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  Explore Instagram Stories' interactive features. Instagram has always given brands the platform to share beautiful, curated photos to represent their companies. However, with the introduction of ephemeral Instagram Stories, brands can also share on-the-fly, behind-the-scenes looks for 24 hours that may not be as polished as a published photo, but give your brand more personality on the platform. Just look at how Snapchat exploded a few years ago. Once platforms like Instagram and Facebook introduced similar features, it made those apps more valuable and interesting in the eyes of users. Although Snapchat pioneered this feature, Instagram Stories now has over 500 million daily users. Along with sharing video clips and static images through Instagram Stories, users can also use polls, event reminders, and the "Ask a Question," tool to gain more engagement and learn more about their audiences. Once a user is verified or has over 10,000 followers, they can even include a link to a webpage within a story.

  How Brands Can Use Instagram Stories Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours unless they are marked as a "Story Highlight." Highlighted stories will show up at the top of your profile between the photo feed and your bio. dope scrubs using instagram stories to help gain more instagram followers in story highlights Image Source Here are a few other brands we recommend following to see what they're sharing: Dana Shultz (Minimalistbaker) publishes easy vegan and gluten-free recipes on her blog. Her Stories feature neat how-to videos of her making breakfast and testing out new recipes in her kitchen. The behind-the-scenes aspect of her Stories provides a lot of human context for her blog's brand, and everybody loves a good how-to video.

  One of their latest Instagram Stories featured someone watching "The Sopranos" in bed, with the caption: "Who needs plans when you have five more seasons?" This video supports Casper's campaign to stay in bed with a very real look at what millions of people do when they're hanging out at home. Here are our tips for using Instagram Stories for your brand: Whether it's funny, sad, or unique, be authentic. Your photo gallery is where content can be perfect and polished. Instagram Stories are for the raw, unscripted, and unretouched. Use Stories to share the other side of your brand that followers might not be able to see elsewhere. Do you have a dog-friendly office? Is your team trying out the latest challenge? Start filming to showcase the more human side of your brand. Go behind the scenes. These are by far our favorite types of content for ephemeral video sharing. Show followers what goes into the planning of an event or the launching of a product, and make it fun. Your followers want to feel included and in the know. You could also use Stories to cultivate a brand loyalty program that only rewards people who check out your content. 16. Use the Instagram Live feature. Instagram also lets users record and share Live videos, another content format that's proven to be hugely popular on other social networks. What's unique about Live videos on Instagram? They disappear when users stop filming.

  This authentic, bi-directional experience lets brands share unscripted, raw moments with their audience to incorporate human elements into a social media platform that's highly edited and polished in its traditional use. Since the Live feature launched, Instagram has added even more features that may enable further engagement or interactions from viewers, such as: Request feature to go live with the live account Pinned comment Q&A box Up to four accounts on Live at a time Filters Live video is a growing trend across a variety of social media platforms, so if something interesting is happening, start rolling. Whether it's an event, a team birthday party, or behind-the-scenes footage, your devoted followers want to see what you're up to. And if you want to make it even more interesting, you could collaborate with an influencer or another brand to host a Live. With people that your audience is interested in, you can promote this Live event, and then host it on your profile. Promoting this type of event will help you tap into someone else's audience while interacting and engaging with your followers by answering their questions and talking to them during the Live.

 Share your profile link on your website and social media channels. Have a website? Newsletter? YouTube channel? Make sure you include a link to your Instagram on every single platform. The first place you'll want to make sure to add an Instagram badge is your website, specifically your footer and "About Us" page. Here's what the badge could look like: example of instagram user linking to other business accounts to help gain 1000 instagram followers If your brand has brick-and-mortar locations, put out a good ol' print call-to-action letting people know you have an Instagram account and encouraging them to follow you. You can also place them on your business cards. You might even offer a discount code for doing so. Also, be sure to promote your Instagram account on your other digital platforms. Chances are, the folks who already follow you on Facebook and Twitter will also follow you on Instagram without much prodding. Let those followers know you're on Instagram and encourage them to follow you there.

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 Post user-generated content. Similar to cross-promotion, brands can publish user-generated content to show appreciation for existing customers and generate social proof at the same time. If I see a regular person endorsing a product on Instagram, I'm more likely to believe they really like the product. The same is true for most consumers. That's why sites like Yelp are so popular. Ultimately, user-generated content can be an excellent strategy when trying to increase brand awareness and trust in your products or services. For instance, Bevel reposted a video from blogger Rickey Scott using and recommending their products to their 600+ followers. Posting Scott using Bevel is a smart move. Firstly, the product is designed with black men in mind. Having Scott, who is part of the brand's target demographic, recommend the product serves as the social proof the brand wants. Furthermore, part of Scott's audience will likely fall within Bevel's target audience. Simply put, the two brands have similar audiences and brands that align well, which is why it's a good opportunity for Bevel to promote Scott's content. 19. Diversify your audience to resonate with different types of users. As your followers grow, it can be tricky to identify what content types will resonate with them. With this in mind, divide your audience into sub-groups and target your content to various demographics.

  For instance, if you have 200K followers, those followers probably come from different regions of the world, have different interests and hobbies, and likely have different careers. Rather than post all-encompassing content that will satisfy all your followers at once, conduct some analytics research to separate them into smaller sub-groups. Take Starbucks as a good example of this. Starbucks has close to 18 million followers. There's no way the global coffee brand can post content to satisfy 18 million people at once — and it doesn't try to. Instead, Starbucks regularly posts more exclusive content geared towards particular groups, such as this post they published celebrating #TeacherAppreciationWeek: how to gain more instagram followers tip to diversify your audience like Starbucks appealing to teachers, students, and other groups of people This post won't appeal to the majority of Starbucks followers who aren't teachers, but that's OK. You don't always need to post content to please everyone. Instead, demonstrate your company's ability to connect and engage with sub-groups and post what aligns with your own brand's values. Education is something that matters to Starbucks, so by posting about teachers, they're doing more to demonstrate their values than they are appealing to everyone. Which is kind of the point, isn't it?

 Apply for a verification badge. When an account on Instagram is verified, it has a blue dot, called a badge, next to the username. When another user comes across this profile or finds the verified username in search, the blue dot confirms to them that the account is the business, individual, or brand that it's claiming to be. how to gain followers on instagram tip apply for blue check verification badge for authenticity Image Source While Instagram has a list of eligibility requirements for the badge, the platform does allow users to apply for one. You can learn more about that process on Instagram's Help Center. 21. Create your own filters and badges. When it's time to promote a new product or feature, creating your own filters, stickers, or badges can help you reach a new audience. You can learn how to create your own filter or sticker to jazz up your Instagram Stories. The best way to do this is to use these on highly shareable posts that followers will want to add to their own Stories. This way, you'll reach their audiences and your users will promote your page for you. 22. Tag relevant users. Another way to gain more followers on Instagram is to tag relevant users in your posts. Your posts will then show up in that person's tagged posts, and anyone who looks through there will find your page (and hopefully, follow).