With so much endless scrolling on social media, how do you stop and catch your followers’ attention? There’s one easy — and free! — tool at your disposal as a government agency: Stories.
Stories are a quick way to engage users with photos or videos in between scheduled posts on Facebook and Instagram. They last 24 hours and can be found at the top of a user’s feed — easy to notice!
Posting Facebook and Instagram Stories can lead to higher engagement, increased reach, and even more followers. But where do you start? Not to worry – SND has you covered (as always!). Here’s 3 tips on how you can get started and take advantage of a popular social media feature. You can also check out USA.gov for more info.
CATEGORIZE: Create weekly or monthly themes
Social media can be all about habits – so why not install some in your users?
Creating themes keys your followers into what to expect from you and establishes your agency as a subject matter expert. You might have weekly Stories focused on a certain key events (Black History Month) or campaigns (back-to-school). The possibilities are endless!
ENGAGE: Ask questions through surveys or quizzes
It’s one thing to have interesting or unique content. It’s another thing to encourage followers to join in on the fun!
One way to do this is to offer surveys or quizzes. Government organization York Region published a “Waste knowledge test” on its Instagram Stories, enticing users to test their smarts about recycling. This strategy is an easy, fun way to encourage users to engage with your content all while learning a thing or two.
INFORM: Provide short educational content
It’s all about bite-sized nuggets of info on social – and especially via Stories. Why not highlight a few key points from top-performing social posts or newsletters? Find a new way of presenting the same info in a more engaging and enticing way.
And, while you’re at it: Why not create a series or several “chapters?” If you have enough key points, you can fit this into a “theme” all while educating followers.
At the end of the day, you of course want your content to be highly visible – and to play along with Instagram’s ranking system. Basically, it’s all about getting more people to see and engage with your content — and Stories is one easy way to do that!
Have questions or want to talk Facebook and Instagram Story strategy? We can even show you how easy it is to publish your Stories via Social News Desk (yes, it’s a thing!). Get in touch: support@socialnewsdesk.com.
