Instagram is more than mouthwatering photos of food and beautiful sun-kissed people with envious abs. With 500 million daily users, it is worthwhile to consider adding this channel to your overall communications strategies.  In addition to the news feeds, Instagram Stories have exploded in popularity. They are a great way to help your clients connect with their audience. Each story is 15 seconds and remains viewable for 24 hours. While this social channel is tailor-made for naturally visual businesses, your client does not have to be a B2C business to benefit from Instagram stories. You can use Stories in a number of ways including:

• Share industry news. Use stories for thought leadership soundbites. You can even do several stories to create a brand news-of-the-day feature.
• Call to Action. Direct users to a website, blog post or even a download.
• Ask for feedback. Add a poll to your story to gain insight into your audience, feedback on an offering or as a conversation starter.
• Showcase your brand personality. A story can show off the heart of your brand. Take users behind the scenes and let them see your personality and company culture. You can also use stories for employee takeovers allowing your team to give users a peek behind the curtain.
• Stories are a great way to promote a time-limited offer or event. Use this feature to promote a launch, a limited offering, webinar or event.

This infographic from Headway Capital provides a walkthrough of the why and how of using Instagram stories.

Are you using Instagram stories for your business? What has been your experience?

If you're on Instagram, please follow our brand new account @soloprpro. We'd love to see your stories!

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash