Content marketers that spend their days creating Instagram strategy, researching hashtags, and making content plans report that the time passes by quickly. Nearly every month sees the introduction of new features, making it difficult to spot emerging fashions. It’s easy to feel dizzy trying to keep track of Reels, Guides, and Shop Tabs all at once. Nevertheless, Instagram Stories are one thing that hasn’t changed (thankfully).
Instagram’s most widely used function is the 2016 debut of Stories. (Stories is also a good example of a rip-off that succeeded (sorry, Snap!) but that’s a tale for another day.)
Instagram Stories are used daily by 500 million users, with one-third of the most-viewed Stories being made by brands. Of course, you need to keep using Instagram Stories as part of your broader plan. That is to say, ignoring Stories is impossible.
If you have less than 10,000 followers, you may still use Highlights to increase exposure.
It’s possible that new visitors to your Instagram page won’t recognise you right away. You’ve certainly heard a million times how crucial it is to have a fantastic Insta bio that grabs people’s attention, briefly describes your brand, and encourages them to follow you.
With Highlights, your bio may serve as a conversion hub as well as a location to share the brand’s narrative.
Just like a brief promotional trailer for a movie, Highlights may showcase your company’s values and offerings to potential customers and drive targeted traffic to your website.
Instagram accounts with fewer than 10,000 followers can still benefit from using Highlights to attract new users.
Seek to be Replaced
The practise of working with Instagram “influencers” is rapidly expanding. Still, many marketers implement it by paying for a few sponsored posts on an influencer’s feed and hoping that some new followers would come from the tag mention.
For example, a company may have an influencer of their choosing “take over” their Stories account for a day in order to create unique content. It was all the rage a while back but has since faded from the fashion scene. It’s a shame, because there are a lot of advantages to executing takeovers on Stories, such as re-directing followers, making unique content for your audience, making connections with influential people, etc.
Conduct surveys and tests
Polls are not only fun for the participants, but they can also be used to learn more about your target demographic. Instead of making a request just for fun, consider polling your followers to find out what type of material they would want to see posted to your account.
If your account is dedicated to travel, for instance, you might poll followers on their preferred vacation spots. Their replies might shock you. You will find out whether or not it is appropriate to discuss the location further.
Create gifs, typefaces, and stickers
When Instagram first added GIFs to Stories, the world went crazy. After a racist GIF made its way into Instagram’s Stories, the company decided to remove the Giphy integration after only five weeks. However, after a content cleanup, Giphy is once again active in the Stories ecosystem.
Don’t forget the stickers and typefaces! Instagram has sticker options, but they aren’t frequently refreshed. Apps like Design Kit from A Colour Story may make your company stand out by providing you with over 30 contemporary typefaces, 120 designs, and plenty of stickers to use in your marketing.
A nod to the opposition
“Opponents who?” Anyone can be your buddy on Instagram.
Instagram was promoted as “all about community,” despite the fact that few users were actually willing to assist one another out on the fast-growing network. Companies that want their products promoted must often pay for every single plug they receive.
That’s why switching mental gears (from rivals to allies) may pay dividends.
It may seem counterproductive to encourage your followers to follow another person or to give them a shoutout on your Stories. Still, it’s a great way to start conversations and develop relationships on social media.
Recycle Your Film Strips
One of my favourite recent developments on Stories is the use of several, identically cropped films to display a lengthier film that would be too long for the platform’s 15-second limit.
Storeo is a free software for iOS that may be used. You can upload a big movie and cut it into smaller segments while still preserving the flow and transitions.
The dominance of TikTok videos on Instagram is another noticeable development this year.
Reels, Instagram’s new 15-second films marketers use for fast tutorials, marketing, and the like, are very Instagram (remember the previous Snap reference). Tik Tok material is ideal for Stories because Reels are located in a tab adjacent to IGTV. You may safely share your Tik Tok videos on Instagram without fear of retaliation from the app’s user base. We can’t afford to overlook this 2020 trend.
Create one-of-a-kind layouts
Finally, make use of pre-made questionnaire formats. Unique and interesting swag is a terrific way to attract new fans and encourage existing ones to stick around. You may make one quickly and easily on the internet (try Easil). Better still, make your own templates and give your followers permission to take screenshots.
Recount Instagram Adventures
Getting more Instagram followers is difficult, whether you’re a well-known company or just starting out, because Instagram constantly changes its algorithm. Instagram will not abandon Stories, therefore using them is crucial if you want to grow your audience.