Instagram’s story feature has been around since March 2017 but we still get a lot of businesses asking if they should be utilizing them in their daily content creation.  The answer is YES!  The great thing about Instagram stories is that there are so many different ways you can use it. If you’re a blogger you can document your daily activities in a charismatic manner, a comedian can create short skits or even on going skits, and brands can use them to show the behind the scenes of their business.  Whatever you use it for this feature helps you add some personalization to your brand and helps build a connection with your followers.  Remember you’re not just building a brand, you’re building a community and a strong community thrives off participation.  We wanted to share some tips on how you can add a little flair to your Instagram stories by doing so we hope you’ll be inspired to try them out yourself.  Remember there is no right or wrong way to use this feature, but you’ll have to do a lot of trial and error to find out what works the best for your brand.

• • • Stories are prominently displayed at the top of follower timelines just under the Instagram logo.  Use this to your advantage, plan your story out for the day. You want your logo under Instagram’s name all the time, you can achieve this by posting some content in the morning then some in the evening.
    • Stories can be used to capture behind-the-scenes content that doesn’t have to be as high in quality as regular posts.
    • Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.  If you find yourself posting the same kind of content remember to be experimental with your stories, add photos, short video, Boomerang (GIF-like image), video filmed backwards (Rewind).
    • Collaborate with other accounts/brands, tag other accounts (with their permission), this feature is phenomenal for connecting with other influencers.
    • If you’re comfortable showing your face, try out the face filters, text and stickers to add some humor to your stories.
    • Use hashtags and locations in your stories to make them more discoverable.
    • Host contests or giveaways!  People love free stuff, build your community by giving away some free product.
    • Host a poll! A relatively new feature that allows you to ask your community a question and they can select which answer to reply with. You can use this feature for fun or to get some feedback on your brand.
    • Use call to actions! Do you want to host a meetup? Do you want to shout out another page? Do you want to advertise a coupon code? Tell your community what to do (in a nice way =) of course).
    • Analyze your success and improve on it.  Take a step back and review the statistics on your recent marketing campaign.  Find out what is working or what isn’t working and go from there.