If you want to get the attention of anyone under the age of 35, you need to be on Instagram.
500 million people around the world use Instagram Stories every.single.day. One-third of the most viewed Stories come from businesses. If you’re in the craft beverage business, chances are your customers are regularly on Instagram. Aka your business should be active on Instagram, especially Stories.
Mastering the art of Instagram Stories takes time. Luckily, we already clocked in the hours and created this Instagram Story checklist for you.
1. VIDEO
A little movement goes a long way. You don’t have to be a professional videographer to add video to your Instagram Stories. Start simple. There’s easy-to-use features right in Instagram like Boomerang, Superzoom, and Rewind. People are all about these super short looping videos.
You can share short video clips, too. Keep in mind, there’s a 15-second limit per individual Story slide, so if you upload a video that’s longer, it will be chopped up into 15-second pieces.
2. GIFS
These animated stickers can liven up any Story and Gifs get people’s attention. You can use blinking, flashing, and swirling animations to highlight specific elements in your Story. Or you can use call-to-action gifs, like swipe up, link in bio, and sound on to tell people what you want them to do.
You can find just about anything in the Gif library. Choose from what’s currently trending or search by keyword like beer cheers. P.S. You can create your own branded gifs.
3. LOCATIONS
Adding a Location sticker accomplishes the obvious – it tells people where you are. You can use these stickers to tag your business location like “Rusty Nickel Brewing Co.” as well as the general neighborhood like “Buffalo, NY.” We recommend using both types of tags and here’s why.
Adding your business location helps customers find your exact address. When you use a location like Buffalo, NY, it makes your Story discoverable in location tag searches. Instagram users can search for and watch location-specific Stories. The bottom line? More people see your Stories when you use location stickers.
4. HASHTAGS
Hashtags are handy because they add more context. But discoverability is the real game changer for Stories. Use location-specific hashtags like #buffalo or #buffalove, community-based hashtags like #buffalocal or #thinknydrinkny, or an event-specific hashtag like #buffaloontap in your Stories.
Here’s why. If your Story performs well, it could be added to the overall Story for that hashtag which means more people will see your Story.
5. POLLS & QUESTIONS
Ask away! The Poll sticker is perfect for asking your followers “yes or no” or “this or that” questions. You can also create slider polls to get percentage-based answers.
For open-ended questions, the Questions sticker is best. You can encourage followers to ask you questions with an “ask us anything” post. Or you can create your own questions, collect responses, and share them. Either way your followers will feel more connected when you ask them to engage.
6. MENTIONS
Mention stickers let you tag other personal and business accounts. When you tag an account, they are automatically notified via DMs – aka you’ll get their attention immediately. Plus the tagged account is given the option to easily re-share your Story post to their Story. Reshares can help you reach a whole new audience of people.
7. CTAS
What do you want your viewers to do next? Ending with a clear call-to-action will guide their next steps. Use this to your advantage. If you want them to click the link in your bio, tell them. If you want them to comment on your recent giveaway post, all you have to do is ask. Added bonus, once you hit 10K, you can incorporate the Swipe Up linking feature.
LET’S CHAT
Before you make the deep dive into the world of Instagram Stories, we highly recommend creating a social media style guide. This is especially helpful for businesses who have multiple team members posting to the same accounts.
We create Instagram Stories for our clients on a daily basis. Not kidding. So, if you’re a little lost, message us and we can schedule a consultation to answer your questions.