Way back in August of 2016, Instagram launched their Instagram Stories feature.
Since then, it has grown immensely. Now, nearly everyone uses Instagram stories and a lot of people use them on a daily basis. It’s a feature that, if you’re not already using for your business, you should start using immediately!
Instagram stories offer a new and casual way to share content without having it on your feed permanently. They can be anything—videos, images, text photos, etc–and will only up for 24 hours (unless you decide to save to a highlights).
Many brands and personal accounts have used this feature to boost their social media presence. It allows you to be active while relieving you of the pressure to make everything you post perfect – save the perfect for your feed!
Still on the fence about using Instagram stories?
Here are 10 reasons we think will make you change your mind!
1. It’s Fun
It’s quite a simple reason, but Instagram Stories are just FUN. They can be created quickly and there is always something new and exciting to try. Instagram is always adding new features, such as question stickers, polls, quizzes, filters, etc.
Stories are not only fun for you to make, but they are fun for people to look at. They get to see a different side of you and get to know more about you and your brand.
2. You Can Post Anytime
Forget about researching the best times to post for the highest engagement, response rate, and visibility like you would for posts on your feed. Stories are only there for 24 hours! This means there is no “best time” to post. This gives brands freedom to post whenever they want! When the mood strikes you, go ahead and just share something – who cares what time it is.
3. You Can Be Discovered
The nice thing about Instagram stories is that they can be seen/discovered by users outside of people who are already following you. This means that you are able to get in front of people who may not see your feed content.
In many cases, if a user stumbles across your public story on their discover page and they enjoy what they see, they will head over to your profile and check out the rest of your content. (BOOM!)
4. Your Community Can Grow
Not only can your Instagram stories increase your following through exposure and discoverability, but they can also connect you to other brands and people. Your connection to them has the potential to bring a new audience to you.
You can tag followers and brands in your stories to build relationships with them. This is also a great way to strengthen your relationships with your biggest supporters and show your followers that you appreciate them and what they say about your brand.
5. It Provides Opportunities To Share The Love
Your viewers can also share your feed posts in their own stories, lending an easy way for their followers to discover you. This usually happens with super fans and with highly shareable content.
You can also share posts made by people and brands that you love. When people see that you will share other people’s content, they’ll be more likely to share yours knowing that they might receive some of the love back in return.
6. You Can Share Any Content From Any Time
Instagram Stories don’t just have to just be taken in the moment. Your stories can be photos and videos that have been uploaded from your camera roll along with content taken directly through the app.
You have the ability to delete, re-take, or add filters/features to anything you want to post to your Story.
7. You Can Add Outbound Links
On your Instagram Story you can now add outbound links! This used to only be available for accounts with over 10,000 followers, but Instagram has recently gotten rid of that restriction.
Everyone now has the ability to add outbound links to any of your stories, which you can access through the stickers section. All you have to do is click the link sticker, and have your URL ready to paste in. It even will brand it to show the name of the website (example: ours shows as “likeavossinc.com”). Simple as that! This is a great tool to use for promoting websites, blogs, tickets, events, and even direct links to purchase products.
8. You’re At The Top Of The Feed
Instagram Stories are shown in little circles at the top of people’s feeds where all they have to do is tap to look at them. This means your followers can see you and think of you more quickly, rather than scrolling through their feed until they come across something you’ve posted.
Stories make it hard to forget that your brand exists. Being at the top of the feed and, coincidently, at the top of mind, helps you constantly stay on your followers’ radars.
9. You Can Choose Who Does And Doesn’t See You
Have a lot of competitors following you? Someone you just don’t like? You can hide your stories from select users (a selection made before posting your story). This can be done for a day, a week, or forever. Truly, it’s for however long you choose without you having to block or unfollow them.
This feature is great – but remember that on the Internet, nothing stays private forever.
10. It Has A Huge Amount Of Users
Instagram has an absurdly large number of story users, well over 500 million daily. This is 300 million up from where it was only two years ago and it’s still growing! This means that there is a huge amount of potential to be seen by new people, companies, and brands.
Don’t miss out, get yourself onto Instagram Stories.
So, has this blog convinced you? Instagram stories have so many benefits and they’re simply fun. Every business should take full advantage of what they have to offer!
Need help with your Instagram Story? Contact us today to set up a FREE discovery session with our team – we’d love to help!
Don’t want to miss any of our awesome content? Then subscribe to our newsletter below. We will only email you once a MONTH, we promise!
This blog post was originally published in July 2018 and has been edited to improve accuracy and readability.
