Using Instagram stories for business requires you to have a solid game plan. The need of the hour is to grow your follower count as well as your reach, and that’s why you would want to create a strategy that revolves around your Instagram Stories.
This blog will explain how you can plan and schedule top-notch Instagram Stories content. Here are 9 Instagram Story strategies that will help you attract more customers and drive traffic to your website or blog. Get ready to transform your Instagram into a marketing machine to generate more sales.
Promote timely news
Ensure that you promote your news on time whether it is sales, discounts, new products, giveaways, or a new blog post. Create a ripple of excitement in 15 odd seconds with a great video or photo. Use a text announcement, emojis, or a GIF to generate interest. Also, add a call-to-action text like - Get 20% off only today! and give your customers a link to go where you want them to.
Suppose you have 10,000 plus Instagram followers, add a direct link to your Instagram Story and ask your followers to swipe up so that they can access the link. In the event that you have less than 10K followers, have a text asking them to click the link in your bio. Have hashtags via hashtag stickers so that your story is displayed more prominently in people’s feeds.
Use poll stickers in Instagram Story polls
Everybody loves an Instagram poll. It doesn’t take too much time to take part in a poll for starters, and it’s great fun! A tip here is that poll stickers are immensely popular with both Instagram influencers and users. Have a simple question in your poll like - Do you think this wallet will look good on a man? Or would you gift this necklace to someone?
All that users need to do is tap their response to participate and for great brand engagement.
Use product stickers
Promoting specific products on Instagram Stories is now easier using product stickers. They can be used to tag a product and put a link to know more or purchase the product from the Instagram Story itself. It doesn’t matter how many followers you have. Even if you have a single follower, you can use product stickers.
The only catch is that you require a business account and there’s the fact that this feature is not available on Instagram in all countries. In fact, you can use product stickers in only 46 countries and it requires you to possess the latest version of the Instagram app, irrespective of whether you’re on Android or iOS. Plus, the physical goods that you sell on Instagram must be compliant with Instagram’s (read Facebook’s) Commerce Policies and Commerce Product Merchant Agreement.
Use question stickers
This is a great feature to hear from your audience if you want them to reply to brand-related questions. Through question stickers, you can ask a question and receive custom answers. You can also use DM and engage further with the users. The image you can use can range from a selfie, a product, or any visual that resonates with your brand identity.
Offer quizzes using quiz stickers
A quiz is hugely popular as everyone wants to test their knowledge in an easy format. Through the quiz stickers on Instagram, you can post a multiple-choice question on Instagram Stories. Users can answer by tapping the option they think is right and immediately checking if they got the answer right. An example would be - Which one do you think is our best-selling hat? Or ‘In which year did we launch our label?’ Any question that you may have, Instagram Stories quiz stickers will help you receive all the answers!
Host chats with chat stickers
Add the chat sticker option to your Instagram Story! This great feature offers great chat engagement to your posts and videos on Instagram. You can hand-pick as many as 32 participants for a live chat instantly. All that users have to do is request live access and all that you have to do is give your approval. Chat with potential customers to satisfy their needs as well as yours.
Go Live
When you go live on Instagram Stories with a live video, viewer eyeballs are immediately grabbed. That’s because active users immediately receive notifications about your live status. It makes sense to have your live streams when traffic is really heavy on Instagram for maximum results and reach.
Use Instagram Stories Highlights
As we all know, Instagram Stories have a shelf-life of just 24 hours. So, save your best Instagram Story slides to Instagram Stories Highlights. That’s the row of bubbles right in the middle!
This is a great move as the Stories that you save to Instagram Story Highlights stay there as long as you wish. Your best stories that are epic, enhance your brand values, or are great for business, should be saved on Instagram Story Highlights.
Employ Instagram Stories ads
Creating an ad and spending some money can help you promote your branded story through Facebook’s Ads Manager. You can add up to 10 hashtags to your story as well, including a clickable hashtag sticker.
These are some of the best tricks to use Instagram Stories for business and achieve the best results for your brand. With almost 500 million daily Instagram Stories users, it’s serious business after all. The key is to create Instagram Stories that promote e-commerce and customer engagement. But remember the most important thing - Always stay on brand!
