Stories are a great asset when it comes to reaching people on social media. Most platforms display stories at the very top of the screen and this is a great opportunity to get noticed before people start scrolling.
While some experts have been claiming that organic reach on Facebook is dead, the social network has been promoting its stories feature heavily, which means this could be your chance to reach your fans organically again!
Simultaneously, since Instagram stories and Snapchat stories are both getting saturated with user generated content, it is getting increasingly difficult to get noticed on these platforms.
These are just some of the reasons why we believe you should give Facebook Stories a go.
Of course, there are some rules to follow and tricks you should know before getting started, so read on to learn how to make the most of Facebook Stories to promote your brand.
Facebook Stories—But why?
Using Stories can increase your reach
Surprising but true—Facebook Stories are, in fact, your best chance to increase your organic reach on the platform.
Stories are a response to internet users’ need for immediacy—they want to find out about updates in real time, whether it is from their loved ones or the public figures they follow.
Stories can also help you grow your audience quickly considering how prominent they are becoming on social media, and the use of highlighted circles in the interface catches the eye easily. This makes stories attractive as well as very useful when it comes to connecting with active users on a daily basis.
It does not matter whether your brand is quirky or you are working for an official institution, you can definitely increase your account’s visibility by sharing your stories.
We think this is an amazing starting point to launch Facebook Stories with your page.
A surprising niche for brands
Here is some data that should convince you to start using Stories as part of your communication strategy:
- 150 million people use Facebook Stories (Hootsuite)
- Facebook has 500 million daily users (The Verge, April 2019)
- According to Hootsuite, mobile-optimized Facebook video has been shown to lift brand awareness to 67%.
Stories were born on Snapchat but have now become a well-known feature across apps—even LinkedIn has it! They offer unlimited opportunities in terms of reach and creativity.
Wondering what to post about? Check out these ideas:
- If you have high brand awareness, stories could be a way to work on your followers’ loyalty by showing the human side of your company. Why not feature team members and their hidden talents in your stories?
- If you are looking to increase brand awareness, you can get more people to check out your page by launching a giveaway where participants have to share why they like your product or service in a story. You can thank them for participating with a discount code too!
- For a government office or similar institution: Tell your followers about your upcoming projects and ask people to share their experience interacting with your institution.
- As a media brand: Because they have a short lifespan, stories could be a way to share the main news from the day. This can also help you stay on your (future?) followers’ mind.
Creating Facebook Stories like a pro
Facebook Stories specs
Before you start working on your upcoming Facebook Stories, take a moment to think about their specs. It would be a shame to have to start over after all.
These are the specs you should always follow:
- Min. size for videos and images: 1080px width ×1920 px height.
- .mp4 or .mov files
- File size of max. 4 GB
- Max. length for a video story: 15 seconds
But that’s not it!
85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound.
This means that you should absolutely add subtitles to your Facebook page story. There is no need for word-by-word subtitles here—just make sure the main ideas appear as text so that everyone understands and memorizes them.
You also need to check whether your subtitles can easily be read—you might need to add more contrast or other visual effects here.
This might go without saying, but of course a story is not a short film. According to Buffer, it is the first 3 seconds of a Facebook video matter the most.
Therefore, focus on these first 3 seconds—they will determine whether your audience will keep watching or not.
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What makes a successful Facebook story
Providing value
Creating impactful Facebook Stories for your brand doesn’t require extraordinary visuals or using professional video editing software.
Increasing your story view rate mostly means you need to figure out what Facebook users are interested in as well as what they are hoping to get from your content. Good question, right?
First of all, know that watching stories is a way to keep updated on the platform—they are consuming content from their network, from brands and, of course, from all the public figures they love.
Generally speaking, stories are watched as a way to get entertained. Humor is extremely well perceived of course, though a significant proportion of users are also expecting to learn something from watching stories. This means you should make sure your story really brings value to your customers.
Your goal is to make Facebook users’ day brighter
If your goal is developing your employer brand, you could take your fans on a tour of your headquarters or show them your team members’ day-to-day. Focus on sharing their downtime too—a game of ping pong, a coffee break or the arrival of a new team member are all share-worthy moments. Think of it like a shorter, more casual version of a corporate movie.
Stories aren’t advertising
While you may be able to generate sales through Facebook Stories, don’t share promotional content only. Avoid repetitive CTAs too, as they will make your followers lose interest quickly.
Ads require a different strategy entirely and if this is what you are after, be sure to check out our guide to Facebook Ads videos instead. Also check out 10 examples of Facebook video Ads you can use for inspiration.
Adopting a steady pace
How often should you be posting stories, you ask? Remember they are ephemeral as they disappear after 24h. They are also unlikely to be watched more than once.
This means you only get one chance to make an impression—as opposed to traditional advertising where repetition is key.
We recommend starting with 2-3 photo or video stories per week and sticking to this rhythm—although we’re sure you will quickly want to post more!
Maximizing your stories’ engagement
High reach is nice, but engagement is better!
Thankfully, Facebook has made it easy for your fans to engage with your content. You can add the following stickers to your story to make it more interactive:
- Regular polls
- Emoji polls
- Adding GIFs to your content
How to create a Facebook Story for your page?
You have several options to create your own Facebook Story. The fastest and easiest way is doing so through Facebook’s mobile app.
1. See the 3 lines on the bottom right corner? Tap here!
2. Select the page you want to post with.
3. Tap on the “+” icon next to your page’s profile picture
4. Select “Create story”
Now’s the time to create your story!
You can choose from the photos and videos that are on your phone. You will either be posting a story that was already designed or creating one from scratch. In that case, these are your options:
- Posting a text-based story
- Making a boomerang
- Taking a photo or video
- Creating a poll
Afterwards, you will be able to add various native elements to it, such as stickers, filters or CTA buttons.
Once you are happy with your story, just save it if you like and then share your story to facebook. You can also choose to turn your story into a news feed post.
Sharing the right messages in your Facebook Story
Always make sure your story brings value to your followers. While you might feel like tons of things are worth sharing, remember to prefer quality over quantity.
As we mentioned before, posting regularly is also important when communicating on Facebook as a brand. We suggest creating an editorial calendar for your stories too, as this will allow you to know exactly when you will be posting what.
Lastly, remember that Facebook Stories are a fantastic opportunity and an alternative to Snapchat or Instagram as both platforms are already quite saturated with brand content.
Now’s the time to increase your organic reach!
