How to use Instagram stories to promote your business?

4/10/2023

The first time Instagram appeared as one of the emergent social networking platforms, do you think it will become one of the most effective and popular marketing tools for businesses today?

Some may think so, while others may not.

However, if you are looking for an effective online marketing method for your business, or your personal brand, Instagram will be the choice you can’t ignore. According to Sprout Social, 90% of people today follow a business Instagram page.

This also requires businesses to be more creative and brainstorm more outstanding ideas to develop their Instagram pages effectively.

Here are a few suggestions you shouldn’t miss to help businesses effectively promote their brands on Instagram.

The way businesses use Instagram to promote their brands is becoming more creative, and Instagram Stories are not an exception. Instagram stories have proven their role as a game changer in this field.

These simple, unpolished clips have opened up an interactive platform in which brands can remove their logos and make them more human.

1/3 of the most widely viewed Instagram stories come from companies, according to the Instagram businesses blog.

In addition, new features on Instagram stories are constantly updated. Here they are:

Highlights
Interactive stickers
Tags
Reaction and more

These small add-ons are precious in terms of growing commitment rates and conversions.

But they are only theory. To effectively promote your business to your audience, you need to practice and try to be more creative. Let’s take a look at 12 helpful ways companies should apply to promote their business by Instagram stories.

IG stories fall into two categories, depending on their placement:

In-stream stories
Stories Highlights

Let’s discover each, and look at some interesting examples.

In-stream stories

They are clips that appear in the sequence above the user’s feed when creating and publishing Stories. It stays for 24 hours then expires for the audience, but you can still access it in the Archives.

Here are some ideas on how to use In-stream Stories to promote your business.

1. Share the latest news

Is a new product update released? Does the pop-up shop get new arrivals? Or some tickets for your next event have just been released?

Help your followers discover it! Algorithms work in a way that your post in the feed can be easily missed. Therefore, letting people take a look at your amazing Stories is a wise choice to gain momentum.

How to use Instagram stories to promote your business?

@googlestudents

@nbcnews

@clsconetworks

2. Make your special deal feeling urgent

Continuous and short-term story streams are the best place to remind your potential customers about your offer.

Whether you have a special campaign, a seasonal sale or any other deal, induce your prospects to motivate right-now action.

@pairofthieves

3. Promote your content on other channels

Keeping all eggs in a basket (here means in one social platform) is not a good idea for an ideal approach. Be present on various social channels to grow your audience, but don’t keep it isolated from each other.

Use cross-promotional tactics to connect the points and create an integral mix of content in social media.

For example, it’s natural to store long-form educational videos on platforms like Youtube. To promote it, guide your audience to your videos from elsewhere.

Instagram Stories is a good choice you can use.

4. Display behind the scenes videos

Social interaction means emotional, informal, and obviously social.

People don’t follow your Instagram to see beautiful logos and listings of products. They want to see people like themselves.

Customers don’t buy things and services only; they also want to have experience connected. Brand and customer relationships are an important part of this experience.

Build this relationship by taking your followers backstage. And the best way is to show it in Stories. It will make people feel welcomed and like your dear friends.

Again, these videos are not supposed to be perfect; they need to be raw and authentic. These ones are good examples.

@vogue

5. Create a teaser

You want all the effort to pay off when you produce important pieces of content such as a thorough study, a long-reading article for your blog, or an interview with experts.

The trick is that it takes time and effort to consume this type of content. Longer content pieces are not something your audience can ‘eat’ on the go.

That’s why you need to make them so interested in them that they carry them home, warm up and serve properly.

Instagram Stories is an excellent solution to inspire and attract your audience to the master content.

Extract the most important pieces from your long reading or video, then turn them into stories.

Le Creuset’s team did a great job that helped to encourage an interview with a famous chef.

@lecreuset

6. Start a conversation by using interactive stickers

This is our favorite feature of Instagram.

Not so long ago, Instagram produced a number of interactive stickers, some of them are:

Questions
Polls
Sliders
Tests

It’s initially another addition to make Stories funnier. But now, they become a powerful engine for engagement, if you can wisely use them.

These stickers allow you to:

Get your followers reactions, feedback and views instantly;

Grow backend engagement.

For example, create a Question & Answer session to see your audience’s pain points and what they want to learn from you.

Be careful and invest time to answer these questions if you don’t want to lose your audience’s trust and attention.

@thepouf

Stories highlights

Instagram added a feature that made visible the previously published stories, when in-stream Stories became popular. This function is known as Stories highlights.

You can create multiple folders, and bring your history from the Archive to life by Highlights. The cool thing is that you can add a nice name and cover for every folder.

It really makes sense to spend time organizing your stories as you can use them in many different ways. Some examples are presented here:

7. Tell a story about your brand

When people discover your brand, they are curious about how everything began, about your team, and important milestones on your way to the current success.

To let your audience stay closer to your team, you can tell them your company’s story and put it into a different set of Stories.

You don’t have to and shouldn’t make up this story. Instead, you should collect all highlighted events; then you will get a unique true story with its exciting ups and downs.

On social platforms, people are looking for authenticity and imperfection.

@rimac_automobili

8. Highlight your company values

Today, businesses don’t only sell and resell products. They also want to foster relationships with their customers through common interests and values.

It’s essential to distinguish between your main principles and stick to the values that make your brand unique, regardless of what niche you are in.

By promoting your company values, you can attract like-minded people.

@Sustainability

9. Be proud of yourself if you’re out of the crowd

Have there been any press references for your company? If yes, it means you worked hard, and you deserve that fame. You should be proud of what you did.

To maintain your customers and audience’s trust, you should pin these references to your profile’s most visible place – the Highlights.

Mention the trustworthy resources will increase confidence in your followers about your product or service’s quality.

@JL
@OVERTIME

10. Even be prouder of your customers

What might be more trustworthy than customer comments and feedback? And content created by users is a great way to boost your company’s credibility.

It can have an important impact on your prospects and decision-making if you show real people using your products.

Don’t be humble in asking your loyal customers to mark your product in their Stories.

Pile these photos and videos into a Highlights folder, and keep them clear with the view of visitors.

You can also create a specific hashtag that supports your customers to promote your product on Instagram easily.

@madewell

11. Make a FAQ

Do your existing customers and prospectors continue to ask the same questions about shipping terms, special offers, or working times?

Instead of replying to one question, again and again, you need a FAQ!

Creates a set of text stories that answers these questions and turns them into FAQ Highlights.

@AskMe

12. Share valuable tips

With the Highlights function, your Stories can be organized in series that appear on your profile regularly. These circles can be used as a place to store:

Tricks and tips
Short video tutorials
Weekly recaps or alike

Once you share some precious information in in-stream Stories, don’t let it go after 24 hours. Create a separate Highlights space, continuously update info, and let people come for further episodes.

13. Take advantage of quotes

If you’re looking for social media’s most shareable, inclusive, and enjoyable content, quotes are among the top choices.

People are inspired by social media and share that inspiration with a network of their own.

Not all companies are successful with quotes because some target markets will not be well-matched for quotes. But you will want to try out a few quote posts when you are in digital marketing or social media management.

14. Schedule a fixed timetable for daily posts

One great way to ensure that your small business keeps up with Instagram marketing plans is to spend a certain amount of time for social media work each day.

It will be easier to post consistently if it is a part of your daily schedule, whether you use this time to post Instagram, respond to comment,or create an Instagram content post on Instagram.

15. Create polls

Instead of boring questions, why don’t you get the audience’s answers with just a tap?

Creating polls in Instagram Stories is a great way to interact with your audience. You can use them for market research, customer feedback, or just to meet and have a bit of fun with your audience!

The polling opportunities are endless, so you will have a bunch of creative campaigns for your brand that can be taken into consideration!

16. Ask questions

The questions sticker enabled brands to invite their audience to ask them burning questions and let their audience ask brands questions.

This is such a great feature to create a community and promote customer interaction.

Asking questions shows your audience that your company is aware of customers’ opinions. The company’s answers also position a trustworthy, human and reliable brand, which generates customer loyalty in turn!

Below is a typical example of asking questions:

17. Create countdown event

The countdown sticker is a new addition of Instagram Stories. It’s a major feature of brands to promote competitions, sales, and announcements.

Users can set countdown date reminders, and brands will receive these data that let them know exactly how many (and which) of their audiences are most involved.

This data is another great feature for building a community, and Instagram is still developing such features.

18. Launch contests

Have you ever created a great giveaway to attract your audience? If you haven’t done that, do it now!

The good thing about hosting contests on Instagram Stories is that it’s only available in 24 hours, creating your followers a sense of urgency.

You can create any contest that you think will motivate the audience to take part in it.

For example, ‘Comment your Email in this story to be 1 of 10 lucky people getting our free sample of the latest facial mask.’

After the contest ends, you can collect all the information to choose a winner by random.

You can also promote a contest run on your main profile by Instagram Stories. As a result of the present algorithm, many followers might not see your giveaway post on your profile.

Tell your followers about stories and push them in the right direction! Using hashtags such as #giveaway, #contest, and #competition to help people who are not following you to discover your story, therefore, you can increase your reach!

@hippiesnacksorganic

Instagram Stories has proven its importance in corporate marketing campaigns. To determine which is the most effective way to do it, don’t hesitate to test each of them for the most accurate assessment. And if you need a great tool to leverage your Instagram marketing plans, take a look at Motionbear to know what we can help you.