Contents
What are stories?
Stories (stories, tales) are a vertical format of content that is available for viewing for a limited time, most often for 24 hours. In this format, you can publish photos, animations, and videos, as well as add stickers, polls, and other interactive elements. Stories are actively used by various categories of users — from ordinary people to public figures and commercial companies. For example, the grocery store chain "Pyaterochka" regularly shares information about its promotions through this format.
Initially, stories gained popularity on Instagram*, but soon this format was adapted on other platforms such as VKontakte, Facebook*, TenChat, and TikTok. In July 2023, stories appeared on Telegram, and they are also available in Google’s search engine — Google Web Stories, which allows stories to be shown directly in search results.
Who needs stories and why
Stories serve to solve many business tasks:
- Product advertising. Stories are excellent for both direct and native advertising. This format allows information about promotions and discounts to be quickly conveyed, which may be overlooked in text posts.
- Conveying important meanings. With stories, authors can reveal their personality and convey significant values such as love, family, or self-development. This creates an emotional connection between the author and the audience, which in turn helps to gain loyalty and increase sales.
- Engaging the audience. Stories are perfect for increasing interaction with content. Simple games, polls, and quizzes can effectively maintain subscribers' attention.
- Selling products and services. Stories allow for a visual demonstration of products, describing their features, and attaching links for placing orders.
Moreover, companies actively use stories in their mobile applications to promote seasonal products and new items, as well as to create thematic collections.
How to publish stories
Since the blocking of Instagram* and Facebook* in March 2022, many companies have started actively using VKontakte to promote their products and services. During this time, views of stories on this platform increased by 123%. Today, it is one of the most suitable platforms for promoting business in Russia.
Publishing stories is only possible using a smartphone. To do this, you need to click on the icon with your photo in the "News" section, take a new story or upload prepared material from your gallery, and add effects in the graphic editor. Then you should choose whose name the story will be posted under and click the "Publish" button. After that, the content will be available to subscribers for 24 hours.
If you want to keep the story for a long time, add it to the "Stories" section located on your personal page or in the community. This will allow friends and subscribers to always have access to your stories.
How to create great stories
For successful business promotion through stories, it is important to create interesting and unique content. It is recommended to create a content plan in which text posts and stories are thematically linked. Here are some ideas for creating stories:
- Expert opinions from company representatives.
- Work processes and internal events of the company.
- Successful cases with numbers and customer feedback.
- Presentation of new products with a brief description.
- Current discounts and promotions.
- Contests and quizzes.
- Interesting facts and entertainment elements.
Maintaining regular sections, such as weekly memes or inspiring affirmations, can also help in creating engaging content. The main thing is to test different formats and regularly evaluate their effectiveness.