In 2024, Instagram Stories have become essential for modern marketing strategies. Over 500 million users actively engage daily with Stories, providing businesses with a potent tool to boost brand visibility and interact with customers.
Studies show that 58% of users become more interested in products or brands they see in Stories, with half making direct purchases. This impact is powerful among active Instagram users, who spend over 32 minutes daily on the platform, especially those under 25.
This underscores Stories’ ability to prolong user engagement and encourage frequent visits to the platform.
Table of Contents
What are Instagram Stories?
Instagram Stories are a particular part of Instagram where you can post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Each image shows up for seven seconds, and videos can be up to fifteen seconds long.
When you add a new Story, a colourful ring appears around your profile photo to tell your followers there’s something new to see. You can keep your favourite Stories by saving them as Highlights on your profile.
Stories also let people interact with you through messages, polls, and stickers, making them a fun way for your followers to see more personal and creative content.
Different Types of Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories let you share different kinds of moments.
Let’s learn about five primary types: Standard, Create, Boomerang, Layout, and Hands-free.
Each format offers unique ways to showcase content, from spontaneous moments to structured narratives.
- Standard: This is the primary type of Story where you can take a photo or video directly through the Instagram camera or upload it from your gallery. It’s straightforward and allows real-time sharing or careful selection from existing media.
- Create: This format focuses on text and interactive elements like polls or questions, ideal for directly engaging followers. You can choose different backgrounds and fonts to make your message stand out without a photo or video.
- Boomerang: Boomerang takes a burst of photos and stitches them together into a mini video that plays forward and backward. It’s perfect for capturing action or funny moments in a playful loop.
- Layout: Combine up to six photos in a collage within your Story. This is great for comparisons, storytelling in parts, or combining thematic images in a creative layout.
- Hands-free: You can record a video without holding the record button down. This feature is helpful for longer videos where you might need your hands to demonstrate or perform something.
How Important are Instagram Stories in Social Media Marketing?
Instagram Stories have become a crucial element in social media marketing, offering a unique set of benefits that make them essential for brands. The temporary nature of Stories creates a sense of urgency, encouraging users to engage with content before it disappears. This can lead to a significant increase in daily engagement rates.
Moreover, Stories allow marketers to share timely content, such as limited-time offers or live events, which can drive immediate engagement. Interactive elements like polls, stickers, and swipe-up links also enable brands to boost engagement and gather valuable feedback. They allow brands to drive direct website traffic and even buy Instagram views for their stories and highlights to increase their reach. The ability to highlight key Stories ensures that important content remains visible and continues to resonate with the audience over time.
By leveraging these features, marketers can create compelling narratives that resonate with their audience, build brand awareness, and drive business results. Instagram Stories offer a powerful way to connect with customers, increase engagement, and ultimately, drive sales.
What are IG Story Highlights?
Instagram Story Highlights have curated collections of past Stories that users can organize and display prominently at the top of their profile page.
Introduced in 2017, Highlights allow users to keep and showcase their favourite or most pertinent Stories indefinitely, giving profile visitors access to previously shared content without the typical 24-hour expiration.
This feature provides a way to continually engage with followers by highlighting significant moments, events, or topics.
How to Create an Instagram Story
Creating an Instagram Story is not only fun but also a powerful way to engage with your audience. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Access the Camera: Tap the camera icon at the top left of the Instagram home screen or swipe right from anywhere in your feed.
- Capture Your Content: You can take a live photo or video directly through the app by pressing the circle button—tap for photos and hold for videos. Alternatively, swipe up to choose from photos and videos you’ve already taken stored in your gallery.
- Enhance Your Story: After capturing your content, enhance it by adding stickers, text, or drawings. You can also apply various filters or use tools like Boomerang to create looping videos, adding a creative twist to your Story.
- Advanced Features: Explore advanced features like adding background music, conducting polls, or using the countdown feature to make your Story interactive and engaging.
- Post Your Story: Once your Story is ready, you can share it with all your followers by tapping “Your Story,” or you can share it with a specific group by choosing “Close Friends.”
How to View Instagram Stories
To view Instagram Stories, follow these simple steps:
- Open Instagram: Open the Instagram application on your smartphone.
- Top of Feed: At the top of your feed, you’ll see profile photos with colourful rings around them. These are active Stories from people you follow.
- Tap to View: Tap on any profile photo to start viewing their Story. The Stories will play in sequence from one person to the next.
- Navigation: You can tap to move to the following photo or video, swipe left to skip to the next person’s Story, or swipe right to return to the previous person’s Story.
Instagram Story Analytics
If you have an Instagram Creator or Business account, you can access Instagram analytics for both your profile and individual stories. Here’s how to access IG Story analytics:
- Accessing Story Analytics: Tap on a specific story, then hit the ‘Activity’ icon on the lower-left corner of your story post. Next, tap the bar graph icon on the left.
Metrics you’ll see
- Reach: The number of followers and non-followers who have seen your Story.
- Interactions: Details on how viewers interacted with your Story, such as tapping next, going back, tapping a sticker, or exiting.
- Views: Total number of views your Story received.
- Follows: How many people followed you after viewing your Story?
Instagram Insights
To access detailed data on your Instagram activities via Insights, follow these steps:
- Head to Your Profile: Tap your photo at the bottom right of the Instagram app.
- Open Professional Dashboard: Tap the ‘Professional dashboard’ button below your bio.
- Access Story Metrics: Choose ‘Content you shared’, then tap ‘All’ and select ‘Stories’ to view metrics.
- Analyze Data: Stories will be sorted by reach; select a story to view detailed metrics like reach, likes, replies, shares, and more.
Final Thoughts
Instagram Stories are a vital part of any marketer’s strategy, offering a fun way to share different types of content and connect with followers.
Using features like Standard, Create, and Boomerang, brands can keep their audience engaged. Tools like Instagram Insights and Story Analytics help understand what content works best, making it easier to keep improving.
With these tools, anyone can boost their presence on Instagram and build stronger relationships with their followers.
