Stories are as important as ever for earning engagement on Instagram. Here are ten of the best brand Instagram Stories we’ve seen recently to inspire your own.
If you want to grow your brand on Instagram, now’s the time to step up your Stories.
In fact, Instagram Stories should be a top priority given what we know about the latest Instagram algorithm.
That’s because earning more reach goes hand in hand with driving more engagement. Consider how Instagram Stories helps brands do both by…
Not sure what a “good” Story looks like these days? We’ve got you covered.
Below are ten of the best Instagram Story marketing examples from brands we’ve seen recently. Coupled with our tips and takeaways, you’ll be on your way to creating stellar Stories yourself!
Let's start with this impromptu Q&A session from Good Dye Young. This Story shows how authenticity can create meaningful connections with your audiences.
Presented as a conversation between an employee and customers, this Story is also a playful example of how to pick your followers’ brains.
Source: @gooddyeyoung
Fielding questions via Stories is a great way to understand your follower's biggest challenges. You can uncover valuable content ideas for the future by doing this, too.
Think about it. If you realize people keep asking the same questions, maybe you should address it in a Reel or In-Feed Post. The Question Sticker makes it a cinch to gather information in a way that’s fun and informal.
If you’re strapped for Instagram Story ideas, remember that going back and forth with your audience is always an option!
Byte does a brilliant job documenting every step of their customer journey using Instagram Stories. The brand consistently shouts out customers that tag them. This includes people who just got their aligners, anyone in the middle of the process and those at the end of their journey.
This shows how to use Stories to speak to potential and existing customers at the same time. Whether you’re a fan of Byte, you’re on the fence or you’re just hearing about them for the first time, these posts are relevant.
Source: @byteofficial
Also, “before and after” content is super compelling and makes for the best brand Instagram Stories. That’s because posts like this prove the positive impact of your product. Letting your customers showcase how you’ve helped them is powerful social proof.
Beauty Instagram Stories are often eye-popping and this one from Lime Crime is no exception.
Source: @limecrimemakeup
Oh, and bonus points for featuring a creator! This is yet another example of how to create educational Stories that incorporate Instagram videos such as Reels.
There’s no shortage of brands using Reels right now. Given the popularity of the format, double-dipping your brand Reels via Stories makes perfect sense.
Beyond how-to videos, Lime Crime also uses their branded Instagram Stories to highlight deals and sales. From promotions to UGC, Stories offer so many options for engaging content. Brands should experiment to understand firsthand what followers respond to the most.
This brand Story example from Gainful highlights how to use the format to build awareness and generate leads.
Using their a dedicated IG Stories Highlight feed, the brand promotes an “About” section to:
Source: @gainful
Again, beauty brands tend to crush it when it comes to Instagram.
Eva NYC fills their Stories feed with influencer posts and off-the-cuff creator content. The brand encourages customers to share their styles and snapshots on the regular. Below is a series of Stories promoting creators alongside a product rollout in partnership with singer Tinashe.
Source: @evahairnyc
For competitive industries like beauty, word-of-mouth is invaluable for a product launch. Stories from individual influencer accounts are a seamless way to build buzz and get people talking.
We keep talking up the value of unpolished content for your Stories, right?
But check out Nalgene actually puts a spin on this trend by posting customer photos that look like they're from a nature photoshoot.
Source: @nalgene
Pretty cool, right?
The brand is all about adventure and encourages customers to show off their products “in the wild.” When we say that creators know how to show off your products in the best way possible, photos like this are what we’re talking about.
Depending on your industry, memes make for marvelous Stories.
Cracking jokes can really highlight your brand’s personality and human side. Check out how IL Makiage shares and reposts memes from their followers as part of their weekly “Meme Wednesday” series.
Source: @ilmakiage
Brand Instagram Stories should connect with audiences, Right? Well, making people laugh is one of the best ways to make those connections happen.
If nothing else, memes are a lower-effort, high-impact type of content that won’t dominate your schedule to create. Given that the top brands on Instagram publish a story every other day, having some “easy” posts in your back pocket is fair game.
And as long as your audience is engaged, you’re golden!
Jones Soda uses their Stories feed as a place to showcase customer reactions to their bottlecap messages. These posts are lighthearted and off-the-cuff but also serve to pique people’s curiosity.
Will the next Story be a joke? An inspirational post? What flavor are they going to show off? The more you keep your followers engaging and guessing what’s next, the better.
Source: @jonessodaco
The common thread between our Instagram Story marketing examples? People! Whether that means featuring the people that support your business or injecting personality into your posts is on you. Ideally, you can do both just like Jones does.
Source: @jonessodaco
Another major brand with a Stories feed that’s brimming with customer photos!
Liquid Death likes to showcase their customers enjoying their water in every setting you can imagine. From the workplace to music festivals and racetracks, each Story is a surprise.
Source: @liquiddeath
This example drives home how branded Instagram Stories don’t need to be big productions. Liquid Death has over a million followers on Instagram but their Stories are just as “real” as a brand a fraction of their size.
Some products lend themselves to creator content more than others.
But consider how contact lenses are a product that kind of requires real people to show off.
As a result, Moody doesn’t shy away from hyping up their customer and reposting UGC every chance they can get. The brand promotes multiple Story Highlight feeds dedicated to content sourced from their audience. This includes product photos, reviews and contest entries from customers.
Source: @moodylenses_official
Arguably the best brand Instagram Stories are the ones that empower people to buy your products. Moody Lenses does so by making reposting everyday creators and making customers central to their content strategy.
Source: @moodylenses_official
Despite all the recent changes to Instagram, Stories are still a staple of the platform.
This is especially true for brands. If you want to get more eyes on your products and promotions, Stories are the perfect place to make it happen.
It's no coincidence that almost all of the best Instagram Story marketing examples on our list feature influencers. That’s because potential customers and followers alike want to see authentic and unfiltered content.
And if your brand needs creator content at scale, Statusphere can help.
Our micro-influencer marketing platform matches brands with creators using 250+ first-party data points. Through our vetted creator community and streamlined fulfillment technology, Statusphere helps brands earn guaranteed content at scale. We also track all of your influencer performance metrics in one place.
We built our software specifically to support brands with an always-on influencer strategy. We’ve already generated 75,000+ pieces of content for 400+ brands.
Want to learn more about how our platform works? Get in touch with one of our experts to see how we can scale your influencer marketing efforts in a fraction of the time.
This article was first published in September 2018. It was last updated May 3, 2022.
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