Go All In: Invest in Creating Disappearing Instagram Story Content.

Disappearing content, or ephemeral content, is a social media post that is available only for a short duration and disappears. Usually within 24 hours of posting. Instagram and Snapchat Stories are perfect examples of this type of story based content.

Instagram Story: Creating Content for the Scroll.

Attention spans are short, and the way people like to consume content is changing. Short form content continues to gain popularity. Disappearing Stories are engaging, straight to the point and addictive. So much so that people tend to spend hours scrolling through one story after another.

The increasing preference for story content is evidenced by the substantial rise in Instagram Stories' daily active users.

Stories Are Not “Perfect.”

TikTok is another social platform rising in viewership that features a short Story content format. Unlike the ephemeral Stories of Instagram or Snapchat, TikTok's Stories are perpetual. This allows creators establish a library of content in a gallery and link Stories like chapters to create a “big picture” of your brand.

A format which is especially effective if your brand happens to be educational. Taking note of TikTok’s quick rise in popularity, the other social platforms have added features and functionality for users to create perpetual Story content in the style of TikTok.

Authenticity and Empathy Matters.

What’s clear is short Story video content is here to stay and continuing to gain the lion-share of viewers on social platforms. Stories are less polished than the typical gallery content of Instagram. They are meant to be produced in real time, and meant to help you start a conversation, build community and tribes of fans. When followers join the conversation, they share and keep it going.

Marketers are taking note of this persistent trend, and to leverage it create storytelling content or employ influencers to help. According to a recent report by Hootsuite, 64% of marketers either already have incorporated Instagram Stories into their strategies or are actively strategizing how to add it.

Instagram Story Posting Frequency Directly Corresponds to Brand Engagement and Organic Follower Growth.

According to the latest data, brands are posting stories 7 days a month, which amounts to posting a Story once every 4 days. And as the amount of followers a brand has rises, so does the frequency of Story content posts.

Brands with more than 100k in followings are posting Stories every two days as compared to an average of every four days for brands with at least 10k followers.

Does storytelling work for B2B? Absolutely. One of the three most viewed Instagram Stories is from business and posting Stories is ongoing opportunity not to be missed. Posting a story every few days can be an effective way to keep a brand community engaged. And even brands with a small audience reach more than 9% of their followers with Stories.

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Know your company needs to grow deeper roots in the digital economy but not sure what steps to take to make it happen? Floh Creative has launched successful brand campaigns for entrepreneurs, well-loved Entertainment Studios and Fortune 500 companies. Using our proven discovery framework, we help define and position your brand and produce actionable insights for growth.

Ready to talk more about brand strategy for your business? Reach us at 310-564-6881 or visit us online at flohcreative.com to learn more.

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Mary Ellen Schrock is the CDO and Chief Disruptor of Floh Creative. As a bright, intuitive creative she has a passion for solving complex design and marketing challenges, especially when they require translating branding needs into compelling concepts and brand stories.

Mary Ellen loves building successful brands! She created Floh Creative as a place to use her talent to build brands and share knowledge, process and strategies that grow business.

Sources: Statista, "The Number of Active Instagram Stories Users". Hootsuite, "Social Media Trends." Social Insider: Instagram Stories Research, "We Analyzed 135,976 Instagram Stories. Here's What We've Learned."