How to use Instagram Stories to boost your brand
Instagram Stories aims to recover the instant concept that has been lost over the years. Currently, the users galleries receive almost professional photographs and over time Instagram has lost its characteristic spontaneity - the photographs are now accurately edited and aren’t always published when they’re captured.
Rita told us about the importance of Storytelling and the humanization of brands and this new functionality of Instagram, which makes images available for only 24 hours, is assumed to be an extremely advantageous tool. After all, Instagram Stories is perfect for strengthening links between brands and followers thanks to the unique content that’s shared there.
In general terms, there are five main advantages to the use of Instagram Stories:
- The functionality promotes increased frequency of Instagram use.
- The brand can post several times a day without overloading the users feed.
- The brand can more easily connect with its followers.
- The brand keeps the beautiful and elaborate photographs in the gallery, but shares spontaneous clicks in the story, combining the two worlds.
- The brand is not prejudiced by the Instagram algorithm if it posts a lot per day (at this time, although this may change in the future, the stories always appear in chronological order and, those that you’ve seen move to the end of the queue until new content is published).
For brands, it’s important that the stories differ from the main gallery - otherwise it will not have the desired impact. These are some content suggestions that can be shared on Instagram Stories in photo or video format:
Behind the scenes
While the final product is shared in the Instagram gallery, Instagram Stories can share the processes that led to that result. The time of choice of material, the photo session or even the place where the pieces are manufactured, are good examples of content to be shared on Instagram Stories.
Exclusive content
The “behind the scenes” contents are also exclusive, but in this case, I’m talking about first-hand content. Details of the new collection, a photograph of one of the pieces or, for example, the place where the show will take place.
Events
Since it allows video and photo sharing, Instagram Stories is perfect to share events. It has been very popular on sharing content related to international Fashion Weeks, because it lets the followers have the opportunity to follow in real time the shows that take place in other cities and countries, and whose entry is restricted to a small group of influential people.
Discount codes
This turns out to be strategic content. Sharing discount codes on Instagram stories allows you to know exactly where the customer who made the purchase came from and whether customers in general are followers of the brand on Instagram (with the advantage that the code is only available for 24 hours).
Teams
Brands don’t usually post team photos on Instagram (or at least not frequently) and this type of content turns out to be a good bet for Instagram Stories. Seeing who is behind a brand creates empathy with followers and humanizes the company – there’s a greater closeness, there’s a connection with who transforms that brand into what it really is, there’s a face behind the values promoted.
Tutorials
For brands of the most varied sectors, tutorials can also be an option. The step by step process, the knowledge sharing and the product promotion through a more direct and practical communication can be an advantage. MAC Cosmetics has done some tutorials with their products in the backstage of shows, for example.
Questions and Answers
To increase the closeness to the followers, how about a question and answer session? Besides being useful to those who have doubts, it demonstrates that the brand is concerned and interested in its fans, customers and followers.
With Instagram Stories, Instagram recovers the instant and spontaneous concept that gives it its name, manages to compete directly with Snapchat and brings together on one page two functionalities the public loves - using its latest bet to create a more solid link with followers is an intelligent brand strategy.