Instagram Unveils New Stories Feature

Last week, Instagram launched its latest feature, Instagram Stories, which allows users to share images or 10-second videos that will disappear in 24 hours. Sound familiar? It should. It’s very similar to Snapchat’s story feature (though without all the playful animated filters).

According to Instagram, the new Stories feature allows users to “share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile. As you share multiple photos and videos, they appear together in a slideshow format: your story.”

How Brands Can Use Instagram Stories

Brands can use this new feature much like they would Snapchat. Using Instagram Stories, companies can broadcast their brand story or show a behind-the-scenes look at their new campaigns. Using the texts and drawing tools, marketers can add unique and playful messages on top of their regular images, in addition to adding filters that alter the color tones of the original images.

If a brands profile is public, anyone following their account can see their story. Instagram does allows brands to limit who’s able to see the content and provides a breakdown of who has viewed each piece of content in the story. Brands can use this feature to promote different content to a variety of their target audiences and see which audiences react to different brand messages.

Lastly, the Stories feature promotes Instagram’s private messaging feature. Brands can allow users to respond to their stories with the private messages feature. If this feature is turned on, users will see a “Send Message” button at the bottom of the photo or video. When a user clicks this, a text box will appear allowing users to respond to the story image or video.

The Benefit of Instagram Stories

For brands who already have a large Instagram following and haven’t yet made the foray into Snapchat, Instagram Stories provides a suitable alternative. Rather than rebuilding their audience on a new social network, brands can leverage the new Stories feature to reach their existing audience in a new way. Similar to Instagram, Snapchat draws a much younger and engaged audience – but as far as daily active users, Instagram is winning with 300 million daily active users as compared to Snapchat’s 100 million daily active users.

Start Sharing Your Story Today!

Interested in learning more about how you can integrate Instagram Stories into your current social media marketing plan? Contact us today, and we’ll put you in touch with one of our social media experts to help guide your brand’s engagement!