Creative Ways to Use Instagram Stories for Your Small Business
Written by Samantha Coppola, Social Media Content Creator at MSM DesignZ
With there being over 25 million business profiles on Instagram, there’s no doubt that Instagram has grown substantially and has become insanely popular among companies across various industries. From restaurants to clothing stores to major brand name corporations, business profiles and marketing on Instagram has increased significantly.
Not only is it important for your brand to showcase your business in a concise and consistent way on this platform, it’s also important for it to be fun and creative along that way! This is what is going to get your brand the engagement you want, as well as help grow your following and reach among your target audience!
One great way to showcase your creative side on Instagram and stand out from your competition is by utilizing Stories! Instagram Stories are the perfect way to give your audience a more human and unique look into your business. And there are numerous ideas your brand can implement to get the most out of this feature!
Here are 10 creative ideas your brand can use to get the most out of Instagram Stories:
Highlight Your Blog and Latest Blog Postings
You should definitely utilize Instagram stories to drive traffic to your latest blog postings and website. You can preview a sneak peek of your latest blog post to your audience by sharing a picture or video of it. You can also share a screenshot of your Instagram profile and direct people to click the blog link in your bio. If you have a business account and more than 10,000 followers, you can even include links directly on your Instagram stories!
Offer Tips and Advice to Your Audience
People love tips and tricks! Sharing suggestions and recommendations with your audience is a great way to showcase your knowledge and the expertise you have in your line of work. Doing this also allows you to build a relationship and trust between you and your audience. You can create a collection of videos highlighting various tips on your main profile, or even share pictures with captions of your tips and tricks!
Create Polls to Generate Engagement
Are you trying to get more engagement from your followers on Instagram? Leveraging the feature of polls is a great way to do just that! You can ask your audience questions, their opinion on something, just about anything! Polls make it easy and are a fun way for your audience to engage with your content!
Showcase People Using Your Product/Service
What better way to highlight your brand or products than with actual, real people and customers of yours using them?! Posting on your Instagram stories about current and real customers and clients is a great way to show recognition and appreciation to those who use your products or service. It’s also a great way to build on your following and reach other potential customers.
Motivational Posts
Motivational posts are easy to create and people love them! There are a variety of apps (like Canva or PicMonkey) you can use to create posts and tailor them to specifically represent your brand’s image. We all need a little inspiration every once in a while; it’s what gets us to accomplish our goals and make our dreams a reality.
Host a Q&A
A great way to show your audience and followers you care about their questions and concerns is by hosting a Q&A! You can post on your Instagram story telling people to direct message you their questions and answer them through video postings on your IG story. Or, you can even host a live video on Instagram and have people comment and ask questions in real time. Save the live to your Instagram profile for people to re-watch later!
Go “Behind The Scenes” of your Workplace
People love when businesses can take them “behind the scenes” and show their personal side along with their professional appearance. Show your audience members what goes on at your workplace; how the business runs day-to-day, how products are created, your staff, office life and whatever else your daily workday consists of!
Highlight “What’s Trending” in your Industry
Everyone likes to stay in the loop with what’s going on in the world and in society. Through IG stories, you can share Business News, Industry Changes, New Products, Recent Events, Announcements and more with your followers. Sharing anything and everything that’s trending with your fans will show them that you stay current and up-to-date.
Host a Contest or Giveaway
Who doesn’t like a little competition every now and then? And everyone loves giveaways! Hosting a contest or a giveaway is a great way to get your audience and potential audience’s attention! Whether you offer a discount on a service, a small monetary prize, a free trial or just a shout out to the winner, your followers will definitely jump at the opportunity to be a part of this fun event!
10. Give Shoutouts and Mentions to Other Brands
Highlighting other brands or people in your Instagram stories can be beneficial to you and your business. Whether you’re trying out a brand’s product, sharing their work with your fans, promoting a collaboration, or showcasing recognition to a company – there’s no better way to get exposure than to give it! Mentioning other influencers, brands, or people in your stories my result in a mention back, and this means exposure of your brand within the other company’s fanbase.