Fact: Instagram Stories content is hugely important for businesses and brands to market their services.

Over 500 million people are using Instagram Stories every single day, and if your business isn’t showing up in this way, you’re missing out on an opportunity to reach a huge audience.

Not convinced Instagram Stories is worth your while? This fact from Hootsuite might change your mind: 50% of people have visited a website to make a purchase after seeing a product or service in Stories.

If you’re open to the idea of showing up on Instagram Stories, but you’re not sure what kind of content to share to convert your audience into paying customers, we’re here to help.

Here are 5 Instagram Story ideas to boost your sales:

1.    Use IG Story features to engage your audience!

IG Stories offer some great features that you can include on your story posts to interact with and engage your audience.
While we love ALL of the IG Story features, we suggest using polls and quizzes to help you identify user pain points. After your audience responds, follow up with a DM to learn more.

When you send that DM, you should also consider including a free offering for the people who answer/engage with your IG Story content!

2.    Make your product easy to access directly from IG Stories

There’s nothing worse than an IG Story that promotes an AMAZING product, and then gives an audience no way to actually FIND it online!

Add a swipe-up link, or tag your product with a shopping link (aka a “product sticker”) on any story where you’re talking specifically about a certain product.

3.    Get on video and show your product or service in use

One of the greatest ways to convert your audience into paying customers is to actually show your product or service in use.

There’s a lot of “expectation vs. reality” discrepancy when it comes to purchasing online, and showing the actual product can help boost your business and your product’s credibility! 

4.    Show a behind-the-scenes video into your day-to-day business activities

In addition to building trust in your product by showing it in use on video, you should make a point to build trust in your business and the people behind it, too.

Show up on video and share a behind-the-scenes look into your daily activities — take a tour of your warehouse, or office, have a fun little Q+A with a coworker — anything you can do to show the human element behind your business is going to help build that essential element of trust between you and a potential customer!

5.    Share customer testimonials

Testimonials can be tricky business. Sometimes written testimonials can be a little hard to believe.

If you can get customers to come on video and talk about your product/give a video testimonial that would be AMAZING for your business! Sometimes it helps to offer a little incentive — like a 15% off code, or a high-value freebie — to get customers to submit testimonial content.

Which of these IG Story ideas will you try first?

Let us know in the comments below! And don't forget to follow us at @amr_digital for more content ideas and social media marketing tips!