Video Transcription
In this video, you’ll learn our top 5 tips to help boost the performance of your Instagram Stories.
Now, according to Instagram’s internal data, Instagram Stories are used by as many as 500 million people every single day. But this is about more than increasing your follower count. A well-executed Instagram Story strategy can solidify your brand as an authentic industry leader.
And in this video, we’ll show you exactly how to do it. So stay tuned!
Hi, I’m John here at Spiel Creative. Before we get started, go ahead and click that subscribe button. Make sure you also click that bell so you’ll be notified whenever we upload a new video helping you with your video marketing.
So, let’s start with the basics. As you most likely already know, Instagram Stories exist separately from your other Instagram Posts, and function as a temporary post lasting 24 hours.
Instagram Stories also comes packed with plenty of unique features such as Spotify integration and Polls, but like everything else in the digital media world, your Instagram Story survives on its ability to drive people’s attention.
Grabbing your audience’s attention and keeping them engaged is vital. It’s worth noting that your followers can mute or opt-out of seeing your stories if they get bored. So, it’s well worth putting a bit of time into learning how to optimise your Instagram stories so that they can reach their full potential.
So let’s get started with,
Tip 1. Post Consistently
If we’re talking about social media, we can’t ignore the importance of consistency. These days, audiences don’t just want the occasional post, they expect you to engage with them on a regular basis.
This is what makes Instagram Stories such a great marketing tool for your business. Instead of constantly relying on standard posts, you can mix in Instagram Story updates to keep your audience engaged daily.
Now, some of you might be wondering “how much posting is too much posting?” Well, according to Buffer, the ROI of Instagram Story posting maxes out at about 20 posts per day. But as always, track your own metrics and do what’s right for your audience.
We find typically it is around 2-3 posts a day.
Let’s assume you did want to update your Instagram Story 20 times a day. What would you even talk about?
Well, that’s where things get interesting. The reality is, as long as your content is relevant to your audience, you can post just about anything.
In our experiences, companies and brands with great Instagram Stories post things such as behind the scenes footage, company culture, and sometimes just funny gifs and memes.
Companies like Audi do an incredible job of balancing product promotion and maintaining authenticity. Their Instagram Stories manage to be informal and charming, while still maintaining brand integrity.
Your Instagram Story can feature your products, but the purpose of your stories should be to give your company a personality by peeling back the curtain and showing the people behind the business.
Alongside knowing how often and what you post, it’s worth considering this next tip…
Tip 2. Use Hashtags and Location Stickers to Increase Discoverability
You’re probably familiar with adding locations to your posts on Instagram and Facebook, but you might not know that Instagram Stories has that feature too.
Why does this matter? Well, location stickers are a great tool for targeting content to specific audiences, especially if you’re a local business.
Stories pop up when users search hashtags and locations, which means that anyone and not just your followers can see your stories.
And with a little bit of luck, and a lot of engagement, you might just be featured on the ‘explore’ page.
To put it simply, hashtags and location stickers are to Instagram what SEO is to Google. Use these regularly to consistently drive more attention to your content.
So, moving on to…
Tip 3. Engage Your Followers With Polls!
Instagram’s interactive polls are one of the most underrated tools in social media marketing.
As a marketer or business owner, interactive polls give you the chance to create a simple but compelling experience for users, all while collecting plenty of data at the same time.
By choosing the Poll option in the stickers tab, you can easily gain deeper insights into your customer experience.
You can brainstorm new ideas like “who wants us to make avocado-flavored ice cream?”, or get feedback for existing products and services. You can comment on current events or industry news with joke polls…the sky really is the limit here.
This not only helps you get real time responses from your customers, but also adds a bit of fun and interactivity to your Instagram Stories.
Tip 4. Add Website Links/Shoppable Stickers to your Instagram Story
Another great feature on Instagram Stories is being able to add clickable links to your website, blog or landing page.
Clearly, the chance to take followers and guide them down your sales funnel with less friction is exciting to think about. But unfortunately you can’t access that feature until you have a business account with 10k followers.
However, the good news is that if you don’t have 10k followers yet, you can now add a shoppable sticker to your story, where users can click on your post and access your ecommerce store. Take advantage of this feature when you’re looking to promote specific products to your audience.
Tip 5. Share Instagram Live Stories
Instagram Live is a fantastic tool for businesses willing to think outside the box. You can host Q&A’s, interview industry professionals, and reveal products live.
And with Instagram Stories, you’re able to repurpose and recycle that content. Now, all of your followers will have a chance to watch that interview or product reveal.
But why stop there? You can share specific snippets of the broadcast, or promote future live broadcasts to your followers.
This is where Instagram Stories shines: it lets you add layers to your brand by approaching customer engagement from different angles. It’s not just about high-res images anymore.
Ok, so although I have now covered my top 5 tips, I can’t let you go without a great bonus tip that can really help your business grow using Instagram Stories. So here it goes..
Bonus Tip: Promote Your Stories & Use Ads
To get more views and higher engagement, it’s important to remember you can promote your stories.
Instagram Story ads are incredibly effective, with the an impressive 75% conversion rate on average. The power of these ads is that your business is able to promote itself in unique, engaging ways. Polls, videos, music, carousels…you get the idea.
As far as actually creating the ads goes, you’ll want to do this in Facebook Ads Manager.
If you’re not familiar with this, not to worry. Here’s how you get started.
First, sign in to the Facebook account linked to your Instagram business profile. Once you’re logged in, click on the menu bar by tapping the arrow on the top right corner of the screen, and click Manage Ads.
This will take you to the Facebook Ads Manager, where you can both monitor old campaigns and set up new ones.
Hit the Create button on the top left, and choose a campaign objective. Let’s say you choose something like Brand Awareness.
From there, fill in the ad account information and audience sections.
Next, you’ll want to move to Ad Placement and click Edit Placements. Find the Instagram option, and then the Stories tab.
Set up a budget, and all that’s left is deciding how you’ll present your ad.
Add the link where you’d like your ad to lead, and an eye-catching call to action.
Review your ad, click confirm and just like that, your ad is live!
So that’s it, folks. We hope you enjoyed the video, and if you have any further questions, comment down below. Also, if you found this video helpful, make sure to subscribe to our channel for even more video marketing insights.
And finally, if you need more help with your video marketing, you can get in touch with us here at Spiel at www.spielcreative.com.
Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time!
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