About 400 million users around the world use Instagram Stories on a daily basis.
Stories provide businesses with a unique opportunity to get the direct attention of audiences and potential buyers.
In this post, you will learn some important tips which are the result of research on 15,000 Instagram Stories.
Tips findings from analyzing Instagram Stories
If you are interested to know how Instagram Stories will be useful for brands and businesses heading into 2019, just read these tips.
1-Optimal Posting Length
According to some researches, many brands report a positive result when they post more, while others said the opposite.
First of all, we need to know about Completion rate, which is calculated by the number of times your Instagram Stories were watched from the first frame all the way to the last frame within the given 24-hour time period.
Therefore, which is exactly why we wanted to know what businesses are experiencing when it comes to optimal stories length
Based on below image, Research shows that about one out of seven Stories is the optimal posting length:
The completion rate drops to below 70 percent after seven Stories.
Consider, this result is more of a guide than a hard limit and it’s important to use your own data to determine what factors work for your brand.
Even if you post a longer story length, for instance, 12 to 20 story frames, your results are still phenomenal.
Top brand on Instagram that posts 20 or more Stories still see a 55 percent or greater completion rate, but Stories content plays the key role to engage the audience at any length.
2- Outside of work hours is the best time to post to Instagram Stories
One of the most interesting tips from this research is about the best time to post Instagram Stories. According to the time limit on Instagram Stories, top brands work hard to create attractive Stories content will want to maximize the reach of that content.
There are a lot of different factors that go into the Stories algorithm, but post timing plays a key role in the success of your content.
The result of the research shows that there are four distinct times in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. This means, outside of United States working hours:
According to the details above, the best times to post to Stories are:
4 am – 6 am Eastern Time
8 am – 10 am Eastern Time
12 pm – 2 pm Eastern Time
8 pm – 10 pm Eastern Time
Based on the result, your audience will have free time to view Stories before work, during their lunch break, and in the evenings after work.
3-Greater impressions and median gain by more content
At first, you must know about these metrics on Instagram
Reach: The number of unique audiences that watch your post or story on any given day.
Impressions: The number of times content of your brand, for example, a story, was shown to users.
Consider, the total number of times your story could have been seen are impressions.
If impressions are higher than your reach on your Instagram business account, that means your audience is viewing your content multiple times.
The threshold for content consumption on Instagram is higher than other social networks, Therefore, it’s another reason that stories are a powerful channel for brands.
On Instagram, you can see so much space in the news feed. By posting more content with people and brands, there is less space for everyone else.
Because Instagram Stories hide from the audience after 24 hours, that makes more space.
The result from our research proves that the more Stories top brand post on Instagram, they get the more impressions and median reach.
Now, based on the result, definitively there is a positive correlation between Stories posting length, reach and impressions metrics.
Image shows the correlation between stories length and median reach:
Image shows the correlation between stories length and median impressions:
Therefore, It’s not necessary to suggest all of the brands begin to post a lot of stories, but the information shows that brands can improve both median reach and median impressions by posting more Instagram Stories.
Tips to Practices for Posting Stories
Your brand can get started with these tips today:
First, try to post your best Stories content
In a benchmark study on 2018, the result shows that, on average, more audience exit on the first and last frame of content than any other part of your Stories.
This means, if the first frame of your story does not gain the attention of your audience on your business account, they will exit your content in search of something else quickly.
Give your follower a behind-the-scenes look at your brand, if you’re promoting your service or product, or simply posting fun content, make sure that it keeps your audience in right from the first frame.
For Instance, a brand, reveals content throughout their Stories on Instagram slowly in order to encourage the audience to move onto the next story frame and revealing the answer on the last content frame.
According to the graph above that median exits decrease as followers move through the story frames. For loyal followers that make it all the way to the last content frame, recommended to use some kind of CTA to provide them with a next step.
Be Consistent to Post on Stories
Nowadays, stories on Instagram is one of the most engaging social media contents available.
A lot of users are consuming content of stories on a daily and completion rates are well above around 50 percent.
The perfect time for your business to start with Instagram Stories content is now.
Based on the experience of top brands, your Stories don’t need to be complicated.
Many top brands found that for their Stories on Instagram, using simple static graphics and quick explaining videos performs better than their professional video contents.
this means:
- To tell a story quickly just use a background image
- Convey your message by adding a short copy
- Design your story content by using minimal graphics and logos
Calculate your own data
Of course, this research is only the guide for the brands and businesses having the intention of increasing their Instagram Stories content going into 2019.
Your business needs to calculate accurately its own data around Storie’s data on a regular basis.
Some data point like below factors, helps your brand to keep a close eye on your own data which will ensure that you’re continually improving:
- Completion rate
- Metrics like, impressions and Reach
- Exit rates based on story frame
- Time to post Stories
- Length of Stories
And so on,
Analytics for Instagram Stories
According to previous tips, to calculate your own data, Instagram stories analytics is a great tool.
If you have a business account on Instagram, you’re able to look clearly at your analytics on the stories. It can be a great feature to check what’s working and what doesn’t. For Instance, are your audience swiping away from your story? Who is visiting your account profile?
This tool gives a deeper perspective to check what’s working or what needs a change. You can see when viewers are more actively viewing your content like the story or interacting with it.
For example, Let’s say Wednesday is a good day for you. Because of that, you’ll find-out to share your top content then or get the audience to read your blog on that day as well.
Some Apps for Instagram Stories
Creating Stories on Instagram has to be fun for you as well.
Therefore, using the following apps helps your brand to create stories simply.
Unfold
The use of templates for Instagram Stories is one of the easiest Instagram story tips. Templates provide a great looking story just within minutes.
This app helps your brand to create basic (free) templates and you can buy additional looks.
Cutstory
You have a 15-second limit to create stories on Instagram. When you record or produce a 45-second video you need to cut this in three pieces yourself.
This app will allow you to do that and saves a lot of time.
Adobe Lightroom
It has great tips to edit the photos before you post on your Instagram Stories.
Adobe Lightroom helps your brand to have a beautiful color edit within minutes with Lightroom Presets which you can find in many websites.
Hyperlapse
They are a bunch of images, pasted integrated into a video. tap record, you will have a cool video by just walking from one point straight to another for at least 1-minute.
This app is built-in the camera for iOS and Android devices
Another app that does the same job is Framelapse.
