In the world of online marketing, every platform counts. Social networking sites and apps have now become a part and parcel of people’s everyday life. In fact, businesses take advantage of their reach and influence to expand customer base and grow their brand.
Instagram has been a fast-growing social networking service that has swelled exponentially since its launch in 2010. As an exclusively visual photo-sharing platform, it has found a solid and unique distinction from many social sites. With 400 million active users every day, Instagram Stories is a valuable asset to any business.
When the platform launched Instagram Stories back in 2016, many people linked it to Snapchat. Both allow users to post photos and videos that will vanish after 24 hours. Instagram Stories has spread like wildfire, with over 300 million active users making use of the feature. As a matter of fact, the average time that each user spends on Instagram Stories is 28 minutes.
These interesting facts, stats, and more are all based on an infographic stemming from 30 case studies prepared by the brilliant team behind 99firms. No wonder this feature is seen by many businesses as a good addition to their marketing strategy.
But how exactly Instagram Stories feature impacts businesses?
Increasing Engagement
It is undoubtable. Instagram Stories can help businesses amass maximum engagement. Not only does this feature let you post dozens of Stories in a day without flooding your followers’ feeds, it also allows you to determine your loyal customers. There are many tools in the Stories that you can use to grow brand loyalty.
Many brands make use of available tools to engage their customers, with features like polls and questions. It allows users to interact with the brand and give it the instant feedback about what it needs to improve.
Airbnb did it brilliantly by posting polls in its Stories that ask viewers to identify the specific destination as shown in the Story photo. Just imagine how much fun it brings to its many followers.
Hashtags can also increase engagement by 12%. This was demonstrated by Whole Foods Market when the company shared images of popular items on sale and adding the hashtag “WholeFoodsFaves” along with the promo period. This prompts users to find the company through the hashtag and this multiply its reach.
Growing Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is important. It is essential in the success of many businesses. Without it, there won’t be followers which could turn to potential customers. Instagram Stories are known to help businesses reach this goal.
Asos made this work. Instagram Stories feature has given the company a 3-point increase in brand awareness and a 14-point increase in ad recall.
Ads in Instagram Stories did the same for Spy Valley Wines when it tried to capture the attention of a new part of the US market.
Driving Website Traffic
Many businesses with significant followers are allowed special features like “swipe up.” Call-to-action is a clever way to lead users to click a link or prompt them to visit your website. Around 15-25% of Stories viewers actually swipe up or engage directly with the brand’s website.
For example, Newsies at Noon highlights the most popular news from its websites in its Stories and it never forgets to include a redirecting link.
Gaining Higher ROI
When Enel, an energy supplier, started using video ads in its Stories to raise awareness on its brand, it resulted in 56% lower cost-per-click.
The same thing happened to DriveNow. It used a special offer ad in its Stories that helped the company reach new customers. Not only that, it also decreased cost-per-lead by 29% while increasing leads threefold.
McDonald’s Malaysia proved this in its playful and animated videos in Stories. Its marketing efforts let the company reach 60% of the targeted millennials and yielded 2 times increase in sales.
It is amazing how Instagram managed to turn the ephemeral messaging into a valuable and effective tool that businesses can use with minimal cost. Customers won’t even have to complain with constant bombardment of posts because they have the complete control over the decision of whether to watch a brand’s Story or not.
With Instagram Stories, there is an opportunity to share light-hearted content to capture ordinary user’s attention while also letting businesses promote their marketing campaign or spike e-commerce sales. As long as brands know how to use Stories to their advantage, their marketing efforts will produce great results.
Infographic URL:https://99firms.com/blog/how-businesses-use-instagram-stories/
