The power that comes from social media marketing and advertising is continuing to grow. There have been so many new and exciting features that have been introduced over the last few years that have made the world of digital marketing just that bit more amazing. The advances that have come have opened us up to many different ways to showcase our businesses, celebrate our achievements and provide our followers and customers with new and improved ways to reach us.
One of the most recent additions to the social media world is ‘stories’. Stories are a way to share a photo or a video with your followers that only lasts for 24 hours. The feature is available on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Both personal and business pages have access to the features across the different platforms now. Stories have been around for a little while now and many people are taking advantage of them on their personal pages although few businesses have begun to use them. If you have a business social media page but are not yet using stories – now is the time to start. But why you ask?
Creatives Exclusivity
Because the stories are only available for 24 hours after being posted, it means that your followers have to check back on your page to see if there has been any new updates. If they do not check in on your page then they miss the story. The reason this works well for a business is because you can use this feature to create exclusivity – by creating a sale code that is only accessible via the latest story or by sharing ‘secret’ information via the stories. It creates a fun and exciting time that your followers will not want to miss.
Personal Approach
Those that are checking in on your stories are those that want to know about you and your business. They want to be kept up to date and are loyal to you and your brand. You can use the stories for sharing fun moments such as employees working or making funny faces, sharing a personal photo or showing a comedic side of yourself. All customers like to know that there is a real person behind the business and not just a computer trying to make sales.
Brand Awareness
When a story is shared to either Facebook or Instagram the page that it is shared from, remains sitting at the top of the page for 24 hours. This is a great way to increase your brand awareness because you are literally sitting there at the top of their pages so they can see you. Even if they do not click on your story, they will remember you and your business.
Using Stories for your business can be a great, successful move – as long as you do it properly. It is still a marketing technique so ensure that you are sticking to your marketing plan when posting.
Keep it relevant
Stories are just that – a way to tell a story. Make sure once you start a story that you keep it relevant and on track. You do not want to annoy or loose the interest of those that are watching them.
Call to action
The most important thing is to remember to add a call to action at the end of each story. Posting relevant and engaging content is great but if the people watching are unaware of how to contact you afterwards than all those efforts have gone out the window. The aim of all marketing is to create a call to action that is successful and inviting. Remember this when creating your next story.
Professional and On Point
Ensuring that you continue your professional aspects throughout your stories is important. Your followers like to be able to see a personal side of you but you also need to still keep it professional. Sharing content that is not in line with your business or ethos is not going to sit well with your followers and can have a negative effect on your business. Think about what you would like to see and not like to see from a business like yours before posting.
If you are not already using stories on Facebook and Instagram then it is time to look into it. Create an inviting and exciting story that will keep your followers popping back each day for updates. And remember when doing so – have fun with it!
Need help with your social media? Maybe you need branded instagram stories and templates for your business? Contact our team to find out more information about how we can help with these options! kristy@justsocialmedia.com.au