Want the best Instagram story? Your 7 need-to-know tips for journalists on ‘the gram’
Journalists have been adapting to the times and are able to use social media as an integral part of their job but have you ever wondered how you can make what you post more engaging? Here’s 7 need to know tips for the best Instagram stories.
1. Place the image in the middle of your story slide
If you’re using Instagram to promote something as a journalist with an image, whether that’s a new article you’ve uploaded or a new piece of information you want to talk about, Luis Assardo told Journalism.co.uk and recommends us where to place the image on the story. She told Madaline Ciobanu that
“it’s best to add your main asset (photo or video) in the middle of the story, as people are likely to drop off if the package contains a lot of images and videos”
2. Don’t just post picturesque images
Eva Chen director of Fashion Partnerships at Instagram said to InPublishing ‘just posting visually stunning images isn’t enough to guarantee a strong engagement rate and growth’. To be successful at stories and to engage your users and followers you need to embrace storytelling and what makes the platform unique to survive. Try using the interactive elements of stories, polls, quizzes, Q&As and tapping into the nosy aspect of stories. Use the swipe up feature but encourage the user to go deeper.
3. Think of your audience
Elisa Benson, news and publishing partnerships at Instagram also spoke to Journalism.co.uk and said talk to your youngest audience. Think about how younger audiences want to consume media. Talk to the younger audience of about teens to 25 year olds using pronouns “you need to tap into them if you’re going to grow your brand on the platform”.
4. Use all that Instagram Stories have to offer
Take advantage of all that Instagram stories offer and give people something to do whilst looking on your story, they may be less likely to just skip past and want to be nosey. Make sure you’re using a variety of conventions that the app offers, go live, add gifs, and add stickers and text so that it is a mix of content. In terms of the Instagram stories make them participatory. Elisa Benson said to Journalism.co.uk she had “made it easy (making your stories participatory) to do with the poll sticker and question sticker” people like to get involved and be heard.
5. Add in your hashtag
Elisa Benson also advises using hashtags and tags so people can find your post (if you’re not a private account or they don’t follow you back). If you put an Instagram story up and tag in a brand or business they could be likely to repost it. This will give you more exposure as their followers will see your post they have shared and have direct access to your account.
6. Use your Instagram highlights
Stories can expire after 24 hours but if you save your expired story onto your page as a highlight anyone looking on your page can watch that story again. This can be handy if you have a promotion or something you want people to be able to see for more than one day, Maggie Tillman Contributing editor of Pocket-lint tells us.
7. Be consistent
If you’re a journalist and trying to establish a readership for your stories try and be consistent. If your story goes live on a certain day each week and you update your followers on the same day, your audience will recognise that day to look out for your work. It’s also important to maintain a consistent appearance in all of your content, keep colours and font the same to maintain a look for your brand. Thomas J Law Published ‘15 Instagram design tips that will blow your mind’ and to be consistent was his first mentioned.
