Last year, Facebook introduced a new feature called Facebook Stories, which gives users a new way to show their friends and family what they are doing. At first, it was only available on the phone, but now it is available on the desktop version.
Facebook Stories are very similar to Instagram and Snapchat Stories, allowing users to upload quick updates that will disappear after 24 hours. Although this beginning is very similar to Snapchat Stories, they work hard to differentiate the two. Given the success of Instagram Stories, it’s not surprising that Facebook Stories will soon follow suit. They can be managed from Facebook Manager too.
Facebook Stories are short user-generated collections of photos and videos that can be viewed up to twice and disappear after 24 hours.
The story format, developed and made famous by Snapchat, has been on Facebook’s radar for some time when the Menlo Park-based company first tested a clone of Snapchat Stories within the messenger in September 2016.
Now Facebook users can have stories within the main Facebook application.
For social marketers looking to get involved, the goal is to adapt to the latest changes and incorporate the latest features into their marketing strategy.
So if you plan to use Facebook Stories for marketing purposes, this detailed guide explains what the feature is, why you should use it, and how to use Facebook Stories for business. The feature uses the camera in the Facebook app. It allows users to overlay filters and lenses on their stories. As well as add visual geolocation tags to their photos and videos.
What are Facebook Stories?
Facebook Stories is a feature that allows you to share content (be it photos, videos, or even animations) that disappears after 24 hours.
Your friends’ Facebook Stories and Followed Pages will appear at the top of your news feed. It applies to both the web version and the Facebook application.
It is very similar to the Snapchat Stories that were relevant in 2013. Facebook posted a promotional video to demonstrate the benefits of Stories: “Let your pictures talk!”
Unlike most social media posts, Facebook Stories have no comments or likes. When viewers respond to stories, the interaction takes place through Facebook Messenger.
These contributions are text, pictures, stickers, and filters. Instead of swiping laterally to switch between filters like an Instagram story, users swipe up and down. But, similar to Instagram, you can share it with all of your friends, choose the friends who can see it, or even share it with one person only.
Facebook Stories is essentially another news source, but it relies on visual updates rather than text updates. It is where photos and videos come in. On the desktop, you can find the stories in the upper right corner of your Facebook feed.
In the Facebook mobile app, they are visible at the top of the news feed. To see the story highlights, click on your friend’s circle, and it will play. You can also reply to stories with direct messages. You can also link your Facebook and Instagram accounts so that you can post stories to your two profiles at the same time. That way, you don’t have to manually cross-post the stories.
Boost your Business with Facebook Stories
When Facebook first announced in 2016 that it was developing a native Stories tool, everyone was shocked because it had only released Instagram Stories a few months before! Fast-forward to 2019, and Facebook Stories has attracted more than 500 million daily active users, and we expect that number to continue to grow.
Facebook Stories now has more than 150 million daily active users, and as users migrate from the news feed to Facebook Stories, that number will continue to grow.
Also, because Facebook Stories disappear after 24 hours, they have an urgency that most forms of social sharing don’t. Facebook Stories is also perfect for sharing authentic content in real-time. That level of connection and authenticity can be powerful. 94% of consumers say they are likely to be loyal to a brand that offers complete transparency.
Plus, it’s free at a time when many marketing tools aren’t. Additionally, there will soon be the option to place paid advertising in Facebook Stories, contributing to Facebook’s dominance in social media advertising.
Conclusion: Facebook Stories is the future. It allows you to communicate more intimately with your audience throughout the day.
As organic reach declines due to Facebook’s lower priority of displaying marketing content in people’s newsfeeds, we believe that the time has come for brands to create and share content on news feeds. Facebook stories. Why?
Because Facebook Stories could be the best opportunity for brands to increase engagement, build brand awareness and strengthen their relationship with their audiences.
And a lot of that has to do with where the Facebook Stories are. Unlike Facebook posts that appear in people’s feeds, Facebook Stories appear at the top of the Facebook app. It is a prime property for companies trying to get their audience’s attention.
And while Facebook Stories user adoption rates are increasing, the number is still low enough to stand out from the competition and increase your organic reach.
Getting started with Facebook Stories
As Facebook is accessible from smartphones and desktops alike, we can create Facebook Stories from either of the devices. But the Facebook app on smartphones offers the complete array of features to design the best Facebook Stories possible!
- On your Facebook app, click on the plus sign that says “Add to Story” at the bottom.
- Choose the type of Facebook Stories you want to publish to your followers and friends. You may choose between a poll, selfie, and QnA event or a boomerang to engage with your followers!
- Keep in mind that Facebook Stories can be up to 20 seconds in duration. Curate your content that will get its point across in that time for maximum engagement!
- Consider getting creative with your stories! Facebook Stories gives users a ton of attractive visual elements to put on their stories to make their Facebook stories look more visually appealing and “aesthetic,” as the cool kids say it.
- You can also add text to provide context for your visual elements or provide subtitles in other languages for your international followers! Whatever does it take to appeal to everyone that likes you, right?
- You may even draw your freehand drawings on your stories with your finger or a stylus if you have one! And to give it a well-rounded movement element, you can animate your stories with the effects provided by the platform, so your Facebook Stories look appealing in front of your followers and friends!
Facebook Stories for Business
- If you have a Business account on Facebook, you may add custom call-to-action (CTA) buttons and links so you can drive your Facebook stories views to your website or your products page! Moreover, you can add link to your Facebook story to boost engagement.
- You may also add polls and QnA sessions on your Facebook Stories for gaining your audience’s opinion and getting feedback from them on your content and products. It serves as a valuable insight to make changes to your social media strategy on the platform.
- You might be wondering “how long do facebook stories last” because of how much time you spend curating them. Facebook stories last 24 hours after they go live and your followers and friends will not see them after that.
- Check your Facebook stories views by swiping up on your story to see who has seen and interacted with your stories in the past 24 hours.
Let’s talk Numbers regarding Facebook Stories!
Facebook Insights has a feature named “Insights-to-go” that provides with insights on miscallenous aspects related to the platform. Here are some interesting ones to catch your eye!
These statistics will give you insights on how to structure your Facebook stories to observe how your audience will react to your content. Implement these tactics in your content curation to receive maximum engagement.
1 Billion stories! That is a lot of stories in one day and small business should bank on it! Promote your products on Facebook stories as they have the most chance of being passed on to the friends of your existing audience to invite more potential consumers.
Word of mouth works wonders! Have faith in your audience and continue providing them quality products so they have more reason to talk about you with their friends and family!
Another reason for you to focus on your brand’s Facebook Stories is that several times new audience will check your stories out to see what is new wihth the brand and if they like what they see they will continue to check out your website or products page. It is why you should take proper care while curating your Facebook stories: you never know who might come across them!
That’s 33% chances of receiving a direct message by simply uploading Facebook Stories regularly! That’s brilliant, isn’t it?
Also Read:
Create Beautiful Ad Copies with Facebook Ad Library
Facebook Chatbot- Easy Way to Automated Conversations
How To Create An Unbeatable Customer Engagement Strategy In 08 Easy Steps
Tips for Creating the Best Facebook Stories for your audience!
- Create engaging and relevant content as they receive the most engagement! Infuse these trends with your niche and products to give them your own twist and watch them go viral among your followers! For more ways to engage with your customers online.
- Promote events and time-limited offers on your Facebook Stories so your customers are aware of them happening and you receive increased engagement for your brand in those times.
- Provide ways your followers can interact with your Facebook Stories to make them more engaging and be sure to put custom CTA buttons, so your followers are driven to take action upon viewing your Facebook Stories.
- Share user-generated content (UGC) on your profile to develop a relationship with your followers who post content using your products in their daily lifestyle! It establishes a bond between the consumer and the brand which is good for the brand’s reputation among its current and potential consumers.
- Analyze your audience and post relevant content on your Facebook stories. Our favorite social media tool Socinator comes in handy for providing us with necessary insights that will determine the content that is appealing to your audience. Socinator provides you with in-depth reports and analysis into your audience so you hit the sweet spot every time they engage with your content!
- Did you know that you can automate almost every aspect of your social media strategy on Facebook so you can curate relevant and trending content for your audience to engage? Thanks to Socinator, the #1 social media automation tool in the market right now, you will be able to focus on your content while batting an eye towards your audience only when you need to!
Socinator can automate nearly every aspect of social media marketing to help you reach the top by doing only what is necessary! Let Socinator handle everything else for you!
These are the features that Socinator provides to make your life as a digital media marketer easy!
- Auto Publishing of Posts
- Automatically replying to comments that you’ve received with a template.
- Automatically following accounts back who have followed you.
- Auto Liking
- Automated verification of fresh accounts.
- Scheduled and automated publishing of posts, so you can post even when you cannot.
- Handle multiple accounts single-handedly with a culminated dashboard.
- Extract statistics on relevant hashtags
- Get full report and statistics on your accounts and their performance
- Extract users engaging with you using search methods based on keywords, hashtags, etc.
- Chat with your Facebook audience in real-time with our live chat feature!
- Dedicated proxy support for individual accounts for increased privacy and security.
Starting at only $9.95/month, it is one of the best-priced applications for all your social media needs!
With the help of SociNator and all the tools that Facebook has, numerous brands have successfully boosted their engagement with their audience. It led to revenue generation in the industry. Check out SociNator now and let it help you skyrocket your reach like never before!
