People are visual learners. With Instagram’s visual nature, brands and businesses have found it to be an impressive marketing channel to showcase their products and services.
Currently, the platform has around 2.4 billion active users throughout the world. And with over 500 million users who watch Instagram Stories every day, it’s about time you tap into this market.
Here are other important statistics on Instagram Stories:
- Instagram Stories has an engagement rate of around 60% of Millennials and 70% of Gen Z users
- After seeing a brand or product on an Instagram Story, 58% of users say they became more interested in it
- After seeing a product or service on an Instagram Story, 50% of users have visited its website to make a purchase
These are pretty epic numbers that prove Instagram Stories are a big deal for your business. If you’re interested in using this in your social media strategy, you can read our 2024 guide on how to use Instagram Stories for businesses in Singapore.
What is an Instagram Story?
Image from SproutSocial
Let’s start with the basics: what is an Instagram Story?
Instagram rolled out this feature in 2016 after this format was popularized by Snapchat. These are vertical photos and videos that Instagram users use to engage with their audience within 24 hours. But you can add the Story to your profile as a highlight so people can continue to view them after their expiry date.
But why do people and brands use IG Stories? Why not just post a regular post on Instagram? Here’s why:
- Regular Instagram posts get buried by 95 millions of posts shared every day.
- Instagram Stories lets you stay on top of the algorithm by notifying your followers whenever you publish a Story.
- A colorful ring appears around your profile picture and gets added to the top row of followers’ home screens.
- They allow users to make engaging and fun content through Stickers.
How Do Instagram Stories Benefit Brands?
Image from Oberlo
According to a recent study, the third reason why people use Instagram is to follow or research specific brands and products. Today’s shoppers are curious about things. They gather information on the brands they are interested in before making a purchase.
The DataReportal study reveals that 62.7% of users look up a brand they’re curious about on Instagram to learn more about their products. If you’re still not using Instagram to tap into this market, you’re missing out. Instagram allows you to connect with your target audience personally.
With the advent of Instagram Stories, you can make authentic connections with your audience through quick photos and videos. While Instagram lets you build awareness for your brand, your IG Story lets you build followers since this is where you can share more exclusive content.
Here are the benefits you get when using Instagram Stories for your business:
1. Reach more users
Image from SproutSocial
With the number of Instagram posts people are sharing on the platform, your recent update might get buried in the bottom and have no way to reach your target audience.
An Instagram Story addresses this problem by pushing a notification to your followers whenever a new Story has been published. This allows your followers to stay up-to-date with your posts.
Image from Truelist
The reach rate of Instagram Stories vs an Instagram post is also remarkably noticeable. Based on the data of Rival IQ, the reach rate between these two posts have these percentages:
| Number of Followers | Instagram Story Reach (percentage) | Instagram Post Reach (percentage) |
| Less than 10,000 | 20.1 | 5.4 |
| 10,000 to 50,000 | 16.8 | 3.3 |
| 50,000 to 200,000 | 14 | 2.4 |
| More than 200,000 | 8.6 | 1.2 |
Also, you can post numerous Stories in succession to paint a picture with your followers. A previous study showed that posting up to five Stories per day can lead to a 70% retention rate. Just make sure not to make it spammy.
2. Drive traffic to your website
If there’s one feature that Instagram still hasn’t offered, it would be clickable links on an Instagram post. Users have no way of clicking on a link on any of your Instagram posts. Instead, they have to go to your profile and click on the link you include in your bio.
This is where Instagram Stories are at an advantage. Instagram allows you to share clickable links on your Stories. Make the most out of this feature by sharing your link to drive traffic to your site.
If you’re running an ecommerce store, for example, you can share photos of your product while in use. Then, make sure to add a product sticker so that those who view your Story can easily click on the sticker and be redirected to the product page.
If you’re not selling a physical product, you can use Instagram Stories to drive traffic to your website or blog by including a link sticker.
3. Interact with your followers
Image from SproutSocial
An Instagram Story is an excellent way you can humanize your brand. One way people are doing this is by sharing behind-the-scenes images or footage of your business.
You can also use Instagram Stories to engage with your followers by:
- Running a poll through the Poll sticker
- Asking followers to comment on a new product
- Inviting your audience to answer your questions
- Hosting a live Q&A with team members
When your audience interacts with you, your Instagram engagement rate goes up. It lets the algorithm know that people are stopping by your page instead of just scrolling through.
Since social media is all about engaging with your followers, you win with Instagram Stories. Your account gets pushed to more people.
How to Post an Instagram Story
Posting a Story on Instagram is pretty straightforward to those who have used the platform before. But if it is your first time to venture into this strategy, you can follow this short guide on how to post your first IG Story:
- Launch the Instagram app from your phone (smartphone or tablet)
- On your profile photo, tap on the plus sign
- Choose the file (photo or video) from your camera roll. You may also take a new picture using your device’s camera
- Before tapping on the right arrow on the bottom of the screen, make your Story fun and interactive by adding stickers, text, music, etc.
Important note: Instagram does not allow users to post a Story via a desktop computer or laptop. The best alternative is to use a social media planning tool to schedule posts in advance.
9 Best Practices of Instagram Stories
Image from HubSpot
Instagram Stories do not need a lot of optimization to get them to reach a lot of people. But to make sure they get viewed by your target audience, you can follow these tips:
1. Use the Right Dimensions
Unlike a regular Instagram post, Stories are vertical by nature. They also follow the 1080 x 1920 px dimension with an aspect ratio of 9:16.
When creating content for Instagram Stories, make sure to follow these dimensions to make the most of the space on the screen of your audience. If you upload content that doesn’t fit these dimensions, your photo or video might end up getting cropped.
It’s also a good practice to check your IG Story prior to publishing. Make sure that the text you include is within the Instagram Safe Zone in the photo or image is clear and not covered by anything.
2. Stay Inside the IG Safe Zone
Image from Minta
Your Instagram Story is divided into three sections:
- Top Margin: Takes up 250 pixels from the top of your screen
- Central Safe Zone: The middle section with a dimension of 1420 pixels
- Bottom Margin: Takes up 250 pixels from the bottom of your screen
Avoid putting any important information on the top and bottom margins so you can ensure your content stays visible to your audience.
3. Follow the Right Length and Format
Image from Later
When Instagram first rolled out Instagram Stories, it was limited to just 15-second clips. But with careful consideration, Instagram has extended the duration of videos to 60 seconds.
As for the format, pictures should be in either .jpg or .png file formats. If you’re uploading a video, it should be in .mp4, .gif, or .mov format with a maximum length of 60 seconds.
4. Use Instagram Stickers for Engaging Content
Image from SproutSocial
Instagram has allowed users to make their Stories engaging and more interactive. You can use this by tapping on the smiley icon on top of your screen to choose which stickers to include in your Story. These are available in the form of:
- Location
- @Mention
- Add Yours
- Hashtags
- Frames
- Question Stickers
- Captions
- GIFs
- Cutouts
- Music Clips
- Links
- AI Stickers
- Polls/Emoji Slider
- Donations
- Countdowns
- Quizzes
- Time and Weather
- Product Tags
5. Keep Your Branding Consistent
Image from Later
Let your Instagram Story remain professional and consist so your viewers associate it with your brand right away. The best way you can do this is to include your logo and use your brand’s fonts and colors.
This practice will allow your audience to trust your brand.
6. Use High-Resolution Content
Image from Buffer
Make sure that your visuals are clear. Using blurry or pixelated content may put off your audience. It doesn’t look professional and can damage your brand’s image.
7. Include a Call-to-Action (CTA)
Image from Later
A CTA helps give your audience an idea of what to do next. Do you want them to respond to your poll, send a message, or swipe up to visit your website? Being clear with your CTA can help drive traffic to your site and convert viewers into customers.
8. Maintain a Regular and Consistent Posting Schedule
Image Credit: HubSpot
Being consistent gives your followers something to look forward to. It helps build a steady presence on the feed of your followers since they know you’re always there to alert them of a new product or service.
HubSpot ran a poll on the number of pages users will go through on Instagram Stories. The study revealed:
- 63% will tap through six pages or less
- 34% will tap through four to six pages
- More than one-third of users will tap through more than seven pages
- 20% will tap through 10 or more pages
| Number of Pages | Users Who Will Tap Through (Percentage) |
| Six pages or less | 63 |
| Four to six pages | 34 |
| More than seven pages | 25 |
| Ten or more pages | 20 |
This shows us that you don’t need to limit the number of IG Stories you post for fear that they will not be viewed by your audience. But it’s worth knowing who your target audience is and what their behavior on the platform is.
You can check out this Infographic on how often brands are posting an Instagram Story per week:
Data from Later
- Nano Accounts (0-10K Followers): Post 3 Instagram Stories per week
- Micro Accounts (10K-100K Followers): Post 4 Instagram Stories per week
- Mid Accounts (100K-500K Followers): Post 5 Instagram Stories per week
9. Make the Most Out of Instagram Insights
Image from Buffer
Instagram has added an analytics tool to give business owners a way to track the performance of their Stories. Use Instagram Insights to give you data on key metrics like replies, views, and swipe-ups.
Image from SproutSocial
How to Use Instagram Stories for Businesses in Singapore (2024 Trends)
One of the best tips to using Instagram Stories for your Singapore-based business is to tell a story with your content. While many brands opt to use this space to focus on highlighting the products and services they sell, others go beyond these. They include short narratives, which turn out to be what 35 percent of consumers prefer seeing.
Image from HubSpot
Your number one goal in creating an Instagram Story should be to boost engagement while keeping your followers entertained. The best way you can do that is by using the built-in Instagram Stickers feature along with these IG Story ideas:
Poll Stickers
Image from HubSpot
Instagram users love to engage with their favorite brands. You can keep your audience engaged by making the most out of your Poll sticker on Instagram.
You can run a “This or That” campaign where you involve your audience in making a decision. They are great for brands selling physical items such as clothing, shoes, food, books, and many more.
Countdown Stickers
Image from Later
Another Instagram Story Sticker that you can use is the Countdown sticker. This works great if you’ve got a new product that you’re about to release or if you’re about to run a promotion.
The good thing about this Sticker is that your audience get a reminder when the countdown is over.
Product Stickers
Image from Curator.io
Using IG Stories’ Product Stickers is a great way you can drive more sales using this platform. Tagging your product on your Instagram posts has been known to increase sales by 37%.
It gives your audience a more convenient and faster way to know more about your product featured in the Story.
Link Stickers
Image from Instagram
Adding a Link in Bio tool on your profile can help drive your target audience to your website, especially since clickable links still aren’t available on Instagram posts. With IG Stories, the Link Sticker makes an even better experience for your audience.
This was evidenced in February 2018 after US brand, Gap, received a 73% increase in its click-through rate. Instead of posting a plain Instagram Story, the brand decided to experiment with using Link Stickers as their CTA, which allowed their audience to swipe up to visit their website.
Other Stickers
Image from SproutSocial
You can also make your Instagram Story come alive by adding text, emojis, GIFs, or music. An excellent way to use these Stickers is by sharing Behind-the-Scenes footage of your brand.
Sharing this type of IG Story makes your brand feel more authentic and human as you take your audience with you along your own POV. While this is a marketing strategy that brands use, it doesn’t feel that way for customers.
IG Story Ads
Image from Later
You don’t always need to come up with unique organic content to engage with your audience. Using Instagram Stories ads allows you to put on your thinking cap and drive more people to your brand.
Since 75% of Instagram users take action after looking at ads, it would be a key area for you to explore the platform. Investing in an ad strategy can help you drive sales from this social media site.
Final Thoughts
The list of Instagram Stickers that you can use on your posts does not end there. You have multiple ways to make the most of this Instagram feature, which can help drive sales and traffic to your brand.
With 500+ million users who watch IG Stories every day, isn’t it about time you start using this platform for your business too? Our team can help create an Instagram Story campaign to raise brand awareness and boost revenue for your business. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can work together to engage your audience through Instagram Stories.
