While we have all mastered scrolling through an endless stream of homepage feeds, the experience of tapping through Instagram Stories is a new favorite pastime. Brands and personal users alike have taken to Stories to post about their products and lives, plus to interact in a new way with their audience. Educational institutions find themselves in a unique position when it comes to curating content on social media, especially on Instagram since they’re directly reaching their young target audience. By staying on top of current content trends, educational brands will immediately begin to gain the respect and views of student-based audiences.
Here are 5 tips to encourage students and potential students to view, pause and interact with Stories on Instagram.
- Engaging Stickers – Instagram is regularly adding new stickers to Stories that encourage viewers to engage with the content. Audiences like to be involved with their favorite brand accounts and stickers give them that opportunity. Consider using polls, questions and emoji sliders to entice followers to participate and gain a better understanding of the audience. Ask thoughtful questions that help obtain insight about the students’ preferences or learning experiences.
- Consistent Frequency – Stories last 24 hours at the top of the home feed, so it’s important to keep them coming. Each time a new story is posted, it moves the active series to the front of the line on users’ feed. There can be a lot of white noise on Stories that can get lost in the shuffle. Consider posting at least every other day, but if posting more than one slide in a series that aren’t a continuous piece of content, then spread them out about an hour apart.
- Mix Media – Videos, stills and GIFs all catch the attention of viewers. Diversifying the content doesn’t only mix it up a bit, but it helps convey a variety of information and emotion. GIFs are typically used for lighthearted and funny content while other assets express a more educational tone. Videos are the best way to explain a program or display a testimonial. When it comes to stills, quotes and memes are crowd favorites, but images of fellow students can draw a lot of inspiration and motivation as well.
- Promo Feed Posts– Content on the regular Instagram feed seems to disappear just as quickly as Stories. Give the feed posts a little extra love by mentioning a new post on Stories by directing the audience to visit the profile to see the full context of the post.
- Link Out When Able – If the account has more than 10,000 followers, then you’re able to add a link to your Instagram Stories. Since Instagram doesn’t allow hyperlinks in captions, take advantage of the ability to post a link in your Stories so students and prospective students can have access to more information about the school. It’s also a great way to drive traffic to campaigns or scholarship opportunities that aren’t regularly posted on the link in the account’s bio.
By using these 5 tips, educational institutions can take their Stories game to the next level. Catch the attention of students and potential students, and allow them to start their educational journey through your Instagram content.
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