At this point in time, it is evident social media is an important aspect of any business’s marketing plan. With continuous updates to popular platforms, it’s important to not only include social media, but stay up to date on the changing trends and features as well. One of the newer additions to certain platforms is the “story” feature. This is a newer feature to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, but has always been very familiar to Snapchat users. A common question in regards to stories may include, “How can a business utilize this feature to effectively market their products or services?” 

Let’s address that question! 

What is a Story?

A social media story is a :15-:20 second photo or video that appears in a different location other than an account’s personal timeline/feed. Stories allow customers to consume their content in a quick and easy fashion, which is great because the average human attention span has dropped from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. The photos and videos contained within stories can only be viewed 24 hours after being posted and doesn’t display the option of liking it. However, there are other interactive features that are offered when utilizing stories, like polls, questions, quizzes, and more. Utilizing these specific story features creates more engagement between the account and the follower, which is great for marketing purposes. Allowing followers to be involved in the decision making process gives them a sense of empowerment and inclusivity. It also creates a stronger bond between the brand and the consumer by showing them their opinion is valuable to the company. 

Stories are also a great opportunity to display moments as they are happening. Accounts often post events in real time on their stories to show what’s going on, rather than on a timeline where people normally wait at least a day to post something after an event has happened. The essence of timeliness creates a sense of  fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) for the consumer, which typically spurs action. Stories are also a great opportunity to create activity on an account without posting it to the timeline. Often, businesses have a certain aesthetic to their timelines/grid that they don’t want to mess up, so posting to stories is a great option to feature things that might be outside of the normal posting strategy. 

Another great feature of stories is that website links can be directly embedded. This is a great opportunity to drive traffic to a company’s website. It is especially effective if you are featuring a certain product that will catch a customer’s eye because  you can provide the direct link where they can buy the product,  making the customer journey easier, more efficient and satisfying. 

Platform-Specific Features

Something a little more specific to Snapchat stories is their geofilters. Geofilters are location specific and fun filters that feature the direct location of where the user is currently. This feature allows other users to easily view what they are doing and where they are doing it, so if they are interested in the activity their friends are participating in, they can go and do it on their own with the knowledge that geofilters provide. Other social media platforms allow users to display their locations as well, but Snapchat geofilters are colorful and well-designed to catch the consumers eyes. 

Facebook stories have 500 million viewers per day and Instagram stories with a call to action perform 80% better. With these statistics in mind, it would help any business to be mindful of how to effectively use the stories featured on each platform. 

Here are a few tips to be conscious of when posting on social media stories for businesses:

• Stop and think – what would be eye catching to a consumer when clicking through their stories? Would what you are posting catch your eye?
• Keep it simple – don’t write paragraphs of text in your story nor do you have to use every filter, sticker and feature per story.
• Start with a plan & a goal – what are you looking to accomplish from posting your story?

Although social media stories are a quick way to reach your audience, they should still follow a relation to your overall social media strategy – plus they can be good traffic-drivers to your website or shop!  Stories are also the perfect place to show off business culture with behind the scenes footage, company updates, employee takeovers, etc. 

Overall, social media stories are the perfect place to have fun with your brand while engaging your audience. If you would like more information on how to effectively use stories for your brand, Follow the Eyes Florida’s team of social media specialists would be more than happy to guide you in your decisions.