Instagram is a powerful social platform that can do wonders for your business. Since its inception, Instagram has transformed into an online space where businesses can interact with potential customers and vice versa.

According to a study by Selfstartr, about 68% of Instagram users regularly engage with brands. On Facebook, however, only about 32% interact with businesses on a regular basis.

Through the right digital marketing strategy, you’ll be able to take advantage of Instagram to boost traffic to your website or eCommerce platform.

Why Instagram Stories Are a Powerful Tool for Business

Over the past couple of years, Instagram has been emerging as a top platform for digital marketing due to its potential to reach a wider audience. In fact, according to Instagram, about 200 million users visit at least one business profile each day through the social media platform.

One of the main reasons why Instagram has become an effective tool for eCommerce is its various offerings. One of these is the platform’s Instagram Stories feature. Ever since this feature was introduced in 2016, it has become one of the main tools used by digital marketers and online business operators to promote products and services.

It has become so effective in delivering content that the number of feed posts shared by influences on Instagram significantly decreased. Instead of conventional posts, most influencers now prefer to interact with their followers through their stories.

As a digital marketing tool, the Instagram Stories feature can effectively build a connection between a brand and its followers due to its authentic appeal. The simplistic yet eye-catching appeal of stories can easily attract the attention of followers and boost your business’ conversation rates.

In fact, according to a survey by Instagram, about 62% of respondents become more interested in a product or brand after seeing it in Instagram Stories.

How to Drive Sales from Instagram Stories for Business

Instagram Stories come with various tools and features that you can easily use in order to capture the attention of your viewers or your audience. Knowing how to use each of these different features can effectively boost traffic and convert it into sales.

Through carefully-crafted Instagram Stories, you’ll be able to convert many of your viewers into loyal customers.

Instagram Stories Sales-Driving Features #1: Product Stickers

One of the features that you can take advantage of Instagram Story stickers. Whenever you add a video or photo to your story on Instagram, you can add stickers to include additional details about your content. These features can also be used to promote your products.

Product stickers or Shoppable Instagram Stories stickers can be used for both photos and videos of your products. They can be placed anywhere on the story to make the entire content more appealing to viewers. Through product stickers, you’ll be able to boost your store’s conversion rates from your Instagram Stories.

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If your Instagram account has 10,000 followers or more, then you can add a clickable link to your stories, which can effectively boost traffic to your website or online store. In order to take advantage of this feature, it’s important to post engaging and eye-catching content that will encourage viewers to swipe up on your stories in order to access your link.

If your account doesn’t have 10,000 followers yet, you can still include a clickable link in your bio. Through your stories, you can ask your followers to visit your bio and click on the link through text captions or verbal prompts.

Instagram Stories Sales-Driving Features #3: Countdown Stickers

As its name suggests, the countdown sticker is a feature you can add to your story to show a countdown timer. This feature is usually used to promote a special sales event or the launch of a new product in your online store.

By showing that a special event is about to begin or a promotion is only available for a limited time, you’ll be able to build hype around your offering.

The countdown sticker has another feature that allows your followers to set a reminder for the end of the timer. By clicking on the sticker, they’ll be notified when the timer will end. As the owner of the account, you’ll be able to see which of your followers turned on the notification reminder.

In other words, this feature will let you know who’s interested in the event or product that you’re promoting.

Instagram Stories Sales-Driving Features #4: Instagram Story Ads

The features mentioned above are the organic ways to boost traffic and sales using Instagram Stories. If you would like to try a direct approach, you can start promoting your brand or products using Instagram Stories ads.

You can create ads for your Instagram stories using your Facebook Ads Manager account. Once you’ve tweaked your campaign to target the right type of audience for your promotions, select Instagram Stories as the medium for your ads.

Although launching ads on Instagram Stories will require you to spend money, you’ll be surprised at how much it can improve traffic to your store. In fact, according to Instagram, about 75% of its users tend to visit a website or complete a purchase after seeing an ad.

Conclusion

As explained above, the Instagram Stories feature can serve as a major part of your digital marketing strategy for your online business. By knowing how to correctly craft stories and use Instagram’s various tools, you’ll be able to improve your engagement with your followers and reach out to more potential customers. Through Instagram Stories, you’ll be able to boost traffic to your eCommerce platform, build brand awareness and improve your business’ conversation rates.

Deep dive with our hive’s Instagram Experts for a FREE 30-minute strategy call. Contact us at 1300 041 469 today!

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