Did you hear the big news that Instagram has come out with an exciting new feature? I wanted to let you know about it right away because this opens up a ton of new possibilities for you as a business owner to get in front of your audience in a truly unique way.
Remember when we first met I promised you that every time I learn something new in the ever changing field of Social Media you will hear about it first.
So here’s the big news:
Instagram rolled out their new STORIES feature which is pretty cool and sort of similar to Snapchat.
Since yesterday you can create STORIES in your Instagram profile without having to worry about over-posting. These stories appear in your profile and are not shown in the feed of your followers. And they go away after 24 hours just like snaps on Snapchat.
Now, I never got into Snapchat because it’s just not my thing but I’ve always loved Instagram and I hear you, you’re probably thinking phew, yet another thing to keep track of.
Well, what if I told you why using Instagram stories is potentially a really great profile boost for your business?
You can show BEHIND THE SCENES content and everybody loves a bit of a glimpse behind the scenes, am I right? I mean that’s why Reality TV is so popular. This way your fans and followers get to know the real you not just the beautiful pictures you post.
With the STORIES feature you can document your day by adding photos or videos. A 24 hour snapshot of what’s happening in your business.
Now this is particularly cool if you are an online entrepreneur getting ready for a webinar or online training. You can post short behind the scenes videos of you prepping or even snippets of you delivering your training to your IG followers.
Or you can announce that you are about to go live on Facebook. One more tool to add to your marketing tool box to get the word out about what’s going on.
If you have a brick and mortar business show video of your product and do a little demonstration.
If you are a service provider, show us how you do what you do (if you are a fitness instructor, show how you get ready to teach a class, if you are a speaker post a candid moment when you get off stage, if you are a pod-caster let’s see your studio, if you are a photographer give us sneak peek into how you setting up for your shoot,… )
The possibilities are pretty much endless and every one of big online marketers was playing around with it yesterday as they were going about their day. Gary Vee, Kimra Luna, Amy Porterfield, Lewis Howes, Kim Garst, and Sue Zimmerman’s stories all showed up in my profile bar. They are early adopters of this new feature and already starting to leverage it for their business and so can YOU.
Here is how you know if somebody shared a story. Their profile picture has a rainbow colored ring around it.
But I bet you’d love to know how it works:
Step 1: Download an updated version of Instagram on your phone
Step 2: Go to the home screen and click on the + sign in the top left corner
Step 3: Click on the circle in the bottom and take a picture or shoot a short video
Step 4: Edit your picture or video as you would normally do with filters, then click on the pen sign in the top right corner and if you like, start drawing or writing a caption in the picture or video
Step 5: Click DONE and you are good to go
If you hop over to my business page, I actually break it down in pictures.
You’ll get views pretty quickly from your followers.
And the best part is from the Stories feature people can message you directly (say in case they have a question about your product or service.)
I think that’s pretty cool. One more way to engage your followers and start a conversation.
Try it out and let me know in the comments how you like it.
Happy storytelling!
Simona Ksoll is a brand marketing strategist and business mentor positioning coaches and entrepreneurs to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Follow her on Facebook and LinkedIn and join her private Facebook Community.