Stories with artificial scarcity are well received by Instagram users. We’ll show you why you should use Instagram Stories for marketing.
Instagram Stories is a tool that Facebook companies have used to make the instant messenger Snapchat known and successful. The feature allows the existing Instagram story views feed to be supplemented with short stories in the form of photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours. A story of this kind can make your Instagram page appear more lively and varied and thus increase traffic. Since the stories disappear again after 24 hours and thus do not influence the actual, partly elaborately conceived Instagram feed, they are also excellently suited as a marketing tool for your company!
Over 300 million users daily
In its latest quarterly report, Facebook announced that more than 300 million users worldwide use the Instagram Stories feature every day. This represents an increase of around 20% in half a year since the tool was launched in June 2017, and includes content produced by users themselves as well as stories consumed by friends, influencers and advertisers. In Germany alone, we count more than 15 million active Instagram accounts of private individuals as well as the same number of company profiles and influencers – and the trend is rising!
Instagram pushes the story function
Instagram has redesigned its website and apps to make stories much more prominent and more visible to users. The stories thus follow a trend that is already familiar from Facebook videos. The preview of new stories in the Instagram feed is much larger and more eye-catching, and notifications draw the user’s attention to recently published stories of popular accounts and friends. This means that not only the number of users but also the length of time they spend on Instagram stories is increasing rapidly. Although the stories do not yet completely replace the classic feed, a trend towards a lively story is clearly discernible.
Instagram Stories are particularly attractive for companies and influencers
The maintenance effort for a well-functioning instagram theory is high. If it is not published at the right time, in the right length and with the right content, the effect of the story is completely lost. If you want to use the normal Instagram feed at the same time, it takes a lot of time and content.
This makes the new feature particularly suitable for companies that use the stories for marketing purposes, strategically build them up and have them professionally supported. But the effort is worth it. Almost half of the most clicked stories already come from companies, brands or influencers. And already half of all advertising companies on Facebook use the function regularly.
Only available for a short time – access now!
Instagram Stories use a well-known tool from marketing psychology: scarcity. Since the stories are only available for a limited time (24 hours), they are particularly exclusive for the user and encourage them to prefer the content to others and consume it quickly. While this marketing trick also involves a risk with real existing goods, namely when the goods are not offered exclusively, it can be used without hesitation and particularly successfully with the Instagram stories. The prerequisite for this, however, is that the user behaviour of the target group(s) is known and that the content of the stories is adapted accordingly.
Easy entry and large reach
In contrast to snapchat stories, Instagram’s feature is currently only an extension to the existing feed. This makes it easier for companies to enter the world of Instagram stories. Most of the time, the user behavior and the interests of their followers are known, the company already has reach through its Instagram feed and can extend it with individual stories. In the long run, however, the focus of Instagram account maintenance should be shifted towards stories. Another advantage is the large reach and breadth of the target groups addressed. If, for example, a story is advertised via the Instagram-Explore tab, it is a good way to accustom new users to the brand, draw them to your own feed and bind them to the company in the long term.
Staying with the topic in the story as well
Most social media managers think about that when they think about the stories. A story doesn’t have to be funny for the followers to enjoy watching it. In principle, the following applies: The contents in the story should be an extension of the existing instagram strategy or complement it. After all, the followers have already gained an impression of the content through the Instagram account and have the same expectations for stories.
