What are Instagram Stories?
What are Instagram Stories?
If you don’t know by now, this is a great article for you. But the better question is, HOW can I use Instagram Stories?
Instagram launched the feature back in the summer of 2016, and it’s hard to believe it’s been well-over a year. It launched in the midst of a peak in Snapchat success, and caused a bit of an uproar from loyal Snapchatters offended that Instagram was copying the very concept that made Snapchatting so fun: taking videos, adding filters and witty captions, and posting for all your friends to see. This reaction lasted long enough until recently, when most Snapchatters decided not only to give IG Stories shot, but to fully jump ships.
If you know how to work Snapchat, you’ll pick up IG Stories very quickly. But I’m here to highlight a few features that Snapchat does not have, and why these features are great for business and brand advancement.
- Don’t just write a caption, CREATE one.
When posting to your story, you always have a purpose and that purpose can be detailed in the caption. However, it’s not about merely writing a caption. IG Stories allow you to tell your story and be creative with your visuals. Write a few lines of text and place them around your screen. Highlight your captions in various colors. Write your text or draw pictures with your finger. Get creative, and make your text pop.
- Sticker your location.
On Snapchat, we all love a good geotag. But on your IG Story, add a location sticker to increase visibility. By tagging your location, you are posting it to a larger, broader story specific to that location, which users can search and view in the Explore page. Watch your story instantly gain more viewers. Try this with hashtags too.
- Try out a Boomerang.
Boomerangs are a fun and unique way to post content. It’s not quite a video, nor a photo. But social media users love it. Don’t leave the Instagram app to take a boomerang for your IG viewers either. Stay right there, and swipe left on the bottom bar of the screen.
- Swipe up to link a website.
Business accounts, this is for you. IG Stories now allow business accounts to link websites right to their photo or video, making user accessibility even greater. Users watching your story can simply swipe up and be directed right to your blog, website, new YouTube video, etc. on the same screen. Talk about easy.
- Upload photos from camera roll…
And avoid that ugly white border—sorry Snapchat. Just make sure the photo was saved to your camera roll within the past 24 hours and post away. NEW UPDATE ALERT: You can now post old photos from your camera roll. FINALLY.
So, maybe I’ve gotten your attention now. IG stories is legit. Try it out for yourself and discover new creative hacks to make your story even more dope. With a few more updates, IG Stories has the potential to be a full-service application for project and resource management. Don’t doubt the possibility. Post your story, interact with your followers, link your websites, tag your location, and advance your brand!
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