The Ultimate Guide to Instagram

Stories for Business

January 23, 2019

Content Menu
1. How to Use Instagram Stories for Business
2. How to Create an Instagram Stories Strategy for your Business
3. How Often to Post to Instagram Stories
4. When to Post to Instagram Stories
5. What to Post to Instagram Stories
6. Using Location and Hashtag Stickers in Your Instagram Stories
7. Adding Links to Your Instagram Stories
8. Tagging Other Accounts in Your Instagram Stories
9. Tagging Business in Your Sponsored Instagram Stories
10. Share Polls in Your Instagram Stories for Business
11. Ask Questions in Your Instagram Stories for Business
12. Use the Countdown Sticker in Your Instagram Stories
13. Share Instagram Live Videos in Your Instagram Stories for Business
14. Share GIFs in Your Instagram Stories
15. Share IGTV and Instagram Posts on Instagram Stories
16. Planning + Scheduling Your Instagram Stories for Business
17. Using Instagram Stories Highlights to Showcase Your Business
18. Tools to Make Better Instagram Stories for Business
19. How to Drive Sales with Instagram Stories for Your Business
20. Track and Measure your Instagram Stories Performance
How to Use Instagram Stories for
Business
True to Instagram’s easy-to-use interface, creating a story on
Instagram is actually very simple. However, because Instagram has
released so many new features for Instagram Stories in the past few
months, it can be a bit difficult to
keep track of them all.
We’ll get to some of those later, but
for now, here’s a refresher on how to
create Instagram Stories for
business:
1. Swipe right from your home
screen or tap the camera icon in
the top left corner of the screen to
open the Instagram camera.

2. Take a photo by tapping the

record button or take a video by
pressing down on the record
button for up to 10 seconds. You
also have the option of taking
a type, live, boomerang,
superzoom, rewind, or hands-free
video.
 Other buttons:
 Photo: Select your most recently taken photo or video
 Thunderbolt: The flash button.
 Arrows: Switch from front-facing camera to back-facing camera and vice-
versa.
 Smiley face: Instagram’s face filters feature
3. You can also upload a previously taken photo or video from
your camera roll by swiping up or down.
If you select a photo from over 24 hours ago, a date sticker with the
day, month, and year that the photo was taken will automatically
appear. You can remove the sticker by dragging to the trash icon at
the bottom of the screen.

4. Tapping anywhere on the screen will bring up the text tool.

You can play with text size and color, and you can also use the
“@” sign to tag another account, or the “#” sign to share a
hashtag.

Instagram recently launched the ability to search for Instagram Stories

by location and hashtag, meaning that if you include a hashtag in your
story, other users can see it even if they don’t follow you!
5. Select from one of three different pen styles to doodle on your
photo. You can also erase any drawings that you add to your
story with the eraser brush.

6. You can also add stickers by selecting the sticker button in the
top right corner of your screen or by swiping up on your story.
Some of the more important ones include the location sticker,
hashtag sticker, mention sticker,selfie sticker, poll sticker, emoji
slider, and question sticker!
7. You can also swipe right or left to apply different filters.
8. When you’re done, tap the “Next” button to share!
Your story will appear at the top of your followers’ feeds, but it will also
be visible on your profile page by tapping your profile picture.

9. You can find out how well your Instagram story is performing
by swiping up while viewing your story. This will display the
number as well as the names of people who have seen each
photo or video in your story.
You can also view analytics for your Instagram Stories, but you have
to be on an Instagram business profile!
To see insights for your Instagram story, head to your profile and
select the Insights icon in the top right corner. Next, scroll down and
tap “Get Started” in the Stories section.
Now when you open your business profile, impressions, reach and
other metrics related to your stories will be included in your Instagram
Insights under the Content heading.
Upload Bulk Photos & Videos to Instagram Stories
If you’re publishing multiple stories, Instagram’s bulk stories uploader
makes this super easy to do!
Previously, if you wanted to post several photos or videos to your
Instagram story, you would have to go through the same process for
every individual piece of content. Now when you go to upload media,
there will be a new icon in the top-right corner of the screen:
Once you tap it, your phone’s gallery will display and you can select
up to 10 photos and videos to post in one shot!
From here, you can add links, GIFs, or stickers for each story, and
when you’re done, just click the Next button to share your story!
How to Create an Instagram Stories for
Business Strategy
With more people using Instagram Stories every day, it’s important to
have a strategy in place for sharing content if you’re using Instagram
Stories for business.
But if you want to use Instagram Stories to get more followers and
grow your reach, you’ll need a game plan. That’s why this year you’ll
want to invest your time in creating an Instagram Stories strategy.
This is especially true if your goal is to grow your Instagram
engagement. By developing a content strategy for Instagram Stories,
you can make sure you never miss an opportunity to connect with
your audience again.

How Often to Post on Instagram Stories for Business

Unlike regular Instagram posts, which are subject to the sometimes
fickle Instagram algorithm, Instagram won’t penalize you for
posting too many Instagram Stories.

This likely has to do with the ephemeral nature of Instagram Stories:

because a story only exists for 24 hours, there isn’t much pressure for
Instagram to prioritize some posts over others on a users’ feed.
This might change in the future as more accounts starting using
Instagram Stories regularly, but until that day, it’s important to know
that you won’t get penalized… by Instagram, that is.
A few months after releasing stories, Instagram introduced the ability
to mute other users’ stories.
To mute someone’s Instagram story, all you need to do is tap and hold
on their Instagram Stories avatar.
This moves the story to the end of the queue and prevents it from
autoplaying.

You can think of the mute tool as a way for Instagram users to block
annoying accounts. Because of the way people watch stories, if you
post too many stories at once and it takes your followers 15+ taps to
get to the next account’s story, there’s a good chance you might get
muted.
That’s not to say that posting a ton of Instagram Stories is a bad thing.
It really comes down to your content and what your followers expect
from you!
Some accounts can get away with posting 10+ Stories a day, while
others are better off posting just a few times a week.
Take @wework for example. The international shared workspace
company often posts 10+ stories each day. And it works for them!
People love their rich content and
it’s become a part of their brand:

While posting multiple times a day

works for some accounts, it might
not work for you.
It can take a lot of time and
planning to create a 10+ Instagram
Stories, so if you think your time is
best served elsewhere, it’s
probably best to stick to just a few
Stories per week!
Plus, if you consistently post a ton
of stories, your followers are going
to expect you to continue doing so.
At the end of the day, there’s really
no “optimal” frequency for Stories,
but it’s good to have enough
throughout the week that people
look forward to seeing yours
without getting tired of your
content!
When to Post on Instagram Stories
When it comes to regular Instagram posts, it’s very important to post
when your followers are most active. But this isn’t the case with
Instagram Stories for business.
Due to their ephemeral nature, Instagram Stories can only exist for a
maximum of 24 hours. That’s 24 hours of being at the top of your
followers’ feeds!
So even if you post a story at a time when the majority of your
followers are asleep, they’ll still be
able to see your story at the top of
their feeds when they wake up.

In other words, don’t stress out too

much about posting your Instagram
Stories at optimal times. The whole
point of Stories is for the content to
be current!
That being said, if you’re looking
for immediate engagement on your
Instagram Stories, posting when your
followers are most active will help.
What to Post on Instagram
Stories for Business
Like with regular posts, if you’re
using Instagram Stories for business,
it’s good to post a mix of fun,
lighthearted content and promotional
content.
The great thing about Instagram
Stories is that because they’ve created so many cool tools, you can
really get as creative as you’d like. There’s also a ton of new apps
popping up that make designing high-quality stories easier than ever.
When you’re creating your Instagram Stories strategy, everything you
post should come back to your brand goals. Once you know what your
Instagram marketing goals are, you can better determine what types
of content to post!
The same is true for promotional content on Instagram Stories. It’s
easy to create promotional stories that are also fun and lighthearted.
And there are a ton of creative ways to use Instagram stories for
business.
That being said, when it comes to promotional content on Instagram
Stories, there are a few things
you can do to get the most
bang for your buck:
Use Location and Hashtag Stickers to Increase Your
Discoverability
When Instagram first introduced stickers to Instagram Stories last
December, they were more fun than useful.
Since that time, Instagram has added a ton of new functionalities to
stickers, including the ability to see location-based stories on the
Explore page, and, most
recently, the ability to search
for stories by location and
hashtag.

These features have made a

huge difference. Whereas at
first you could only share
Instagram Stories with your
own followers, stories are now
searchable by location and
hashtag, meaning anyone can
see your stories now!
That’s why we recommend
always using location and
hashtag stickers in your
stories. If you can get enough
people to engage with your
story, you might even end up
on the Explore page.
Use Links in Your Instagram Stories for Business
If you have a business account with over 10 thousand followers,
driving traffic from within your Instagram Stories is pretty straight
forward.
Viewers can swipe up on story content that contains a URL and be
redirected anywhere you want them to go. This means you can send
viewers to your blog or website, to a landing page, your email list, or
even to an affiliate or partner page.

It goes without saying that the ability to

send your followers to specific landing
pages from your stories is extremely
useful. Whether that’s a product page
or a new blog post, you can use this
feature to drive Instagram traffic to
relevant landing pages!
Tag Other Accounts in Your
Instagram Stories for
Business
We all know how effective
Instagram contests are for driving
engagement and getting new
followers, and with the ability to
tag other accounts in Instagram
Stories, there’s yet another way
to drive traffic to your contests.

Tagging other accounts in your

stories is also useful if you’re
running a takeover or influencer
campaign.
Tag Businesses in Your
Sponsored Instagram Stories
Speaking of influencers, Instagram’s
new paid partnership feature makes it
super easy to tag businesses in your
sponsored Instagram Stories!

Only a handful of celebrities,

influencers, and businesses have
been given access to the feature so
far, but an larger-scale rollout is
expected in the next few months.
You can learn more about the feature
and disclosure in general here.

Share Polls & Emoji Sliders in Your

Instagram Stories for Business
Have you ever wanted to survey your
Instagram audience about their interests,
likes, dislikes, and more? Well, now you
can!
Instagram
recently launched new interactive poll
stickers on Instagram Stories which lets
you ask questions and see results from
your followers as they vote.
The great thing about poll stickers is that
there are so many business uses!
Whether you want to collect feedback on
your products, crowdsource ideas, or
simply entertain your followers, poll
stickers offer an entirely new way to
engage with your Instagram audience!

Unlike poll stickers and emoji sliders, both

of which allow users to “vote” on questions
that you submit, when you add a question
sticker to your Instagram story,
others users submit questions for you to
answer.

Whether you want to collect feedback on

your products or crowdsource ideas, questions stickers offer an
entirely new way to engage with your Instagram audience!

Use the Countdown Sticker in Your

Instagram Stories
Now when you share a story about an
upcoming something (like an in-store sale,
product launch, or event), you can add a
sticker that counts down to a date and
time that you set.

Your followers can then subscribe to your

countdown event, which will send them a
reminder when the time is up and your
countdown is complete!
Whether you’re looking to promote a sale,
event, or something else entirely, the
ability to share a countdown on your
stories that your followers can get
reminders about is a great way to
generate better results.
Share Instagram Live Videos in
Your Instagram Stories for
Business
Prior to a recent update, Instagram
Live videos could not be replayed or
shared after the broadcast.
And while it created a sense of
urgency for viewers to tune-in, there’s
a ton of value in being able to share
your live videos post-broadcast! In
fact, this feature could make
Instagram Live as big as Facebook
Live!

Once your Instagram Live video ends,

you can share a replay of it. But like
other photos and videos you share to
Instagram Stories, live video replays
will disappear after 24 hours!

Share GIFs in Your Instagram

Stories
Last year, Instagram teamed up
with GIPHY to build a library of high-quality
GIFs on Instagram Stories. Now you can
add fun, expressive GIF stickers to any
photo or video in your story!

Adding GIFs on Instagram Stories is easy

— when you tap to add a sticker to a photo
or video in stories, you’ll now see a new
GIF option. Tap it and you’ll find a library
full of hundreds of thousands of moving
stickers powered by GIPHY.
Using this feature in a consistent way can add a ton of personality to
your Instagram Stories and help you build a loyal following. You can
get a step-by-step Instagram tutorial about how to add GIFs to
Instagram Stories here.

Share IGTV and Instagram Posts on Instagram Stories

Did you know you can share IGTV and Instagram posts in Stories
too?
Posts or IGTV videos shared to Instagram Stories will display the
original poster’s username, letting users tap it to check out the original
post:

With more and more users shifting their attention to Instagram Stories,
users have been using stories to cross-promote their posts and IGTV
videos. Now, instead of including a
screenshot of their feed to stories,
users can easily share the post
with the new re-share feature.
Using Instagram
Stories Highlights to
Showcase Your
Business
Instagram Stories Highlights are an
awesome way to share important
information front and center on
your profile.
They appear directly under your bio
and above your Instagram feed
and play as a stand-alone story
when someone taps on it.

As long as you keep the auto-

archiving feature turned on, your
stories will save automatically.
This means you can re-share your
very best Instagram Stories content
after the 24-hour period has passed without needing to set a reminder
to save it manually.
Grouping your Instagram Stories Highlights together into categories
makes it super easy for your audience to watch the stories content
that they’re interested in.

By treating your Instagram profile like a landing page for all things
related to your brand, you can create Instagram Stories Highlights that
share your most important information with your audience. And
because your highlights are up indefinitely, you can continue to drive
traffic and sales with your stories!
To help you create your own Instagram Stories covers, we
created free Instagram Stories Highlights icons. These icons are
fully customizable so you can
make them fit your profile! Get
yours by filling out the form below:
Tools to Make Better
Instagram Stories for
Business
There’s no question that Instagram
Stories is a great place to show off
your business’ personality. But if
you’re looking to make even better
Instagram Stories for business, these
four tools can help:
Use Unfold for Clean & Minimalist Instagram Stories
Templates

Unfold exploded onto the scene this year with its library of clean and
modern templates. It’s now one of the most popular template apps for
Instagram Stories!

Using Instagram Stories templates is one of the easiest ways to

upgrade your stories content! By using a set of templates for your
Instagram Stories, you can create cohesive, on-brand content that
aligns with your brand as a whole.

Add a Background to Your Instagram Stories Content with

InShot

Have you ever wanted to post a video but it wasn’t quite the right
size?
The InShot Video Editor is a photo and video editing app specially
designed to make your content a perfect fit for an Instagram Stories
post (or any other video platform!).
Before getting started on your project, just make sure to select
“Canvas” to adjust the size for Instagram Stories:

The InShot Video Editor takes your existing video and allows you to
change it into various aspect ratios, and you can easily resize and
crop it to fit Instagram Stories – which is a serious challenge
sometimes!

You can also place your video on a background; choose a plain

colored background within the app, or upload an image from your
device.

It means great footage will never go to waste and you can easily share
it with your followers on Instagram Stories!
Share Text Graphics That Stand Out with Over
Whether you’re sharing tips, inspirational quotes, or want to add a
creative twist to your campaign, Over is a great app for Instagram
Stories that lets you overlay text and graphics onto your photos and
videos!

Over has a “gazillion” photos, fonts, graphics, templates and tools to

choose from to help you create high-quality, on-brand content.

Create Amazing Instagram Stories for Business with Canva

Canva’s mobile app is fantastic for creating stunning social media
graphics. But did you know that you can also use Canva to create
amazing Instagram Stories for business?
Thanks to their library of Instagram Stories templates, Canva has
become one of our favorite tools for designing unique, and eye-
catching Stories!

Once you’ve downloaded the Canva mobile app, you can browse their
library of professionally created templates.

How to Drive Sales with Instagram

Stories for Business
In the past year, Instagram has added a ton of new features to
improve how people shop on the app.
This opens up a huge opportunity for online retailers and ecommerce
brands to tap into new audiences, show off their products, and
ultimately drive more traffic back to their website!
Here are a few ways you can use Instagram Stories to generate more
sales:

Shoppable Stickers in Instagram Stories

The new shoppable stickers for Instagram Stories are similar to the
regular Instagram shoppable posts: businesses are able to tag
physical products from their inventory or ecommerce platform.
And you want to know what makes the new shopping stickers so
great? You don’t need to be verified or have 10,000 followers to use
them!
Prior to this release, there was no way for businesses with less than
10,000 followers to drive traffic from Instagram Stories.

But thanks to Instagram Stories shopping stickers, businesses of all

sizes can start using Instagram Stories to generate sales.
When you click on an item in Instagram, you’re able to view the item
name, price, description and a link to the website:

Shoppable Instagram Stories stickers can be placed on both images

and videos, and there are 4 different types of stickers: a shopping bag
icon, a sticker with the product name in rainbow or grey, and
translucent text.
Instagram Stories Ads
Instagram Stories ads are the
perfect way to reach new
audiences and showcase your
brand, business, and products
to an already engaged
audience. Engagement rates
for Instagram Stories are
already high, with Instagram
revealing one in five stories
gets a direct message from
viewers.
In fact, according to
Instagram, 75 percent of
Instagram users take action,
such as visiting a website or
making a purchase, after
looking at Instagram ads.

If you want to use Instagram

Stories to make more sales,
you may want to think about
investing in an Instagram
Stories ads strategy!

Using Facebook’s Ads manager, you can create Instagram ads that
show up within Instagram Stories.
Once you’ve determined the audience that you want to target and the
objective of your campaign, make sure you select Instagram Stories
as your ad placement and follow the prompts to set up your ad.
Luckily, Instagram ads have all the same targeting options as
Facebook ads, including targeting based on location, demographics,
interests, behavior, and more.
Source: Lexie Carbone