Instagram is an excellent marketing tool for small business. The app has over 500 million daily users, and it is the most engaged platform out there (sorry, Facebook and Twitter). So if you’re using it to advertise your business, you’re on the right track – but if you really want to get the most out of the app, you should be using the stories feature.
What Are Instagram Stories?
Instagram recently added the stories feature, which allows individuals and businesses to post daily disappearing content. You can share pictures, text links and videos for 24 hours, and your followers can watch the posts and engage with them. It may seem a little pointless to create content that is only viewable for 24 hours – but in reality, this is an excellent marketing tool for business owners.
Here are five ways Instagram stories can help your business.
1. How Instagram Stories Can Help Your Business: It Makes It Easier To Engage With Your Customers
One of the best things about Instagram stories is that it makes it easier for you to engage with your customers. This is because there are lots of story features you can use, including polls and questionnaires that customers can respond to. This will teach you more about your audience and what they like, so you can improve future products and services – and it also shows customers that you value their opinion. A win-win situation for any small business!
2. Story Content Seems More Authentic
Various studies have found that 24 hour content is very popular with customers. They see the content as more spontaneous and authentic than planned out wall posts, so they are more likely to see the content as trustworthy. This can help you to establish yourself online as a legitimate, trustworthy brand.
3. You Can Drive Traffic To Your Business Website
Another benefit of Instagram stories is that they can help to drive traffic to your website. Previously the only way for customers to get to your website was by clicking on your profile page and then clicking the link in your bio, but now you can include a link in your stories so customers only have to swipe up. This shopping feature makes it much easier for interested customers to visit your website, so you are more likely to get increased engagement and sales.
And if you’re thinking about posting your first Instagram story, now is a great time; people are using social media more than ever before due to isolation, so they are more likely to engage with your content.
4. You Can Grow Your Local And International Audience
You can also use Instagram stories to grow your local and international audience. You can grow your local audience by using local hashtags (such as #leedsbusinesshelp or #leedsvirtualassistant if you own a virtual assistant agency in Leeds), and you can grow your international audience by using hashtags that are popular across the globe (such as #handmadegift or #sustainableclothes). This makes it much easier for you to connect with your target audience online.
5. It Is Easy
Finally Instagram stories are easy to use. All you need to do is take a picture, play around with the features, and then press post – now you have a story that will be right at the top of all of your follower’s feeds for the whole day. Simple!
