On today’s big news in social media: Mocha Uson was (wrongly) announced as the Bureau of Customs’ social media consultant. Oh, and Instagram has just turned into Snapchat.
With a new feature called Instagram Stories, you can now post photos and videos on your feeds that will last for exactly 24 hours—just like they can with Snapchat. The feature will be rolling out to both iOS and Android Instagram users over the week.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom does acknowledge that Snapchat did provide inspiration for their new feature.
Why are they going head to head with the competition? Systrom admits that sometimes, an Instagram feed can look and feel too curated. Stories will encourage everyone to post more candid, in-the-moment photos and videos, since they’ll be scrubbed in a day anyway.
“It basically solves a problem for all these people who want to take a ton of photos of an event or something in their lives, but [still] want to manage what their profile looks like,” said Systrom.
Why should a brand use Instagram Stories over Snapchat? We give three undeniable benefits of using this new feature in your business.
Instagram Stories
There’s no more need for a separate community and app. You may have already spent a lot of time and effort building your Instagram following. Even if your business already has a Snapchat account, chances are that you have more fans on IG. With Instagram Stories, you get all the immersive, high-engagement features of Snapchat, delivered straight to an already-existing community.
The Instagram Stories’ interface is cleaner and easier to use. “One of the main complaints about Snapchat is that it’s quite confusing to use. For example, you have to swipe to the right to actually start viewing a friend’s, brand’s, or celebrity’s snaps,” says Rica Oquias, Director for Digital of M2.0 Communications. “I feel that Instagram offers a more familiar interface that puts the social feed front and center, and it’s an easier platform to use, too.”
Instagram has in-built analytics. Thanks to its parent company Facebook, Instagram already has an analytics system in place for businesses to know exactly which posts work and which don’t. Thanks to this easily-accessible data, you can plan your stories more effectively, and max out the impact of each post.
How would you start using Instagram Stories for your business? Tell us about it!