Instagram Stories.

Have you heard of them?

Instagram stories are a bit like Snapchats, they are messages, videos, and pictures that your followers can see for 24 hours before disappearing. Stories are a bit like slide-shows in which you can actually tell a story, or at least build expectations and keep people’s attention.

You can also save certain stories in the form of highlights on your Instagram profile so that people can watch them anytime.

But, what are the benefits of posting stories? Can’t they only be posted manually from a mobile device or tablet? It sounds like a lot of work to keep people’s attention and create all of this content that disappears in 24 hours.

Well, let me start by telling you the benefits of Instagram Stories:

The Benefits of Instagram Stories

Since IG changed their feed from a chronological compilation of everyone you follow to a mixture of content you’re most likely to engage with according to the algorithm, things are different.

Thankfully, you can still see the stories of everyone you follow. Posting daily stories can be a great way to keep your account in the forefront of a follower’s mind.  Bonus points if you can create a story that’s interesting to watch that people aren’t going to just skip over. Entertainment, story-telling, and knowing exactly what your ideal client wants is key here.

Since stories are a great way to stay at the top of your feed and at the forefront of the user’s minds, posting a daily story can help increase your overall engagement. For instance, the algorithm will deem someone who watches your stories every day to be more interested in your content than a user who never watches your stories because you never post any.

Stories also have a much better reach than feed posts. If you use a few hashtags, you may even have a better chance at ranking for that hashtag than you do with posts. This isn’t to say that you can’t rank for hashtags with your post.  It’s easier than most people think.

The Hassle

So yes… stories can be posted from a desktop, but you won’t have as many features to add-on than if you’d posted via a mobile device or tablet. The fact that stories can also NOT be scheduled can discourage a lot of business owners when it comes to posting stories.

The hassle is worth it for all of the extra features you can get though, such as the ability to add music, letting people type you a message, running a poll, or even a count-down. There’s also Instagram lives which you can use to promote your business. You can even go live with a friend or a business connection, which can be a great method of networking for both of you.

If you truly don’t have time to post Instagram stories daily, you can hire someone like me to post stories for you. This shouldn’t cost very much if you provide a batch of content, no matter who you get to post stories since it only takes a few minutes.

Evergreen Content

What could be better than a stock of answers to your audience’s questions that are available 24/7, 365 days per year? Instagram Story Highlights is a great place to answer some common questions that people might have about your brand. In this way, when you create stories, you aren’t just creating content that’s here today and gone tomorrow. It can be a core piece of content that helps direct people to your brand 24/7.

If you have any questions about how to create a story plan that people will actually watch, and that you can turn into evergreen content, check out my strategy sessions.