Social Media is an essential tool for marketing- advertisers are expected to spend over 37 billion dollars on marketing products on social networks in 2020, and that's just in the United States. But with new content posted on these sites every minute, it can be challenging to stay relevant and get more eyes on your product. Social media stories are here to save the day. Best of all, they're free. 

What Are Social Media Stories?

Stories are a mobile-first feature available on a variety of platforms that emphasize current, relevant, temporary content in the form of vertical pictures or videos. Each account can create its own story that is visible for the next 24 hours, after which it disappears. This expiration date encourages viewers to stay in the loop by checking in more regularly with their favorite brands and content creators. 

Why Are Stories Beneficial?

Stories are a great way to boost user engagement without cluttering their feeds. It's also a great way to promote limited-time offers, sales, promotions, and product launches to reach the most people and keep fans involved in the work your company is doing. While social media posts can seem overly polished and promotional, and often emphasize visual aesthetics over human connection, stories provide an outlet to be genuinely authentic and transparent with consumers.

What Platforms Use Stories?

Snapchat was the first platform to use stories, but since then, the novel idea has spread to nearly every major social media network. Here are the platforms with stories and how they differ from each other.

  • Snapchat: the story feed on Snapchat is organized from most to least recent, so the more you post to your story, the earlier it will appear in consumer feeds. Stories can also include links to products and websites. Stories disappear after 24 hours.
  • Instagram: this app has always been about aesthetics, and stories are no different. There are many ways to create stunning Instagram story content, from built-in tools to third-party apps. You can easily tag other accounts, feature your posts, go live, and repost other content. You can save stories so they can be viewed permanently by creating highlights
  • Facebook: while users much less adopt Facebook stories than Instagram, you can link accounts, so Instagram stories show up on your Facebook page. You can use the Live feature on Facebook to talk directly to fans and customers, or post videos, pictures, or boomerangs.
  • YouTube: stories on YouTube are mobile-only, and are available for seven days. 

Social media stories are marketing gold. For more guidance on digital marketing, contact us today. We can help you curate the perfect social media strategy for your brand.