In other words, Instagram Stories has become the cool kid at school. They are well-liked by the masses, and they consistently introduce new fads that people can’t wait to join. Yet hundreds of millions of people use Instagram Stories every day, making them far more popular than any prom king or homecoming queen.
In addition, Instagram advertisers have come to appreciate their significance. That’s likely due to two factors: (1) Instagram’s affiliation with Facebook and the latter’s potent Ads Manager, and (2) Instagram’s relentless release of increasingly impressive improvements about Stories feature.
1. Make use of Instagram’s Story Creator Tool
Instagram’s popular camera feature need not fear; it’s still there.
2. You may control who sees your Stories by adding them to your Close Friends List.
Instagram’s new Close Friends List feature is one of the platform’s more cutting-edge additions. This may seem like a tool designed just for individuals, but businesses are beginning to see its worth as well.
This function essentially lets you share content just with the persons who are included in a selected list. At no point will your friends be informed of any changes you make to the list. Similarly to standard Stories, the duration of the post’s availability will be a single day.
3. Third, the Instagram Donate button facilitates widespread funding.
Companies with a social mission and consumer goods with a clear purpose are reaping the benefits of this trend and are thriving as a result.
Take Toms as an example. Although the firm started out making humble espadrilles, it has already become a household name because to the nearly 60 million pairs it has sold throughout the world. Our analysis suggests that a key factor in their success is their buy-one-give-one business strategy.
It’s hardly shocking that Instagram released their contribution sticker function this year, given that people are more connected about social issues and the environment than ever before.
4. Using Instagram Shoppable Tags, fans can buy items from their favourite influencers’ closets.
Shoppable tags first appeared on Instagram Stories late last year.
Every e-commerce digital marketer would agree that this was a fairly big deal. Before before, only a small number of stores had access to shoppable tags for usage in feed articles.
5. Five, Instagram now has facial filter options: Until recently, AR was reserved for elite users.
Instagram made headlines last year when it allowed users to make their own Augmented Reality (AR) filters.
Facebook’s Spark AR Studio is where the face filters are made, and until this summer it was restricted to businesses and paid developers exclusively.
Already, this component has seen massive adoption. More than a billion individuals have utilised AR studio experiences, according to Mark Zuckerberg.
6. Instagram has released music stickers that have lyrics and are available in additional countries.
Nonetheless, Instagram does have a music section, which does exactly what you’d expect.
Marketers across Europe had some good news this year, as the availability of music stickers for Stories expanded to seven more countries across the continent. These countries include the Nordics, the Netherlands, Romania, and Slovakia.
No more uncomfortable silence during your Storytelling, and now you can even select your own own musical interlude!
7. Instagram Reels are short, artistic video snippets that play with audio and may be shared on the app.
Even more popular than Instagram, TikTok has sprung into the mobile scene. Although the app is still most popular among young people, its meteoric ascent has likely spooked the executives at Instagram.
Instagram has often countered new features introduced by rival apps by adding them to their own product. The most prominent recent instance of this is when Instagram adopted the Stories format made famous by Snapchat.
Where will Instagram Stories go from here?
Instagram has already introduced a plethora of new features and upgrades for Stories, so it should come as no surprise that more are on the way.
For one, more and better augmented reality camera effects, such as fun facial filters, are likely in the horizon.
Furthermore, “app whisperer” Jane M. Wong found a reference to the ability to respond to stories with a Gif, so it seems that this functionality is in the works. If you want to find out about upcoming features before anybody else, follow her on Twitter.
As the incorporation of musical elements into Stories is on the rise as well, we should expect to see other music app integrations in the near future; after all, Spotify is already participating.
Due to their collaboration, Instagram and Spotify may soon provide new musical capabilities to Stories.
Lastly, given Facebook’s emphasis on monetizing its software products, we can anticipate more development and expansion of shoppable tags in Stories, particularly as they relate to native shopping and in-app purchases on Instagram.
All in all, marketers are in a better position than ever to make use of the newest Instagram Stories functions, both paid and organic.
You can’t afford to ignore Stories in today’s social media ecosystem, whether you publish them directly or via an SMM platform.