Essay 7: Instagram Stories for Lead Generation
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Essay7-.docxBACKGROUND
There are stories and there are stories
Since the launch of Snapchat in 2011, the sharing of social media stories involving vertical, ephemeral slideshows has greatly surpassed that of posts in feeds (e.g., one estimate suggests 15x the growth rate). Although feeds are ideal for extending your reach with evergreen content, stories are ideal for engagement.
These stories differ from the long-form storytelling we discussed for top funnel brand connection and mid-funnel image boosting (e.g., 3-minute heartfelt Facebook/YouTube videos). The goal of those long-form signature pieces is to establish a more lasting and mutual bond with audiences from life-changing encouragement or wisdom reflected in themes of love, encouragement, iconic quests or tributes. Short-form stories, on the other hand, serve as regular reminders of what is going on with your brand and why your followers should hang-out with your community.
An advantage of these short-form over long-form stories is the spontaneity, low budget authenticity and versatility offered by the short duration that disappears unless added to your profile (via Highlights). They can be used for simple “how-to” tutorials or behind-the-scenes content. Consequently, beyond attracting new followers and boosting brand appeal, short-form stories are ideal for lead generation and lead nurturing, the subject of this week’s session.
Who is leading the pack?
Now led by Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp (all Facebook assets), nearly a billion accounts create and watch these short-form stories. Adding to these platforms are YouTube, TikTok, Facebook Messenger and most recently Pinterest (Story Pins about to arrive). The growing dominance of Facebook and its assets over Snapchat and others has much to do with Facebook’s comprehensive feature set, big data for promotions and huge follower population.
Lead generation tactics
Stories on Instagram, the focus of this essay assignment, are especially attractive to marketers seeking ways to gain a proprietary audience for lead generation. They provide ways to first build your proprietary audience, then engage them and ultimately steer them to website landing pages that invite an email opt-in for content upgrades, registrations and subscriptions.
Among the techniques applied in Instagram stories to build this proprietary audience is through swipe-up links, Instagram ads and direct messaging. The former, however, requires 10,000 followers. Check out from Tyler McCall
how you can also generate leads without having to reach 10,000 followers. For a broad understanding of how to use Instagram (with all of its features) to nurture leads (without advertising), check out Michael Stelzner's (Links to an external site.) https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-instagram-as-sales-funnel-without-ads-elise-darma/?omhide=true&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=NewsletterIssue&utm_campaign=smenl20-nlweek25-nldaily-nlfri
post.
Best practices for stories
As stories gain in popularity and ad spending allocations, more marketers are devoting their attention to what characterizes an effective story. Those brands leading the pack in engagement and lead generation results (as measured in Instagram Insights) generally tend to excel in their tactics and techniques for arousing interest, building engagement and guiding audiences through their marketing messages.
Best story categories for lead generation
Instagram stories hosted by leading brands generally include the following categories:
1. Tutorials – often featuring make-up palettes, recipes, fitness tips and other personal or household tips.
2. Behind-the-scenes humanizing – day-in-a-life montages of the brand’s community service or background involvement in event planning
3. New launches – often serving as exclusive premieres with opportunities for followers to shore up details with their own feedback
4. User generated content (UGC) for motivation and follower acknowledgement – collectively building a collage of how followers applied something available through or espoused by the brand
5. Bottom funnel offers – quickly expiring deals
Since these stories are often preceded with a trail of top-funnel trust-building content, Tyler McCall (Links to an external site.) points out that much of the distribution of content is distributed as follows: 40% personal (top-mid funnel), 40% product (mid-bottom funnel) and 20% promotional (bottom funnel).
Best marketing habits for lead generation
As highlighted in McCall’s webinar, success with stories starts with intention (what do you want your fans to get from the story) and action (what do you want them to do). Bad habits like focusing on our own interests or creating large carousals of slides can quickly dissuade followers from paying attention or engaging. Some good habits to apply include the following:
1. Sequencing photos and videos as episodes of a story - make it appear like the story arc discussed in earlier sessions or a series of training sessions
2. Maintaining brand consistency – using common themes, aesthetics (e.g., choice of fonts, colors, overlays, emojis, sound, imagery, etc.), and brand messages so that the community connection increases with every story release
3. Being real and spontaneous – focus more on being real (e.g., like a reality show) and not being perfect (e.g., like a professionally produced performance)
4. Letting followers participate – encourage UGC posts, voting on brand direction polls, or live cast participation
5. Incentivizing influencers– allow influencers to take control of the story with tagging and partnerships
6. Keep simple – avoid cluttered text, too many steps to website, CTA and tagging overkill, etc.
Best attention getting elements/tactics for lead generation
Although 40% of Instagram’s active daily users (1 billion) use stories daily, the remaining 60% may not be aware of a brand’s story. Having your stories at the top of the page certainly helps. But the stories quickly expire leaving your followers little time to learn of any fresh content. Among the avenues to consider in drawing attention to your story are:
1. Common topics – using hashtags that provide opportunities for the content to show up in other feeds
2. New topics – getting on the Explore Page (Links to an external site.) https://blog.hootsuite.com/get-brand-instagrams-explore-page/
3. Local attractions – using location stickers that draws attention to local relevance
4. Other brand channels – using cross-channel CTAs like “check out” our story or “view more” on Instagram
5. Your bio - adding high performing stories to Highlights right below your bio
Best engagement elements/tactics for lead generation
Once attracted to your story, you now have a great opportunity to engage your audience in a fun or intriguing way. A great way to accomplish this is through:
1. Interactive elements – using polls, quizzes, questions and other stickers
2. Live authenticity – live casting chats, panels and events
3. Compelling visuals – using music, looping mini videos, animation (e.g., GIFs, Boomerang, etc.), and eye-catching photography
4. Hosting contests
Best conversion elements/tactics for lead nurturing
Finally, leading brands on Instagram plan their content sequencing and CTAs with audience purpose and point of origin in mind. In order to gracefully guide their followers to their website landing pages, care must be taken to ensure:
1. CTAs are clearly identified and understood CTAs – easy recognition of swipe-up, see bio link, watch more, shop/book now, etc.
2. Story ads are used effectively - lead directly to offers, permit multiple paths and A/B tests, and provide value
3. Direct messaging is permitted at every corner
4. Landing page elements are synchronized with swipe-up story elements
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Reading and video references
Review the video on Instagram Stories for Lead Generation – Tyler McCall (Links to an external site.)and articles on the subject that I pinned on a Pinterest Board (Links to an external site.).
Review the video on:
· Video on Instagram Stories for Lead Generation – Tyler McCall, (Links to an external site.)
(Links to an external site.)Articles on the subject that I pinned on a Pinterest Board, (Links to an external site.) https://www.pinterest.com/jimbarryjr/instagram-stories-for-lead-generation/
· (Links to an external site.)Ebooks on How Stories Stack Up across Platforms
and The State of Social Lead Generation
Then answer the following:
1. Why have short-form brand stories on Facebook (and affiliates Instagram and WhatsApp) and other social networks overtaken feeds on these networks?
2. Why does Instagram seem to be leading the way?
3. What makes short-form stories ideal for:
1. lead generation and lead nurturing
2. attracting new followers
3. engaging with followers
4. Identify a brand(s) and story screenshots of the brand(s) Instagram story that exemplifies best practices in the following five categories. Make sure to rationalize how the brand and its story(s) qualify for this best practice criteria by referring to the above explanations and referenced background materials (McCall video and pinned articles).
1. Story categories for lead generation
2. Marketing habits for lead generation
3. Attention getting elements/tactics for lead generation
4. Engagement elements/tactics for lead generation
5. Conversion elements/tactics for lead nurturing
Grading Rubric for Essay 6 (1)
|
Criteria |
Pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Understands why short-form stories have overtaken feeds |
0.6 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Adequately rationalizes why Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are leading in stories |
0.6 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Effectively explains why short-form stories are ideal for lead generation and nurturing |
0.6 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Effectively explains why short-form stories are ideal for attracting new followers |
0.6 pts |
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Effectively explains why short-form stories are ideal for engaging followers |
0.6 pts |
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Effectively demonstrates best practice story categories for lead generation |
0.6 pts |
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Effectively demonstrates best practice story marketing habits for lead generation |
0.6 pts |
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Effectively demonstrates best practice attention getting elements/tactics for lead generation |
0.6 pts |
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Effectively demonstrates best practice engagement elements/tactics for lead generation |
0.6 pts |
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Effectively demonstrates best practice conversion elements/tactics for lead generation |
0.6 pts |
