then let’s walk through some successful Stories which showcase a range of successful techniques used by brands to excite and engage their audiences.
Let’s check them out!
Daily Harvest
Daily Harvest sells unprocessed foods in frozen forms. Through Instagram Stories they show new possibilities within frozen foods through a rapid series of tantalizing images. Daily Harvest also highlights the benefit of its service with a strategic headline.
Vogue Magazine
Vogue Magazine created a story taking advantage of a newsworthy event happening live- with a few images and a prompt to see the full gallery of images on its website.
Shein – When You Got a Lot To Show
SheIn is a women’s fashion brand which uses this Story to flip through a series of new swimsuit prints. The pictures quickly show the breadth of Sheln’s patterns before the user scrolls down.
Hopper – Offer an Easy-To-Get Reward
Your ad doesn’t have to be very complex.No doubt Contests, quizzes, have been highly successful in getting clicks, likes, and driving changes. Hopper is merely offering a tantalizing reward — one swipe away that can lead viewers to take that easy extra step.
Follain – The Power of Silence
“Around 15% of viewers watch Facebook videos with the sound on “according to a 2017 study. Chances that your audience will most likely see your Story in silent mode, the beauty brand Follian has figured out a way to deliver your message visually. Rather than merely describing their products and pricing. Follain starts this Story with a question: “How Clean Is Your Beauty Routine?” also incorporating a vivid and specific CTA “Swipe up to claim,” pointing users in the direction of an enormous discount.
