Telling a story and sharing a story may sound like one in the same, but the two methods couldn’t be more different. When you tell a story, you’re crafting the narrative with your words. When you share a story, you’re using both words and visuals. Sharing a story with your audience on Instagram follows the same principles. Here are three ways to use Instagram stories to tell your brand’s narrative.
Showing Sequence Videos/Photos
Whether it’s a tutorial or showing your product in action, showcasing sequence videos/photos are a great way to educate and intrigue your audience. It allows your product to come to life and makes it more relatable to your customers. Say you’re a juice brand that has a line of cleanses. You could share multiple stories that take people through the cleansing process – what to eat during it, what each drink is good for, what it feels like on day 1, 2, 3, etc. If you’re a clothing company, you could show how to take one piece of clothing from day to night. Not only will these videos give your customers a better idea of what your products are about, but they’ll also invite them to interact, ask questions, and want to learn more about your brand.
Behind-The-Scene Shots
While Instagram is an amazing visual platform, it’s also a great opportunity to show your audience what goes on behind-the-scenes during an event, market, pop-up shop, or photo shoot. This type of content is relatable and gives your brand personality. Since stories disappear in 24 hours (with the exception of the new highlight reel where you can choose which stories you want to stay on your profile), you don’t have to worry about flooding your Instagram feed with these types of photos/videos. The idea is to give your audience a quick snapshot of what goes on in the background of your business.
Shopping Directly From A Story
One of the best assets of Instagram stories is that you can shop directly from them. The only caveat? You must have at least 10,000 followers in order to use this feature. Whether you meet that requirement or not, it’s still an important component to keep in mind. It opens up a whole new avenue for your brand to sell through and gives your audience a simple and easy way to shop your products.
Remember, your brand’s story has a lot of different chapters to it. Take the time to dive in and share each one. After you’ve gotten your storytelling down pat, find out the dos and don’ts of Instagram content creation!