Instagram Stories have changed the platform significantly, not only for consumers but also for businesses. Over the years, they have become one of the most important features of Instagram. But why exactly did they change the platform, and how can Instagram Stories be used to increase interaction and reach?

THAT'S FACTS
INSTAGRAM STORY FACTS AND FEATURES
Since Instagram Stories, with their clearly visible placement above the feed, are very easy to use, offer varied entertainment, and a continuous flow of interesting content, they are very popular with users and have become an important tool for companies to generate interaction and increase reach.

More than a billion people worldwide use Instagram every month, half of them on a daily basis. Twenty-eight million users are from Germany [2], of which 24 million people look at Instagram Stories – an enormous reach for brands. Well-made brand accounts are popular: Around 90 percent of all users follow at least one company on Instagram. Through authentic communication in stories, brand content is perceived quite normally alongside content from friends or influencers - it is perceived less as direct advertising than as the sustainable development of identification with the brand and its messages and communications. A third of the most viewed stories even come from companies.
Currently, a small disadvantage of stories is that they can only be published just in time. Unlike normal posts, drafts cannot be saved. Fortunately, Instagram announced in March 2021 that the draft feature for stories is coming soon. Agencies currently use paid tools such as Hootsuite, which also allow time-controlled publishing.

INTERACTION AND REACH
THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE

Interaction and reach are often used in a common context that makes them seem similar, but there is an important difference between the two terms.
• Reach describes the number of each individual visit to an Instagram story, i.e., how many people have seen it.
• Engagement means how much the Instagram Story was engaged. For example, this could be a profile visit, a tap on a sticker, a message or reaction, or even forwarding the story to friends.
Interacting with an Instagram Story is just as important as its high reach. In order to build a sustainable community, it is crucial to deliver content that reaches and engages users. Interactions with an Instagram Story are important for a successful Instagram account. Through clever storytelling and the use of the diverse design options of a story by integrating appropriate elements or stickers, various objectives for a story are possible and can positively enrich the marketing mix.

STICKERS, FILTERS, STORYTELLING!
There are various instruments to make the brand tangible in the context of stories and to increase reach and interaction.
Instagram stickers are important elements of successful stories. The stickers are available in a wide variety of variants: You can increase the range with hashtags and locations or create a special mood and atmosphere with GIFs, emojis, and music. Interaction is increased with surveys, countdowns, and questions, the purchase of a product is stimulated with product stickers, and the number of visitors to your own website is increased with links, for example. When using different stickers, it is recommended to pay attention to the focus of the story so that there is a call-to-action effect.

AR filters have been popular with Instagram users since late 2019. In most cases, these are filters that color the user's face, alienate it or add layers (e.g., the Gucci brand on the cheeks, happy freckles on the face, or a flower crown on the hair). Thanks to the "Spark AR Studio" published by Instagram, it is possible for everyone to create their own filters. Companies can use it to create so-called branded stickers. The provision of branded stickers is a friendly and wide-reaching opportunity to draw attention to your own company.

In addition to the elements used in a story, storytelling is, of course, still important for the success of stories because this ultimately decides how well the content is accepted by the user and whether the brand will continue to be followed.
Stories that are particularly worth seeing can be pinned as a highlight on the Instagram profile and are therefore visible longer than the usual 24 hours, after which they usually disappear. The Instagram account experiences a simple and uncomplicated upgrade in terms of content and an increase in the range of messages.

OPTIMIZATION OF THE STORIES
ANALYSIS IS KEY
By analyzing Instagram insights, the design of stories can be optimized. The insights are divided into three categories: Discover, Navigation, and Interaction.

The Discover category shows reach and impressions, i.e., the total number of views of the story (including repeats). Both pieces of information are revealing since the comparison of both values with the number of followers of an account shows how extensively the story is played out and viewed.

The Navigation section provides insights into how the Instagram Story was interacted with: Which viewers swiped directly to the next one during the story? How many viewers viewed the story multiple times or clicked next? If many users view the story several times, this is a good sign, as the content seems to be particularly appealing and interesting to them.

The category of interaction includes values for profile visits, followers reached via story, shares, taps on stickers, clicks on the product page, and much more. With these values, valuable insights can be gained in order to better and better match the stories to the interests of the target group or community over time.

The analysis carried out using Instagram Insights plays a prominent role in the optimization and quality assurance of the content. If certain ideas, designs, or elements achieve good values, these can be given more consideration in editorial plans and contribute to the success of an Instagram account.

CONTINUITY AND REACH
Overall, stories should be posted with a certain regularity and at times when your own community is online. If the interaction rates are still high, the chances that your own stories will be displayed to the interested followers at the top of the storyline and thus develop a greater reach increase. Additional reach can be achieved through shares, in which followers share the story with friends. Infographics, useful tips & tricks, and entertaining content are popular. But the use of hashtags and geotagging can also contribute to increased reach. Incidentally, you can give your channel an enormous boost in reach with Instagram Story Ads very quickly and particularly effectively.

CONCLUSION
Instagram has become indispensable in social media marketing; the reach is huge, and stories in particular offer brands the opportunity to be in contact with users at eye level and in an entertaining and personable way and to continuously expand the community. Focusing on good content, continuity, optimization, and expansion of reach is definitely worth it. A certain consistency between the stories is also important and brand-building, so that the identity of the brand or the Instagram account can be recognized and experienced and the users like to follow it for a long time, always look forward to fresh content and thus the loyalty of the brand and followers in the long term and sustainably strengthened.

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