Testing Out Instagram Stories For Your Business

This helped us out so much since a lot of people don't have the time to click on every Instagram story as it updates on their feed. Instagram will crop your story to their standard square, so make sure to align your story in a way that each frame makes sense in the square format. 

This is an awesome new feature that helps your Facebook fans have insight to your Instagram page. Cross-publishing not only draws more eyes to your story, but it also makes your fans aware of your Instagram account and can help you gain new followers. 

I actually saw great engagement by promoting our Instagram Story on Twitter. I would take a photo, or video, from the story and use it as a teaser to drive people to our Instagram page. There was an immediate uptick in story views and engagement with our tweets. The increase in people coming from Twitter to Instagram led to a spike in our Instagram followers. 

Something I learned WHILE Instagram Story-ing, was that Instagram stories only accept 15-second videos. So, I found myself scurrying to quickly edit videos on the fly. I found that this little 'mistake' actually was a blessing. I was able to use the longer form videos to publish natively on Facebook, Twitter, and even YouTube. The longer videos helped provide more context. 

Instagram Stories is the way to go if you are looking to invest in more than just a 24-hour content fest. Its integration with Facebook is invaluable, along with the increasing amount of users that are flocking the platform. As Snapchat tries to navigate muddy waters as it waits to be bought out, give Instagram Stories a shot. I promise you won't regret it.