How to use Instagram Stories for Business?

Instagram stories was launched in August 2016 and it is a great way to share moments of your day. You can share multiple photos and videos that will be displayed as a slide show: your story.
The photos and videos  disappear after 24 hours and won’t appear on your profile grid or in feed. 
For your Instagram feed, it is always good to share your best photos but with Stories you don't have to worry that much but  make sure they are in line with your brand.
To use the Stories feature, go to your home screen on Instagram or tap the camera button in the top left-hand corner of the screen or click on the little circle that says "Your Story" and you will get access to the Instagram Stories camera.
The camera has several options: LIVE, NORMAL, BOOMERANG  and HANDS-FREE.

• The Live option gives you the option to share a live video.
• The Normal option gives you the option of sharing a photo. 

• Tap Boomerang at the bottom of the screen, then tap the circle at the bottom to take a burst of photos that loops forward and backward.
• To take a video without having to tap and hold, swipe left at the bottom of the screen and tap Hands-Free. From there you can tap to start recording a video, or tap and hold to see a timer that counts down before recording.

You can also upload a photo or video you've taken in the last 24 hours. Swipe down on the camera screen then select from your phone's library.

Use the text and drawing tools as well as the stickers and be as creative as you like. One tip for making the most of Instagram Stories is to tag your location. Once you upload a photo or video to your Stories, you’ll see a smiley face on the top right of the screen. Tap on it, then tap “Location” and select your business location to connect with potential local customers.

Your followers can see your story in a row at the top of their Feed. They can send you messages/comments and you can see who has seen your Story.
Photos and videos you share to your story disappear from Feed and your profile after 24 hours.However you can also save these photos and videos and share them to your Feed if you want to.
You may have noticed that some Instagram accounts  have clickable links in their Stories. This is a feature that Instagram is testing, and is only available for verified accounts at the moment.

So how can you use the Stories feature for your business? I would like to share some Stories that I have seen over the last few days:

​1. Humbleworks is sharing a teaser about their upcoming website update.

2. A Beautiful Mess is drawing attention to their giveaway.

3. Miiro Ice Cream is reposting one of their followers' post and drawing attention to the feedback.

4. Farrow and Ball is sharing a photo of their production process.

 5. Stylist magazine is inviting their followers to their Facebook page for a live chat.

6. Liberty is promoting a pop up event.

7. Oh Wonder Calligraphy is letting her followers know about her new blog post.

As you can see, you can be very creative with your Instagram Stories: you can drive website traffic, create brand awareness, promote an event, share customer feedback, share an event that you attended: You can create a story that will keep your followers engaged. It is a brilliant way to stay in people's minds. Experiment with different types of content to see what your audience likes most.
Are you using Instagram stories for your business? You might also want to check my post about effective Instagram marketing.  
​If you need more help, please get in touch.