Instagram Stories have become a popular way for businesses to connect with their audience in an authentic and engaging way. Over 500 million Instagram users use Stories every day. They are making it a prime opportunity to build brand awareness and generate leads if used strategically.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore how to fully utilize Instagram Stories for Business to grow your business on social media. By the end, you’ll have a roadmap to create an impactful presence with Instagram Stories.
Benefits of Using Instagram Stories for Business
Posting regularly on Instagram Stories for Business provides many advantages:
Read Also: How Instagram Stories Work
Build Brand Awareness
Frequently updating your Story gives existing and potential new followers a window into your brand. It’s an opportunity to highlight your products, culture, style, and mission in an authentic way. Consistent Story posting establishes credibility and authority around your niche. Audiences find it more relatable and are more likely to convert to customers.
Drive Traffic to Your Profile
Adding “swipe up” links and strategic CTAs to your Stories makes it easy to drive viewers to targeted landing pages. This captures contacts and converts visitors into leads and sales.
Increase Engagement
Questions, polls, and calls to action can spark meaningful conversations with your audience. When you ask questions related to your product or industry, it shows listeners that their opinions matter. These back-and-forth interactions also boost visibility within Instagram’s algorithm, helping surface your content.
Connect with Customers
Giving sneak peeks into new products and behind-the-scenes content allows you to understand your customers better. Seeing their reactions early helps guide development. Fostering transparency helps strengthen customer relationships long-term.
Generate Leads
Promotions and giveaways on Stories entice viewers to share contact information, becoming sales leads. Create urgency and exclusivity with contests or early access deals. Offer enough perceived value in exchange for their email address or phone number.
Types of Content to Share
Posting a strategic mix of content makes your Stories stand out. Experiment with these types:
Behind-the-Scenes
Give viewers insider access to your office culture, products and employees. Capture planning meetings, prototype testing, even company parties. Avoid over-production though – the more raw glimpses the better.
Educational Content
Share tips, how-tos and industry knowledge to establish yourself as a trusted thought leader. Quick videos on using products or tutorials relevant to your niche add value.
Promotions and Deals
Run contests, giveaways and exclusive deals to generate buzz and convert visitors. Require email sign-up to enter drawings. Discount products and services for first-time purchasers.
Live Videos
Go live at events and stream Q&As to offer value and make viewers feel personally connected. Take them along shopping for inventory or chat about favorite products.
User-Generated Content
Repost customer photos of your products. This builds credibility and showcases your offerings in an authentic way. Feature happy buyer testimonials and reviews as social proof.
Best Practices
Using Instagram Stories for Business effectively requires the right strategy:
Post Consistently
Staying top of mind is key to building familiarity and trust with your audience. Sparse Stories miss out on potential visibility and engagement.
At least 1 Story per day
Committing to daily Stories, even if short, makes you seem more trustworthy and approachable to viewers. Frequent posting establishes reliability.
Post at optimal times
Pay attention to when your followers are most active by checking Story analytics. Typically peak times are before/after work hours. Target posting around high-traffic moments.
Keep it Authentic
Viewers deeply value genuine content focused on value. Avoid overly salesy posts as they can quickly disengage followers.
Share real glimpses into your business and products
Many brands solely promote products, but consumers relate more to seeing actual people behind a company succeeding together. Show employees collaborating and highlights that shape company culture.
Don’t overly promote
Mix in some promos and calls to convert, but focus mostly on value-driven content. An 80/20 mix ensures you generate business without losing audience interest.
Analyzing Performance
Review key metrics consistently to optimize your Stories strategy:
Views
Benchmark views compared to your follower count. Aim for 50-100% of your followers seeing each Story. Low views mean poor visibility or relevance.
Replies
Monitor comments and questions. Responding quickly helps build relationships and trust that you care. Feature follower feedback in future content when appropriate.
Shares
Track how often viewers share your content as an indication that it resonates. Higher sharing frequency signals you’ve created something highly valuable worth spreading.
Website traffic
Watch sources of outbound clicks to see which Stories drive the most conversions. Double down on more of that type of content, whether promotional offers or tutorials.
Advertising on Instagram Stories for Business
If organic reach declines, placing ads could help regain viewership:
Promote your best Stories as ads
Turn standout Stories into paid ads for additional exposure outside of just your current followers. Look for at least 1,000 views before amplifying further.
Target your ideal audience
Use Instagram’s detailed targeting tools to show your ads to niche segments aligned with your customer demographics. Location, interests, behaviors and more can pinpoint buyers.
Measure conversion rate
Track clicks through to your website to calculate ROI and refine targeting over time. Watch out for low-relevance signals like high CPMs or bounce rates. Tweak targeting until conversions cost-effectively scale.
Integrating with Other Channels
Extend the reach of great Stories by sharing across more platforms:
Cross-post on other platforms
Re-share your best Stories on Facebook to expose them to new audiences. Just ensure content still makes sense outside the Instagram ecosystem and context.
Embed on website/blog posts
Embed Instagram Stories for Business on landing pages and blog posts to boost credibility through social proof. Display them prominently so site visitors readily notice and play.
Conclusion
As Instagram usage continues to rise, tapping into Stories represents a vital marketing opportunity for businesses to demonstrate expertise, increase visibility, foster engagement and drive conversions.
Consistency and value-focused content tailored to your audience are key to success. Measure performance metrics over time and optimize your strategy accordingly. Use creative tools and advertising where helpful to scale reach.
With the right iterative approach, Instagram Stories for Business can become an invaluable channel to grow meaningful relationships and strengthen your brand’s reputation over the long-term.
