Social media stories are a series of small 15-second clips that are live for 24 hours or longer, depending on your platform, that work together to tell your audience an engaging story.
Of course, the story you tell depends on your overall goals, niche, and objectives as a business owner. Over 1.5 billion people and businesses utilize the stories featured on their platform every single day. This figure continues to grow as businesses use social media stories to:
- Increase Brand Awareness and Exposure
- Humanize and Personalize Their Brand
- Increase Audience Engagement and Interaction
By far, the number one platform to take advantage of for social media stories is Instagram. However, while Snapchat was the first, that doesn’t make them the best. Instagram has nearly double the number of active users compared to Snapchat – making it not even a close comparison.
Almost 87% of its billion monthly active users post stories. Even better, a quarter of millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) who use the platform say they use stories to find and purchase new products. So if you’re a business not taking advantage of Instagram Stories, you should get right on it.
Here are 5 steps to posting your first Instagram story.
Free Download: Instagram for Business
5 Steps to Posting your First Instagram Story
Instagram stories are a valuable resource to better market and increase your sales or engagement among your target audience.
In addition, stories allow you to make your products, services, or business more interesting, personable and trustworthy.
Step 1: Plan Your Content
Always have a plan before you upload or record your first Instagram story. You want to be sure everything you share isn’t only valuable but entertaining and engaging. The more you plan it out, the more likely you’ll have well-rounded stories to share sustainably.
Step 2: How to Upload or Record a Story
Find the plus icon from the Instagram application. The plus icon is currently located on the top right of your profile. You can also create a story by selecting the plus icon below your profile picture where it says “Your Story” when you open the app or swipe with one finger all the way to the left for the camera to open. Then from the bottom, select “Add to Story.”
Step 3: Upload or Record Your Content
Now you can either upload your previously recorded story, take a picture, record a video or go live. Select or hold down the white circle in the middle to take a picture or record your video. Select the box in the bottom left field to upload content and choose the content you would like to upload from the new window selections. Select the filters from the button next to the record or capture button to edit your content.
Step 4: Personalize and Enhance Your Story
After taking a picture or recording your story, you can enhance it with stickers, emojis, text, and music. Tap the center of the picture or video to add text, change the font style, size, and color or add motion. Select “Done” from the top right of the screen when you’re finished with the text. Then you have an option to add a link, save the story, add stickers, and do other things you can do via the menu located in the top right of the story.
Step 5: Tap Publish and Watch Your Metrics
Finally, once you add in features that increase understanding and engagement, select “Send to” from the bottom right corner. Then select “Share” next to “Your Story” and profile picture. From here, you can even choose to share it with others.
Free ‘Instagram for Business’ Kit
While other social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, are great for sharing and promoting content, Instagram is a way to humanize your brand. It’s not too late to get your business set up with Instagram, but when you do, it’s important to go about it in the right way. Learn how to get followers, build your audience, set goals, and measure success with this free Instagram for Business Kit from HubSpot and Talkwalker.