As an owner or employee at a small business, you have a lot on your plate. You’re probably wearing a lot of hats, juggling responsibilities, and feeling a bit overwhelmed from time to time. You also likely have a list a mile long of all the things you wish you had time for such as ideas for growing your business, and ways to connect with your customers.

Posting Instagram stories on your business’s profile is a great way to grow an audience, engage with your audience regularly, and drive traffic to your business’s website. We’ll go over the details that you need to know as you begin to take on Instagram stories!

What Is An Instagram Story?

Let’s start with the basics, an Instagram story is a picture or video you can post that followers can view for up to 15 seconds, where it then disappears from your account after 24 hours. These stories are displayed just above your usual feed when you’re logged in on the home page. Here, users can tap through each profile’s story that they’re following to view each creator’s content. Other than just posting still content, you are also able to go live on your story. Instagram live allows users to broadcast live videos of themselves doing any activity of their choosing. If you choose to go live on your Instagram story, your followers are able to watch and comment on things that you’re doing, almost like they’re interacting with you in person! Posting content on your story and going live will help to engage your audience and interact with your followers directly.

How Do I Post An Instagram Story?

Posting an Instagram story can look intimidating at first, but it’s actually super simple! Like anything, practice makes perfect and you’ll learn more tips and tricks as you begin your Instagram story journey. Here are the steps that you’ll need to take to post a picture or video on your story:

1. Tap “+” at the top right of your screen.
2. Scroll to “Story” on the bottom right of your screen.
3. Tap the big white circle on the bottom of your screen to snap a pic or hold it down to record a video. If you want to post a picture or video from your phone’s gallery, go to the bottom left corner of your screen or swipe up anywhere to add.
4. At the top of your screen, there are certain icons that allow you to add some fun elements to your story! Draw, add text, or even add a gif sticker to your picture or video to really make it engaging. To remove the text or a sticker, drag and drop it on the trash can icon at the bottom of your screen.
5. Once your story looks how you want it to, tap “Send To” and then tap “Share” next to “Your Story”.

In 5 simple steps, you can create content for your profile that is appealing and engaging for your audience.

Why Should You Use Instagram Stories?

Now that you know what an Instagram story is and how to post one, why should you take the time to use this feature? Posting Instagram stories is a fun and interactive way to connect with your audience. Creating a general post for your feed can be time-consuming and repetitive, but Instagram stories keep your content fresh and is a more casual way to let your followers know what you’ve been up to. This is an open opportunity to post on your profile daily without overwhelming your followers. Not only is this a great way to connect with your audience, but it can increase your business’s brand awareness and profile followers, while also helping you to drive traffic to other links within your business. As you can see, there are endless reasons why you should start posting to your Instagram story, so try it out to see how your followers react.

What Content Should You Share via Instagram Stories?

By now, we know you’re convinced that you should start posting content on your Instagram story, but what content should you be posting? We’ll go over some ideas so that you can choose what will work best for your business to increase audience engagement. Remember, don’t take your story too seriously. Keep your content fun, casual, and engaging. Don’t be afraid to get creative!

• Packing a shipment order
• Go live and freely explain newly launched products or upcoming events
• Post multiple photos to literally tell a “story” or to show progression of a project
• Have an Instagram story “takeover”, meaning invite a guest to your story where they can review a favorite product from your business
• Create fun polls for your audience and see how they vote on specific topics/ideas/products
• Post pictures of your involvement within the community
• Use hashtags that target your audience so you can be added to a larger story and increase your follower count
• Share your Instagram posts on your story to encourage higher and faster engagement when you post
• Create contests to get your followers involved and excited
• Add a reaction slider to allow users to respond to your story content while gaining insight into how they feel about a product

By mastering Instagram stories, you will be able to grow your business and connect with your audience in a fast and effective way. Start by brainstorming more ideas on content you would like to post that would be both effective for you and your followers based on the tips that we gave you. We know you’re busy and there’s a lot to keep up with, but hopping on Instagram and sharing some stories about your business will greatly benefit you in the end!

Have some questions? Looking for more insight when it comes to Instagram Stories? E/Power Marketing is here to help! Reach out on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or send us an email. We’re here to help businesses like yours shine online!