Most of us know Instagram as this social media application that has won the hearts of many by inspiring us to share mobile photos and videos to our friends, relatives and followers.
With an active monthly users of over 700 million and daily users of 400 million; Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook in 2012, currently receives 4.2 billion likes per day!
And to offer more value to their users, Instagram recently (Aug 2016) introduced their new feature ‘Instagram Stories’; which many claim to have a striking resemblance to Snapchat Stories. Within two months into their launch, Instagram Stories registered with 100 million daily active users and currently over 200 million people use Instagram Stories every day.
What Does An Instagram Story Look Like?
As soon as you log in to your Instagram App, you’ll see the latest Instagram Stories from the people you follow at the top of your feed, as in the image below which features influencers like Mark Zuckerberg and Gary Vaynerchuk:
If you’d like to discover the stories, you tap onto one of the circles and you’ll find the user’s Instagram Story crafted for the day with 10 second increments of photos or video.
Below are story scenes played by Instagram, introducing ‘Instagram stories’:
With Instagram Stories you’re able to edit and upload photos and videos, apply filters and doodles, send direct messages, promote/advertise and create content that disappears within 24 hours of posting.
With these cool features and awesome filters at their disposal, it’s no wonder that Instagram is estimated to be used by over 70% of US brands this year.
Here’s how you can join the ‘Instagram Stories’ train and create engaging content to share with your friends, followers or prospective customers:
1. Behind The Scenes
This is a unique feature in Instagram Stories where you can authentically relate with your users by sharing what actually goes on ‘behind the scenes’ when you’re making those pictures/videos which everyone loves.
You could take it as an opportunity to present how the people in your offices or the faces behind the brand go about in their typical ‘work day’ – a transparent and a genuine outlook about your work, product and people that provides a space for the audience to have a deeper connection with your brand.
The scene above is a story played out by Happy Socks, a Swedish manufacturer and retailer of socks and underwear where a 10 second video shows what’s a regular work day in the office is like. Above it’s showing people working at their desks (without any fluff), staff celebrating someone’s birthday, and just real people (not models) going about their work.
2. The ‘Ad- Stories’
With stories you can create creative content which can resemble an advertisement, and is different from your regular feeds. These pictorial stories can be used as a leverage inviting more users to visit your regular posts and feed, or it can be used to announce a sale as shown below by the shoe brand M.Gemi:
The story here simply talks about their ‘end of season sale’ and gives a time frame as to when the sale is occurring at their store. Such stories can be displayed with a 4 second image clip with text overlays, stickers and emojis. The feature also gives options to the viewers to send messages within the story.
3. Insta-Chat – Quick Q&As
Here’s a creative example from CMI, which you can use to engage your audience. People are always curious to know what an influencer or an expert would say about a particular topic/question related to their field.
As an expert, you can post a short Q&A with Instagram Stories to answer your audience’s queries. For instance you can post a video about a snappy 10 sec Q&A session i.e. ‘Insta chat’and announce what it’s about and when will it happen. The audience will put their queries via direct messaging and log in later to get their answers through your 10 sec insta-chat stories.
The image above shows how Jeffrey Gerson, an Instagram Community Manager, initiated his ‘Q & A Time’ to answer his audiences’ questions in 10-second videos.
4. ‘Product-Test’ Stories
Another innovative way to market your product and engage your prospects is to use your product in videos to give a ‘test drive’ to your audience. This will entertain, inform and also assure them on how your products are true to what you claim.
For example, North Face cashes on this trick when it showcases people using their products like, boots, trekking gears or jackets while snowboarding, skiing or hiking. As in the story below, it could as well be running toddler donning their NorthFace jacket:
With such stories, the viewers get a better sense of how the product is being used, helping them to relate and adopt the brand. The North Face has created many such stories featuring people of all ages using their product.
To Sum It Up…
‘Instagram Stories’ come with many tools that lets you take photos, videos, and Boomerangs gifs. It also allows you to add links and emoji stickers, or doodle all over them to create cool, engaging content. It all rests on your imagination and the drive to create more value to your audience.
If you'd like further assistance or would like to discuss anything covered today, we'd love to hear from you.
Call Andy Fox (me) on (03) 5249 5570 or email andy@element7digital.com.au
Visit our website at element7digital.com.au
