With more than 300 million people using Instagram Stories on a daily basis, this feature is highly attractive for advertisers. And if you take Instagram at its word, with users spending an average of 24 minutes on the site daily, leveraging this tool makes a lot of sense.
Why the Stories feature in particular? Did you know that Instagram records show that one Story out of five gets a direct message? It doesn’t matter that much how good you are; a 20% chance of getting a message from a potential client is pretty good odds on any social media channel.
But before you rush out and post your first video, let’s go through some basic tips to help you create a winning video from the start. When we’ve gone through the tips, you’ll be looking for some inspiration.
We have that as well, thanks to this infographic. You’ll get loads of cases studies that you can use to create the campaign best suited to your business
What Is Instagram Stories?
These are short videos that are posted on your feed. You have a total of 15 seconds per video, but you can post a few of them in a row. Still, it’s best to stick to short content here. You can shoot the video ahead of time and then post it, or just shoot straight from your phone. The video will be live for 24 hours, after which it will just drop off the site. The key to making your content really pop is to choose things that your followers will enjoy watching. Get creative, shoot great footage, and then consider the following tips when posting it.
It’s All About the Hashtag
Okay, it’s really about the content, but hashtags can help your content stand out. With 300,000 users posting daily, you need every edge possible. The key here is to choose the most relevant keywords and stick to five at the very most. Use more than that, and you risk your content being flagged as spam.
Do Get Into the Insta Spirit
Instagram is a less formal channel. You should embrace this and let loose a little. Find some fun stickers to use, personalize the post with a handwritten note, and consider adding fun touches.
You don’t have to go overboard, but a solid post that would work well on LinkedIn would probably bomb here, so try to inject little fun elements.
Just do keep in mind that if you’re adding text or stickers, ensure that they’re either towards the top of the post, or centered. You don’t want the little blurb that Instagram posts when displaying your video to obscure your post.
Add a Groovy Soundtrack
Not everyone watches videos with the sound on, but there are enough that do to make it worthwhile to consider adding a clip of music. Make it fit with what your audience would like, and make sure that it doesn’t drown out any talking if applicable.
Do Make It a Story
You want to take a bit of time to think out the sequence of events in the video. You need to make sure that everything progresses logically from one step to the next.
Keep It Real
In business, we’re taught to strive for perfection. Perfection is hard to achieve, though. And while you want your posts to look a good as possible, do keep it real. If there’s a small slip up with a mispronunciation, it’s not a big deal.
Keep your presentation looking polished, but make sure that it doesn’t look too perfect to be real.
Create Value for Your Followers
If you want your followers to keep coming back for more, you need to provide content that they find valuable. Before you even start shooting, think about the following three questions:
- Is this going to help my followers?
- Will they find it entertaining?
- Is this something that they need to know about?
If you can’t answer “Yes” to at least one of these, go back to the drawing board.
Don’t Be Afraid to Be Different
Audiences on Instagram are notoriously fickle. Keep them glued to the screen by looking for new ways to shoot your videos. Use fun filters, try using different angles, or just let your imagination run riot. Fresh and interesting is always going to play better on this channel.
What It Boils Down To
Instagram is a channel that allows companies to present a more relaxed persona to their followers. Take full advantage by keeping your channel fun and light. Share a little bit more personal information than you normally would elsewhere – like the odd pic of your dog or cat, for example.
Use this opportunity to connect with your followers at a completely different level. Get into the spirit of things and produce great content so that you can skyrocket awareness of your brand.
