Everyone has been talking about Instagram Stories. People either hate them or think they’re brilliant. Either way, if you’ve been hiding from Snapchat and hoping the craze would slowly go away, Instagram’s new move has proven to the world that 24 hour, self-deleting stories are here to stay.
It’s time to embrace it and learn how to use it to your advantage. Instagram has over 400 million users now in 2016. Instagram users range in all ages and demographics, unlike Snapchat some would argue. If you were avoiding Snapchat due to its younger audience and female users, you don’t really have a reason to avoid Instagram Stories. Let’s talk about what you can do to leverage the new Instagram feature.
Double your efforts
If you are one of the many brands who have been trying to close their eyes and hope Snapchat goes away, you’re actually in luck. With Instagram Stories acting pretty much exactly like Snapchat, you can now double your efforts and use your content on both platforms. Yep, kill two apps with one snap. Reach a wider audience with less effort than before and jump on the Snapchat bandwagon while you’re at it, if you haven’t already.
More creativity
I’m going to go a bit crazy and say that Stories has really made social media marketers step up their game and think outside the box. Unlike a normal every day post, which you slightly tailor to fit onto Twitter, Facebook, regular Instagram, LinkedIn, etc., Stories makes you switch up your game. You can’t just post text and hashtags with a nice photo on Stories. Instead, you have to get creative with a live aspect and get some video strategy in your social media stream. Even Facebook is picking up on the trend with their Live posts. Twitter likely won’t be far behind. Better get used to it now! Video allows you to do way more than just text and images. You can take video with audio, use filters, or draw and write on your Stories to give extra information.
Deeper relationships
There’s something to be said about watching your favorite brands on video, live. It’s sort of like they’re your best friend. For example, makeup brands like Sephora and Urban Decay utilize video to showcase new makeup, tutorials, and “inside” peeks at daily life. After binge watching makeup Snaps and Stories, you better believe you will feel the urge to step up your makeup game with those products in mind. Stories allow you to get closer to your audience. It’s way more intimate and can feel much more exclusive. Take advantage of the emotion that video evokes and talk to your audience in a meaningful way. So, are you convinced? Hopefully, you have a strong following on Instagram that will make taking the leap feel so worth it. Have fun with the new feature and see how your followers react!
