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From its launch in 2010, Instagram has continued to grow in popularity among users, creators, and brands. Following the desires of their audience, Instagram added features like videos, direct messaging, and advertisements. Then, in August of 2016, Instagram Stories debuted. Though at first appearing like a Snapchat knockoff, Instagram Stories soon took on a life and purpose of their own. If you are a brand or influencer on Instagram, then you need to know how to add a link to Instagram Story to create your best Instagram campaigns.
Why You Should Use IG Stories for Campaigns
The 24-hour time limit and the eventual addition of Instagram Live tethered the content in real-time, making it more personal. For brands and influencers alike, this feature accounts for a large portion of their visibility. Instagram Stories from brands regularly account for one-third of the most-viewed Instagram Stories. In addition, Instagram is the preferred app for 78% of marketers because of its vast reach and varied content options.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDzx5ENpHR3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
One reason Instagram Stories work so well is their promotion on a user’s feed. Stories always appear at the top of your feed, and the bright circle around a profile picture also indicates an unviewed IG story from any account. Stories garner over 500 million daily views. To harness this visibility for campaigns, brands and influencers should know how to add a link to Instagram Story and translate those views directly into customers.
Why You Should Add Swipe Up Links
Links in IG Stories function as a separate feature that prompts people to “swipe up” and be taken to another webpage. This shortcut works great for limited time offers as it fits in with the limited nature of 24-hour Insta Stories. The spontaneity of immediate access also means a higher percentage of views translate into clicks and, if it’s your campaign goal, purchases on the linked site.
For influencers and brands, the ability to reference and simultaneously connect information reduces the number of things lost in translation. Or just lost to the recesses of the average person’s attention span. With direct access to links, piqued interest immediately turns into an upward swipe, and from there it can only grow.
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How to Add a Link to Instagram Story
1. What You Need
The swipe up feature is, unfortunately, not a universal one. In order to access this addition to your stories, you need:
- At least 10,000 followers
- A business profile on Instagram
The second bit is simple. All you have to do is go into your settings and switch the account type from personal to business. The first part is trickier. Accumulating followers is obviously a longer process, but it is one that can be stimulated and sped up by clever marketing and unique content.
For brands trying to build a following on Instagram, influencer marketing is probably the most effective way to grow on social media. Finding the perfect fit to represent your brand benefits the company and the influencer more than traditional, solitary marketing. In addition, partnering with influencers gives your brand multiple outlets into large followings with less consistent management and stress.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB75waPJ2sC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
2. Create a Story
Once you have the proper qualifications to access the link feature in Stories, you’ll need to actually create the IG Story. Upload or capture a video or picture to start. Once you have a base, there will be a link icon in the upper right part of your screen. By clicking on that, you can paste any link and viewers can automatically access it via the “swipe up”.
Make sure your story isn’t just about the link. Pay attention to design value and make it attractive. Use gifs and color schemes. If you want people to stay on the slide long enough to click the link, you have to capture their attention in the first place.
3. Monitor
While Instagram does have a remarkably in-depth analytics page for business profiles – including but not limited to Story views, likes, comments, forward and backward taps on Stories – there is not yet a feature that monitors in-Story link activity. To really understand how embedded links are helping your campaign, you need to monitor the traffic coming through.
KPIs are the essential benchmarks of successful campaigns. In order to learn from and improve your campaign, you need to be able evaluate the actions around it. KPIs can help you measure conversions, CPM, the amount of potential consumer traffic from different avenues, and more. With the ability to lead potential customers straight to your homepage from an Instagram Story, knowing the effectiveness of this marketing technique is key.
