Whether you like it or not, Instagram Stories is the new way to do business. So many transactions go down in the DMs after seeing something on Stories. In fact, if you don’t utilize Instagram Stories, you’re leaving money on the table, like a lot of money.
So, I wanted to share 6 NEW ways to use Instagram Stories to grow your brand. By the way, these are tried and true strategies that I’ve personally used myself so I know they work!
1. Add creative elements
In order to capture your audience, whether that be 2, 200, or 2M people, you need to get creative. There’s nothing worse than clicking on someone’s story and being taken through a boring ass, random recap of their day. I know, I know, getting creative is hard but…
Use stickers. Use fun Story templates from Canva, Unfold, or Mojo. Add in a little Kira Kira to spice things up. Keep things interesting by surprising us with design elements or fun IG features that we’re not used to seeing.
BTW, they’re called Stories for a reason. Your Instagram Story should tell your STORY. Educate, entertain, or inspire us! People go to Instagram for an escape to live vicariously through someone else…
2 of the best social media “stories” of all time were from DJ Khalid and Fashion Ambitionist. DJ Khalid documented his entire day on his jet ski. What started out as a fun joyride with a few of his friends turned into him getting lost, almost running out of gas, and trying to find his way home at night in the middle of the ocean. Not only was it hilarious and entertaining but it had all the components a successful “story” should have: beginning, plot twist, climax, struggle, and ending. This story landed him on multiple media outlets and he was named the king of Snapchat.
The Fashion Ambitionist’s story is even more entertaining. Marisa’s boyfriend at the time planned an elaborate wedding proposal and posted it on social media. It was essentially a scavenger hunt that took her from NYC to the Hamptons to Miami and finally Paris. Every few hours the boyfriend drops a clue on social media where he might pop the question so the entire time you’re on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next. This story truly did not skip a beat. Marisa even created a hashtag on the fly: #wheresgabe (her soon to be fiancé). It was genius and she gained over 40K followers from it.
Obviously your story doesn’t have to be as extensive or over the top, but you can still incorporate some of these elements to your Instagram Stories whether you work full-time in corporate or are a stay at home mom.
2. Host Instagram Story takeovers
Instagram Story takeovers are a great growth hack that is highly underestimated. An IG Story takeover is essentially when you take over someone else’s IG Story. Usually the takeover is mutual so if you take over someone else’s account, that person will takeover your account.
The point is to drive traffic to each other’s brands. When you do an Instagram Story takeover you’re getting new followers and being discovered by potential customers and clients while also returning the favor for the account you swapped with.
The catch is you can’t just post a selfie and hope for your brand to grow. You have to show who you are by taking this new audience on a journey with you. You can do this by adding value and a unique a perspective.
Before you takeover anyone’s Instagram, ask yourself these things… Who are you? What do you do? How can you help? What makes your product or service different? How are you relatable? What tangible tips, information, or advice can you provide for free that will encourage people to spend money with you?
Ideally you want to be able to answer all of them during your Story takeover without coming out and directly saying “Who am I? I’m Brittany from Not Another Blonde. What do I do? I help bloggers and business owners grow their brands.” That would be terribly boring. Instead, communicate who you are through documenting or showing the audience what you do and what you can offer.
3. Engage your audience
One of the biggest mistakes I see people make on Instagram Stories is when they don’t engage their audience. Like what?! It’s so quick and easy to do!
You not only want an interesting message within your Stories but you want to make your viewers a part of it.
Instagram makes this super easy by having a poll feature, questions button, link option, share feature, quiz button, and @ mentions. There is no reason you can’t incorporate one of these elements into your Stories once a day.
If you want your audience to care about you, you have to care about them and one way to do that is by asking for their input on IG Stories.
4. Show your vulnerabilities
This one can be uncomfortable at first but I promise once you show your life isn’t perfect, your brand will explode. There’s this unattainable level of perfection on Instagram these days, so what I’m noticing is the posts and accounts that show the reality of certain situations are the posts and accounts that are blowing up.
Let’s take @paigearminta for example. She creates beautifully curated photos BUT also shows the hardships behind the scenes during her photoshoots.
Showing vulnerabilities from time to time will help build your know, like, and trust factor. It makes you more relatable and shows you’re human with real emotions that aren’t always as perfectly curated as they seem on Instagram.
5. Share BTS footage
The Kardashians have built their entire careers on giving people an exclusive BTS look at what’s going on. That’s literally all Keeping Up with the Kardashians is! We get to see what goes into the photo shoots, product creations, child births, home designs, baby showers, family drama, etc. We see it all which makes us feel like a part of the journey.
You don’t have to be a Kardashian to show your followers the behind the scenes of your life. Doing this is like inviting them to a secret club.
People are nosy, they want to know everything that goes on in someone’s life. They crave for you to overshare… it’s entertainment! You can do it so easily by sharing raw footage of the process of whatever journey you’re on.
6. Build anticipation
Anytime you have news, updates, or project launches you want to share them in a way that builds anticipation. Show your audience hands on what it looks like.
Arielle Charnas of Something Navy does an incredible job of this with her clothing line. Each launch she has, which is usually every month, she builds anticipation for the collection by posting a try-on haul on her Instagram Stories.
Not only that, but she has members of her team try on the pieces as well so people can see how they fit on different body types. This is inclusive and accepting of women at every shape and size, plus it adds value. She even lists how tall each person is, the size they wear, and how they uniquely style each item. She brings massive value to her customers which generates excitement and anticipation.
Again, you do not have to have a clothing line like Something Navy to build anticipation on IG Stories. You can apply this strategy to whatever you’re launching.
Maybe you’re writing a book, maybe you’re launching a styling service, maybe you’re developing a beauty product, maybe you’re traveling to Greece… whatever it is, I promise you can get people excited about it before it happens.
How do you use Instagram Stories to grow your brand? Tell me in the comments below!
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