Instagram Stories: How to Effectively Engage Your Customers
If you aren’t using Instagram Stories as part of your company’s social media strategy by now, you really need to start… as soon as possible.
Why? Instagram Stories is one of, if not THE, most popular feature on Instagram and has been for some time now. With the coveted spot at the top of everyone’s timeline right when they open the app, the chances of your Stories being seen are much greater than your feed posts.
Bottom line: you NEED to start utilizing Stories right away.
But for those who haven’t been utilizing Instagram Stories (until now), trying to come up with content ideas can be hard. A lot of people only use stories to re-share their feed posts. Most users actually don’t like seeing these re-shares in stories and skip right over them. Instagram has even tested taking away the ability to do so.
So what do you post about in your Stories? We get it, content creativity is a struggle for us still, too. Luckily, Instagram has provided us with eight really good content ideas to start using for your Instagram Stories.
Let’s take a look at each of them below.
Tip 1:
The first tip is pretty self-explanatory and is a tip that you should use across all your social media platforms. Being authentic is the best way to build trust and connect with your customers. This is especially true in a short-living piece of content like an Instagram Story.
Tip 2:
Your followers follows you because they love your product or are interested in what your company does. Build on that relationship you’ve developed by telling them more about your business. Share how you got started, why you do what you do and different beliefs you share. This will only strengthen your relationship more, which is what you’re looking for.
Tip 3:
This one is pretty simple. Instagram Stories allow you to post full screen photos, videos, etc. Take advantage of it! Use that extra space you aren’t allotted in normal Instagram feed posts. This also helps show that you’re more than likely sharing that Story in real time, and not just sharing a picture you took earlier that day, week, month. Your followers like to see the “real” side of your business and what you do on a daily basis.
Tip 4:
How does your business help solve your follower’s problems? Show them in different tutorials they can follow along with in each Story post. When you’re done with the tutorial, make sure you save it on your profile as a Highlight so people can see it in the future too.
Tip 5:
Customer testimonials are a great way to build trust in your business. A great way to showcase testimonials on Instagram is to ask your customers to tag you in their Stories with your product, at your location, etc. When they tag you in their Story, you’ll get a notification and you can then re-share their Story in yours.
Tip 6:
Adding text to your Instagram Story allows you to customize what you want your followers to get out of the post. Create a compelling call to action, share a short snip of what’s happening in the Story or ask a question. All great ways to make your Story stand out when your followers are scrolling through.
Tip 7:
Interactive stickers add some flair to your Instagram Stories. There are TONS of different stickers to choose from. Want to create a poll? Do it! Want to get feedback from your customers? Ask a question and store the answers all in one place. Want to spice it up and add a GIF? Get creative and have fun with it!
What’s even better is that Instagram recently made it possible for all accounts to share links in their stories. So if you want to direct people to your website, you now can with a sticker. This is a huge win for smaller accounts, so take advantage of it.
Tip 8:
Creativity always makes you stand out from the competition. But again, we know that can be difficult. Our best advice: try new things outside your comfort zone! There are many different features Instagram offers when creating a Story from scratch, so be brave and give them a try! Boomerangs are always entertaining to look at and aren’t any harder to capture than a quick picture.
Wrapping Up Instagram Stories
If you haven’t discovered by now, Instagram is really pushing for people to use Stories (and Reels). We aren’t saying that you won’t be successful on Instagram if you don’t use them, but we promise you will be MORE successful if you start using them today.
Try to keep Stories in the back of your mind when you go about your normal daily duties. If you ever think to yourself “Oh this is super interesting” while working, your followers will probably think so too, so share it! Even if the content is a “flop”, at least it will disappear after 24 hours if you want it to.
Get creative and have fun sharing, friends!
If you need help coming up with more content ideas or an effective Instagram strategy, contact us today!
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