Instagram stories are a great medium to sell your product or service, however, you need to use them intelligently. Stories are exceptionally powerful for building trust with your audience, probing interest, and testing sales messaging; though, there's a lot to consider before you start using them to drive sales.

In this blog, we'll talk about the ways in which you can build an Instagram story strategy to support your sales efforts when you DO try selling via stories, like showing what goes on behind the scenes in your business, subtly introducing sales messages, as well as leveraging the app's engagement features to increase view count so that when you do start driving sales, your audience is warmed and ready to receive that message.

Showcase behind the scenes product content to build trust with your audience

Your Instagram stories are the perfect place to take your audience behind the scenes. While your Instagram feed should feature videos that stand on their own, delivering value with each, your stories can be a way to focus on building trust. Show them what happens behind your polished feed: for example, a phone store manager could take a video of a new delivery of iPhones and Samsungs, then ask employees which side brand they prefer and why. This gives followers insight into who the store's employees are, allowing them to connect and build trust; furthermore, it teaches the audience about the product differences between Apple and Samsung, gleaning candid info through the employees' opinions, nudging viewers toward making an unconscious decision on which brand they prefer.

Use the latest stickers to encourage follower engagement

Including stickers in your stories makes your followers think: do I continue to swipe or do I engage with the sticker? If your sticker is new, your audience are likelier to engage with a new feature, e.g., the new reveal sticker hides a message on your story from viewers, which you can only view if you tap the sticker, which then takes them to your direct messages. For example, you could upload a picture of you holding a box with the reveal sticker, encouraging viewers to engage in order to find out what's inside.

Utilize the link sticker to experiment with sales messaging

You cannot include links in your organic Instagram posts; however, you can in your Instagram stories. While you shouldn't overdo inclusion of link stickers in your stories, it can be a powerful way to direct viewers to your landing page. Furthermore, it's an excellent way to test sales messaging or hooks for future product videos because you can change the text of the link sticker every time. For example, upload a short informational video to Instagram stories, outlining the benefits of your digital service with a link sticker that reads 'plus 3 more benefits that GUARANTEE customers will ask about your service'. If that link sticker performed poorly, adjust it and try again (though, give your audience some time before you share another link sticker).

Make unpolished and candid stories to show your brand's personality

This tip is crucial. Businesses can become so focused on producing polished video that they're blind to the fact that the most successful companies on social media leverage their personalities to make sales through Instagram stories. People can no longer connect with brands that want to be perceived as pristine - they need to be raw. Pull out your phone and record yourself as you walk to work: talk about what you're going to do today - at work and at home. People connect with people they empathize with, and it's hard to empathize with a closed off 'brand'.

Use stories to test the waters for longer form content with sales intent

The great thing about stories is that you can - and should - upload unpolished content on the fly. Don't overthink what you upload, but do think about whether or not it resonated. While a story about ice-cream that someone delivered to the office might garner average engagement, another about greeting the ice-cream man at the door and walking to his van might earn much more attention. The question you have to ask is why did that perform better, and how can that inform my content marketing strategy. Make note of your findings and reflect on it when you're working on producing video content. Here's an excellent guide on keeping your content machine churning like ice-cream.

Use AI to create a variety of story formats to see which resonates

Useful tools like Creatify can help you create Instagram story videos at scale, in a variety of formats. You can test the effectiveness of video that focuses solely on your product, or video with an AI avatar presenting its core benefits. More than that, you can test the design of your stories, analyze which form performs best, and double down on those stories. From there, you can test the messaging of your link stickers, or see if the content is worth expanding into longer content on your feed. Here's a guide on how Creatify's Batch Mode can help you scale your video production and figure out which story formats do best.

Alternatively, consider using a dynamic QR code to direct viewers to your landing page for a more interactive experience."

After this line: "If that link sticker performed poorly, adjust it and try again (though, give your audience some time before you share another link sticker).

Conclusion

Instagram stories is a powerful medium for getting your audience's attention. It's an opportunity to show the personalities behind the business, build trust, and increase engagement - tactics that will surely increase your sales when authentically deployed. Don't overthink producing video for stories, the point of it is to upload raw content on the fly - real content. Once you've won your audiences attention - and hearts - you can start mixing in direct sales messaging to convert your warmed audience into paying customers.