With introducing Instagram Stories, Instagram took social media content publication and, by extension, content marketing and advertising, to the next level. At first, it wasn’t clear that Stories would be a useful marketing tool, but as more and more businesses adopted the feature, that began to change.

Instagram Stories (IS) has become more popular than Snapchat, the app it was meant to replace, in only a year. Advertisers have also seized on, having found this to be a fruitful avenue for spreading the word about their wares.

Just what are Instagram Stories?

“a method to share all the experiences of your day, not just the ones you choose to retain on your profile,” as Stories are formally put, is how they are characterised. Since its first release in August 2016, users have had access to this function for well over a year.

So far, they’ve had a few upgrades, but fundamentally, they’re just a Snapchat knockoff. Even Instagram’s CEO, Kevin Systrom, couldn’t refute it. “This isn’t about who invented stuff,” he said to TechCrunch. A format and the process of adapting it for a new network are at the heart of this story.

Users may compile a slideshow of media, add text and graphics like stickers and filters, and then publish the finished product to their followers and friends’ feeds with the help of Stories.
We’ll get into tactics in a little, but for now, here are a few things you need to know to get the most of IS:

You can track the attention your post receives. How? Just by swiping up, you can see how many people have viewed your story’s photos and videos so far. In particular, this is a useful tool for marketers since it facilitates the assessment of content quality.
Each slide has the potential to get a unique set of effects. Can you apply any special effects? In addition to the standard text, live face filters, and stickers, you can also add doodles and geostickers to your stories.
These may be uploaded to your profile as well. After 24 hours, Instagram Stories automatically disappear. This is the primary distinction between IS and typical Instagram posts. But, you may select which portions of your story to share with your followers and which to keep private.
You have the option of making your accounts public or private. You may make your account private and prevent those who aren’t following you from seeing your stories. You can decide to make all of your tales public so that everyone can see them, or you can choose to make some of them private so that only your followers can see them.

Using Instagram’s Story Function

After settling on a topic for publication, the next step is to construct your narrative.
Either press the “+” symbol in the upper left corner of the screen, or swipe to the left, to open the “story” camera. In this section, you may snap a picture or record a short video and customise it with effects, text, and doodles.
There are five different settings in camera mode to let you make the movie you envision. To begin, we provide a choice of four cameras:

By selecting the Live option, you may create a quick video.
When you select Normal, the camera will function as if it were a regular one.
With “Boomerang” mode, a series of photographs can be turned into a quick film.
If you select Rewind, your videos will play backwards.
On the fifth menu item, you’ll find a button to tap to bring up your camera roll, where you may look at the most recent images you’ve shot within the last day. Choose the relevant photo by tapping the “gallery” icon located in the lower left corner of the screen.

After you have your image, you may give it a unique touch in a variety of ways.

You may customise your photo with stickers by snapping a new one or selecting one from your existing library. Next, in the upper right, select the sticker icon. As soon as you click your image, a new menu will load on top of it. The Instagram “stories” sticker gallery is where you may pick from all the available stickers. These stickers are fully editable, and may be positioned anywhere on the display.

To begin using stickers, select “Add Location” from the main menu. Just tap it to get a list of local options.

You may insert hashtags by tapping the Hashtags button, which can be found in the second row of the stickers menu. Stickers with trending hashtags may be added to your narrative.

Insert polls The third selection in that row allows you to insert a poll into your presentation. If you tap it, a question prompt with only yes/no answers will appear. As long as the poll is visible on the screen, you are free to relocate it.

To insert a mention, select “text” from the menu bar and enter your message. Simply type @ followed by the user’s handle to mention them.

The best three strategies for using Instagram Stories

You can utilise Instagram Stories in a few crucial ways if you’re a marketer:

• Have fun and engage your audience. Had a good laugh at this? Just have fun and tell your followers about it. Create a “FOMO” among your audience to encourage them to take part in your marketing. The fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) marketing strategy may be quite effective.
• Create a marketing plan to promote your brand new product. It seems like a natural fit for an Instagram Story, so why not use that? Provide your consumers the chance to try out a service or new product before it goes on sale to generate buzz before the launch.
• Find out what your fans and followers think. Why do they act this way? Create an engaging narrative and wrap it off with a quick poll.