The year was 2016. The day was 2 August. The world woke up to a brand new update for Facebook’s adopted brother, Instagram – Instagram Stories. Minutes later, the Internet laughed and laughed, and laughed some more at how the platform simply ripped Snapchat off.

The ridicule spread even on Instagram with people creating memes and engaging in slapstick humor about how unoriginal the update was. Many Snapchat fans were against the update, and Instagram users did not immediately warm up to it either. But this was 2 years ago. Whether you call it Snapchat’s stupidity or Instagram’s brilliance, the fact remains that there has been a colossal shift in the user base.

Instagram is escalating to the top, behind only Facebook and YouTube. As for Snapchat? It’s growth slowed down by 82% since the launch of Instagram Stories. So, let’s put that aside and focus on the ruler today.

As of June 2018, Instagram had 1 billion active users and 500 million DAILY active users. If these outrageous numbers aren’t enough to make you start advertising on Instagram, here’s another fun fact– 400 million Instagram Stories are posted EVERY DAY. So, that means it is not just important to be an active Instagram user, it is even more important to use Instagram Stories to your advantage!

You should have been convinced by now, but if you aren’t, please continue reading:

Very interactive and personal!

You can customize your story however you want and make it personal for your potential customers. You can even interact with your followers through the recent Questions feature. It is a dream come true for any business to be able to talk to their customers and understand their concerns. With the addition of this feature, Instagram turned Stories from superb to AWESOME.

We know many businesses that have benefitted massively from this and there’s no reason why you can’t!

Open and discoverable!

Anyone can go through your Stories, even if they don’t follow you. This is of great help when you use hashtags. Your Stories will appear when someone searches for the particular hashtag and if they like what they see, they will start following you.

Note: 80% Instagram users follow a minimum of one business account.

Outbound and super convenient

The Swipe Up feature is one of our favorites! Users can actually make a purchase or know more right there, within seconds! This serves perfectly in today’s extra fast times when users have a very short attention span. Don’t believe us? You will believe the stats – More than 60% users find products of their choice on Instagram and that majorly influences them to make a purchase.

REALISTIC!

You can run premeditated Instagram Story ads but regular Stories can be real. In fact, we recommend that you keep it real without embellishing it too much because that’s what users like. They want to have a personal connection with you and Stories encourage that big time. Post behind-the-scenes stuff, coming soon posts, products in the making, etc.

Keep it engaging, keep it real.

There is no “perfect time”

Whilst strategizing normal posts you may have to worry about timing but since Stories stay for 24 hours, you can post them anytime and be positive that your target audience, regardless of their preferred timing, will see them! Isn’t that neat?

There’s honestly no excuse or reason good enough to justify your absence on Instagram. Get there NOW and start using Instagram Stories. Or, you could just sit and watch your competitors lure all your customers away. The choice is yours.

Sources: TechCrunch, Hootsuite, Buffer App

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The world belongs to the story-tellers – Instagram Stories rule!

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