6 Perks of Using Facebook Stories For Your Marketing

Over the years, there have been many new social media platforms develop and gain popularity - TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, WeChat, etc. - but none have surpassed the popularity of Facebook just yet. Facebook was launched to the public back in 2006 and still holds the record high for most active users to this day sitting at over 2.5 billion users. And each day it continues to grow. YouTube and Instagram trail right behind it.

When it comes to businesses, it probably doesn't come as a shock to hear that Facebook also holds the lead for having the most business accounts as well. With as many people as there are on Facebook, this platform has become a major hot spot for businesses to market. Through the years, Facebook has added new features along the way for businesses to utilize for marketing purposes. And one of those many features was brought to the public in 2017 - Facebook Stories.

Facebook Stories have opened another door of opportunity for businesses to market their product or service. After seeing the success and popularity of Stories on other social media platforms, it only made sense for Facebook to include them as well. And it was a smart move. Has your business taken advantage of this feature yet? Here, we list out 6 perks of using Facebook Stories for your marketing.

1. Create Authentic Content

Social Stories, also known as ephemeral content, developed a bit of a reputation across all the social platforms that have this feature. They became well-known for showing authenticity.

Businesses are able to post what we call in the moment content. There's not much planning or editing that goes into making a Story, unlike regular posts. You either take a quick picture or a video, throw a gif, some text or slide a filter onto it and then boom! You post it. And they only last for 24-hours.

Showing unique and authentic content can do great things for your brand. People love to follow and engage with businesses that show some personality as well as transparency. It's a great way to build a relationship with your target audience which will often lead them to become loyal to your brand.

Not sure what to post for your brand? Check out one of our other blog posts here to get some ideas!

2. Gain More Organic Reach

As we've already mentioned, Facebook has over 2.5 billion active users on its social platform. Yeah… that's quite a lot. But Facebook has an algorithm that makes it hard for a business's organic social posts to reach a lot of people unless you pay to have your post boosted - a.k.a not organic content. So how can your brand reach more people on Facebook organically?

You guessed it (hopefully) - Facebook Stories!

When you post content to your Facebook Story, it will appear at the top of the page above users' feed making it easy for your target market to access. If your business has an Instagram account, you'll also have the option to post your Facebook Story to your Instagram Story and vice versa when you link both your accounts; therefore, gaining an even larger reach.

3. Highlight New Content

Although Facebook Stories have a better chance of reaching more people, businesses should not quit posting organically on their Facebook page. Another great thing about Facebook Stories is that you can share a post you've put on your business's Facebook page on your Story as well. Pretty cool, right?

Brands are able to utilize Stories to promote and highlight content that is on their page. By doing this, it basically tells your audience to head over to your Facebook page to see as well as engage with your content. It will also increase the traffic to your business's Facebook page.

4. A Great Way To Stand Out

Stories, in general, allow brands the freedom to be creative and really differentiate themselves. You do not want your Story to blend in with other's content because that will only cause people to either exit out of your Story or skip your Story altogether. Your brand should strive to stand out to get more attention and engagement. There are tons of great features Facebook offers on their Stories that brands can take advantage of:

• Text
• Filters
• GIFS
• Emojis
• Stickers
• Animation
• Drawing Tool
• Music

Adding a few of these features to your Story will make your content a lot more exciting and visually appealing.

5. Control Your Audiences

Another unique perk Facebook Stories offers is Geo Controls which allows you to limit who sees your post. If you're only wanting your Story to be seen by people in a particular area, you can filter it to do so. All you need to do is click Create Story and then hit the three dots in the upper-right hand corner and it will pop up with Audience Restrictions. Type in the area you want to show your Story to and there you have it.

6. Measure Your Success

When creating Facebook Stories, wouldn't it be nice to know how your posts are performing and if they're receiving engagement? Well, Facebook has made a way.

To access the analytics of your Stories, hop onto your computer and go to your business's Facebook page, hit the three dots underneath your cover photo, and tap View Insights, and then click Stories. This will bring you to a page showcasing a summary of your analytics. These analytics will only reflect the Stories you've posted within the past 28 days.

Unique opens

The number of unique opens shows the number of unique people who viewed one or more of your Stories within the last 28 days.

Engagement

This number indicates the total number of interactions your Stories received within those 28 days. This includes the number of times people swiped up, replied, made sticker interactions, and shared it.

Stories Published

The total number of Stories you published within the past 28 days.

Audience Demographics

When your Facebook Story reaches at least 100 different views, Facebook will grant you access to see the demographics of the people who've seen your Story.

When you scroll to the very bottom, you will also be able to view all the Stories you have posted within the past 28 days. Click on an individual Story, and it will bring up the analytics for that specific post. This information will be super helpful as you will be able to see which posts resonate with your audience. It will also allow you to measure the progress your Stories have made over a certain period of time.

In Conclusion

Facebook may not hit the top of the list when it comes to most used Stories, but Facebook is continuing to improve this feature and promote it for personal use as well as business use. Over time, it will evolve and become more popular amongst Facebook users. It's a great feature businesses on Facebook should truly take advantage of to not only increase reach, but also engagement, sales, and brand awareness.