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Are you using Instagram Stories? If not you should.

Originally, Instagram was a simple social network for sharing photos and the occasional video. While it was beneficial to businesses, it was missing features that allowed increased interactions with customers and users. But now things have changed because it’s possible to create Instagram stories. These stories are fun to conceive and the perfect way to attract user attention ensuring that you do engage with your audience. As well as this, the content that you create here can also provide opportunities to grow your reach and find new audience members.

The feature was first introduced in 2013, perhaps to ensure the network kept up with the increasingly popular Snapchat. Similar to Snapchat, Instagram stories are posted but only remain for twenty-four hours. Once the twenty-four-hour duration has passed, the content cannot be seen again.

For cycling brands, this presents a fantastic opportunity and could allow you to take marketing for your business to the next level. Used correctly, Instagram stories provide tremendous potential.

Everything You Need To Know About Insta Stories

First, it’s important to understand how to create and post an Instagram Story. To do this, you need to use the camera icon or the ‘+’ on the top left of your profile. You can also click on ‘your story.’ Once you have done this, tap the white circle or hold it for a video. You can also access existing media from your phone. You’ll then be able to edit it using Instagram tools to make it more dazzling or compelling. You can then tap your story and it will be immediately published and available to view for twenty-four hours. It’s that simple!

After you have published your story, your profile photo will have a colored ring around it to show that you have produced new content. When new content is added, users can see it simply by clicking your profile photo. Content will then play in chronological order with everything from the past 24hrs. No comments or likes are used in an Instagram story.

How Do They Benefit You?

At this point, you might be wondering why Instagram stories are so important. How will they benefit you when you’re marketing cycling brands? Well, there are various benefits to take advantage of here. First, it’s important to be aware that according to the social network, there are over 400 million daily users who could be looking at your stories. Unsurprisingly, the social network has become very popular with businesses. Indeed, a third of the most viewed stories are from businesses rather than private individuals. So you can use stories to both drive leads and increase sales. If you have more then ten thousand followers, you’ll even be able to link out of stories to push users to other areas of your brand profile. Of course, this is just one of the tools you can use. You can also hashtag or geotag posts and potentially enter the featured stories section, gaining even more views.

The story feature also provides you with a fantastic option for testing new ideas and concepts that could help or boost your business brand. The benefit of the story is that since the content is only available for twenty-four hours, a few misses won’t matter. On the other hand, if it’s well received and you see high levels of views, you can switch it up to a permanent post or reintroduce the concept for another channel. While the potential for Instagram stories is massive, the time it takes to create one is also quite low. Yes, you may need to work to get the right angle or perfect shot but you should be able to create a story in between 30 minutes to an hour.

Gain New Info From Your Target Audience

Instagram stories provide you with a range of different tools that you can explore. One of the best is perhaps the ability to create and publish a poll sticker. With this, you can ask a question directly to users and see the results based on votes. You can find this option in the stickers menu after you have taken a video of photo. Once you have selected the ‘poll’ sticker, you’ll be encouraged to write a question along with possible poll choices and answers. Users can vote as soon as you publish. As well as providing a fresh way to engage with users you can get the key info you need. For instance, you’ll be able to find info on popular products or new brands. Of course, users will also be able to see the results of the poll as they update in real time.

How To Use Instagram Stories

Now, you’re probably wondering what type of content you should create and release as an Instagram Story. There are various choices here to consider.

One option would be to create behind the scenes content. It’s important to be aware that most of the content on Instagram is polished and preened to look perfect. It can feel superficial to users and this could be damaging to your brand. So, instead, you might want to think about showing users a look at what’s happening behind your story. For instance, you could be using athletes to market a brand or product. With a behind the scenes story, you can follow that athlete after the shoot, providing users with a window inside your business.

Or, how about trying a takeover? With a takeover, you can work with another brand and take over their story for a limited time. Or, alternatively, they can take over yours. This type of collaboration is very popular with users and offers you a way to keep your promotion fresh and interesting. It can even help you target users from other businesses who could be interested in your brand.

Key Takeaways

We hope this has shown you why Instagram stories can be useful and helpful when you are promoting different cycling brands. Remember, it’s easy to get started and you can quickly fill up a story with content in less than an hour.

But don’t treat it like a typical Instagram post. Instead, use it as a place to experiment and make sure that you try out all the tools to ensure that your content stands out. Remember, if you offer users more than they expect, you will drive both interest and sales.

If you need a little help with using Instagram stories for your business why not get in touch with us at breakaway. We can offer some quick advice or perhaps a more in depth Social Media Consultancy.

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