Confession: I LOVE Instagram Stories! And lately starting to really love the reals, but about that – next time.
3 reasons why I am so passionate about Instagram stories
- I get to drop cute videos of my favourite people, my staffy and travels whenever I want.
- Insta Stories by themselves have made me a lot of dollars in sales by now.
- It is an incredible way how to strengthen relationship with my audience.
Whenever online businesses tell me they don’t really use or haven’t had much success with IG Stories, I feel a bit sad that they’re missing out (I feel very similar when they say the same thing about Pinterest – Ahh I love it so much!).
That’s why in today’s episode I thought we’d talk about creating Instagram Stories that SELL. Sounds good? Awesome!
By the way, the advice I’m about to share applies not just to Instagram Stories, but to ANY Story-type content. You can use these principles on Facebook too.
Your content builds emotional connection, it builds trust and authority. You have an obligation to share your story.
And trust me, we all are not sharing it enough!
Before we dig into that, let me share some exciting news with you! We have a sponsor for this episode!
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I am introducing my Brand Creators Academy!
Yes, I am launching it! It is invite only for now – if you are a special person in my life, current or past client, if you ever have purchased something from me, you will get an invite. If you haven’t had experience in a deeper level with my brand, don’t worry, we are launching for public soon.
Let’s talk real quick about what is Brand Creators Academy. In short it is a magical place for entrepreneurs like you, who want to stand out, build a brand they are proud of and do all that while having fun. I believe that business should be simple, fun and exciting. That is our core value. Because I have been in different places, I have burnt out in the past – it’s not fun, I don’t want that for you. I am creating Brand Creators Academy, as I wish something like that was around when I started business. We look into all steps to create rock solid business where you position yourself as an authority, build a highly-engaged audience, get more online clients, and become go to person in your industry without overwhelm.
Brand Creators Academy is your blueprint to achieve all of this, and more. You’ll learn absolutely EVERYTHING you need to know with our unique method: Business foundations, Internal branding, niching, Brand styling, offer crafting and sales, marketing, productivity, systems, social media and client experience within your brand. Short, no fluff, lessons to get you going, with prompts and templates to make it all as simple as possible. We have top notch experts, industry leaders that share their knowledge and best practises within the Academy. When you join, you’ll be immersed into a supportive community of other students who are here to grow, learn, love, and contribute. We do know that information is not enough, everyone needs to have the right mindset in place, accountability and little push to take action. Academy are here for that. We know how perfectionism sneaks in, how procrastination steals all the joy and we are here to change that.
Want to receive your invitation – send me DM and let’s talk if Brand Creators Academy is for you.
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Now back to the Instagram stories.
What it takes to create great Instagram Stories
1. Look into the pain
Remember: all great content isn’t about what YOU want to post – it’s about what your CLIENT needs to hear.
To come up with killer topics for your Instagram Stories, ask yourself: what keeps your ideal clients up at night? What kind of hot, burning pain points do they struggle with every day? Write down every answer you can think of. This is your “master list” of topics that you’ll be covering in your IG Stories.
If you can’t come up with a ton of pain points right away, don’t worry! It’s totally OK to repeat yourself (more on that later). And also: you’ll be coming back to this list often. Whenever a client shares their problem with you or asks a question, or whenever you think of something on your own, I want you to whip up your Story topics and update them with those new ideas. You can also look up the most asked questions on Facebook groups, YouTube, Instagram comments or Quora – they all are great resources to find out what your audience is really looking for.
Now you’ll ALWAYS know what to post about – perfecto!
2. Create a blend of content types of Instagram Story content
Different content will resonate with different people in your audience differently. We all have our preferred ways of learning and consuming information: some love videos, others like written content, still others go for a mix of text + pictures etc. Also the same person can prefer different types of content form depending from situation on which he or she will consume it.
Therefore when you create your Instagram Stories, make sure to mix up different types of content:
- Lifestyle
- Written content
- Photos and videos
- Music/audio
- Education
- Humor
For example, a Story that’s just a gallery of client testimonials will bore people reeeal fast – no matter how incredible those results are. Add a few captions with your own comments, throw in some emojis to lighten the mood, record a short video for context, and suddenly it’s WAY more interesting! You can also use images & add testimonials on top of them to create a vibe that represents your brand. I really love testimonial posts with little intro added about clients from your perspective. These are great experience stories and case studies what you can represent in a fun and exciting way,
Just talking to camera also can bore most of the people. You probably already know by now that the majority of people listen to videos without sound, so you gotta add those captions. Believe – if people are watching video in public space, they will not turn sound on just to hear you. Also I want you to salute you being awesome and making those videos, that’s brave right there! Just add captions and voila, totally different results!
Speaking of context…
3. They’re called Stories for a reason… so do STORYTELLING
You can’t treat Stories the same way as your regular social media posts. To resonate with your audience, they need CONTEXT THAT CONTINUES. This may sound a little confusing, so I will share an example.
Let’s say that you want to post some mindset tips and an importance of morning routine. If it is a regular post, then you can get away with just an inspiring picture plus a caption with a few bullet points, or a Question about struggles your audience might have.
But a great Story would benefit from a few more steps, for example:
- Good morning greeting photo with you drinking your green smoothie or morning coffee
- A short video of you doing your morning journaling
- A picture of you reading or meditating or whatever else you do for your morning routine
- A quick selfie to remind them about you
- A quote or text posts of your best tips for creating customised morning routine
- A poll asking your followers if they have a morning routine
Now that’s a cool ass story!
4. Add your wonderful personality
Your IG Stories need to reflect who you are and what your brand as an online entrepreneur is all about.
It’s the best way to attract your ideal clients – by making everyone who DOESN’T vibe with you to run away!
That means…
- ONE: find your voice. You can create Stories in the same tone as your regular social media content – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Or your Stories can be the space where you experiment, show some unexpected sides of yourself, and let your freak flag fly a few feet higher than normal. It’s your playground, you can do whatever you want.
- TWO: find your core “content themes.” I’m talking about things that are SO important and SO core to your identity as a coach that you come back to them again and again. And when you find those themes, I want you to make them a conscious part of your Stories. Repeat, repeat, repeat – your followers will love you for it! Seriously.
P.S. Instagram Stories are an insanely powerful sales and marketing tool. I’ve used them more than once to make money or sell out last spots for programmes or done for you services! If you want to learn how you can do the same, stay tuned – we open Brand Creators Academy for public in just a couple weeks.
Of course – don’t forget to follow me on IG as I want to stay connected and see what you are up to.
