Instagram Stories allows users to upload pictures and video clips which can be overlaid with text, graphics, and emojis, into 15-second slideshows. Once uploaded, your Story will stay up until a 24-hour time lapse. So, unlike the photos and videos you post to your profile that last forever, once your Instagram Story is gone, it is gone for good.

That possibility makes it easier for you to be as casual and informal as you want with your marketing and advertising content. Curiously enough, despite their ephemeral nature, through Instagram Storie’s marketers have the opportunity to reach far more people on the fastest-growing social network.

Research shows that Stories have encouraged users to stay on Instagram longer and visit it more often. While users under 25 spend more than 32 minutes daily on Instagram, older age groups spend more than 24 minutes a day on the photo- and video-sharing network.

With Instagram Stories, you have 10 to 15 seconds to show 300 million people your product or service. And there is more than one way to use Instagram Stories to your advantage.

For starters, you can take your followers and customers behind-the-scenes of your business and make them feel like insiders. Doing this helps in making your brand more trusting and appealing to customers.

Next, you can tease your followers with a sneak-peak of a product you are planning to launch. With such sneak-peaks, you are building a buzz and most likely encouraging your followers to promote your brand simply by discussing it with their peers on the platform. They would naturally feel a need to see just what the new product has to offer.

You can also get the opinion of your followers concerning products or a trending topic via the Poll feature. Introduced in October 2017, Polls give you a chance to save money, time, and energy by asking your audience what they want or think. A few brands and influencers claim to have seen an increase in Instagram Live and Stories engagement after making use of Polls.

These are only a few of the ways that you can engage with your users and increase your e-commerce sales. For more tips, check out the infographic below:

URL: https://99firms.com/blog/how-businesses-use-instagram-stories/