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Iceni Magazine | March 29, 2024

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Instagram Stories – are you telling your company’s story?

I’m sure by now you’ve seen the ‘Stories’ feature in your Instagram feed but do you know how your business can make use of this feature?

The idea with Instagram Stories is that it allows you to post multiple instant (no editing) photos and/or videos in a slideshow format to create a ‘story’. You can also add optional text and drawing tools over top of your photos to add additional ‘personality’ – in a way similar to what you can do in Snapchat. I would suggest for businesses that the use of these ‘tools’ is restricted to a minimum and used with caution.

Stories are located on the top of your home feed with the left circle being your own Story, inviting you to share a Story with your followers – denoted by the small ‘+’ symbol. The rest of the line will be the latest Stories from the Instagram accounts you follow and interact with the most. When there’s a new Story to see, an account profile photo will display a colourful ring around the outside.

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Stories offers some interesting opportunities for businesses to promote their product/service, boost engagement, and create unique content for its followers. Here’s a few ideas:

  • Create Stories that build awareness about an upcoming event, sale or new product launch – do something new each day to build awareness and engagement. Here’s a great example https://vimeo.com/179495901
  • Give your followers ‘live’ access to an event you’re actually attending or presenting at.
  • This idea is better suited if you’ve access to a ‘celebrity’ in your business field… it’s called a ‘Takeover’ and is a popular practice on Snapchat, where you let a top influencer in your field access to your Instagram account for a day.
  • Give followers ideas on what your product or service can do – for instance a daily step by step guide on product assembly (flat pack furniture for example), cooking recipe,  product insight, basic DIY tips, gardening tips, even make up or beauty tips… The limits are only restricted by your own imagination!
  • Or just share something fun about your business/product/service – it adds a human touch to your business

The content you post in Stories won’t appear in your regular profile feed meaning you can post virtually continuously without overwhelming your followers – and after 24hrs your Instagram Stories disappear.

But fear not, if don’t want your Story to disappear forever you can save it! Open your Instagram Story, tap the three dots on the bottom right of the photo or video. Then tap ‘Save Photo’ and it’ll save onto your smartphone or tablet.

If you want this as a default setting just go to your profile screen, tap the menu then ‘Story Settings’ under the ‘Account’ heading. Under the ‘Camera’ heading slide the ‘Always Save Photos and Videos’ option on. You can also do this while creating a Story by just clicking the ‘gear’ icon.

If you’re not sure how successful your Stories are just open your story and swipe up on the screen. You’ll then see a view counter and the names of the people who viewed your Story. Simple.

See what types of Stories work for your business and then, whatever generates the most engagement from your followers, add that into your social media strategy.

If you need more information on how you could use Instagram Stories for your business please get in touch with me at http://paulkirkdesign.co.uk or at @PKirk_designer

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