Since launching in 2016, Instagram Stories has ramped up 400 million daily users, and it has become a valuable feature for influencer marketing. Collaborating with creators to publish Stories, in addition to posts, will help you share authentic brand messages, drive traffic to your website, and engage your audience.
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Here are the benefits of using Instagram Stories:
Authenticity
Authenticity is a key aspect of influencer marketing, and Instagram Stories is a great way to capture in-the-moment, genuine content. Posts on Instagram are typically edited to fit a certain aesthetic. Stories, on the other hand, can be raw and unpolished, and your audience will get to know your brand on a deeper level. It’s a valuable resource you should use to communicate authentic brand messages. You can boost your account’s authenticity by (1) resharing Stories that you’re tagged in or (2) hosting a creator takeover.
Reshare Stories that you’re tagged in
Most brands struggle to produce enough content to engage their followers on Instagram. To solve this, ask creators to tag you in their sponsored Stories. You can then easily reshare the content on your brand’s story reel. Just remember to credit the creators for the work they’ve done!
Host a creator takeover
Creators can takeover your brand’s Instagram account to share Stories for a couple hours. They can direct their audience from their social media profiles to your Instagram to watch their ‘Takeover Story.’ This will: (1) expose your brand to a new audience, (2) engage your existing audience, and (3) promote your products or services.
Conversions
If creators have a Business account and a minimum of 10,000 followers, they can add swipe up links to their Stories. In the past, creators added links in their bios. This required users to scroll up to tap on the link. Now, the link can be integrated seamlessly into sponsored posts. With just a swipe up, creators’ audience can be directed straight to your website, which helps streamline the consumer buyer journey!
Additionally, the link you provide creators can be a trackable link, which would make it easy for you to measure your campaign results.
For example, you can collaborate with creators to share their favorite outfits and add a shoppable link to a page where the outfit can be purchased.
Interactive experience
Stories are also a great way to engage an audience. Creators can create Polls, Emoji Sliders, and Questions in their Stories, which isn’t available in regular posts, and ask their audience to participate by sharing their opinions on different topics. For instance, creators can ask their audience to choose or suggest a pattern they’d like to see in your next autumn clothing launch. Their responses will give you an idea of what consumers are looking for, as well as create an interactive experience for them.
For example, you can invite creators to attend your events so they can share intimate, behind-the-scene Stories with their audience. They can capture sneak peeks of your new seasonal fashion line or your restaurant’s grand opening, which will help generate excitement around your brand. The creator can then add a Emoji sliders to the Stories so their audience can share how they feel about a certain outfit or dish.
For their influencer marketing campaign, wagamama collaborated with creators to share Instagram Stories of their grand opening event. wagamama invited 10 creators to attend a tasting session at their restaurant, where they tried their most popular dishes and drinks. The creators shared fun, interactive Stories of the event with their followers, which helped create a buzz around their opening.
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