Curating the perfect Instagram feed is not easy. And even if you succeed and your profile looks wonderfully cohesive, there's no guarantee it will attract many followers. Nano influencers (up to 5,000 followers), who are generally said to have a direct connection with their followers, reach about 48% of their subscribers with a single post. And Instagram and Facebook continue to restrict organic reach. At the same time, more and more new features are being released, making it possible to connect with your fans. Today, we'll tell you how to optimally use Instagram's Story feature (and subsequently Facebook's).
Everyone has a story to tell
All our experiences combined make us the people we are. The same applies to brands and companies. They too have personalities, stand for certain causes, and represent particular philosophies. Thanks to social media, it has been easier to connect with companies for several years now. People talk about them and with them. It has never been so easy to tell your own brand story.
Why Stories?
Posts can easily get lost in the news feed. This is not only due to the fact that Instagram partly restricts reach but also to the rapid growth of the platform. So, it's possible that even your closest followers might not notice when a new post appears on your page. However, experience shows that Stories are primarily viewed by users who are genuinely interested in your content. This allows you to specifically reach people who are highly willing to interact with you.
By using hashtag, GIF, or location stickers, you also tap into a new audience and attract more attention.
While the feed meticulously focuses on creating a holistic image, a consistent brand identity, and a brand experience, Stories primarily offer the opportunity to quickly share daily content without claiming artistic merit. The format is therefore well suited for insights ("behind the scenes") or to take followers along to events. You're not perfect, so your Story doesn't have to be either. Just show and share what you're seeing, where you are, what you're doing. However, to stand out from the mass of circulating Stories and make viewers take notice, you do need one or two exceptional stylistic devices.
Maximising in-app features
What was initially only possible with additional apps like Boomerang, Hyperlapse, and even Snapchat, Instagram now integrates within its own Story functions. Effect videos like Boomerangs and time-lapse videos can be recorded directly on Instagram, filters make skin glow and conjure up puppy-dog eyes in selfies. However, you shouldn't overdo such effects. Strategy is the magic word here too. Not every brand or company suits protagonists with bunny ears. Not even if Easter is just around the corner.
CREATE TYPO EFFECTS
For several months now, the app has also offered a text function with various fonts and backgrounds. With the help of these fonts, you can create unique text effects with simple steps. First, each word or word group must be created individually as a text field. Then simply adjust the size, rotate, twist, rearrange – done. For a drop shadow, simply type the same text twice in different colours and layer them diagonally.
TAP FORWARD
You already know it from the Stories we discussed: Some people talk non-stop. Instagram puts a stop to this by limiting video length to a maximum of 15 seconds. (We'll show you how to circumvent this restriction further down.) However, since early 2018, there's been a text tool, and very communicative users now write endlessly long statements. Here's a tip: What can't be said in 15 seconds also can't be read by the viewer in 15 seconds. For all those who have a lot to say or write, we therefore recommend using the "Tap forward" technique. This involves adding more text line by line. This gives the viewer more time to read the entire content. Another advantage is that the written content remains on screen for longer, making it more likely to be remembered.
SWIPE UP
Business profiles with more than 10,000 followers can link external links in their Story, thereby transferring traffic to their own website. Often, however, the "Swipe Up" function is not visible (e.g., if the inserted image is white at the bottom). A small hint helps here. For example, a short sentence in the video stating that by simply swiping up, you will be directed directly to the mentioned article. Another – more concise – option would be to draw an arrow to guide the viewer. Depending on where they should go. Either down or to the right, to the next Story. Nano and micro influencers – as we poor devils with fewer than 10,000 followers are called – do not have this option for external linking. But we have good news and a little hack for them: Anyone can link themselves in their Story. Instead of the Swipe Up link, you place a simple mention sticker (@) on your own profile and put the desired link directly into the profile description there.
INSTAGRAM SHOPPING
THE trend of 2019 benefits everyone who wants to sell physical products via social media. Instagram implemented a feature some time ago that allows you to import your product catalogue from Facebook Business Manager to Instagram and link individual products in posts or Stories. To do this, your online offering must first be imported into a catalogue on the Facebook page or entered manually. Then, at least 10 posts must be made on Facebook linking products from this catalogue. This is possible, for example, with photo or video posts. Afterwards, it should be possible to link products from the catalogue in posts on the Instagram profile (provided a Facebook page is connected). Normally, users who click on such a product are redirected to your online shop. IG Shopping was rolled out in beta for some profiles in March 2019. Users no longer leave the app, but stay on Instagram until checkout and thus shop directly through the app. Followers of these profiles can therefore become customers directly in the app; currently, credit card and PayPal are available payment options. You can still apply for the beta test.
CREATE HIGHLIGHTS
The Instagram Story is primarily a very short-lived medium. However, with Story Highlights, you keep your most important Stories in your feed, generating even more visual contacts and attention. To do this, you simply create a Highlight Story on your profile, select individual slides to be displayed in it, and save. You can add a cover image to present the Highlights even more appealingly and uniformly.
USE STICKERS
Stickers (location, links, hashtags, GIFs, etc.) are, as already mentioned, a good way to increase your reach. On the other hand, with the help of the new poll, question, or chat stickers, you can connect with your community even more easily. For example, you can let people vote between 2 product variations or gather new ideas. Or you can hold an FAQ session where users can ask you questions via a sticker, which you then answer. For product launches, go-lives, or other such events, the countdown sticker is best suited. Individual countdowns can also be saved and repeatedly incorporated into Stories.
Using apps as additions
STORY CUTTER
You've probably experienced this: You're rambling on in your Story, only to find out after a while that your 15-second recording time had long passed, and you were cut off mid-sentence. You can avoid this problem by using an app like Story Cutter or Storeo. This allows you to record longer videos, which the app then divides into shorter sequences.
CANVA
A powerful tool for anyone who isn't keen on Photoshop is Canva. It's available as a mobile app and for desktop, both are easy to use and free. In addition to templates in every common size for various social media posts, Canva also offers the option to define your own branding (logos, fonts, colours) within the application, allowing you to easily access them repeatedly.
HYPE-TYPE
The most popular app for text animations in Instagram Stories is Hype-Type. In it, you simply create text overlays for your photos and videos, making your content even more exciting and worth seeing.
IMGPLAY
You can achieve a similar effect to Tap Forward with the ImgPlay app. Story users are generally very impatient and barely manage to watch a 15-second slide to the end. FanpageKarma also found this out in a study in January 2019: on average, only a quarter of all Story slides (yes, we're talking about individual slides here) are watched to completion. We have already noted elsewhere that humans now have a shorter attention span than goldfish, but we didn't think it was that drastic. The result, in any case, is that Tap Forward might not engage your target audience enough and might encourage them to exit the Story rather than click through. Something more action-packed is needed. With ImgPlay, GIF-like content can be easily created on your phone; these short video clips are then saved in your gallery and can be imported into your Instagram Story from there.
More info for aspiring Instagrammers
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