5 Creative Ways To Use Instagram Stories

Did you know that 400 million Instagram users use stories on a daily basis? Instagram stories are the talk of the town (the social media town, that is) and there’s a good reason why!

‍Instagram stories are short, fun and engaging, which make them perfect social media content.

Now you can schedule and post your Instagram stories in Edgar so we wanted to share a few creative ways you can use Instagram stories to promote your business and reach more of your audience.

But let’s back up first. What are Instagram stories?

Instagram stories are a form of ephemeral content, which means they don’t stay on your page forever. Instagram stories only last 24 hours and they are separate from the posts on your feed.

Instagram stories can be images, videos or boomerangs.

You can add features to your stories like stickers, GIFs, music and you can also ask questions or take polls. No matter how you use stories, they are a great way to engage with your audience.

Instagram stories are posted at the top of your Instagram feed and many businesses use this as a way to stay in front of your audience. Every time that you post a new story, you will be bumped back to the top of the feed.

Let’s talk about some fun ways you can use Instagram stories to engage your audience and how you can use Edgar to schedule your stories so that you can stay consistent with them.

1. Behind the scenes

People love behind the scenes content on social media! Your business is YOU, after all. Behind the scenes content like sharing your workspace, your life outside the office or a day in the life can really humanize your brand. People want to buy from other people, not from a faceless brand so be sure to share you with them!

2. Launch Countdown

Stories are perfect for, well, telling a story! A countdown story to a new product, service or sale is a perfect way to build anticipation and curiosity in your audience. There are several different ways you can do this.

For instance, perhaps showing pieces of your product at a time until you reveal the entire product in the final post. Another idea is to do a “clue” countdown in your story where every story is a clue to the big announcement. Get creative with these different countdowns and you are sure to keep your audience clicking through to the final announcement!

3. Announcements

Got something new and exciting coming out? Post a story about it! Stories disappear after 24 hours so if you want people to see the newest content, like a podcast episode or blog post, then share an announcement in your story promoting your “newest” content.

This content will stop being new very quickly and therefore, don’t age well in your feed. Use the story feature to highlight your newest content and generate visits and downloads immediately.

4. Flash sales

Instagram stories are the perfect way to share flash sales. Why? Because they disappear after 4 hours. That way you don’t have to worry about your followers asking why the code has expired on old posts or complaining that a certain “promoted item” is out of stock.

Promoting your flash sale in a story also help ensure your audience doesn’t miss your sale. We recommend adding a few different posts to your flash sale story so that it stays at the top of the feed. You can feature different items or reminders of when time expires.

5. Instagram takeovers

Instagram takeovers are an extremely popular method of utilizing influencers, customers or other users to promote your brand or product by having them “take over” your Instagram account. On an Instagram takeover, another user “takes over” your story and shares their experiences throughout the day.If you are a course creator, you can have one of your students “take over” your Instagram and they can share their experience with your course or how it’s improved their business. If you are a podcaster, you can give your guest the ability to “take over” and share about their life or business, which can increase interest in that specific episode.

How does Edgar help improve your stories?

Much like most social media, stories are most powerful when you can consistently post them and Edgar helps you do that.By scheduling your Instagram stories with Edgar, you can stay be more strategic and consistent with your stories. We all know how busy your day can get and even though you might have started doing a story with every intention of finishing it, your day might get busy (Because they all do!) and you might not be able to actually complete it because you forget to post follow up stories.With Edgar, you can plan out and schedule all of your Instagram story content in advance, and then Edgar will remind you when it’s time to post. That way, you don’t leave your audience hanging for the rest of your story.Ready to get started with Instagram Stories and need a little help? Download these 13 customizable Instagram Story Templates! Let Edgar help you tell your story. ????[sc name="ad_ig"]We want to hear from you - how will you use Instagram stories to reach your audience and promote your business?