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clear With the current flare-up of social media marketing, Instagram has made a solid place in between leading platforms used by B2B companies like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. More than 500 million people use Instagram stories every day.
The user base on this platform is broad and the content uploaded is in the form of pictures and videos, which is visually appealing and therefore helps brands to immediately connect with potential leads in humongous numbers.
From putting up testimonials for credibility to engaging in Q & A customer success polls, Instagram stories provide a wide range of interactive tools for brands to interact with their leads hands-on and build a large community for themselves.
Around 90% of people now follow a business on Instagram, due to which 46% of B2B content marketers have used organic Instagram for promoting their product within the past 12 months.
Instagram allows a feature called Instagram stories, which is visible on the top of the Instagram app. Visually engaging, full-screen photos and videos that can work in vertical format are used, and appear as highlighted, unwatched stories to the follower instead of appearing in the scroll of their news feed. The unique thing about these stories is that they disappear after 24 hours.
The process is very simple. Once you have the app downloaded, you can click on the plus icon on top of the screen and choose the story option from the menu. You can then choose an existing photo or video from the gallery icon in the bottom left of the app or record a new story by pressing the circular white button in the center.
Instagram stories allow you to incorporate interactive tools like filters, polls, and stickers which makes them stand apart, in terms of connecting with the potential lead.
This feature is only available for Instagram business accounts once they have reached a following of over 10,000 people.
The Swipe Up feature allows the brand to attach any link to the Instagram story by means of which it can direct the traffic from this platform in the desired direction- whether it is to a landing page, an explainer video of the SaaS, trial sign-up section on websites, etc. – and then nudge the leads to take action.
These stickers encourage the highest number of clicks and more thought input from the potential leads. Completely customizable, these Quiz Stickers are usually used to project a question and then provide multiple choices of answers for the viewers to choose from.
Whether it’s being used to interact about the launch of a new product, answer questions about old features of a SaaS, or communicate the brand’s story, Quiz Stickers provide a lot of opportunities to brands.
Emoji Slider Stickers are used to get a reaction to a specific sentiment. These stickers are highly engaging and the opportunities they provide can be surprisingly versatile, because of the sheer number of emojis available, to structure the question and the content around. Brands have been known to use this feature to connect people with their SaaS on an emotional level.
These stickers help in encouraging active interaction between the brand and the customers. Whether it’s asking about what new features can be added, providing help in terms of customer service, doing a simple ask-me-anything session, or gathering feedback about a new product, Question Stickers are hugely popular and provide great results for most companies.
A Poll Sticker is a powerful, interactive tool provided by Instagram stories for B2B companies. It helps in instant engagement with the followers, by grabbing attention with quick and easy polls.
The poll and the answer options are completely customizable, and can therefore be structured to bring the spotlight on any area involving the SaaS- be it new features, customer feedback, etc.
| Instagram Stories Aspects | Numbers |
|---|---|
| Recommended image ratio | 9:16 |
| Recommended resolution | 1080×1920 |
| Maximum file size | 30MB - images, 250MB - video |
| Title-safe area | Leave 14% area - top and bottom |
How they used Instagram Story Video: This video highlights the stats that Slack has been able to achieve, in terms of providing benefits to its users.
As the Instagram story video moves ahead, we see the number of likes and appreciation for this SaaS increasing, in turn nudging the viewer to try out the product. The branding, color scheme and style are consistent and prominent, and hold high recall value for the viewer.
How they used Instagram Story Video: Dribbble has tactfully infused a customer success/ case study with upbeat music and animations on its Instagram story.
The powerful testimonial depicts product designer Jai, of Zillow group, as she highlights the benefits of Dribbble. This immediately helps in building faith in the customer about the credibility of the brand.
How they used Instagram Story Video: Spotify has used the Link tool on Instagram stories to make an interactive video to highlight an upcoming event they want to promote.
The details of the Google meet event to learn about the Shopify platform are listed as well as the link to register on. This Instagram reel with photo is engaging and shows happy users engaging with the SaaS, to learn and optimize the use of the platform.
How they used Instagram Story Video: This Instagram video shows animated features of InvisionApp coming together and intriguing the user about the SaaS. They are provided with the See More option which is a Swipe Up link.
When the viewer clicks on it, they will be connected to a landing page that explains this product in detail to the potential leads.
How they used Instagram Story Video: Here we see the Chief AI Officer of IBM interact with the potential leads of the brand. In this series of Instagram story videos he goes on to talk about IBM, the company, its goal and motives, and the benefits it seeks to provide for its users. This video helps in instantly building trust and brand credibility.
How they used Instagram Story Video: Mailchimp is known to be notoriously clever with the use of its Instagram page. Quizzes, Swipe Up Links, Emoji Sliders- they use everything possible to interact with their customers on a daily basis.
This video story here is a simple piece of content but has an interactive factor- with the poll asking about A/B testing for email campaigning. This Instagram video will help provide important feedback to Mailchimp on improving their services.
How they used Instagram Story Video: Google has been known to create quizzes that are interactive and engaging, and still provide ample data for the company to analyze and improve upon.
This quiz not only talks about Google and highlights its clear branding visible in the video story, but it will also be helpful in educating the customer about the product’s password feature.
How they used Instagram Story Video: With the help of alluring graphic GIFs, Grammarly has converted this story into an interactive video which will lead the traffic to its website.
This Instagram story video is not just about the blog that the viewer can access by swiping up, to understand tips for better writing, but will also establish Grammarly’s authority in this area when it comes to writing, proficiency, language, and grammar, solidifying its place amongst the competitors.
How they used Instagram Story Video: This post here is a simple video story but helps in creating humongous awareness about Dash Hudson’s webinar quickly and efficiently, to a large demographic of people.
The story involves a simple image and upbeat music, and yet it will prove to be a great reminder for anybody who is interested in this brand’s event.
How they used Instagram Story Video: Airtable has incorporated what is known as a Company video into its Instagram story. This video takes the viewer on a tour through the company’s office and gives insight into its workings, the employees, and the environment.
This helps in establishing credibility and trust with the viewer and aids in building a more personal relationship which will later lead to loyalty for the brand.
Instagram with its interactive tools not only helps in building not only the brand but also the community around it. It helps in engaging more leads by means of visual content than any other platform.
With the variety of options available to display testimonials, promote events, conduct polls, answer Q & A customer support, and reach an even wider network through paid advertising- Instagram stories can put the SaaS on the map and give a major boost to the brand’s marketing efforts.
A large percentage of today’s target audience spent most of their time on social media pages, especially Instagram. It is therefore a clever strategy for businesses to drive engagement and traffic, and building awareness and brand personality using Instagram stories.
Instagram is a very visual medium, where most brands compete to put out the most creative and engaging content. It also has one of the highest ROIs as a lot of people engage with brand pages and their product related content. It is therefore easy to build product image and explain the features of a complex UI with Instagram stories. It also has proven to be an important tool to pass on information about webinars and events that the company plans on keeping.
Instagram stories can be a game changer for B2B companies as far as marketing goes. Whether it is talking about a new feature, showcasing client testimonials and case studies, hosting podcast and webinars, answering frequently asked questions through videos, posting positive reviews, organizing events, etc. it has become incredibly easy to connect with a vast audience in a very short period of time using Instagram stories.
There are multiple ways in which B2B businesses use Instagram stories that can benefit their brand in immensely. Using question stickers to ask questions to the users, using the link stickers and swipe up stickers to get the traffic to the landing page, using poll stickers to conduct instagram story polls about features and feedback on the product.
Khyati is a seasoned writer and a hands-on marketing professional. She specializes in inbound and growth marketing, content marketing, lead generation, public relations, brand amplification, B2B communications and partnerships, and social media marketing.
Khyati is a seasoned writer and a hands-on marketing professional. She specializes in inbound and growth marketing, content marketing, lead generation, public relations, brand amplification, B2B communications and partnerships, and social media marketing.
