As told by Social Media Coordinator Savannah Wasserman
A few weeks ago I participated in a Webinar put on by HeyOrca, an online social media planner, with special guest and Social Media Guru Matt Navarra, titled "Mastering instagram stories." This webinar covered all things from present to future of Instagram stories and trends in 2019. I learned a few new tricks within Instagram on how to spruce up a story and really engage your audience. I’m listing a few of my major takeaways below!
Instagram stories are eating the newsfeed - this is obvious. We’ve seen a huge shift in instagram stories in the past few years especially with the algorithm affecting the way static posts are being seen, like when a photo posted 16 hours ago pops up in your feed *eye roll.*
The best part about instastories is that they’re popping up in real time, a new evolving platform on social, which allows the viewer to be apart of the brands experience. It creates a more intimate relationship between viewer and brand, taking viewers on a journey and giving them narratives to follow on a daily basis. With stories we are able to convey more complex messages. Navarro predicts that Facebook will be heading to a story focused direction in 2019 as Mark Zuckerberg recently was quoted saying “Facebook is shifting from a feed focus to being stories-first,” in a Digiday article.
Another interesting point that came up during the webinar is the instastory full screen effect. With stories taking up your entire phone screen, it makes it impossible to focus on anything else other than what’s in front of you. Stories successfully grab viewers full attention, pulling them away from reading texts or emails. It’s crucial to create engaging stories so that the viewer will stay on longer, clicking through to the reveal, or end of the story. The fact that stories are erased after 24 hours encourage people to share a lot more and more often as well. The fact that it’s not long lasting is enticing to creators and leave their audience wanting more. Always leave them wanting more.
As we know, instagram stories were built for engagement. Aside from cohesively telling a story, stories have lower barriers of creation as they will soon disappear. They’re interactive, addictive, authentic and allow viewers to feel like they’re a part of the experience rather than just passively viewing. Stickers/polls and other special effects allow users to be a part of the experience, by allowing them to ask questions and give their opinions on polls. Knowing how all the tools and features work is crucial.
Ultimately, powerful, evocative imagery and video leads to great storytelling. All stories should be cohesive with a beginning, middle and end. Intriguing stories should activate an audience, encourage the viewer to take action, making them a participant rather than just viewer.