Create Instagram Stories That SELL | Business Owner Story Ideas
Some people only go on Instagram to watch stories. So if your business isn't taking advantage of this type of content you're missing out! Stories are actually the best way to convert a follower into a potential client or customer. Let's talk about why that is and how you could take advantage of it in your own business.
My name is Megan and I help business owners go from confused to confident on social media. I help my clients build a loyal community, get quality clients, and build a more profitable business.
So first I'm going to go through how and why stories are so great for selling your products and services, and then I'm going to go through and show you how to make them. Really quick before we get into it, if you don't know what an Instagram story is I'm going to walk you through it. Basically, Instagram stories are vertical, full screen photos or videos that appear at the top of the Instagram app interface rather than in your regular newsfeed. They disappear after 24 hours and are very interactive because they include stickers polls and filters.
Okay, the benefits of Stories on Instagram. Number one is engagement and visibility. If you notice every time you open up Instagram and you're at your home feed, stories are right at the top so they're definitely going to be the most visible pieces of content people see right away. Because they are short real time pieces of content, people are definitely more likely to engage with it.
The second benefit of stories are realtime updates. People want to know what's going on in your business right now and they want the updates as soon as possible. For example a local cafe could share promotions flash sales or daily menus to promote what's going on in their store that day. You can even use this as an opportunity to give out exclusive discounts to just your followers. Basically this 24-hour time frame that stories are up give you the advantage of urgency. People are more likely to pull the trigger and buy something because they know this discount is only live for 24 hours.
The Third benefit of stories is storytelling and authenticity. Stories allow business owners to create more personal connection with their audience. Take this opportunity to share the story behind your brand, why you started your business, and the people that work with you behind the scenes. For example, a local business can post stories of day-to-day routines, why they started their business, and the quality that goes into their products or services. This type of authenticity really helps build trust between you and your audience and it's what really makes the difference between having regular followers and a loyal fan base. You want people who have never met you before to think that they already know you just from your interactive stories.
And that leads me into benefit number four which is making your stories interactive. So the elements you can bring into your stories that really boost engagement are polls, questions, and quizzes. Small businesses can use these features to obviously engage with their audience but also get real feedback from them as as well. For example, an art supply store can ask their followers with a poll which colors they want to see in stock more, or they could host a Q&A where they can ask people what they like about their products the most.
Let's get into how to create effective Instagram stories that sell. Now that you know all the benefits and why you're making these stories, I want to show you how to create them on your phone quickly so you can post them as often as you possibly can. I definitely recommend trying to post at least one quality story every day which shouldn't take you any longer than 5 to 10 minutes. So things to include in your story. First you want to upload a high quality visual. Whether that is a photo or a quick video that you've taken, make sure it's something that completely fills up the screen and uses the correct dimensions. Also something that is visually pleasing people will have their eyes drawn to it rather than something that's blurry or doesn't quite look right. Having good lighting really helps if you're trying to take photos that are nice to look at so keep that in mind when you're actually taking the photos. Having everything be well composed really shows off your brand's professionalism and knowledge of the platform so definitely pay attention to that first. One example of something that's fun you could put on your story is if you just did a brand photo shoot for your business maybe post on your story a quick video of behind the scenes of that brand shoot so that way you're showing your audience a bit of the behind the scenes of your business and also correlates to the posts they'll be seeing up and coming so they get excited for that as well. Now that you have the high quality visual, it's time to add your actual content to the story. This can be something as simple as 'coming soon' and promoting when your next launch is or an open date or some new product you're selling or if you're selling a new service. For example you can put all the benefits and use your story to promote people signing up for it. Again because we are making stories that are selling your product or service, you need to lead them somewhere off Instagram where they can actually make a purchase. To do this you need a call to action so you need to tell your audience what to do after seeing your story. I recommend putting this in every single one of your stories so there's no question about what you should be doing next after they see it. For example you could say 'tap here to learn more' and it's a link leading them off Instagram or you could say 'DM me with more questions' so they can swipe up and ask you a question. My personal favorite is the link sticker because you can take them anywhere you want. So I recommend taking them to the next stage in your sales funnel whether that is them sending up your email marketing list, it's taking them to your website, or a sales page, or to fill out a form, or taking them to possibly a webinar that you've made. Whatever will get them to the next stage before you actually make the sale. To find the link sticker, you press that little smiley face within the square at the top of your screen and then you press on the link sticker you'll be prompted to enter in the actual link it will take them to and you can name that sticker anything you want so it'll show up that way on your story.
So now you have your high quality visual, you have information about whatever your story is trying to promote, you have a call to action, and a corresponding link. Another really great thing to add before you post your story is a location sticker. This is great especially for local businesses who can only work with someone who's within a couple miles from them because this will increase your awareness and viewers in the area. Then before posting I recommend double-checking everything looks professional everything correlates to the information you're trying to get across, you want to make sure that link is the correct one, and and then I also recommend adding one fun part to your story whether it's a gif, a fun poll sticker, or a question sticker. Something that's going to be exciting for your audience to engage with. It doesn't have to be the same every time I recommend playing around with it seeing what your audience responds best to but that's the fun part about stories is getting people to actually respond and engage with your content. Then go ahead and post your story.
So in summary, Instagram stories really provide a powerful way for you to connect with your audience. By engaging with your audience, providing real-time updates, and increasing authenticity, you can really increase the sales for your business.
And of course stories aren't the only part of posting on Instagram. So if you are really interested in getting your full Instagram strategy up and running so your business can grow and get more clients, then my course is going to be a really good option for you. The Instagram Pro Bootcamp is my course that I help my clients go from A to Z in building their Instagram strategy. It teaches you everything from how to use Instagram as a business owner, not a regular consumer, to creating content, putting together your strategy, and then growing it exponentially from there. Use this link to sign up to chat with me one-on-one. It's completely free I just want to get to know you and your business better. I'm excited to chat with you and make sure to like this video if it was helpful. Then watch this one next to see when's the best time to post on Instagram for your business. Thanks guys, I will see you there.
