Inbound marketing is a philosophy that wants to spontaneously attract the attention of buyers, providing interesting and valuable content for them. Its methodology ( attract, convert, close and delight ) in the first stage of attraction, makes use of social networks and blogs to convert users of these platforms into sales opportunities for companies.
Inbound marketing breaks with that paradigm of irruptive sales that include paid advertisements, cold calls, spam messages, that is, with all that invasive advertising that is no longer generating as much impact on people as before; and proposes a new way to seduce – if you want to call it that – spontaneously and naturally, the attention of buyers. Beforehand, inbound marketing primarily establishes the creation of a buyer persona to not attract just any type of audience, but rather those who truly feel interested in the value proposition you offer.
Under these characteristics, Inbound marketing strategies on Instagram Stories have had great participation because it is an ideal platform to publish educational (and guided) content for your communities of followers. Nowadays, people want to consume key data to carry out their daily activities, have new learning and collect educational experiences. In this way, Instagram Stories have become an excellent tool to provide exactly all of these qualities to consumers and are a perfect ally for your inbound marketing strategies.
A little history
In 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched an application called Instagram on the Apple App Store, specifically on October 6. To its surprise, two years later, after also being available for Android operating systems, it reached 100 million active users. Two years later, this figure tripled, reaching more than 300 million registered people. It should be noted that Instagram can be downloaded for free on any technological device, such as: computers, smartphones, tablets, etc.
Today Instagram is the second most used social network on the internet, followed by Facebook. It has 32% of the users who browse the web registered on its platform. The social network stands out for the publication of images and videos, and it also gives you the opportunity to comment, like, send messages and share publications with your followers. Instagram in recent years, thanks to its tremendous impact, has become an important tool for monetizing company content. So much so that now these organizations can create “company profiles” to add action buttons to their accounts and obtain statistics on their interactions.
In this sense, during our visit to this social network, we can find two types of users: those who themselves are companies or brands and people who share their experiences. Recently, there is talk of “personal branding” as a kind of web positioning of particular people who offer services and/or content of value to certain communities. However, the marketing (and specifically inbound marketing) that companies apply on Instagram is the central topic on which we focus
What are Instagram Stories and what are they for?
Since Facebook acquired the rights to Instagram in 2012, this application has developed updates that have allowed its users to explore new tools. Instagram Stories (or Stories on Instagram) are part of that process of modernization and technological advancement that the application has had.
Snapchat was the first mobile application that introduced the “Stories” format, which consists of publishing images and videos that only remain on the users’ profile for only 24 hours and then disappear. It is ephemeral content that is constantly being updated because on a daily basis people can narrate – in the true sense of the word – aspects of their daily lives.
The great quality that Instagram Stories have is that it allows users of this application to add texts, drawings, emojis, stickers, filters, surveys, GIFs, locations, links and hashtags in real-time, to the videos and images that are displayed. wish to publish. It’s about making quick edits that can be published instantly – and in vertical format – in the top section of the home page. There we can find a wide variety of stories, displayed under the user’s profile photo. By clicking on it we can access the content that the person has published in the last 24 hours.
In this sense, Instagram Stories serve to share content in sequence that, for inbound marketing purposes, can strategically educate and guide a user to a purchasing process. Unlike the publications that appear on users’ profiles, in Instagram Stories people will not be able to “like” or make public comments. Any interaction you want to have with the content will be done via private messaging. Unless, of course, it is content that is being broadcast live, where the interaction is collectively constructed.
The story format occupies the entire screen of your smartphone or tablet, which generates greater attention from your audience since distractions are minimized. In this way, your users can retain your information more strongly.
How to take advantage of your inbound marketing strategy on Instagram Stories?
Knowing now all the advantages that Instagram Stories offer you to create valuable content, we invite you to read the following tips that will help you make the most of your inbound marketing strategy on Instagram Stories:
Information capsule structure
One of the qualities that Instagram stories have is their timeline at the top, that is, how many stories a profile has made during the day. When you start seeing the first story, as if it were a magazine, you can go to the next page to continue reading the information. In this sense, imagine building informative – and educational – capsules that do not exceed 300 words within this format.
Your users will now know that they must get to the end of your timeline to fully read the information you have provided. It is a “micro-blogging” in which you can use storytelling to narrate and transmit a particular message, where each paragraph of the text can be perfectly located in a specific “story” and thus draw the reader into the reading. In short, you must make stories that tell valuable stories for your audience.
Play with the visual composition of your stories. Try to include the various elements that Instagram offers you such as GIFs, emojis, filters, locations and hashtags to contextualize your content, but without leaving your graphic standards that you must previously create. For example: if your company colors are white and blue, try to incorporate both colors in your information capsules to create a comprehensive aesthetic for your brand.
Your goal – as established in inbound marketing – should be to teach others. Develop topics that derive from your knowledge. If your company is dedicated to web design, publish content that is related, for example, steps to choose a web design that suits your brand, how to best use web design to attract customers, tips for companies that want to improve their design, web, etc
Give prominence to your clients and work team
Use Instagram posts to promote your products and/or services and stories to connect your audience with the human capital of your company. Raise awareness among your buyers, showing them what your clients think and how comfortable your team feels working in your company. Let them know how hard you’ve worked to build lasting relationships with your customers and how you use your platforms, to thank them for all the support they’ve given you.
Highlight the achievements of your work team by uploading behind-the-scenes videos of the creative processes carried out to achieve your goals. It is important that your readers know who is behind each step you take and thus feel part of it. Doing these small tasks will demonstrate how well you manage your business and the impact your ideas have had on both your buyers and your creative team.
Insert links to conversion pages
To take advantage of your inbound marketing strategy on Instagram Stories, at the end of telling your story or providing the information you wanted, insert links that direct traffic from your “views” to your conversion pages such as virtual stores, download pages, promotional videos, crowdfunding campaigns, etc. Turn your visitors or readers into sales opportunities (as established by the inbound marketing methodology), motivating them to go to the platforms where you offer your products and/or services more directly.
To do this, look for the link icon – which represents two links in a chain – located at the top of your stories, right next to the option to insert emojis. Finally, you just have to add the URL of the link you want to share with your users and that’s it, they can slide up the “see more” option within your story. In terms more related to inbound marketing, these links represent a perfect “call to action” to monetize your content production.
Interact and know the opinion of your audience
One of the great advantages that Instagram Stories have is that they allow you to survey your community of followers, to find out their opinion in relation to your products and/or services. This will allow you to work towards what your buyers want and know in depth what new trends are being created. Taking short surveys in your stories is vital to know the vision that your audience has in relation to the work that your brand has been carrying out. It is an easy-to-apply tool that can give you quick data. It should be noHow to use Instagram stories in your inbound marketing strategyted that these surveys only allow you to enter two options, for example: Yes/No. In this sense, use strategic questions that, with two options to answer, allow you to obtain valuable data for your inbound marketing strategies.
Instagram Stories are a great platform to get the most out of your inbound marketing strategies. They allow you to provide your buyers with valuable content and educational experiences, to convert your followers into sales opportunities, that is, they allow you to monetize your content. In this sense, Instagram Stories are vital to start the inbound methodology and bring the company closer to a successful journey along this path that involves a final purchase.
