t’s no question that Instagram Stories have become a major component of every brand’s social media marketing strategy. Since launching in 2016, this singular feature of Instagram not only garners the attention of over 500 million users every day but 25% of Millennials and Gen Z users leverage Stories for product consideration, making it a very powerful business tool for brand marketers to leverage. As a social media agency, we strategize, create, monitor, and analyze Instagram Stories for many of our clients. So whether you’re revisiting your Instagram Stories strategy or starting from scratch, we’ve compiled the following insights and best practices to help elevate your brand marketing efforts. Read the full blog post here: https://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/instagram-marketing-2/the-complete-guide-to-instagram-stories-for-brand-marketers/ Contact Ignite Social Media: https://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/contact/

1. The Complete Guide to
Instagram Stories
for Brand Marketers
By Ignite Social Media

2. KEY TAKEAWAYS
It’s no question that Instagram Stories
have become a major component of every
brand’s social media marketing strategy.
Since launching in 2016, this singular
feature of Instagram not only garners the
attention of over 500 million users every
day but 25% of Millennials and Gen Z
users leverage Stories for product
consideration, making it a very powerful
business tool for brand marketers to
leverage. As a social media agency, we
strategize, create, monitor, and analyze
Instagram Stories for many of our clients.
So whether you’re revisiting your
Instagram Stories strategy or starting from
scratch, we’ve compiled the following
insights and best practices to help elevate
your brand marketing efforts.
▪ At the core of Instagram Stories’ 1.7 billion users, you’ll find
the majority are Millennials and GenZers (16-34 age range),
both using the platform for content creation and content
consumption.
▪ Brands should be using the unique features of Instagram
Stories to further engage their audience (i.e. polls, product
stickers, slider feature, etc.).
▪ From our sample of clients, on average five Instagram Story
panels = one Instagram newsfeed post in terms of
impressions.
▪ You can leverage influencers on Instagram Stories by having
them seed UGC, drive clicks to eCommerce and by
highlighting events

3. Knowing Your Audience:
Who’s Using
Instagram Stories

4. Knowing Your Audience: Who’s Using Instagram Stories
As a best practice with any piece of your social media strategy,
it’s important to center your plan around your audience and
where they spend their time. According to GlobalWebIndex, at
the core of Instagram Stories’ 1.7 billion users, you’ll find the
majority are Millennials and GenZers (16-34 age range), both
using the platform for content creation and content
consumption.
If you dig a little deeper, it lines up with the young nature of
this audience that it’s a near 50/50 split of single users and
those in a relationship (including married), and that 2/3 don’t
have any children.
As we mentioned earlier, users are both creating and viewing
stories rather frequently, but nearly 1/4 of respondents stated
that they swiped up on a user or brand story to see more within
the past month. This insight is key for brands looking to
leverage Instagram Stories to drive traffic to product pages or
increase overall web traffic to their site.

5. Stories Analytics:
What Metrics to
Expect

6. Stories Analytics: What Metrics to Expect
Instagram Stories metrics for business accounts are comprised of many of the same metrics brands can get from
the newsfeed, but also include a variety of specific data items that are unique to the format. Those include the
following:
Interactions
• Impressions: The total number of views
on each of your individual Instagram
Stories
• Reach: The number of visits a unique
account viewed each slide in your story
• Clicks: The number of times someone
uses the “swipe up” feature
• Shares: The number of times an
individual panel was shared
• Replies: The number of times people
reply to your Stories panel
• Clicks to Profile: The number of times
people visit your profile from your
Stories panel
• Sticker Taps: The number of times
people tap on a geotag, hashtag,
mention, or product sticker
• Votes: The results for polls or “this-or-
that” tactics
Navigation Behavior
• Tap Forward: The number of times
someone taps right to move to the next
panel
• Tap Backward: The number of times
someones taps to view the previous
panel
• Swipe Away: The number of times
someone swipes to skip to the next
account’s story
• Exits: The number of times someone
leaves the stories viewer to return to
their feed
• Next Story: The number of taps to the
next account’s story
Paid Insights
When it comes to Instagram Stories Ads
there are no specific insights for Stories,
but rather the standard Facebook
network ad data that accompanies all
other units. Those include:
• Impressions
• Reach
• Engagements
• Clicks
• Conversions
Paid Insights: CTAs
That said, it is worth noting that
Instagram ads allow you to leverage a
variety of CTA options for your ads. Those
include:
• Apply Now
• Book Now
• Call Now
• Contact Us
• Download
• Get Directions
• Learn More
• Send Message
• Request Time
• Save
• See Menu
• Shop Now
• Sign Up
• Watch More
It’s also important to know that you can segment the above analytics to see the most recent results within 24
hours, 7 days, and 14 days of activity on your stories.

7. Setting Goals:
Benchmarks for
Instagram Stories Success

8. Setting Goals: Benchmarks for Instagram Stories Success
Now that you know what metrics are available for your business, it’s time to set realistic expectations for what
you want to achieve, whether it be through an organic Story post or a paid one. We analyzed three clients from
different industries to compare newsfeed performance versus Story performance, as well as set a baseline for
Story performance.
From this sample average, five Instagram story panels = one Instagram post in terms of impressions. On average,
Instagram Stories serve to 1/5th the audience that typically sees an Instagram post. This will vary by brand, but
aim for 3-5 panels to get the most out of your Instagram Stories; shorten if your completion rates are
consistently low.

9. Creating Exceptional
Instagram Stories
Content

10. Creating Exceptional Instagram Stories Content
Instagram Stories are easy for users to rapidly consume
and then swipe on to the next one, so it’s important to
make sure your brand stands out visually and entices
users to engage with the content. That said, Instagram
does a great job of providing brands with an arsenal of
creative and engaging tools to help do just that. Here
are six tips to help with your creative that more
importantly give you insights about your audience.
• Series Polls: Poll stickers are a great tool to get your followers talking and interacting
with your brand. By stringing together multiple polls, you can create a series poll, like a
game, that entices your audience to stop and interact with your Stories. These kinds of
questions don’t require a lot of thought, are fun to answer, and are a great way to
create a lasting memory with your followers.
• This or That: Tap into this simple opportunity by asking your audience which colors they
prefer, what products they like to use for certain scenarios, or by tapping into current
events that align with your company values. You can see this come to life in the example
below for our Visit the Outer Banks client.
• Choose Your Own Adventure: Utilize Instagram’s tap and swipe through features to
engage with your audience in a fun and interactive way. Tapping through for fun
questions or assembling a short story capture audience attention and keeps them
coming back for more.
• Product Stickers: This sticker allows you to tag specific products in Stories, just like you
can with regular Instagram shopping posts, no matter how big or small your following.
This helps to create a super streamlined way for your audience to shop your products.
• Quiz Stickers: These stickers are a fun why to test your audience around trivia or
frequently asked questions related to your brand or products. You can learn about how
to setup Instagram Stories quiz stickers here.
• Emoji Slider: These playful sliders allow you to interact with your audience in a fun and
spontaneous way, as well as giving them more flexibility with their answers.
For more creative best practices, check out this post on How to Design On-Brand Instagram
Stories.

11. Leveraging Influencer
Partnerships through
Stories

12. Leveraging Influencer Partnerships through Stories
Brands can also find success not only through owned content on Instagram but by
leveraging influencer partnerships. However, this is the one time where follower size
matters as only influencers with 10,000+ followers will have business accounts that enable
them to use the swipe up feature as well as provide more meaningful analytics we
mentioned above.
While there’s a multitude of ways to take advantage of influencer Instagram Stories, here
are 4 ideal concepts to try on your next campaign.
• Driving Clicks for eCommerce: Influencers optimizing content for web traffic through the swipe up
feature
• Seeding UGC: Influencers prompt followers to share content that focuses on your brand
• Promoting an Event: Influencers share their journey getting ready for an event, raising awareness
and inviting followers to also attend. This is also a great way to make followers feel included who
can’t attend by having the influencer share exclusive behind-the-scenes content during the event.
• Highlighting Optimal Use Cases: Tasking influencers to highlight your brand in DIY or How-To
content in a new way that promotes consideration of your brand when the audience goes to
replicate the activity.
Additionally, in light of recent events, influencers have reported a 33% increase in brands
seeking partnerships to create their photo and video assets. Partnering with influencers
purely for Instagram Stories content creation is another great way to generate assets on a
platform that so dependently relies on exquisite creative.

13. Thank You!
Questions?
Contact us today by emailing
Lisa@ignitesocialmedia.com