Did you know: Instagram’s per-following engagement rate is 58 times higher than Facebook?
Earlier this year Instagram announced their new feature called Stories. Ever since Instagram was bought by Facebook back in 2012, it has become one of the most used social networks on a day to day basis. Whilst you, as a small business may feel overwhelmed with all of the social networks you can use to promote your business, Instagram should be at the top of your list, especially with the release of Instagram Stories.
What Is Instagram Stories?
Instagram stories allows you to share moments throughout your day whether it be photos or videos that appear in a slideshow format for all of your followers to see, and experience for up to 24 hours. Whilst some may say that it is just a mirror of the already existing, and successful Snapchat, I would have to disagree. This feature may allow you to do exactly the same thing as Snapchat but do not forget the importance of Instagram as an engagement network as a whole.
Instagram had the following to say.
“With Instagram Stories, you don’t have to worry about over-posting. Instead, you can share as much as you want and bring your story to life with text and drawing tools. These photos and videos disappear after 24 hours and won’t appear on your profile grid or in feed. It has always been a place to share the moments you want to remember. Now you can share your highlights and everything in between, too. “
Click here to see a video of how Stories works.
Since the launch of Stories, there has been a host of new features including being able to tag someone in a story, but there’s one in particular that I am going to talk about today.
Add A URL To Your Story
Whilst this feature is not available to every user (yet), they have released a beta version of their new feature where you can add a link to your instagram story that opens up in your browser.
This means that when someone is watching your Story and they click on “see more”, it will take them to an in-app browser.
The Stories feature has been a great addition in my opinion, and I use it frequently, especially if I am at an event or trade show. Being able to add a link will help you, as a small business give a potential customer more information about you as a brand. This is a huge step forward for Social Media and in particular Instagram as before this, you could only add a link to your bio.
What are your thoughts on Instagram’s new URL update?
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