How to Use Instagram Stories for Business

Considering Instagram Stories is still a relatively new kid on the block, it’s remarkable how well it’s done for itself. From touching 100 million daily active users within two months of its 2016 launch to its current daily user count of 400 million, it’s been a successful investment for its parent company Facebook.

Instagram itself is a runaway hit, with more than a billion monthly active users.

Instagram Stories is Facebook’s answer to a similar feature on Snapchat. In Instagram’s own words, Stories allows you to “share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile.”

Using Stories, you can share videos and photos in a slideshow format or a reel. The reels can be further enhanced through graphics, text, and emojis. The content has a short life of 24 hours. It is this quality which makes Stories more attractive to younger audiences.

What Can You Use Stories For

Businesses realize the importance of Instagram Stories: 50% of brands on Instagram have already made a Story. And it’s having a positive impact.

Sharing behind-the-scenes developments from your company and announcing new products and services are some of the ways you can use Stories creatively.

Other kinds of Stories being promoted by businesses include product promotion, live events, and influencer takeovers.

Some Success Stories

Tokopedia, an ecommerce platform, used Stories to create an app install campaign, leading to a 54% increase in mobile app installs.

To raise brand awareness, energy supplier Enel used video ads in Stories, leading to a 56% lower cost per click.

Mercedes-Benz Cars UK together with Facebook Creative Shop created a Stories campaign. The result? A 9-point increase in ad recall and a reach of 2.6 million people.

Data show that between 20–25% of the users engage directly with the website of the brand which created a Story.

Google has also got on to the Stories bandwagon, announcing in September 2018 that it will make its own Stories using AI. They will appear in Google image and search results.

So, are you ready to script your success Story? Check out this infographic to find out.