Instagram Stories: How to Create Engaging Stories

Do you use Instagram?

Wondering how Instagram stories work?

To explore how to craft Instagram stories for business, I interview Sue B. Zimmerman.
Instagram Stories
The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It's designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode, I interview Sue B. Zimmerman, an Instagram marketing expert who helps businesses and marketers take their Instagram marketing to the next level. She's the author of the Instagram Strategy Guide ebook and a regular speaker at Social Media Marketing World.

Sue shares how a number of businesses are creating engaging Instagram stories.

You'll discover several techniques to improve your own Instagram stories.

Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below.
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Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show:
Instagram Stories
Why Marketers Should Consider Instagram Stories

Sue started using Instagram Stories as soon as the feature rolled out in 2016. She still uses Snapchat, but she says now she mostly relies on Instagram Stories. She says pulling together content to tell a story is creative work, similar to scrapbooking.

Sue recommends that you develop a thread that keeps people engaged in your story from start to finish. Also, create Instagram stories with content that's original to Instagram, rather than duplicating content from other platforms.

Sue says Instagram stories have three main benefits:

First, Instagram stories direct followers to your actual Instagram feed, where your posts are always available. (Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours.)
Stories that are entertaining and engaging give your followers a quick and easy way to consume your content.
Engagement is important to the new algorithm that determines what people see in their Instagram feed. Because Instagram stories boost engagement with your Instagram posts, they improve your chances of showing up at the top of people's news feeds.

Listen to the show to discover when Sue still uses Snapchat instead of Instagram Stories.

Instagram Stories and Posts

We talk about the highly produced content that marketers often feature on their Instagram feeds, and Sue says high production value is not necessary for Instagram stories. Sue shares a few examples of businesses that use Instagram stories in creative ways. These businesses create stories that are different from the content in their regular Instagram feeds.

For example, Jenny Schatzle, who owns a gym in Santa Barbara, uses Instagram stories to let people know when she's starting new sessions. Her stories are more like ads, which is a completely different approach than her regular posts on Instagram.

Sue has also seen companies with products (such as shoe company M.Gemi) use stories to feature sales and direct people to their Instagram feeds.

Sue notes that marketers use text differently on Instagram posts and stories. The more successful accounts on Instagram typically include the text in the description, not on the photo itself, so people connect with the experience of the product or service that the photo depicts. However, in an Instagram story, text can add value. People who don't have the volume turned up in the story can read the text on the video or the photo.

I ask how Instagram Stories has changed the way people interact with content on Instagram. Sue shares a few changes she's noticed since the release of Instagram Stories and the algorithm change.

Although she's been posting less frequently on Instagram, Sue gets more engagement with her posts over a longer period of time. She attributes that engagement to having active Instagram stories. People discover Sue through her stories, which provide value.