Did you know that more than 400 million people use Instagram Stories every day? And for every five Stories shared, business accounts receive *one* direct message?
You don’t want to miss out on that kind of traffic — so we’re here to help! You can learn to use Instagram Stories to boost your engagement, build brand awareness, drive traffic to your website and get some client leads!
All You Need Is 5 Minutes
Your Instagram feed is the polished, “magazine version” of your brand.
It’s a virtual portfolio where you share your best photos and curate your content to attract your ideal customer. Instagram Stories, however, is more informal — a chance to show your followers the behind the scenes version of your office and staff. Maybe one of your employees is really good at singing? Or you have a hobby you would like to share? Make a Story!
By taking five minutes to share something in your Stories, you’ll start to create a deep rapport with your audience that’ll turn them into active followers and loyal clients.
What to Share on Instagram Stories
- Go Behind the Scenes of Your Business
Take your followers into the day-to-day activities of running your business. You can share your unique tips on how you stay organized or how you manage to keep your remote team happy and motivated. This is a great way to tease new services or products and get people hyped. - Document Your Journey
Use your Instagram Stories to show people the journey of your business. Take time to highlight the challenges you come across along the way or introduce a client you love (with their permission, of course!) - Give Your Followers Insider Access
As a business owner, you’ll get to attend conferences and events, but most of your followers won’t be there. Take them along for the ride by sharing interesting snippets from talks, your meetings with industry thought leaders, or your own take on industry trends. If you’re meeting up with another business owner for coffee, let your followers know, too! Ask them to send in questions and use the time to create a meaningful conversation. - Be Authentic
Don’t be afraid to get real with your audience. Let them know how your day is going, or even talk about your life outside of the office. Your following is more keen to tune in when they know you are being honest with them. Not all of your Instagram Stories have to be related to your business.
Keep it raw and real to create a solid bond with your audience that surpasses just ‘business talk.’
Remember: Establish Context
One of the biggest mistakes people make on Instagram Stories is that they share something with zero context.The follower doesn’t know why they should care or what they should do with the information, and ends up exiting the Story. If you waent to keep your audience engaged, you need to set up your Stories in a way that introduces what you’re about to share.
Follow this step-by-step framework each time you post:
- Step 1: Introduce what you’re about to share with your followers.
- Step 2: Add a call-to-action (CTA) like a question or a poll.
- Step 3: Share content related to the story.
Instagram loves it when people are inspired to take action after watching your Stories. By encouraging people to DM you or answer a question, you’ll boost the chances of more people seeing your Story at the top of their feed!
The Basics of Posting your First IG Story
1. The first step is (of course) opening up your Instagram app.
2. Next, click on the house button on the bottom left to take you to the home page where IG stories is located
3. Next, click on the house button on the bottom left to take you to the home page where IG stories is located
4. After clicking the camera button, this is the next screen that will open up. Hold down on the center button to take a video, or press once to take a picture.
5. After taking a picture you will see this screen. Here, there are several options to choose from. You can post directly to your IG stories for your followers to see, or send your photo to one person specifically. If you want to add words to your story click on the Aa icon and begin typing. If you would like to add tags, location, or more, click on the square smiley face icon.
6. After clicking on the square smiley face icon, this is what will pop up. There are so many things to choose from to add to your story! You can create a poll, quiz, or even ask a question.
7. If you prefer to just type something, you can swipe over at the bottom of the page where it says type. And when you are ready to post, click the arrow!
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