Fri, Nov 27, 2020
Read in 7 minutes
Stories engage. That’s why most of the social media platforms have them. Started with Snapchat, Stories, today, are part of all the big social media platforms user experience. Particularly on Instagram, Stories perform exceptionally well. They have become a great resource for influencer marketing campaigns. Reports suggest that 39% of users become more interested in a brand after seeing it on Instagram Stories. Considering its benefits, many brands are focusing on leveraging it as their branded content ad through influencer marketing campaigns. Stories bring more exposure to the brand and more authentic content for influencers. It’s a win-win situation for both!
Now, let’s check out why Stories are the way to go for influencers and brands alike.
Stories have more features to make the content engaging. Apart from sharing the regular posts, one can also create polls, Q&As, among other things, in Stories to increase interactions by inviting the viewers to actively engage. It also helps you in knowing the demands of your users. Thus, you can generate new content accordingly.
Linking to third-party sites is not easy on platforms like Instagram. It does not let you incorporate links in the descriptions or images in your feed. However, with Stories, accounts with 10K+ followers can include a ‘Swipe Up’ feature and link their websites. It’s a great way to directly send your audiences to a business page and increase sales.
The dynamic algorithms of social media platforms keep disturbing the organic reach of users. Stories are a way out. On Instagram, Stories are not affected by the in-feed algorithms. So, one can create on-demand content on Stories and generate high-quality leads.
While feeds are more curated content, Stories are spontaneous. They provide influencers a way to showcase their behind the scenes, original life that interests people. This authenticity gets rewarded by increased engagement from followers and more opportunities for sponsorships from brands.
The benefits of Stories are endless. They are versatile and can be used in multiple ways. Listed below are some major types of Stories that both brands and influencers can use to reach new audiences and drive leads.
Tutorials are how-to content showcasing viewers the detailed process of doing something. Influencers can use tutorials as per their niches. For instance, a beauty influencer can share make-up tutorials, a food influencer can share cooking videos, a fitness influencer can share workout tutorials, and so on. You can also add them to the highlights or create an IGTV channel based on them.
Before and after Stories format is great for tutorials and product promotions. You can share before and after of makeup products application, fashion clothes restyling, DIY decoration, visible product usage differences like weight loss, clear skin, etc. These are just examples of what you can do with the before and after Stories type. You can be creative and do unique things applicable to your niche.
Behind-the-scenes is one of the most popular formats of Stories. It gives your audiences a sneak peek into your world. It’s a great way to let your viewers know what you are up to when you are not uploading feeds. You can also share the unedited version of your feed posts. Unboxing products on Stories is a great way to engage viewers while doing brand promotions.
You can leverage your high performing feed posts by resharing them on your Stories. It’s a great way to increase audience engagement on your content. You can be creative and add more to the reshares in your Stories that you did not earlier in the feed posts. You can ask your followers a question related to the post and invite them to a discussion. You can promote your sponsored posts on Stories and earn more money from brands.
Using these different Stories format and intermixing them can bring great results for your social media engagements. Here are ways to make these Stories stand out even more and bring you effective results for your influencer marketing campaigns.
Social media platforms offer tons of features that you can use to personalize your Stories. On Instagram, you can find design and motion templates, filters, boomerang, slow-motion, superzoom, layout, and plenty of other options to make your content more creative. You can also add emojis, stickers, animated, text, and music to make them more interactive.
Share your authentic experiences with your audience through Stories. Tell them about your life journey or an interesting incident that they can relate to. It will engage your audience and portray you as a genuine person. You can also use storytelling for promoting brand products. Tell your viewers how you come to know about a product? When did you start using it? How it benefited you? Why would you recommend it? Stories make it easier to promote a product without looking salesy.
Interactions are an important measure of your Stories’ success. Make your audience engage with you in your content. Create a poll and encourage people to vote. Ask them about their opinions on a certain topic and then create conversations around their responses. Interact with them in a fun way to keep them hooked.
Additionally, you can also use some apps to create high-quality Stories. There are apps available dedicated to individual platforms that you can use for better results. Listed below are some top apps for creating Stories.
Canva is a one-stop-solution for all your social media creatives needs. It is available on both desktop and mobile. You can create endless easy graphics with this tool.
Unfold offers plenty of easy-to-use Stories templates that you can use on the go. The app also has premium packages to better customize your creatives as per your preferences.
StoryLuxe is a good app for creating templates and filter them by your style. It also provides the option to include fun lists to introduce yourself to your audience.
Apart from all these tips, it is important to keep your Stories authentic and innovative. People will only connect to you as long as they see value in your content. Moreover, if you are an influencer looking for brand deals, you need to master the art of including a call-to-action in your Stories. Brands’ influencer marketing campaign objectives can be different, but their end goals are to sell something. If you have over 10K followers, add a Swipe up link in your Stories to increase web visits. If you do not have a Swipe up feature yet, you can add the link in your bio. Just make sure that the brands you are promoting get good exposure among your audiences. The more effective you are at driving actions from your followers, the better it is for your career as a social media influencer.
If you are someone who is just starting on your journey of becoming an influencer and/or getting brand collaborations, you can partner with a free influencer marketing platform that will help you in the process. These platforms can bring you sponsorship deals based on your profile. So you don’t have to bother with the marketing part. This way, you can put all your focus on the content. One thing to keep in mind as an influencer is to build genuine connections with your audience and promote only the brands and products you truly believe in. It will help you in the long-term.
To recap, the key things you need for high performing Stories are to be creative in your content and interactive with your audience. Use innovative ways to create Stories that sell. Last but not the least, be true to your audiences and add value to their lives.
Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox