This innovative social media feature expands the power of brand visuals where consumers and businesses are increasingly intersecting.
An old rule of writing is to show, don’t tell. In other words, a story connects more with the audience when related through sensory appeal rather than explanation. That’s a big reason why Instagram, the social network where people go to share photos and videos, is such a powerful platform. The fact that 200 million companies are on Instagram shows that the business world gets the picture.
The fact that 90 percent of the people on Instagram follow a business drives home the tremendous opportunity for engagement on the platform. Instagram Stories, one of the ways that brands on the app share content with audiences, enables potential consumers to learn more about a brand and what it offers. Rather than being displayed in the feed, the slide-show format of vertical photos or short videos (up to 15 seconds) are shown at the top of an active user's app for 24 hours after posting and can be tapped through to view.
Forty-six percent of marketers already use Instagram Stories, and 55 percent are planning on increasing their investment in the feature for 2022, according to Hubspot research. It shared some Instagram Story tips and tricks from businesses that not surprisingly made an impression on the team of brand makers, storytellers and creative advocates here at infinitee:
Wayfair
Online furniture and home-décor can be a pretty broad consumer market so why not divide and conquer by publishing Stories that fall into five specific home-related categories? This is exactly what the American e-commerce purveyor of furniture and home goods does with Wall Art Wednesday, #WayfairAtHome, Home Renos, Multifunctional and Design Services on Instagram Stories.
Wayfair not only creatively weaves product shots into each Story in either a humorous or creative way, it also develops and feeds smaller hyper-focused audiences that know when and where to get their fill of fun and, of course, the next idea for home. By presenting them as featured Stories like Wayfair does on its profile, interested parties per category will know where to click to see relevant content.
LEGO
The Danish toy production company not only uses interactive polls and quizzes in Instagram Stories to maximize engagement, but it also smartly targets older audiences that will be the ones buying the products for children. Mix in tributes to other brands — LEGO recently had a post celebrating Harley Davidson with a photo of a replica of a motorcycle — and the company has deftly developed multiple layers of appeal-broadening engagement via Stories.
Caffé Nero
Customers have product needs, of course, but they also are people-centric. From the love-hate reaction to reality shows to A&E biographies of their favorite leaders, people want to know about people.
Caffe Nero, the New England-based Italian coffee chain, not only uses its Instagram Stories to highlight new products and menu items, but also its baristas. The company posted a Story about its "Barista of the Year" competition, highlighting the winner and eight finalists. Consumers identify with the humanity of the staff and take a rooting interest. Telling the personal side of your business is a very engaging and helpful way to expand the brand.
Tanger Outlets
Our client, Tanger Outlets, uses Instagram Stories very often to enhance the message they want to tell. A recent story was created to promote their Bee Amazing Virtual Workshop which was just a part of their plan to celebrate Earth Day 2022. On Earth Day, and every day, Tanger commits to implementing practices that preserve and protect the earth.
One of their initiatives is their urban Beehives which are located at soon-to-be 10 of their properties and which include a dedicated beekeeper and website for each location. These beehives play a huge role in the environment; they aid in the pollination of approximately 120 million to 200 million flowers, shrubs and trees in the local community, sustain one in every three bites of food, and support 5,000 new flower seeds being planted with Alvéole, the Urban Beekeeping Company.
As a part of Earth Day 2022, Tanger Outlets hosted a virtual Kid-friendly Educational Workshop where their beekeepers shared what goes on inside a hive and the importance of bees to our environment. The below story was used as one of the several ways to promote and stimulate excitement for the event.
“In the world of brand creation and management, it’s not enough for your business to merely show up. It better show out,” said Marcia Homer, infinitee’s Director of Brand Management. “Visual stimulation and connection are obviously huge in building unique and compelling brands that excel. We salute those brands using innovative tactics like this to explore new possibilities.”
Instagram Stories is a top tactic by which to advance a business’ innovative, creative, highly engaging and high-impact marketing strategies. By showing (not telling) them the way to your products and services, your company will be ahead of the game in expediting the customer journey, greasing the sales funnel and, of course, growing the bottom line.