This year, Instagram is expected to reach more than 112 million users in the United States alone and the most popular social media channel among US teens.
Most Instagram users are accessing the platform and spending an average of 28 minutes once a day. Moreover, at least 62% of Instagram users say after seeing a product or a brand in stories, they become interested in it, thus making it essential for eCommerce businesses to create compelling Instagram stories.
What Are Instagram Stories?
Instagram stories allow you to create 10-second collections of videos and/or photo streams that stay on the platform for 24 hours. Moreover, you can easily add emojis, text, and doodles on top of them to make it look more appealing and catchy.
Instagram stories usually appear on Instagram feed to make so it can be noticed quickly by each user. Once an Instagram user starts watching the stories, the videos play automatically one after another until the user decides to swipe it out or all videos caught up.
For eCommerce businesses, they use this feature to create compelling Instagram stories about their brand, product or services they offer. It’s like creating a short advertisement with the sole purpose of creating brand awareness, reach more followers, and increase Instagram engagement.
How To Create Compelling Instagram Stories?
Stories can be engaging and they can build a personal connection with your target audience. But how can you utilize it effectively for your eCommerce business? Here we share some essential steps;
Make a Clear Business Strategy
Every day, lots of Instagram stories were being shown to Instagram users. Thus, you have to make sure that your Instagram story is compelling enough to catch people’s attention. If you can, avoid using strategies that most brands have already been using since people may find it repetitive and boring.
Creating compelling Instagram stories means you have to stand out from the rest. You’ll have to invest a significant amount of time to create a game plan on how you’ll be able to get more followers and grow your reach through Instagram stories.
Choose Natural Lighting
When you already have a plan and ready to start creating your compelling Instagram stories, we highly recommend using natural light since it is the best way to create quality images or videos.
After all, you are going to need high-quality media to create a strong impression quickly and catch the viewer’s attention immediately. Natural light creates an airy quality that isn’t easy to achieve when using artificial lights.
Utilize The First Three Seconds
When an Instagram user watches your stories, they won’t be able to return and watch for them again later. So it is essential to show them what your message is all about right in the first three seconds of your stories. The idea is for them to grasp your message immediately and convince them to take action to follow up for more information.
Moreover, to capture your audience’s attention, you can include music and animations to your Instagram stories since they are great in making your videos stand out. Also, you don’t need to hire professionals to do the animations. There are free tools you can use that offer an array of visual templates and colors in which you can easily integrate into your Instagram stories.
Include a Call To Action
Your message should persuade them to take action; hence including a call to action in your compelling Instagram stories is a must. Instagram stories include the “Swipe Up” feature that allows you to send a direct link to your Instagram watchers. This makes Instagram stories with calls-to-action super effective and easy to implement.
Furthermore, don’t forget to include hashtags in your Instagram stories. Hashtags, when used properly, can create good visibility, which is very useful when your goal is to increase brand awareness and improve engagement.
Include Special Offers
While this shouldn’t always be present in every of your Instagram stories, including special offers, it is one surefire way to get real engagements. However, a couple of dollars off a product won’t be enough to entice your audience in the long run or worse, and users might skip your Instagram stories and tune you out.
When giving special offers, always remember that providing your customer value is still the best way to keep them interested in your brand.
Create Compelling Content
Even if you have excellent business strategy, great videos or images, persuasive call-to-action, and special offers, but unable to provide your audience with compelling content, all your efforts will only go to waste. High-quality content can impact your audience decision-making more than any other techniques. Moreover, it is also vital when it comes to audience retention, especially for people who are more likely to become potential customers.
Moreover, consistently providing high-quality helps your brand to build trust and long-term relationships. And more importantly, it will improve your brand’s reputation in the long run.
When To Post Your Instagram Stories?
While being consistent is essential to your marketing strategy, it is vital to know when the right time to post Instagram stories. The reason for this is simple. No matter how great your Instagram stories are, if the majority of your followers are asleep, then all your efforts will become useless. In other words, you have to post your stories during the time when your followers are most active.
[See related post: The Secret Of Timing In Social Marketing]
How Often Should You Post Your Instagram Stories?
One of the advantages of using Instagram stories is that, unlike regular Instagram posts, you won’t get penalized for posting too many Instagram Stories. The reason for this is because Instagram stories only last for a day.
On the other hand, flooding your audience with too many stories might only annoy them and mute you, which is not very beneficial. Social media experts suggest sticking to just a few Instagram stories per week. This way, your audience will look forward to seeing your next compelling Instagram stories without getting tired of your content.
Creating Instagram stories is an excellent way to connect with potential customers. Keep the above tips in mind when creating compelling Instagram stories for your online business. At the end of the day, the crucial thing to remember is people don’t come to Instagram to shop or buy products – they come to connect, socialize and learn new things. Gain their trust first, and everything will fall into place.
[Recommended reading: Why Are Your Instagram Stories Bombing?]
[Images – Main Photo by sergio souza on Unsplash; other images from their respective websites and/or social platforms]
Charlot is a freelance content writer with more than 8 years of experience in developing and producing original content for a variety of publications and audiences.