First of all – what ARE Stories on Facebook? If you are familiar with Instagram or SnapChat you know all about Stories, but if not, here is a quick description: Right now on Facebook, you may see them at the very TOP of your News Feed displaying horizontally about 4 in a row. And then occasionally as you scroll through your News Feed, you may see more Stories. What is the purpose? Stories are just another way to give your audience content but the difference from the traditional News Feed is that it relies more on visual content than written content, and Stories go away after 24 hours. Think videos and pictures. There are filters you can add, stickers, fun text, etc. Take a look next time you are on Facebook and scroll through a few.
Personally, until a few weeks ago, I ignored these entirely! Low and behold Facebook Stories launched in 2017, and so I ignored them for almost two years. It was just one more way for me to waste time as far as I figured (exactly what Facebook wants!), and they feel very “Instagrammy” to me – visual instead of content. I tend to think of Facebook as my content friend, and Instagram as my photo/visual friend. So, I just skipped them. But apparently, Facebook is banking on these Stories to be the next big thing, and Businesses should pay attention.
CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg was quoted saying that Stories is going to be a big part of Facebook’s future. Facebook has predicted that Stories will be one of the top forms of sharing in 2019. And, with 500 million daily active users – and I’ve read 150 million active Story users… I think we better get on the Story Wagon.
Since this revelation, I have been paying more attention to them. They seem to be mostly businesses posting, and many of them are littered with fun bold text, stickies, smiley faces and the like. A few have an option to “Scroll up for more” which leads to a link. Most are videos.
Now that we understand what they are, why does your business need to participate?
- TOP REAL ESTATE! These are right at the very top of everybody’s News Feed. You don’t get any better than that. That is reason enough right there!
- Easy to cross-post from Instagram. For once, Instagram and Facebook are synced up here and you can easily cross-post to Facebook when you post a Story to Instagram. Hooray for efficiencies!
- Fun options. The fun filters, stickers, and creative ways to add text are really fun, and introduce a whole new element that is easily accessible on your mobile device. You know, add a pair of kitty ears to that baby and BAM! Instant laughter. All joking aside, there are really eye-catching features that are different from your normal News Feed.
Of course, there is data and analytics available in Facebook for these, and advertising is being tested more and more. Perhaps this IS the new way to get in front of the audience your business isn’t getting to from the traditional News Feed. Watch and see!
Any feedback on how Facebook Stories have worked for your business?
About Digital-Melissa: I am a veteran of all things internet, located in Rhinelander, WI. 20 years in eCommerce with everything from design to copy, social media, marketing, project management, website help & management plus more. Contact me today if you’d like to talk about how I could help your business.