Make the most of your Instagram story
How to use Instagram stories to get more love
Instagram story tips you need to know
From the moment Instagram introduced ‘stories’ they knew they had a huge hit on their hands. In fact, in September 2017, Instagram revealed it had 800 million monthly active users with 500 million being daily users. These figures put the outdated Snapchat to shame. Using stories, socially savvy businesses can collate pictures and video footage into short slideshows. You can pretty them up with text, graphics, emojis, GIFs, stickers, hashtags, location tags and filters. When you post content to your profile, it’s there forever for anyone to look at. The beauty of stories is that you can have a little bit of fun and your ‘story’ will disappear after 24 hours. In today’s world where people want to know the real you in business, you should continue to post more ‘serious’ content on your feed, while you show the real you on your story by having fun.
Here are 5 ways you can use Instagram stories to promote your business
Show them the real you
Humans are curious by nature. We love knowing what’s going on with people (that’s why social media is so popular yeah?). And we’re also getting sceptical about marketing, with most of us seeing through the fluffy sales pitches. Give your audience a peek into your world – show the behind the scenes of your business – what you do when you're you!
Demonstrate your product
Get a little bit creative and show real people using your services or products. For example, if you sell cupcakes, film a short video of you cooking the cupcakes in your kitchen. Again, create a connect with the behind the scenes shots.
Encourage event attendees to go live
Ask your event attendees to add some shots of your event to your story. Make them fun and interactive, and although you won’t get more attendees to that event, your audience will remember how fun your event looked and may sign up for the next event you hold.
Offer special deals
Use your story to give your audience little snippets of an upcoming deal, offer or promotion. Don’t overdo it but give enough away to keep your followers interested and watching you like a hawk.
Jump on the trends
Keep an eye on the biggest stories of the day and see if there’s any way you can relate this trend to your business. Are there any latest developments in your industry that you can turn into a fun story?
How can you add Instagram stories into your already busy day?
I bet some of you are sighing and thinking, ‘NO Sam – I can’t do more things with social media – I don’t have time’.
Well before you totally ignore the fun you’ll have with Instagram stories, I have a tip for you.
Create ‘theme days’. You don’t have to use Instagram stories every day, but when you do, stick to theme days. These will help you come up with content ideas and stay on track.
Here are some ideas:
#MotivationalMonday
#TipTuesday / #TechTuesday
#WisdomWednesday / #WellnessWednesday
#ThrowbackThursday / #ThankfulThursday / #ThursdayThoughts
#FunFriday
#SmallBusinessSaturday
#SelfcareSunday
Whatever you do, have fun with your story and make your themes on brand for you.
Are you using Instagram stories?
I’d love to hear about how you’re using Instagram stories for your business. What works for you, what doesn’t. Are you loving it or hating it? Please feel free to share your Instagram stories for us all to check out in the comments below.