Though very popular, IG Stories & Insta Stories are Not the Only Stories in Town.
Social media content is becoming more and more important for brands as time goes on. The introduction of stories has become both a way to build their brand and strengthen customer relationships. In this blog post, we will be discussing how businesses are optimizing stories across all of their social media channels and why they believe it is so successful!
The first examples of companies using social networks for marketing purposes date back to 2006 when Facebook, MySpace, and other platforms started encouraging developers to create applications on their platform, enabling users to share photos with others or create private groups where people could chat online.
What Social Media Platforms Offer Stories?
Almost all social media platforms these days offer their own version of stories. These include three formats that are already familiar to people: photos, videos and text. The Stories format provides a great opportunity for users to engage casually with their followers when they're ready to scroll through their feeds.
Snapchat, the Original Social Media Platform Where Stories Became Popular!
Snapchat is a one-to-one and group messaging app that lets users send photo, video, and text messages that disappear after several seconds. In fact you can attribute the popularity of Stories type of posts to Snapchat. Back when Snapchat was in the throes of becoming popular and mostly amongst teenagers, there were a lot of people confused about why someone would make a post that would disappear 24 hours later. Non-users claimed that it was probably for embarrassing content that posters wanted to disappear. we have come a long way since those days.
In addition to its messaging features, Snapchat features Stories (photo or video messages that can be replayed for 24 hours), Memories (saved photos for sharing later), and stickers to embellish messages. The app has been widely adopted, especially among teenagers and Millennials.
Ever since short-form videos and face filters gained popularity on the web, Snapchat has been one of the top platforms amongst creators. It was primarily because of Snapchat’s massive collection of unique AR lenses and nifty features that are used to make Stories. It lets you connect with friends, family, and subscribers in a different and fun way.
5 New Snapchat Features in 2021
1. Cancel Send
Recently discovered by reverse app-engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, Snapchat aims to add a new “Cancel Send” button for non-delivered messages. As a result, users will be able to un-send or cancel the process before a message gets delivered to a recipient. So it might be similar to the “Undo Send” button on which Twitter is developing at the moment.
2. Favorite Stickers
Stickers, as we know, have become a fun way to interact with friends on social platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Snapchat. However, unlike the former platforms, Snapchat does not provide users with a dedicated “Favorite Stickers” section. Snapchat is finally working on adding a dedicated section for stickers you’d like to use regularly.
3. Shared Story
Apart from these features, Paluzzi also discovered a new feature related to the Stories functionality on Snapchat. As per Paluzzi, the company is looking to introduce a new kind of story feature called “Shared Story” to let you invite friends and family to join a story.
4. Remix Stories
Another new feature related to Snapchat Stories is the ability to remix stories. Popularized by TikTok, the “Remix” feature has become quite popular on social media platforms.
5. Friend Check-Up
Other than the above features, Snapchat also announced a new privacy-focused feature to keep users safe from strangers on its platform. The new feature called “Friend Check-Up” lets users review the profiles of their friends. This helps Snapchatters identify any stranger in their friend list, whom they might have added mistakenly at some point.
For a more in depth look at these 5 new features check out this blog on Beebom.com
Instagram / IG Stories
Close on the heels of Snapchat’s success with it Stories format, IG Stories followed suit and offered (in August 2016) Instagram creators to post photos and videos that vanish after 24 hours. Fast forward to today, and now more than 500 million Instagrammers use stories daily. If you’ve ever thought about experimenting with stories to boost your reach or engagement, now is the perfect time.
The first step to being successful with Insta Stories (or the Story format generally) is to understand the psychology behind them. Instagram Stories have a short lifespan – only 24 hours. They vanish quickly and that’s what makes them special. When you think about it, they even bring a sense of exclusivity. You post something and if people don’t see it today, they won’t be able to see it tomorrow or ever. And nobody likes to miss out. And so this is a strong reason why you should use Instagram Stories.
Do make sure you are creating unique content so that people are eager to click on your IG story every time. There are Instagrammers that are real gurus at Insta Stories, so you can really use them as a source of inspiration. Here are a few to check: Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk, casetify, tattly.
Want to know about a popular way to leverage IG Stories that helps you reach more of your followers? Stories are live 24 hours and so your followers will see that you have a new story whenever they log in within that 24 hour period. In comparison, they may miss your new feed post if it was posted several hours ago. So, sharing on IG Stories the news about your latest feed post helps you get more reach.
For businesses, using IG Stories to promote BTS-Behind The Scenes content works extremely well. It will brings you closer to your audience and helps you create a special stronger customer-brand relationship. You could share shots on your Insta Stories, from the office, maybe pictures & videos from team building, or sneak peeks of a new product or service.
If your team is already using Facebook and Instagram for non-Story posts, trying out both Facebook stories and IG Stories simultaneously is an easy experiment. Because Facebook owns Instagram, the Story interfaces are very similar and are very interconnected. This makes it pretty easy to post the same Story on both platforms at once.
To share a story on both platforms, upload it to Instagram first. Then, as you share the story on Instagram, tap the “Share to Facebook” CTA.
Facebook Stories
The story format, originated and made famous by Snapchat, was followed up by Instagram’s incredibly successful of its own stories launch. Next in line to launch its version of Stories was Facebook. The feature has seen significant adoption in recent years. About 500 million people now use Facebook stories every day, meaning it has the potential to help you reach a massive audience with the right strategies
Facebook Stories allow you to connect with your Facebook audience and share content between your scheduled video posts, with photos and short videos. All content posted to Stories lasts only 24 hours. Stories are fullscreen, short-form, ephemeral and offer all sorts of creative, customizable overlays, which means more ways to be authentic and less pressure to be perfect. Stories are also the perfect place to get candid! Clicking Add to Your Story activates your device's camera to capture an in-the-moment video or a candid photo, making story content even more personal than News Feed posts. You can also import existing photos and videos. Photos play for five seconds each, and videos up to 20 seconds are supported. Each individual story disappears after exactly 24 hours. The feature is focused around Facebook’s in-app camera which allows users to overlay fun filters and Snapchat-like lenses to their content as well as add visual geolocation tags to their photos and videos. To access the camera, simply swipe right on Facebook’s mobile app.
Looking to go deeper?
Check out this post from Adespresso: “17 Amazing Examples of Instagram and Facebook Stories That Convert”
Stories are now targeting B2B audiences. Meet LinkedIn Stories
First, it was Instagram following Snapchat by adding IG Stories. Then Facebook did it. Now...LinkedIn offers Stories too! The most popular professionals on LinkedIn regularly speak to best practices in the workplace, like hiring the right people, or offering info about the latest software solutions for specific workplace needs. For B2B brands, LinkedIn stories offers the same basic functionality as Facebook and Instagram, but with the audience targeting that LinkedIn is famous for.
Like Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram, LinkedIn Stories are pieces of content you can post to your profile that last 24 hours before disappearing. The maximum length of time for a LinkedIn Story is 20 seconds. You can upload a photo from your library or snap a picture or video in real-time. And you can add multiple photos or videos to your Story at a time for users to tap through. To view your story, or others’, just tap on the circular profile photos that appear in the top of the LinkedIn mobile app. Note that the Stories feature currently is only available on mobile devices.
According to LinkedIn, below are the recommended sizes for adding photos from your camera roll:
LinkedIn Story Specs
Videos
Resolution: 1080 (w) x 1920 (h) px
Frame: 30 FPS, square pixels
Supported file types: H264, MP4
Aspect Ratio: 9:16
Images
Resolution: 1080 (w) x 1920 (h) px,
Supported file type: PNG, JPG
Aspect Ratio: 9:16
How do you create a LinkedIn Story?
You can only add to your (or your organization’s) LinkedIn story from the mobile app. Just open the app, select your profile photo or your organization’s, and allow LinkedIn to access your camera and photos.
Looking to go deeper?
Check out this post from WordStream, “How to Build Your Brand with LinkedIn Stories: 7 Ideas & Tips”
TikTok Stories (Video Only) Coming Soon
Image: Matt Navara / Twitter
According to a recent blog post on the Verge it’s apparently TikTok’s turn to now add Stories. The popular video app is experimenting with a new stories feature which was highlighted by Matt Navarra on Twitter, and a TikTok spokesperson confirmed the test in an email to The Verge.
The new feature, simply called “TikTok Stories,” appears to work similarly to other stories functions on apps like Instagram or Snapchat. Stories live in a newly added slide-over sidebar, where you’ll be able to see stories posted by accounts that you follow on TikTok for 24 hours before they’re automatically deleted. Other users will be able to react and comment on your story, too. And just like on Instagram and other platforms, you’ll also be able to tap on a user’s profile picture to load a story.
TikTok describes the feature in the app as “a new way to interact with your fans.” Users can create a new story by tapping a “create” button that’s been added to the sidebar, and they can add the usual captions, music, and text. True to TikTok’s video-first nature, it seems stories have to be videos, not still images.
YouTube Stories
Youtube Stories enable users to watch curated content from their favourite creators with just one tap on the new camera icon. Recently, they've stepped up their game by adding a few innovations that make the “YouTube Stories” video experience much more lively and interactive.
To find stories in the YouTube app: Tap the Camera icon or swipe right into Feed. From there, you can tap again to see all your friends' stories and recommendations for what to watch next.
To watch stories in the YouTube app: Once you have seen an update from a creator, tap to see more. You can also go directly into their channel by tapping in the top right corner and selecting “Browse” channels.
Pinterest Story Pins. Where Ideas are Turned into Stories!
Story Pins are an all new type of Pin and publishing option that gives creators a way to tell dynamic and visual stories with videos, voiceover and image and text overlay.
Story Pins make it easier for creators who want to share their talent, passions and creativity to flow back directly into Pinterest without the need for a website. For Pinners, this means the ideas within a Pin will be more engaging and actionable.
Creators such as Coco Bassey, Camille Styles, Shiquita from Unconventional Southern Belle, and Jazmine Ford of Finding Uphoria have already seen significant growth to their audiences by using Story Pins. For some examples of Story Pins click here. Like all Pins, Story Pins can be saved to boards for later, and are discoverable over time. They are also distributed across home feeds, search results and places like the “Today” tab, and benefit from the visual discovery engine that matches new ideas to people with relevant interests and tastes. With over 454 million monthly active users worldwide, Pinterest is another excellent platform for many brands to promote video story content using Story Pins.
Twitter shuts down its Instagram Stories-like 'Fleets' feature
As were writing this blog, and merely months after being rolled out for all users, micro-blogging site Twitter is shutting down its Instagram Stories-like 'Fleets' feature effective August 3, 2021.
"In the time since we introduced Fleets to everyone, we haven't seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped," Ilya Brown, Twitter's vice president of product, said in a statement
During the time that Fleets was available full-fledged, the micro-blogging site had added multiple new features to it, including the possibility of adding GIFs, stickers, change the text colour and more.
According to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the company started Fleets not to build a storage product within Twitter, "but to solve the problem of people not wanting to tweet because they appear to be staying around too long”.
Twitter had launched Fleets globally in November 2020, to give people a new way to join the conversation and share momentary thoughts. People could Fleet text, reactions to Tweets, photos or videos and customize their Fleets with various backgrounds, stickers, and text options.