Telling your brand’s story on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn just got easier thanks to social media stories. Are you currently utilizing stories in your social media strategy? Where do you tell your brand’s “stories”? The data shared here may blow your mind.

If you are new to stories check out my blog post, The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Instagram Stories before you continue. Great, now that we are all caught up…

Stories on Snapchat and Instagram are commonly used, but what about Facebook and LinkedIn? Facebook and now LinkedIn stories (still in beta) are still foreign territory for some as they were the last to adopt the feature, but if you aren’t utilizing them you may be missing out and here’s why.

70% of consumers surveyed by Hubspot said they prefer to watch stories on Facebook. Only 17% said Instagram and another 13% responded with Snapchat
Facebook Stories surpassed 500 million daily active users in 2018, just a few months after Instagram reached the same milestone
Facebook is still the most used social media channel with 1.59 BILLION daily users vs. Instagram’s 500 million

While this blog post may be leaning towards the wonders of Facebook stories, the glory of social media is that you don’t have to choose just one platform! Since Facebook owns Instagram, the story features can be connected among the two, utilizing the same content. Use both and truly benefit.

Stories were launched on Instagram back in August of 2016, but there are still TONS of lingering questions out there so without further ado, here is the 4-1-1 on all things stories.

First things first…What are Instagram Stories?

Instagram stories are “magical” posts of short videos (up to 15 seconds) or photos that after 24 hours, POOF! disappear. These stories are visible to the user’s followers and can even be sent to specific followers.

Where can I find Instagram Stories & how can I view them?

These stories don’t live within the traditional, tiled-grid profile. Stories are published separately. Your story and the stories of those you follow can be found above your “Home” (house icon) feed within their profile photo. Having a colorful circle around the profile photo means there is a story you haven’t viewed. A white circle means there isn’t a story or you have already viewed it.

P.S.A. Instagram stories are NOW available for viewing through the desktop website.

What else I should know about Stories?

As mentioned above, story videos can be up to 15 seconds BUT they can continue with another follow up video allowing you to complete your message.
Your past stories can be reviewed after the 24-hour time period by only you
Story highlights are great ways to keep your story content alive past the 24-hour mark.

Why are Stories Successful?

Although Instagram Stories are only available for 24 hours, they are driving TONS of engagement! A total of 250 million users are utilizing stories, surpassing Snapchat. Stories have also increased the number of minutes spent on the app by nearly 10 minutes every day.

Need assistance to make your Instagram stories shine? Let’s get started!

For more information on Instagram, read my Instagram blog series, including The Real Deal about Instagram Reels.