Instagram stories lead generation

BACKGROUND

There are stories and there are stories

Since the launch of Snapchat in 2011, the sharing of social media stories involving vertical, ephemeral slideshows has greatly surpassed that of posts in feeds (e.g., one estimate suggests 15x the growth rate). Although feeds are ideal for extending your reach with evergreen content, stories are ideal for engagement.

These stories differ from the long-form storytelling we discussed for top funnel brand connection and mid-funnel image boosting (e.g., 3-minute heartfelt Facebook/YouTube videos). The goal of those long-form signature pieces is to establish a more lasting and mutual bond with audiences from life-changing encouragement or wisdom reflected in themes of love, encouragement, iconic quests or tributes. Short-form stories, on the other hand, serve as regular reminders of what is going on with your brand and why your followers should hang-out with your community.

An advantage of these short-form over long-form stories is the spontaneity, low budget authenticity and versatility offered by the short duration that disappears unless added to your profile (via Highlights). They can be used for simple “how-to” tutorials or behind-the-scenes content. Consequently, beyond attracting new followers and boosting brand appeal, short-form stories are ideal for lead generation and lead nurturing, the subject of this week’s session.

Who is leading the pack?

Now led by Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp (all Facebook assets), nearly a billion accounts create and watch these short-form stories. Adding to these platforms are YouTube, TikTok, Facebook Messenger and most recently Pinterest (Story Pins about to arrive). The growing dominance of Facebook and its assets over Snapchat and others has much to do with Facebook’s comprehensive feature set, big data for promotions and huge follower population.

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Lead generation tactics

Stories on Instagram, the focus of this essay assignment, are especially attractive to marketers seeking ways to gain a proprietary audience for lead generation. They provide ways to first build your proprietary audience, then engage them and ultimately steer them to website landing pages that invite an email opt-in for content upgrades, registrations and subscriptions.

Among the techniques applied in Instagram stories to build this proprietary audience is through swipe-up links, Instagram ads and direct messaging. The former, however, requires 10,000 followers. Check out from Tyler McCall

https://nova.zoom.us/rec/play/tcB4duGvrTo3SIKTtwSDA_RxW9XvJ6us13JK_6IOxU_mWiNVYFWgZbFBZudMcsPJgzjbWKk0ZpRNkOqQ?startTime=1591915412000&_x_zm_rtaid=ZMtxuL1KRkepDnt9GRo4Xw.1592600597693.5bd0eae62867e2f226d736b25b935535&_x_zm_rhtaid=102

how you can also generate leads without having to reach 10,000 followers. For a broad understanding of how to use Instagram (with all of its features) to nurture leads (without advertising), check out Michael Stelzner's (Links to an external site.) https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-instagram-as-sales-funnel-without-ads-elise-darma/?omhide=true&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=NewsletterIssue&utm_campaign=smenl20-nlweek25-nldaily-nlfri

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Best practices for stories

As stories gain in popularity and ad spending allocations, more marketers are devoting their attention to what characterizes an effective story. Those brands leading the pack in engagement and lead generation results (as measured in Instagram Insights) generally tend to excel in their tactics and techniques for arousing interest, building engagement and guiding audiences through their marketing messages.