Instagram Stories – Generates a feeling of need, How to post stories on Instagram

What are Instagram stories?

The “Stories” or Instagram stories are audiovisual content of this platform that, unlike everyday publications, are volatile; that is, they have a specific duration and, after that period, disappear.

In this case, you can view them for 24 hours from their publication.

Its ease of use and its importance make this tool an immense source of options for all those users and brands that have an account on Instagram.

Its origin is due to Mark Zuckerberg himself, owner of Facebook (and therefore, also for a few years of Instagram), who, when buying this company, wanted to compete with Snapchat.

The operation of this was very similar, hence the appearance of these stories or “Stories.”

What are “Instagram Stories” for?

Being able to share audiovisual content with a specific expiration date is a handicap that, at least initially, sparked some controversy in its early days.

However, it has many advantages and utilities, which I will tell you about below:

Boost the« engagement »with your community

• In case you are preparing some event or novel event, you can give an “appetizer” to your community of followers to make them stay tuned.
• In this way, the moment you reveal more details about it, they will be the first to see your “Storie” and participate in it.
  Also, the simple fact of anticipating a part of that surprise makes them participate and shows them that they are essential to your company.

Generates a feeling of need

• When you decide to advertise or show promotion of any of your business products, either by giving it away or leaving it for 24 hours at a ridiculous price, you are giving your users a feeling of need.
• It will create a feeling of attachment to the brand, especially if this product or service adapt to their personal and professional needs.

Humanize your Brand

• The primary purpose of Instagram Stories, showing in a volatile way some remarkable moment of the day-to-day life of users or brands with a presence on the platform, will significantly humanize.
• Unlike conventional publications on this social network, stories allow content to share in a much more informal and fun way.
• Precisely, it is designed for that, since as time has passed, they have incorporated images in GIF format, funny phrases, and other accessories such as costumes and party accessories.

Advantages of using “Instagram Stories” in a social media strategy

Considering that you already know what “stories” are in the field of this social platform and the use that a company can give it, you should know its most significant advantages.

1. You will be able to impact your followers

• Your stories’ image is shown in vertical orientation and occupies the entire screen, so if it chose well, the impact on the user who views them would be pretty significant.

2. Add direct links with more than 10k followers

• It is a feature that all users of this social network have been asking “loudly” since it found if you exceed 10,000 followers.
• You can add direct links to the website with the “swipe up” function (swipe up ).
• It is very interesting, especially if you have a lead magnet in the case of a blog, with which you will have direct access and click.

3. Ability to promote Storytelling

• As you well know, Storytelling is a more than effective technique of marketing your business, through which you can tell stories that make users “fall in love” with your brand and its values.
• Thus, as I have mentioned before, these Instagram stories allow you to tell the day-to-day in the office or at the workplace.
• As well as give your employees prominence and invite them to tell funny anecdotes that happened recently.
• It will keep the user attentive to these updates to create that vital link between the company / potential client.

4. Creation of surveys that give you feedback

• The possibility that the platform has given you a few months to take surveys and receive feedback from your community to the questions you ask is a point in favor of these Stories.
• This functionality lets you ask your potential customers what they are missing from your brand or what you can do to improve your service or products.
• Here, the “negative” evaluations or opinions will give you ideas so that you can carry out a continuous improvement necessary in any business, both online and offline, with your company.

5. It is a platform that is “in fashion.”

• It is true that not because something is fashionable, it has to be effective and above all profitable for a company or business.
• However, if around 300 million users view Instagram Stories with commercial intentions every day, this data is illuminating to consider using them within your social media strategy.

How to post stories on Instagram?

Once we know all the basics to understand the importance of this functionality of the visual social network par excellence, we have to see how to create a story in our account.

1. Enter your account or login

• First, you must open your personal or corporate Instagram profile, generally entering with your username and password.

2. Access the Stories area

• Being aware of the enormous competition in Social Media in terms of companies.
• It is essential to be different (and show yourself as such).
• Empathizing with the user is vital to earning their trust while identifying their values with yours.
• We can achieve all by using the “Instagram Stories” as a channel within this social network to interact with them and make them do so with our business account.
• Once in your account, go to your profile and, just at the bottom edge of your cover image, you will see a “+” sign, which you must click to access this section.
• In case it is the first time you enter this section of the platform, your smartphone may ask you to accept the possible use of the audio and video systems.
• At this point, the camera will turn on automatically.
• So if you choose to take a photo right now, you will need to adjust the flash options and other features such as zoom.

3. Choose the functionality to use

Among all the functionalities that Instagram Stories allows you to use, you must choose the one that best suits the content you want to share at all times.

” Some of them are:

• Standard photo: as its name suggests, you can upload a conventional image.

Boomerang: from this option, you can upload a “boomerang” image, which once processed turns out to be a GIF type, which is usually very funny.

• Superzoom: gives your story entirely professional tints, as well as fun, from a graphic point of view.

Since thanks to its multiple filters, you can upload your photo or video with dramatic and cinematographic backgrounds.

• Rewind: add a video, but played backward. It can be pretty fun once you play it.
• Direct: as with Facebook Live, you can also broadcast live a video of a particular event related to your business or employees.
• Text: if you prefer, you can also upload a textual message with an important note or that announces something relevant to your brand.

4. Illustrate your stories

• Later, whether you have decided to share videos or images.
• You can accompany them with tags with your location, hashtags related to what you are doing, and other GIFs and animated images.
• And also, if you need to explain something about your Stories’ meaning, you can also add polls or questions.
• So that your audience can interact, as I have described previously.
• If you prefer, you can also not “adorn” them too much (or nothing). Your creativity and goals already come into play here.

5. Send it to your community

• The last step, once you have added all the elements that you consider relevant to your “Instagram Story,” you must go on to share it.
• If you notice that you have a button with a white background in the lower right corner, with the text « Send to … «.
• From here, you must choose the option ” Your story ” and click on the blue ” Share ” button.
• It is important to note that, in this last step.
• If you finally decide not to share your story on Instagram with your entire community.
• But with one or more users only, you can also do it.
• Just below the last option to share, you can choose the users you want to share.
• In case you have an e-commerce, and you want to show how your product package before sending it.
• You can share a video by doing it only to the customer in question.
• In this way, only he/she will see it, providing a more excellent user experience to your business.
• As well as exceptional reliability, since he/she can verify that, indeed, their order is already in process.

Conclusion

Being aware of the enormous competition in Social Media in terms of companies.

It is essential to be different (and show yourself as such).

Empathizing with the user is vital to earning their trust while identifying their values with yours.

We can achieve all this by using the “Instagram Stories” as a channel within this social network to interact with them and make them do so with our business account.