The initial introduction of the Instagram story admittedly seemed a bit overkill – vastly due to the striking similarities to the preexisting Snapchat story. Like most things, it has evolved and found its place over time, and even proved to be a brilliant marketing tool that promotes organic Instagram growth when used strategically.

Don’t let the “tweeny” social stigmas about Snapchat and Instagram Stories deter you from utilizing the feature regularly; it’s not all about puppy face filters and helium voices anymore.

As updates continue to roll out on the app, it seem like each one contains a handful of improvements to the Instagram story. To keep you current on the latest features and how you can use them to your advantage, we’ve compiled six things your small business should be doing with your Instagram story in 2018.

1) Highlight Your Stories

Instagram stories are no longer destined to their brief 24-hour existence. With the option to highlight stories from your archive, you’re able to leave an old story under the separate “Story Highlights” tab in your profile for as long as you like.

Why is this significant, you ask? Well, we’ve all posted some fantastic photos and videos that we’ve either forgot to save or merely wished they were available longer. This is a great option for product posts that you’d like to keep live on your page.

2) Location Filters

Depending on your business, you might be on the road regularly for various reasons. What better time to get feedback from non-local consumers or potential business partners? By placing a location filter on your story, your post will be added among all others with the same geo tag for everyone in the location to see.

Encourage conversation on these posts to see organic Instagram growth and productive feedback for your business.

3) Sharing Other Stories

Sharing regular posts via direct massages with your friends and coworkers is a common way to discuss something great without publicly tagging one another. This same concept is now available with Instagram stories, which were predominantly viewed only by direct followers in the past.

4) ‘Swipe Up to…’

Perhaps the greatest addition to the Instagram story – for businesses specifically – is the ability to “swipe up to view.” We’ve been able to incorporate links within the story for some time now, but this simple action of swiping up to be directly sent to your company’s online store or any page of your choosing, has just made Instagram significantly more consumer friendly.

5) Instagram Live

When used in moderation, the Instagram Live feature is a brilliant marketing tool and a great way to showcase an event or engaging process your company might partake in. Viewers can tune in and out as they please, while leaving comments along the way. Being live, you can acknowledge viewers in real time and give them exactly what they want to see!

6) Sharing Polls

While most of your friends are asking you to vote on which breakfast cereal they should eat, your small business should be using this same feature in a much more productive way. Depending on your product or service, you can ask for your consumers’ feedback on different color ways or patterns for a product, or which day you should throw an event.

Keep in mind that these polls are only live for 24 hours, so make them engaging and be sure to keep track of the results if it’s a truly pressing matter. Polls are a fun and simple way to keep your followers coming back to view the results, and they’re sure to partake in the next as their contribution will make them more loyal to your brand.

Keep these tips in mind as you move forward in 2018, and keep up with Kickstagram for more on organic Instagram growth.

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