Stories

What are social media stories?

Social media stories started on Snapchat, but have since branched out to nearly every other social media and communication platform. These are quick, typically 10-15 second photo or video clips that give people a slightly different glimpse into a person or business and disappear within 24 hours. While feeds are carefully curated, social media stories tend to be more spontaneous. For brands, this can mean showcasing smartphone-captured behind-the-scenes footage, company announcements and more. The biggest defining factor in stories is that they are temporary. On most platforms, they last only 24 hours, although Instagram does give users the option to save certain stories to their highlights reel for users to view again and again. This helps drive the more casual feel of stories, and can also create an element of FOMO. Now that you know a bit more about what social media stories are, let’s cover the platforms that have now introduced various versions of this feature.

What platforms offer social media stories?

For years, Snapchat was the only platform with this disappearing content feature. Then, in 2016, Instagram incorporated it into their platform. Facebook and Facebook Messenger followed not long after that. And now, we see it in nearly 10 different platforms. We’ll show you where you can access stories on each of these platforms below.

1. Facebook Stories

As a brand, instead of posting videos or images to Facebook as you normally would, you can create engaging Facebook Stories that will attract more followers and allow you to engage and create unique Facebook content. You can also visual geotags on your videos and photos. Facebook Stories rely heavily on cameras, and that is why it works well on smartphones. However, users can also post and edit their videos or photos from their desktops to give them a more polished look.

Two main benefits of using Facebook Stories for your brand:

It enables businesses to reach out to their target audience. Like Instagram Stories, the Facebook Stories feature allows businesses to share Stories with exact followers on the business page. In addition to that, your Stories can only be viewed once and disappear after 24 hours. Sharing Stories that have limited viewing time is usually appealing to viewers. As a result, more people are likely to view them.

It enhances transparency. With Facebook Stories, your followers will never miss any updates from you. The first thing they will see when they log in to their account is your Story, regardless of when it was posted. You can also use Facebook Stories to share behind the scene content or short how-to video content. This will enable your audience to know your business better.

How to post a Facebook Story to your page

There are two methods to post a Story to your page. Each comes with its limitations. Upload Stories for your page directly from the Facebook app

Method 1: Share your Story using the Facebook mobile app

Step 1: Access your Facebook page from the Facebook mobile app

Step 2: At the top of your page you’ll see “Create Story” – Click

Step 3: Create your Story or upload a photo or video – there is a wide range of lenses and filters that you can use to make your content more attractive and desirable.

Step 4: Click the ‘Add to story’ button or choose ‘Next’.

Once you are happy and satisfied with the post you have created, the next step is to share it with your audience. All you need to do to share your Story is tap the arrow icon located in the center of the screen, then choose your Story.

Method 2: Share your Instagram Story

It’s the easiest way to share Stories on Facebook, plus you save time using this method.

Step 1: Go to your Instagram’s profile page and click on ‘Settings.’

Step 2: Scroll down and tap on ‘Account’

Step 3: Sharing to other apps

Step 4: Select the accounts where you want to share your Instagram Stories

How to access insights about your Facebook page Stories

You can only access insights about your Facebook Stories once you turn on the Stories insights – available only for the page admins. This can be done by going to your page then click the insights button located on top of the page. Click Stories, then click the turn on the icon. Once your Facebook Stories insights are on, you view the metrics of your Facebook Stories, including:

• Unique Story Opens – The number of people who have viewed your Stories.
• A thumbnail of how your Story looked like when it was published.
• Forward Taps – The number of times an individual has skipped going to the next Story.
• Backward Taps – The number of times an individual has taped to go back to view the previous Story
• Exists – The number of times that an individual has left the Story and returned to the news feed
• Forward Swipes – The number of times that an individual skipped going to the next account Story

What to post on Facebook Stories

There are many things that you can post on Facebook Stories to market your business. For instance, you can post Stories to educate your audience or update them about new products or service launches. Below is a list of things that you can post on Facebook Stories:

• How to tutorial visuals for your products/services
• Free tips and tricks
• Latest updates about your product/service or the latest news from your industry
• Behind the scene content
• Showcase a trade show or an event that your business attended
• Announce discount codes, special promotions, and last minute offers.

When to post your Facebook Stories

When is the best time to post Facebook Stories for businesses? This question does not have a definite answer because it depends on your individual preference and the nature of your business. Although Facebook will not penalize you for posting too many Stories, the more you post, the less desirable your Stories become. This means that if you post frequently, then your audience will become less interested in viewing them. On the other hand, if you post fewer Stories, your audience will be more interested in viewing them. Make sure your Facebook Stories are engaging for your audience: use GIFs, emojis, add text for those who can’t hear what you are saying. I don’t have a secret formula for the best time to post Facebook Stories, but I know that you have to test. Test different times and different types of content, and you will find the best time to post Stories for your brand.

2. Instagram Stories

How to make Instagram Stories

• In the app, click the plus icon at the top of the screen.
• At the bottom of the screen, choose STORY from the menu.
• Optional: If you want to switch to the selfie camera, tap the switch-camera icon on the bottom right.
• Tap the white circle at the bottom of the screen to take a picture, OR…
• Press and hold the white circle to record video, OR…
• Swipe up (or select the square camera roll icon on the left) to use pre-existing photos or videos.

How to check your Instagram Story views

If your Insta Story is still live — meaning less than 24 hours have passed since you posted it, just tap the Your Story icon on the app main page to see a viewer count for your Story. Tap the number in the bottom left to get a list of the people who make up those Instagram Story views. After 24 hours, once your Instagram Story has disappeared, you can still access insights, including reach and impressions. Reach is the number of unique accounts that viewed your Story. Impressions is the total number of times your Story was viewed. Here’s how:

• On the app’s homepage, tap your profile photo at the bottom right of the screen.
• Tap Insights.
• Choose the time period you’d like Insights for: 7, 14, or 30 days, the previous month, or a custom timeframe.
• Scroll down to Content You Shared and tap on Stories.
• Choose your metric and time period.

How to use Instagram Stories stickers

To add a sticker to your Instagram Story:

• Start creating your Story following the steps above.
• Once the photo or video is ready to go, tap the sticker icon at the top of your screen—it’s the square that’s smiling and has a folded corner.
• Select the type of sticker you’d like to use. Each type has its own properties, so experiment to see how each one behaves when you tap on it. You can pinch and drag to relocate and resize the sticker.

How to add a hashtag to your Instagram Stories

Adding a hashtag to your Insta Story makes it discoverable to a wider audience. There are two ways to add a hashtag to your Story:

• Use the hashtag sticker (tap the sticker icon at the top of your screen—the smiling square with the folded corner).
• Use the regular text function (tap the text icon—the one that says Aa) and use the # symbol.

Either way, once you start typing, Instagram will suggest some popular hashtag ideas to get you going. You can add up to 10 hashtags to your Stories.

How to add a location to your Instagram Stories

Like hashtags, adding a location to your Instagram Story expands its potential reach beyond your follower list. Places and businesses may have a location page. Users can find the location page under the Places tab when they search, or by tapping on the location in another user’s post. If your Story ends up there, you could end up with a lot more views. And if you have a brick-and-mortar business, your location page is where your happy customers can showcase their experience with you, and potential customers can check you out.

To use a location sticker on an Instagram Story:

• Tap the sticker icon at the top of your screen.
• Select the location sticker.
• Choose your preferred location from the list (could be a store, a street, a city — get as broad or as specific as you like).
• Tap and drag to adjust the sticker’s color and size and location so it complements your Story’s look.

How to add captions to Instagram Stories

60% of people watch Instagram Stories with the sound on. That means, of course, that 40% watch with the sound turned off. If you’re posting videos, captions are a great way to make your content more useful to that 40% of people. Captions are also an important way to help make content more accessible. Instagram will auto-create captions for your video Stories if you add the captions sticker.

• Start creating your Story. The captions sticker will only appear if you use a video.
• Once the video is ready to go, tap the sticker icon at the top of your screen.
• Tap the Captions sticker.
• Instagram will auto-create captions. It’s a good idea to take a look and see how good a job the tool did at capturing what you actually said. If it got something wrong, tap the text to edit any word.
• You can change the caption font and color using the tools at the top and bottom of the screen. When you’re happy with the captions, tap Done.
• You can pinch and drag the caption to relocate and resize it as you would with any other sticker.

If you use the Music sticker to add music to your story, you can caption your video with music lyrics.

• Start creating your Story. The music sticker will only appear if you use a video.
• Once the video is ready to go, tap the sticker icon at the top of your screen.
• Tap the Music sticker.
• Select a song from the suggestions or search for a specific song.
• Use the slider at the bottom of the screen or scroll through the lyrics to get to the section of the song you want to use.
• You can change the caption font and color using the tools at the top and bottom of the screen. When you’re happy with the captions, tap Done.
• You can pinch and drag the caption to relocate and resize it as you would with any other sticker.

How to use Instagram Stories highlights

Stories don’t have to disappear after 24 hours. Highlighting keeps them pinned to your profile until you choose to delete them. This is a great way to showcase your best, brand-defining content. Each highlight can contain as many Stories as you like, and you can keep adding to them as you post new content. How to create an Instagram Stories highlight:

• If the Story is less than 24 hours old and still visible on Instagram, just tap Your Story to open it, OR…
• If the Story is more than 24 hours old, retrieve it from your archive. Tap your profile icon at the bottom right, then tap the menu icon (three lines) in the top right. Tap Archive. Scroll back to the Story you want to highlight.
• In the lower right corner of the screen, tap the highlight icon.
• Choose the highlight to which you’d like to add the Story, OR…
• Create a new highlight.

How to use Instagram Stories polls

To create an Instagram Story poll:

• Start creating your Story following the steps above.
• Once the photo or video is ready to go, tap the sticker icon at the top of your screen.
• Choose the Poll sticker.
• Enter your question
• Enter your two potential responses. The default is Yes/No, but you can type any response up to 24 characters, including emojis.
• Let your poll run for 24 hours.
• Don’t forget to share the results!

How to use Instagram Stories questions

Like polls, IG Stories questions offer a way to make your Stories interactive. Instead of asking your followers what they think, the questions sticker allows your followers to ask you questions. Think of it as the Instagram equivalent of an Ask Me Anything. To use Instagram Stories questions:

• Start creating your Story following the steps above.
• Once the photo or video is ready to go, tap the sticker icon at the top of your screen.
• Choose the Questions sticker.
• Customize the text of the question prompt.
• Tap Done.

You’ll find the questions in your viewers list. Tap any question to share it and reply. The identity of the asker will not be revealed.

How to add links to Instagram Stories

In order to add Swipe Up links to Instagram Stories, you need to either have 10,000 followers or have a verified account. If that’s you, read on. If not, skip to the video at the bottom of this section for a simple hack to add links to Stories even without 10,000 followers. How to add a Swipe-Up link on Instagram Stories:

• Start creating your Story following the steps above.
• Once the photo or video is ready to go, tap the link icon at the top of your screen.
• Paste your link.
• Tap Done or the green check (depending on your type of phone).

How to use Instagram Stories shopping

If you haven’t already set your business up for Instagram Shopping, you’ll need to do that first. Check out our step-by-step guide to setting up Instagram Shopping for all the details. Once you’ve got your account set up, just use the shopping sticker to make your Stories shoppable.

• Create your Story as usual.
• Before you share, tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen.
• Tap the Product sticker.
• Choose the product from your catalog that you want to tag.
• Move and adjust the shopping sticker by dragging and tapping.
• Share your Story.

Instagram Stories sizes

If you’re designing or editing your Stories on desktop, or uploading a Stories ad to Facebook Ads Manager, you’ll need to keep these numbers from Facebook in mind:

• Recommended image ratio: 9:16 (all feed ratios are supported, but this ratio maximizes the Stories format)
• Recommended resolution: 1080×1920 (minimum resolution is 600×1067 with no maximum, though very high resolution may increase upload times)
• Maximum file size: 30MB for images, 250MB for video
• Title-safe area: Leave a 14% title-safe area at the top and bottom (in other words, don’t put text or logos in the top or bottom 250 pixels of the Story, to avoid overlapping with the app’s interface)

3. Twitter Fleets (Stories)

Twitter tested the release of a stories feature, called Twitter Fleets in late 2020. However, in July and August of 2021, Fleets was removed after it did not significantly increase new conversations in the way that the social network had hoped. Similar to other platforms, Fleets were featured at the top of the regular feed. As they are phased out, this space will be used by Twitter’s audio chat rooms, Spaces.

4. LinkedIn Stories

Even the business networking platform LinkedIn also has their own version of stories available at the top of their apps. While you’re not able to share the content you post on LinkedIn to their stories, this is a unique way to let your business connections get a behind-the-scenes look into your processes and business. Although Stories content tends to be more candid, make sure that the content you share on LinkedIn stories remains professional. You’re likely not going to be sharing photos while out at happy hour on your LinkedIn the way you might on Facebook or Instagram.

5. Pinterest Stories

Pinterest’s story feature offers another way to share your Pinterest content on this platform, and the different stories stack up at the top of a user’s app. As you can see above, Glitter Guide had two separate stories they shared. Pinterest stories also differ from other networks because they don’t disappear after 24 hours, and they stay on your profile in story form after you share them.

6. Snapchat Stories

Of course we all know Snapchat the originator of disappearing social media stories. While this format is now widespread, Snapchat did offer the first platform for many brands to experiment with how disappearing content and a more casual approach to content production might work for them on social media. Many publications and influencers have attempted to make something of their Discover pages, but Snapchat marketing can still be a strategy that works depending on your brand.

7. YouTube Stories

YouTube is also rolling out their own stories feature, although it’s currently only available for channels with over 10,000 subscribers. With YouTube Shorts appearing as a rival to TikTok’s short video content it makes sense that the most popular video sharing platform is trying to capitalize on all of the ways creators can share video content and attract audiences.