What to Post on Instagram Posts vs Stories

Instagram offers many opportunities for brands to engage with users in their stories, from videos and polls to ads and product announcements. There’s a lot of versatility to be seen with stories, and while they can ultimately share some of the same messages as regular posts, the two means of sharing information best function in different ways. Here’s our run down of what should be shared in an Instagram post vs an Instagram story:

Instagram posts go onto your feed and the explore page, and they also last permanently, unless you choose to archive or delete them. For these reasons, consider posting content here that is:

– Evergreen – Business information that never changes is optimal for a way of posting that never goes away! Consider using posts to promote services, products, and specials that don’t change over time, or at least not very quickly. Ideally, you want to focus on content that can work for your business, any day, any season.

– Good for reach – Have a particularly good image? Think one of your services will help draw in new audience members? Posts that are meant to have good user reach are best put onto your feed, so there’s a chance that more people will see it!

– Videos without sound – Videos without sound, or videos that can be understood without sound, are best for your feed! Often when scrolling through an Instagram page, viewers are more likely to pass by a video without manually turning on sound.

Meanwhile, Instagram stories are an entirely different resource to use! Stories only last 24 hours, and while they can be saved into highlights, these can be adjusted, replaced, or easily deleted. For story posts, focus on content that is:

– Temporary – If you have specials that will only last for a short period of time, consider using stories to promote them! You can post as many as you’d like leading up to the day it begins, but it will be just as easy to let these promotions simply disappear once the time period is over.

– Made for engagement – With story replies, reaction emojis, polls, question boxes, and more, stories are a great place to get audience engagement! Use them as a platform to get their opinions, feedback, and overall, encourage them to get engaging with your brand.

– Videos with sound – Stories automatically play sound, so long as the viewers’ phone has its sound on, so this is a great opportunity to use your videos best shared with audio! You can even make use of music by sharing songs straight from Instagram on your stories to make them more appealing.

Stories and posts are both great opportunities to put to use for your business. Try to focus on the useful aspects of each in order to give your content the biggest boost possible. To learn more about marketing on Instagram, or for help in doing so yourself, contact i3 today!