How To Use Instagram Stories For Business

Nowadays, social media is a bunch of -ations — documentation, personalisation, and globalisation.

You share who you see, where you go, and what you eat for people all across the globe.

This is the time-sensitive flex of Instagram going by the name “Stories” — 24-hour lasting flashes of a user's life with a maximum runtime of 15 seconds that appear in the form of images or videos. (Note that if you own a private account, these “highlights” will only be visible to your followers).

Recently-published and unclicked stories that flow in your feed are highlighted with a gradient border around the user’s profile picture. In order to view them, you can navigate along the top of your account's home screen.

Here's a demonstration of how to work your way through a string of active Instagram Stories:

Instagram Stories are autonomous units of your Instagram account posted separately from the content found in your tiled gallery. Story viewers are able to slide to your DMs, but you can always disable this option on the app's settings.

Here's how to manage your Story settings:

1. Click the three lines on the top right of your profile page.

2. Select the first option, “Settings” and tap the lock icon called “Privacy”.

3. Across the panel, scroll down to the “Replying” section and tick “Off”.

You might want to play it safe and get away with the fundamentals of Instagram Stories, but there are hidden features within the platform that can elevate your visual content for higher engagement.

Below, I've weaved the threads of Instagram Stories and formed a guide for you to learn how to use them — from how you can produce them to how you can implement them in your marketing and business strategy for maximum value.

How an Instagram Story works?

Seeing the short lifespan of your 'Gram stories, it's crucial to create a sense of urgency by posting vibrant photos or videos that are overlaid by a fully captioned text announcement, doodles, an attention-grabbing GIF or emoji, and stickers that spark discussions like polls, Q&A tabs, quizzes, countdowns, etc.

The format of Instagram Stories enables you to upload amusing, disappearing content that oozes brand identity without harming the average user's diminishing concentration spans.

That's why you need a compelling and high-converting CTA to whizz past your competitors (e.g. “Buy now before anyone else does!”).

Catch your audience’s attention with a tantalising offer, promotion, discount code, etc.

You can refer them to your website with what's been recently introduced as the Link Sticker, which is no more than an update of the “Swipe Up” one. Again, you either have to be verified (carry the blue-checked icon next to your name), or have attained the 10k following baseline in order to be eligible for the feature.

Otherwise, just add a valid link in your bio.

To access all these stickers, press the square sticky note on the top right corner.

Instagram polls

Get your audience to participate and bring you tangible, measurable results that you can monitor in real time. Pose simple Yes/No questions on your Instagram polls (e.g. Does the khaki linen blouse need a comeback?), and let users tap their reaction to interact with your brand.

Question stickers

If you want immediate answers to queries about your brand, it’s a good idea to insert question stickers. They allow the public to type a question on the designated box and receive custom answers, which you can also share on another story.

(Not to mention further replies on your DMs that benefit user engagement). If you're unsure about the type of image you can put as your background, try uploading a selfie from your camera roll, your business logo, a relevant product, or any visual that's associated with your brand.

Quizzes

Encourage your followers to prove how knowledgeable they are of your brand by entering “quiz” stickers. These multiple-choice question stickers allow your followers to tap their guesses or option of choice, while they can instantly see whether they got it right.

You can also track the results of your quizzes and how many votes each option got by simply swiping up. Some examples are: “Which do you think is our mostly read blog post?”, or “What month did we launch our Salary Negotiation guide/freebie?”.

A chronicle on how to make an Instagram Story

1. Open an Instagram Story

There are 3 ways you can start an Instagram Story. First, you need to log in the Instagram app. Then, tap your profile pic in the top corner on your left-hand side. You can also press the plus size on the top of the page, or simply swipe right on the mobile version.

2. Pick a filter and an image capture mode

Before you get the Story rolling, you can choose a funky effect, or manipulate your post's characteristics with a filter from the slider at the bottom of the screen.

Apart from a filter, the app provides a multitude of capture mode tools you could use when snapping a photo or shooting a video. You can find these options on the left-hand side of the screen.

Let's run through each section that will help you publish knockout, clickable Instagram Stories.

Create

With this feature, you'll be transposed to a pink and orange screen where you can form a Story from scratch. Check the carousel of add-ons at the bottom of the screen and choose anything from shout-outs, text and templates to throwback memorials, polls, questions, donations and quizzes.

Boomerang

Acting like GFIs, boomerangs showcase looping clips that are no more than 5 seconds long.

Layout This mode opens up to a grid that's divided into 4 quadrants, in which you can capture 4 different photos. You can adjust the style of each “collage”. Multi-capture As the name denotes, multi-capture enables you to take and post multiple photos and videos in one go.

Photobooth Not unlike multi-capture mode, photobooth lets you capture and upload a bunch of photos consecutively, but with a flash in between that gives the impression of an actual booth.

Hands-free Although the name is pretty self-explanatory, make sure you don't prop up your device somewhere wobbly when snapping a photo or recording a video. Level With the level mode, you can poise your objects in a straight line through the grid that it places over the top of your camera. For a heightened resolution, you can create combos with the photobooth and multi-capture mode.

3. Let's get the filming and snapping started!

Now that you're acquainted with the purpose that each feature serves, it's time to test your filming and snapping skills. Tap the button in the middle of your screen to capture an image, and hold it down when recording a video.

You can always change the filter that you used initially. There's a chance for you to utilise stickers, drawings and text that align with your business identity and delight you target market.

4. Posting your story

When your edited footage is ready to go out to the world, just click “Your Story” and voilà. You can also save your edited photo or video to your gallery via the “Download” icon on top, or even save a draft and come back to it later.

How to use Instagram Stories for business

1. Post behind-the-scene snippets

Leverage your Instagram stories to reveal the human behind the brand through glimpses into your company culture.

Whether it's an office event, a pre-launch sneak peak of your product or service, and/or an award ceremony, releasing it to your Story is instant entertainment for your followers, while it boosts your credibility and social proof. To extend the longevity of your greatest hits and most bombastic stories, consider adding them to your highlights.

2. Mention other business owners or content marketers

Appreciation posts or shout-outs to your business partners or loyal fanbase are a banging idea to add floors to your empire. In fact, it's one of the most efficient ways to nurture lasting relationships with the community that contributes directly to your brand awareness and customer loyalty.

3. Share breaking news about your niche

Treat your Instagram Stories as a small visual blog and report on the latest goings-on in your sector. Before you know it, you'll become the informational go-to for your viewers.

4. Preview your product with a how-to-use tutorial

How do you expect to convince your ideal consumer about your offer's benefits if you don't test it out first? Upload a lengthy video, divided into 15-second sequential clips that prove to all interested parties the life-changing effects of your product or service.

For example, if you've launched a software, you might film from your computer screen, relying on a recording tool called Snagit, and guide users through sign-up and dashboard functions.

Make sure you adapt the dimensions of your video before posting it to your Instagram Stories — note that they're 1080px wide and 1920px high, with an aspect ratio of 9:16.

5. Spark buzz around a business event

If your company is attending or hosting an annual conference, turn to your Instagram Stories to reassure your followers that they'll find you there. Outsource and collaborate with graphic designers, or get some DIY artwork done, to display an event banner or leaflet with all the information needed for your audience. Advertise the event by tapping into the feature's native stickers to reveal:

• The event's name

• Where it'll take place by using the “Location” sticker

• The date(s) you'll be attending

• Your contact numbers

• The event's official hashtag and Instagram handle

Conclusion

If Instagram is not your primary source of traffic, how about it becomes after this tutorial on its Story feature? There are tons of unexplored areas in the ocean of your Stories — some of which I may not even have covered in this article. Keep experimenting and toggling between Instagram Story ideas and social media trends to see how you can master the whole arsenal of tools. Just ensure you've got the latest version of the app for both iOS and Android.

Off with the 'gramming!

---