The 4W1H Guide to Why Your Instagram Stories Aren't Working

If you have skipped an Instagram Story ad without even looking at it, you are not alone. You won’t be the first ad audience to do this, nor will you be the last. In fact, if you just ask around, you will find that most individuals, especially teenagers, barely stop to look at what you are advertising before they skip your ads. However, if you are not looking at these ads, can you be confident that these ads can help your business?

Okay, let’s take a step back and maybe try not to be too pessimistic about these ads just yet. There are reasons why these ads are failing. You’re going to need some good designing work and a concept brainstorm, but when these mistakes are rectified, you might just be able to stop your audience in their tracks and capture their attention.

Here’s what’s causing your Instagram Stories to not work out as well as you expected, and how you can fix it.

So, let’s say your audience has watched your Instagram Story. What’s next? Whatever your business industry might be, you could be making the biggest mistake of all - not providing your audience an action that they can take while they are watching the story that you painstakingly took 1 week to plan, 2 weeks to create and 3 weeks to strategize the ad delivery.

Remember the blue and black or white and gold dress debate that happened 2 years back? This year, we also have the Laurel or Yanny debate. Meanwhile, in the tennis world, Roger Federer was recently asked if tennis balls were green or yellow, and Pantone jumped at the chance to create an engaging Instagram Story for their audiences with this simple question.

Guess what Pantone does? They provide exact shades of colors for their prints, fabrics, plastics and the like. Here’s what they did:

t’s okay, you don’t have to create Instagram Stories the second viral color questions come up, but

t’s 2018 - Stop undermining designers and their talents. Hire an in-house designer, and have the creatives do what they do best - proposing you an art direction for your Instagram content and design it for you. It’s not just for Instagram Stories either - you can have your designers create stunning graphics for every other normal posting as well.

The rectification does not stop there either. Ensure that the creative approval process is being overseen by the appropriate people. Consider adopting social media collaboration tools that can streamline the approval process where the designers can also be actively involved in the communication process so that everyone stays in the loop. With the art direction out of the way, you can leave the rest to the digital marketing agency! You can expect digital marketing agencies to further help you determine the best ad format to use for your next ad campaigns.

59% of the Instagram audience are made up of 18 to 29 year-olds. If your Instagram ads are too plain or corporate, we can almost guarantee you that your stories are not reaching its reach potential. Your industry might not appeal to youngsters, but there are certain ways (remember the talented designer team that we mentioned above?) to create aesthetic Instagram stories that can appeal to them.

Take Western Union for example - It’s not a brand like H&M or, say, Steam. However, their Instagram posts and stories appeal to the majority of Instagram users.

It’s okay, you don’t need to start using teen slangs in your Instagram stories all the time, drowning your graphics in #YOLOs and #TGIFs, but…

In the most straightforward way that we can put it, the words we are looking for would be: Don’t be boring. Don’t sell too hard, and don’t focus on your brand sentiments and values, your company’s vision and mission, blah blah blah… You get the idea. When you are posting on Instagram, you are posting on a platform that is very highly visual, so anything less than highly visual content should, ideally, not be there.

It’s advisable to create content which aligns with your brand well, but to keep it highly aesthetic to keep your consumers engaged. Remember, keeping your content fun does not mean that you have to spam it with stickers and emojis.

A normal assumption would be that your videos would be watched with sound - but did you know that 85% of Facebook videos are watched without any sounds? Most Instagram stories are also watched without any audio, which means that there’s one thing you need to keep in mind when creating Instagram Stories:

Your audience needs some texts to tell them what you are offering in the ad.

Do you have text in your Instagram story? This could be as simple as captioning someone’s dialogue, or just following up your first Insta Story with a second one detailing what the user should do next. Swipe up? Easy.

Currently, the swipe up link feature is only available if you have a verified account or if you have a business profile with over 10,000 followers.
It’s okay, you don’t need to scramble around to get those followers within the next 3 days to get this feature, but…

Like the old digital ad saying goes, always A/B test your content. If you have access to the ‘swipe up’ feature, then be sure to have a well-thought and designed Instagram story that can that leads up to the action. You can also prompt users to send you a message , which is a feature that is accessible to everyone! When you A/B test your Instagram Stories performance, you will find that ads that are easier to read or provide more information to its viewers are more effective, with higher engagement rates and views.

Of course, you need your Instagram Story to stand out from the rest for effective branding purposes. However, having really loud music, putting 6 stickers and GIFs onto one single Instagram Story and other similarly visually annoying details are just not the way to go. In fact, 51% of consumers will unfollow your social media pages immediately when they see annoying ads or posts. Another 27% would mark your content as spam, reducing your chances for a good ad reach during your next campaign.

It’s okay, you don’t need to keep your stories minimalistic with zero wow-factor, but…

This is going to take some practice, but try to find the perfect balance between your visuals and any add-ons. The comparison picture below will speak for itself. Which picture below would seem more alluring to you if you were to see it as an ad? Tell us in the comments below! (Remember Tip#1: Spark conversations!)

Remember that one friend who has been telling the same story for the 5th time, or the one who drilled down into details so much that their story about their last Sunday hike became boring? It’s called Instagram Stories for a reason - you need a good storytelling that compels your audience to ask, “Alright, what’s next?”

You might currently have an ad strategy where you use several images or videos back-to-back to tell a good story to your audience, but here’s an issue. It could be content overload to some of your audience, and as you add more and more images or videos to your Instagram Stories, the ones at the back get less and less attention. Similarly, only a small fraction of the readers have made it this far down this article you’re reading. So, if you’re still reading, give yourself a good pat on the back!

It’s okay, you don’t need to start creating really short stories or just post single images (that’s okay too), but…

Try storyboarding. Get your Instagram Stories’ theme planned out, with its purpose and end-goal. It would be for the best if your Instagram stories share a same theme or style with your previous ones so that you have a consistent branding appearance, but trying out fresh ideas every now and then - including influencers in your Instagram Stories, as an example, could be a good idea too! Lead your audience to keep watching, and bring them to an action at the end.

Now, isn’t that a good story flow?

You are already considering getting Instagram Stories done, and that’s a good initiative to have! You have awesome stories that you’d like to share with your customers, so go ahead and share it! Just remember to plan your stories well, get the right teams involved and you are all good to go.

Do you have any questions about Instagram Stories or other similar creatives? Contact us on our official website and let’s have a chat!