Instagram Stories launched earlier this year to a lot of controversy. Immediately dubbed a ‘rip-off’ of popular network Snapchat, everyone in the social media world had a very strong view.
Fast forward nearly three months and the dust has settled, so what is the opinion on Instagram Stories now?
THE SAME, BUT DIFFERENT.
There’s no denying that the mechanics of Snapchat and Instagram Stories is near identical, but you’ll find that they have different aims. Where Snapchat is all about creating content, you’ll find you have to go through the creating screen to get anywhere else in the app, IG Stories is all about consuming content. The emphasis is on looking at the stories of those you follow, whilst creating content is less obvious.
AN IN BUILT AUDIENCE.
As much as we like Snapchat, it’s not the easiest platform to promote your presence on, for one very simple reason – it’s not designed for gaining masses of followers, it’s designed for sharing raw content with your friends. IG Stories though, already has a built in audience in your Instagram following, and becomes part of your overall Instagram presence. Because of that, the content shared across both these platforms has shifted, Snapchat is being used for personal content, whilst IG Stories has become the ideal place to share imagery that fits with your brand, but not necessarily your Instagram feed.
WHY SHOULD YOU BE USING INSTAGRAM STORIES?
For the past two months, Instagram stories has just been a fun new addition to your Instagram profile that you could dabble in or not, with little consequence either way. This week though, Instagram rolled out an update which found Instagram Stories making it’s way into the Explore tab. So? I hear you asking. This is important, because now this means that Instagram stories is another way for you to reach your target audience! By being active on Instagram Stories, you’ve got more of a chance of appearing in the Explore feed for your potential audience!
HOW SHOULD YOU USE INSTAGRAM STORIES?
So you’re going to give it a whirl, but where to start? There’s a lot of flexibility with IG Stories but here are some important things to remember:
- STAY ON BRAND. IG Stories is still a representation of you and your brand, and so it’s important to stick to your brand image. Keep the content short and on brand, but use it as an opportunity to show more of your brand personality, and behind the scenes sneak peaks.
- BE CONSISTENT. You don’t have to post 30 images a day, but keeping at least one image/video in your feed at any one time will keep your Story active, and more likely to be featured in Explore. We recommend posting 2-5 images a day!
Have you been using Instagram Stories?