The world held its breath for a moment when Instagram introduced a new feature: Instagram Stories. New, as it had never been available on Instagram before. Old, because it was nothing but Snapchat on caffeine.
Whether we like it or not, whether we use it or not, you have to admit the Instagram story viewer has revolutionized the way we use Instagram. While users embarked on a natural boon on Insta, how to use Instagram Stories for business was (and still is) a bit tricky. How long can Instagram Stories last? What are Instagram story mistakes? What are the best practices for Insta Stories? Let’s find out how your brand can benefit from IG Stories!
What are Instagram stories?
Long story short: an Instagram Story is small content, including a photo or video, that is embellished with special effects: filters, stickers, gifs, or text, which is displayed as a slideshow. IG Stories disappear after 24 hours of posting unless added to Highlights on an Instagram profile.
The technical side of Instagram stories: size, length, and formats
To prepare compelling Instagram stories for business, you should be fully aware of all the technical requirements when it comes to designing and posting them. You have to take into consideration, for example, the dimensions of IG Story.
So what are the dimensions of Instagram Story? While all sizes reflecting the 9:16 aspect ratio should display correctly, the official Instagram story size is 1080px wide x 1920px high. However, there are a few tricks you can use. First, to ensure a faster loading time (both for you and your users), you can choose to prepare a photo or video with smaller dimensions, but with the same aspect ratio.
You can post both photos and videos, but the question is, how long can Instagram stories last? The Instagram stories limit sets a maximum display time for photos up to 7 seconds and for videos up to 15 seconds.
Some marketers don’t take enough care of the IG story size, but it can negatively affect the number of followers and the quality of the IG profile. If you don’t want this to be one of your Instagram mistakes, always check IG Story dimensions before hitting “send”.
How can Instagram Stories help businesses?
Instagram is no longer just another social media platform for uploading and commenting on photos. Instagram is a huge advertising machine that makes brands shine.
According to Instagram’s official statistics, a third of the most viewed Instagram Stories are posted by businesses. The numbers speak for themselves. Businesses know that IG Stories are important to them, but do they know why they should use this feature and how it can help them?
Instagram Stories can drive additional traffic to your website. With a ‘swipe up’ feature, you can add a link and redirect your followers directly from an IG story. While normal Instagram posts don’t give you an option to add links (you’re limited to doing this in your Insta Bio only or by tagging products in your photos, but the latter is less clear than a link), this format helps you insert them. According to MarketingLand research, 15-25% of Instagram users swipe on links in branded IG Stories.
Also Read: How to See Someone’s Likes and Activity on Instagram
#ProTips: If you don’t have 10k followers yet (since you can redirect your followers directly to your website once that number is reached), you can still use a few tricks to send followers to an external source. Here you can find out how to drive people to your website via Stories if you don’t have 10,000 followers.
Insta Stories can help you showcase content that hasn’t landed on other platforms, or can support redistribution of content. If you’ve just launched a new product or published a new blog post, Instagram Stories are a great way to spread the word.
Instagram stories for business can be planned, but they also have great potential to be spontaneous. For example, show corporate culture, brand life, or whatever happens behind the curtains at a big show. This is another reason why IG Stories are so popular among Instagram users: they very often show secrets and things that would never have been shown on an Instagram profile.
Using Instagram Stories to build brand recognition also helps create a stronger connection with the business. Brands can see who viewed their stories and what type of content was most engaging. Users are getting addicted to watching the lives of celebrities and brands on Instagram Stories. For some of them, it’s just a way to pass some free time, but others turn to Instagram Stories to catch up on brand life.
With the many options available in Insta Stories (Questions, Polls, Countdown, Quiz, Chat, or sliding scales), you as a brand can quickly access comments and engage with audiences on many levels. Regular Instagram posts lack these options, and brands are increasingly taking advantage of these features.
How to Use Instagram Stories for Business? What type of industry can be successful on Instagram? It’s no surprise that Fitness and Fashion come out on top. However, there are many other industries active on Insta Stories, so you have no excuse to give it a try.
That was it for this article. If you found it helpful, consider checking out our blog STORIFYGO!
