The Complete Guide: Instagram Stories
Instagram’s recent transition from a social sharing app to one with broadcasting and real-time streaming capabilities has proven to be a successful one. Users may now broadcast live video to their Instagram feeds in addition to uploading images. And much like Snapchat, Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours if they aren’t watched.
Where exactly does an Instagram story excel above a regular post? You may skip posting 20 variations of your breakfast to your friends’ feeds in one fell swoop. Instead, you may share your pals a slideshow of your day using Instagram Stories.
It’s up to them if they want to look, but after the 24 hours are over, the images are gone forever. You may keep your pals up to date on a regular basis without having to bore them with hours of old video and photos. Differentiating Instagram Stories from other social media platforms is the fact that users can share either live or archived photographs from the last 24 hours.
Instagram’s new sticker function is also noteworthy. This function not only lets you add relevant stickers and phrases to your tales, but also tags your friends, places, and hashtags. Using these tags, you may make your story’s photographs more unique and accessible to the people who care about them the most.
Similar to SnapChat
Instagram and Snapchat are both photo-sharing apps, however Instagram is more recent and has more recent updates to its platform and functionality.
To help, we’ve included a short summary of the key parallels and dissimilarities between the two.
Comparison between Instagram Stories vs Snapchat’s Highlights
Both Instagram and Snapchat allow users to post photos and videos in a matter of seconds, and their systems are quite similar. Snapping a photo and uploading it to your story is a breeze with both platforms. Sharing this short material with your whole follow (i.e. “posting to your story”) or simply the friends of your choice is an option on both platforms. That implies you can choose to invite only your pals instead of your employer to that breakfast we were talking about before.
One of Snapchat’s most popular features is the ability to apply amusing filters to your videos in real time. When Instagram Stories first came out, it quickly adopted the use of filters and even created its own set of interactive filters. Both services allow you to add stickers and geotags to your images after they’ve been taken. You may quickly and easily change the look of your Instagram story post by swiping left or right.
Photos posted to Instagram Stories, like those posted to Snapchat, are only visible to the public for 24 hours. Your followers will no longer be able to see your story once 24 hours have elapsed. You can still see the analytics for your company Instagram’s old stories, but your followers won’t be able to see them.
For Businesses, How Do Instagram Stories Work?
Brands may use Instagram Stories to get in touch with their customers on a more human level. Customized calls to action (CTAs) that resonate with readers might encourage them to swipe up to learn more about the company, its products, or see a promotional video.
For companies with time-sensitive promotions, offers, or giveaways, this feature may help get the word out fast to the people who care enough about your brand to follow it. But these options aren’t available to everyone. Some of these options are only available to brands who have a business account and more than 10,000 followers.
Visitor data from partnerships and influencers
Influencers may be quickly and easily ranked on Instagram. You may monitor their website clicks, views, likes, reach, engagement, and so on in addition to their follower count by viewing their articles and stories. You may monitor the visitors brought to your site by the influencers with whom you work by having them share a unique tracking link (UTM) that you provide. Determine the ROT with the use of technologies like Google Analytics.
Get your stuff in front of your fans
Instagram’s recent feed algorithm modifications make it nearly difficult to guarantee that all of your followers will always view your posts. The current Instagram algorithm prioritises posts with the highest engagement rather than the most recent ones, which has resulted in a continuous decline in brand interaction. Stories, on the other hand, allow you to establish an instant rapport with your viewers because they are still presented sequentially. As a result, it’s an excellent strategy for boosting exposure and luring new readers to your feed.
Stay True to Yourself
There is frequently a lack of brand cohesion between the featured items and those actually sold. It may be attractive or useful on paper, but how attractive or useful is it in practise? Brands may connect with their intended consumers more effectively by sharing unfiltered, first-person accounts of using the items. By being genuine, you may increase trust in your business and persuade your audience to buy without coming off as pushy.
Regular use of Instagram Stories is a great way for businesses to connect with their audience and encourages consumers to identify with the brand’s ethos.