It’s been around for a while yet there are so many brands out there who don’t use Instagram stories and make the most of it. The beauty about Instagram stories is that you can allow your users to interact with you and give them an insight into what happens behind the scenes which you may not necessarily want to post and have on your feed.
Instagram stories has grown from what it first started off as. Now, more than ever, it allows you to get creative with content and make it more interactive with your followers.
THE BASICS
Before we look at what we can do, let’s just go through the basics of Instagram stories. Essentially content you post as a story is only visible for 24 hours. After that, it is deleted unless you add it to your highlights reel.
Each story is only 15 seconds long but if you do have a video that is longer than that, Instagram will trim it down for you and split it into multiple stories so that you can still share the entire video.
HOW TO CREATE A STORY
Tap the camera icon on the top left-hand corner on your feed to open up the camera for you to either take a picture or record a video. You can also create boomerangs, time lapses, and collages. Already have a video or photo you want to share? Then just swipe up to access your camera reel and pick out your media.
You can then add filers, add text, add emoji’s, tag someone, add a location and do all sorts of things. You can also interact with your followers, by allowing them to ask you questions or answer your questions, do a poll, a survey, get them to rate something, and follow a countdown to a launch.
BRANDS THAT DO IT WELL
While sharing with you all what can be done, let's also look at profiles that are sharing content on their stories. Here we have a few examples of some brands and individuals who do this really well.
Masoom Minawala
If you’re an influencer/blogger, then definitely keep an eye on how influencer Masoom (@masoomminawala) uses Instagram stories. Whether it’s doing a poll, asking her followers a question, or sharing a recent post, there’s always something on her Instagram story.
Hollister & Co.
As a brand, Hollister & Co. (@hollisterco) do a good job with their stories when it comes to campaigns that they run or topics they want to talk about such as Pride or World Mental Wellness Day. They don’t necessarily use all the features offered, but they clearly have a plan of how they want to incorporate stories in their overall social media strategy.
Khushbu Thadani
Providing a service such as coaching or nutrition? Follow Khushbu (@khushbu.kweigh) to take a leaf out of her book! She doesn't shy away from asking her clients what topics they want to know more about, running polls, and putting up videos with lots of handy tips. She also adds a fun element to her posts with gifs and music - definitely making the posts entertaining.
Zuma London
Everyone who knows me knows I love Japanese food and I have to say I do enjoy Zuma’s (@zumalondonofficial) Instagram stories. It’s not because I ogle at the food pictures (I do though) but it’s also because they try and make their stories interactive by asking their followers to ask their chefs questions! The answers are also added to their highlights section if you do want to know what the chef’s favourite dish is. They also run polls on any new dishes and menu changes making those who love their food feel involved.
I hope that this post has given you some inspiration in creating some fabulous content for your Instagram stories and helps you make the most of it!
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