Stories with artificial scarcity go down well with Instagram users. We’ll show you why you should also use Instagram Stories for marketing.

With the Instagram Stories, the company belonging to Facebook has taken up a tool that has already made the instant messenger Snapchat popular and successful. The feature allows the existing Instagram feed to be supplemented with short stories in the form of photos or videos, which disappear after 24 hours. Well structured, such a story can make your own Instagram page appear livelier and more varied and thus ensure increased traffic . However, since the stories disappear after 24 hours and thus do not affect the actual, sometimes elaborately designed Instagram feed, they are also ideal as a marketing tool for your company!

Over 300 million users every day

As part of its latest quarterly report, Facebook announced that more than 300 million users around the world use the Instagram Stories function every day. This corresponds to an increase of around 20% within six months since the tool was introduced in June 2017. These figures include the content produced by the users themselves as well as the stories consumed by friends, influencers and advertising companies. In Germany alone we have over 15 million active Instagram accounts of private individuals as well as the same number of company profiles and influencers – and the trend is rising!

Find the Instagram Stories Users find users in the feed at the top, very prominently placed.

 

Instagram pushes the story function

Instagram has redesigned its website and apps in such a way that stories are displayed much more prominently and perceived by users in a more targeted manner. The stories thus follow a trend that is already familiar from Facebook videos. The preview of new stories in the Instagram feed is much larger and more noticeable, and notifications also alert the user to recently published stories from popular accounts and friends. This not only increases the number of users but also the length of time they spend on Instagram stories. Although the stories are not yet completely replacing the classic feed, there is a clear trend towards living stories.

The optimal format for Instagram pictures is 1080 x 1080 pixels, that of the profile picture 110 x 110. Good preparation is half the battle when working with social media channels: We have already summarized the best way to use several channels at the same time .

Instagram stories are particularly appealing to companies and influencers

The maintenance effort for a well-functioning Instagram story is high. If it is not published at the right time, in the right length and with the right content, the effect of the story completely fizzles out. If you want to use the normal Instagram feed at the same time, this requires a lot of time and content. This makes the new feature particularly suitable for companies that use the stories for marketing purposes, build them up strategically and have them professionally looked after. But the effort is worth it. Almost half of the most-clicked stories come from companies, brands or influencers. And already half of all advertising companies on Facebook use the function regularly.

Only available for a short time – get it now!

Instagram stories use a well-known tool from marketing psychology: scarcity. Since the stories are only available for a limited time (24 hours), they have a particularly exclusive effect for the user and encourage users to prefer the content to others and consume it quickly. While this marketing trick also harbors a risk with real goods, namely when the goods are not offered exclusively, it can be used with the Instagram stories without hesitation and particularly successfully. The prerequisite for this, however, is that the user behavior of the target group (s) is known and the content of the stories is adapted to this.

Easy entry and long range

In contrast to the Snapchat stories, the function on Instagram is currently only an extension of the existing feed. This makes it easier for companies in particular to enter the world of Instagram stories. Usually the user behavior and the interests of its own followers are known, the company already has reach through its Instagram feed and can add individual stories to it. In the long term, however, the focus on looking after the Instagram account should be shifted towards the stories. Another advantage is the large reach and breadth of the target groups addressed. If a story is advertised via the Instagram Explore tab, for example, it is a good way to get new users used to the brand, to draw them to your own feed and to bind them to the company in the long term.

Do you want to try download Instagram Stories? Then here are 5 hot tips for the perfect story . And for those who often have to do with social networks, we also have our social media guide: The right image sizes for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Co.