With social media evolving every day, a trend that’s emerged recently is the ‘story’ function on Instagram. If you’re not yet aware, stories are seconds long videos or images that appear on user’s homepage for just 24 hours.

This Snapchat-inspired feature is a great way for brands and businesses alike to engage with their audience, boost brand awareness and encourage engagement. And if you’re not yet using stories in your PR campaign, here’s why we think you should be!

The human element: Adding a ‘human’ element to your campaign is crucial. Audiences these days like to see the person behind the brand their following and as such, stories allow you to connect with your audience on a much more personal level. Stories allow you to provide consumers short glimpses into the ‘behind the scenes’ of your brand’s everyday life.

Show your product in real life: Instagram stories have an amazing ability to bring your brand to life. Set in real time, they are the perfect way to showcase your product in the real world. Whilst carefully shot images are perfect for Instagram, by shooting video to share as content on your stories you can show potential customers how a product might be used or how it looks on.

Create polls: It’s no secret that consumers trust brands that they can engage with. A new feature on stories is the poll element, whereby you can ask followers to vote in a simple poll. This interactive element enables consumers to engage with your brand on a different level, inviting them to participate and in turn making them feel a part of something; all key ways of ensuring customer loyalty. Polls are also a great way to gather data and insight into your follower’s mindsets.

Use links to increase sales and boost traffic to your website: By sharing links to your website or to purchasing pages in your stories, you can easily direct traffic towards your website as well as guide customers towards purchasing products. This a great way to convert followers into buyers instantly.

Instagram takeovers: By aligning with a brand or influencer who can host a ‘takeover’ on your Instagram stories you not open your brand up to another, like-minded audience, you will inevitably increase your following.

Use Instagram Story adverts: As with all adverts, it’s vital to make sure you impress your audience, quickly. Instagram’s story adverts last just 10-15 second and as such ensure that brands get straight to the point. Make sure to use a call to action to further ensure your audience engages with your offering.

And if this is something you’re not ready to try yourself, give us a call and we’ll start your ‘story’ today. https://agent99.wpengine.com/contact/

Agent Rachel