Instagram launched its “stories” feature in 2016 and almost overnight, it had 300M daily users. Read on to see how 30 different businesses hit it big using Instagram Stories.
- The average user spends 28 minutes with a “story”
- 1/3 of all Instagram users engage with stories every day
- 50% of businesses on Instagram have made Instagram Stories
This article was inspired by “How Businesses Use Instagram Stories – 30 Case Studies (Infographic)” published on 99 Firms last July.
What’s an Instagram Story?
What’s an Instagram Story you may ask? It is a feature that users use to post related images and video in a slideshow format. Media can thus be arranged into a sequence, producing an animation which will show up in their followers’ feed.
This feature drives viewers to a shoppable page (59%), to other social media platforms, like Facebook (23%), to a blog post (10%), a campaign page (5%) or an app (3%).
The typical story is about a product promotion. However, others will offer an inside look into a brand, an influencer’s point of view, or a live event.
Contrary to a YouTube Video, or traditional photography, remember that Instagram users host their phone upright, i.e. vertically. Plan your visuals accordingly.
Oddly, or appropriately, brands will get better results when appropriately applying facial filters to their images of people’s faces, because the audience is much younger than the average population.
You can include a sticker on a story. Stickers can be a specific location or a hashtag. In either case, they help make your content more relevant to some, and can thus generate better engagement and more conversions.
Who’s getting it right?
Industries getting the best results from Instagram Stories include fitness and fashion – by far! Others doing pretty well include retail, tech and airlines.
One tip to get better results is to localize your story. If it’s relevant to a specific city or region, then hashtag that location to make it that much more relevant to those living there.
- Location Hashtags generate 79% more engagement
- Hashtags in general increase engagement by 12%
Here are 30 Instagram Stories case studies
