How Instagram Stories Can Boost Your Business / Startup

Instagram Stories burst onto the social media scene over a year ago - but didn’t immediately take off. At the beginning of November, however, Instagram’s answer to Snapchat’s disappearing images and videos, hit 300 million users - nearly twice that of Snapchat.

According to Instagram, a third of the most-viewed Stories come from businesses. Businesses are realizing that Stories can be a valuable part of their campaign. Soon it’ll be the case that if your business isn’t using Instagram Stories, you’ll be left by the wayside.

But don’t worry if you’re lagging behind when it comes to your Stories strategy. Here are top tips for using Instagram Stories effectively and measuring your success.

Don’t be afraid to experiment :-

The major difference between Stories and plain old Instagram posts is that Stories are can only be viewed for up to 24 hours before they disappear. Because you don’t have to worry about them staying up forever, you can be a bit bolder in what you post and take some risks with different types of content. You can use Stories as almost a testing ground for what your audience enjoys.

Stories also provide a unique opportunity to engage with your audience by asking and answering their questions. Take advantage of the recent addition of ‘polling stickers’ that allow viewers to vote on two options by asking your audience fun questions. And, most importantly, always include a call to action in your Stories. Be clear about this - give your customers something specific to do, such as click the link to your website landing page.

Success can be measured :- 

companies are going to put money behind a new platform, they need to be able to know that what they’re paying for will be worth it. In July 2017, however, Instagram updated its API to allow third parties to access data to analyse the Stories’ performance, as well as a number of other insights. This development means that brands can analyse their user growth and engagement when it comes to Stories more easily than ever.

If you don’t have access to one of these third party apps, however - you can use your school maths skills to work out valuable insights. Calculate your view rate, for example, by dividing your number of individual Story views by your Instagram follower count and multiplying by 100. So, if you have 30,000 Instagram followers and 5,600 people viewed your story, then 5,600/30,000 x 100, or 18.7% , is the percentage of your followers that view your story - aka your reach.

Power up your stories :- 

Once you’ve calculated your drop-off rates - whether it’s through mental maths or an Excel Sheet - it’s time to analyse the results. If your drop-off rates are going down - great! If not, and you’re losing viewers at an unsustainable rate, it’s probably time to reevaluate what you’re posting.

Drop-off rates are also impacted by when you post. Instagram Insights can tell you exactly when your followers are online and engaging - use this information wisely and post at the most sensible times.

The best thing about Instagram Stories is that they can be used in so many different ways - the key is to experiment with different kinds of content and be creative! Be bold with your Stories, make them exciting - but try and tailor them to your audience. Then you’ll be able to reap the benefits of increased engagement - and who knows, it might even be fun!

Looking for some suggestion to grow your startup / Business using Instagram , do contact us.