When Instagram stories hit the "market" the crowd went nuts. A large crowd thought it could be useful, but others just complained that Instagram had in fact ripped off Snapchat.
Of course, the concept of "stories" was native to Snapchat at the time, but it was a concept that many were already gravitating towards.
The algorithm and the tools we use for social media marketing are always, always changing, which means we have to stay on our toes if we're going to stay informed about how we can connect with our target audience.
But there is one thing that will always stay constant: the fact that your customers want value from your content and want to engage with your brand in a personal way.
Instagram stands out as one of the platforms that really allows you to get close and personal with brands, which makes it a powerful tool in your social media marketing arsenal.
So how can stories help or hurt your brand? Let's check it out:
The Pros:
- It's easy to use and fun to explore.
People won't be afraid to use it or learn how to make the most of it because it's fairly straight-forward.
- It makes it easy to show what makes your brand fun.
And what makes your brand stand out, but also makes you relatable. Culture shots work well in stories, as do events marketing.
- The opportunities for B2C interaction abound.
Instagram stories gives brands multiple ways to interact with their audience to build customer loyalty and relationships.
- You're not tied to the feed.
The freedom that Instagram Stories provides gives you the opportunity to step out of your comfort zone, post a different type of content than you would ordinarily have the ability to do and share and interact with your audience in creative ways without flooding the main feed and annoying customers with constant posting.
- Add links to drive clicks and conversions
Did you know that you could add links to your Instagram to drive clicks and conversions? This is a huge, huge benefit if you can craft engaging content. The tricks is to get the clicks.
- You can hide stories from specific people
It's not that you would necessarily NEED this perk, but if you ever did...it's there.
Long story short, there are lots of perks to stories. The question is, do they combat the cons...
The Cons
- It disappears after 24 hours
Unless you add it to highlights, the content you put up will no longer be visible to the public after 24 hour.
- ....and what else?
If we're going off of what the data shows, there aren't many cons to jumping into the hype surrounding Instagram stories. In fact, there are some huge benefits for your business when it comes to utilizing Instagram stories.
Did we miss some pros you have utilized for your own brand? What about cons that have made Instagram stories a less than fantastic experience for your brand?
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