Why Instagram Stories Is Essential To Influencer Marketing
Unless you’ve been living under a rock or are one of the few people on this planet without social media, chances are, you know an influencer. Most of them have followings larger than the population of some countries. Their ability to set trends and influence the purchasing decisions of their followers is stupendous. As a result, many brands are adopting an influencer marketing strategy. Though most companies collaborate with influencers through sponsored posts, Instagram Stories is equally important in influencer marketing.
The Power of Instagram Influencer Marketing
Social media influencers, whether society likes it or not, define modern culture. They possess the power to shape the opinions and decisions of their followers. They can create exposure, push engagement, and set trends.
With over a billion active users, a study by Statista indicates that marketers view Instagram as the leading platform for influencer marketing. “Now more than ever, businesses should be focusing on influencer marketing as part of their marketing strategy,” suggests Leona Gardner, a business writer at Paper Fellows and State of writing. “Though most companies are familiar with sponsored posts, a potentially untapped avenue worth exploring is Instagram Stories.”
Why Should Brands Use Instagram Stories In Influencer Marketing?
Paying influencers to recommend your brand ensures your product or service reaches its target audience. Sponsored feed posts are a great way to launch a product. Influencers can share a thorough review of your product with their followers that will stay on their account permanently. Meanwhile, sponsored stories allow brands to connect deeper with their audience through more authentic and unedited content.
“As a company, your influencer marketing strategy shouldn’t stop at just sponsored feed posts,” cautions Nicole Heidt, a project manager at Boom Essays and Essay Roo. “Instagram Stories often come across as more real and therefore, more engaging to followers.” Since an Instagram story is temporary and often unedited, any product reviews or recommendations offered by influencers appear less scripted. As a result, sponsored Instagram Stories to tend to be more palatable to your target audience than a clearly sponsored feed post.
Using Instagram Stories for influencer marketing is typically cheaper as well. Since the content is only available for 24 hours, influencers usually charge brands less to feature their product on their stories. Therefore, as a company, Instagram Stories can be more cost-effective.
While sponsored feed posts offer a product overview, stories can provide a glimpse behind the scenes. The nature of Instagram Stories is designed to be more engaging to viewers. Your target audience can feel like an insider to your brand with the influencer as their guide.
How Companies Can Take Advantage Of Instagram Stories In Influencer Marketing
There are several ways for companies to leverage the unique features of Instagram Stories in influencer marketing.
Share product reviews. Although sponsored feed posts excel at providing an overview of your product or service, influencers can also review your product briefly on Instagram Stories. This frequently comes across as more natural and less rehearsed due to the nature of Stories. Moreover, Stories allows influencers to insert a call-to-action. They can provide a link and easily ask their followers to swipe up to be redirected to your product or sign-up page.
Reveal the behind-the-scenes of your company. Many brands, such as fashion designers, rely on influencers to share coverage of their events with their followers. Not only does this promote their brand to their target audience, but it also allows for more intimate engagement with consumers. Instagram story viewers can feel as though they are at the event themselves through the coverage and experiences shared by the influencer.
Share product tutorials and highlight features. This strategy is especially effective for beauty companies. Most makeup brands pay influencers to post tutorials featuring their products on Instagram Stories. This kind of content is a great way to display your product or service while providing educational value to followers.
Host Instagram Stories takeovers. As a brand, you can pay an influencer to take over your Instagram Stories for a day or even a week. This encourages their followers to engage with your company’s account directly. This is a fantastic way to expand your target audience reach and grow your following.
Host Q&A live sessions with your brand. Going live as a brand with an influencer is another amazing method for engaging with your ideal consumers. Whenever someone goes on Instagram Live, followers are usually notified and the story is prioritized over others on the app.
Conclusion
A study by Instagram suggests that 39% of users become more interested in a brand or product after coming across it on Instagram Stories. As a brand, it would be wise to incorporate Instagram Stories into your influencer marketing strategy. Not only is it more cost-effective, paying an influencer to highlight your product or service in their Instagram Stories often seems more real and authentic to consumers. It simply makes no sense to be limited to sponsored feed posts when you can be expanding your consumer reach further through sponsored stories.
Christina Lee, a content marketing specialist at Buy assignment and Buy essay online, focuses on social media strategies, creative solutions.
