Do you want to boost sales without spending money on paid promotion? Are you thinking about using Instagram Stories as a part of your content writing strategy? If your answers are “yes”, you are heading in the right direction.
If you align your content strategy with Instagram Stories, you will be able to achieve fantastic results. Read this article to learn why you should change your approach to content writing and what benefits you will get if you start creating Stories right now.
How to Align Content Writing Strategy and Instagram Stories
Plan ahead
If you want to succeed in content marketing, you should plan everything in advance. And the first thing you should do is to answer the following questions:
- What is the primary goal of your content marketing campaign? Do you want to raise brand awareness, improve customer loyalty, or boost sales?
- What type of content are you going to produce: blog posts, Instagram posts, Instagram Stories, tweets, newsletters, infographics, etc.?
- At what time, and how often you will publish fresh content?
- How many pieces of content you are you going produce per month and week?
- Are you going to create content on your own? Or maybe you will hire an in-house or freelance content creator?
Provide answers to these questions and design a content roadmap. It will help you to incorporate Instagram Stories into your content marketing strategy in the right way and achieve the highest results possible.
Encourage followers to check out your latest post
As you probably know, some Instagram users do not scroll through the feed; they only watch Stories. If you want to reach these users, you should share your feed post to your Story. It’s simple. You just need to click a few buttons.
Do you want to get the most of sharing your post? Here is a pro tip for you.
Use a GIF sticker to hide a part of the image and intrigue your followers. Make people want to see the whole photo and to read the caption. It will help you to drive engagement and will increase your chances to boost sales.
Take advantage of interactive stickers
Let’s consider a few examples of how to use Polls, Quizzes, and Questions stickers to collect feedback and improve content writing strategy.
Poll sticker
Ask your followers whether they liked your recent post or not using Poll sticker. Analyze the answers to understand what you did wrong and what you did right.
Probably, you chose a good topic to discuss but didn’t provide enough arguments to support your point of view. Learn a lesson from the mistakes made and use obtained knowledge to improve your future posts.
Also, you can ask your followers whether they agree with the point of view expressed in the last post. It will help you to find out whether your previous post resonated with public opinion.
Quiz sticker
Make a Quiz to find out whether your followers read the captions you write. Ask a few multiple-choice questions related to your latest post. If most of your followers provide wrong answers, it will mean that you need to improve the quality of your content:
- Write a killer first line to grab the followers’ attention. It will get users to read the whole post.
- Keep your captions short. Try to express your ideas as precisely as possible.
- Write Instagram captions in simple words. Make your posts understandable for everyone, including non-native English speakers.
Question sticker
Are you feeling stuck and have no idea what to write about? Ask your followers on Instagram what they would like to read about. They will suggest you plenty of topics to discuss in the next posts.
Promote contests and giveaways
If you want to run a contest on social media, make an announcement to your followers on Instagram Stories. Provide your target audience with the following information regarding the giveaway:
- What is the prize?
- How many winners will be selected?
When will winners be selected?
If you want to grab the audience’s attention, you should design a special Story. Choose the most engaging photo from your archive and use a readable font.
Don’t overload your Stories with the text. Make sure that a few seconds is enough to read the rules and information regarding the giveaway.
Promote upcoming webinar
Are you looking for an effective way to promote your webinar? Tell the world about your webinar using your Instagram account.
Create Stories that will direct your followers to the landing page or your website. Provide your customers with an opportunity to learn more about the upcoming event and your bright personality.
Grow your email list
Besides, you can use Instagram Stories to grow your email list. Create a Story that offers a freebie, and lead your followers directly to your website by using the “swipe up” feature. Find a way to motivate them to sign up to the newsletter.
Sell directly from Instagram
You can use Instagram Stories not only to promote your content but also to advertise your products. Showcase your products on Stories, and add a link to your website.
If you want to double your sales, you can use FOMO, the fear of missing out. Write in your Instagram Stories that the sale will last a few days or a few hours only. It will encourage your buyers to make a purchasing decision right here and right now.
Write in a unique voice
If you want to take your content writing strategy to the next level, find your brand voice, and keep it consistent across all channels.
If you tend to write in-depth, meaningful Facebook posts, don’t try to make your Instagram Stories fun and entertaining. Define your brand’s personality trait and create relevant content. Be the most authentic self, and you will be rewarded with the massive following and Instagram account growth.
Wrapping up
You should consider Instagram Stories as an integral part of content writing strategy. You should use it to promote all sorts of content you produce: from Instagram feed and YouTube videos to blog posts and webinars. Try to create a seamless omnichannel experience, and you will hit all the marketing goals you have set.
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