Since Instagram Stories was released in early August amid accusations of it being a Snapchat ripoff, users have quickly warmed to the new feature—and that includes brands. There has been a lower barrier to entry than on Snapchat, since many brands already had an Instagram account with followers and had a visible history of posts that followers could see even if the brand didn't have any current Stories posted.
So what are brands communicating via this new platform? Let's take a look at some of the Stories posted in the past 24 hours to find out how this evanescent medium is being put to use, and see if we can glean some lessons about what makes them effective:
Chobani took users to the Chobani SoHo Cafe in New York City to show off some of its dishes. The story ended with a nice call to action that asked viewers to engage with the brand.
Mercedes-Benz was teasing its Media Night conference, taking place the night before the 2016 Paris Auto Show. It then streamed the event live on YouTube using a 360-degree camera, a great example of cross-platform publicity using each platform's strengths.
NASA took an employee relations angle, interviewing Mamta Patel Nagaraja, science communications, about what she likes about her job. The call to action in this case was a plug for the Twitter account @NASAPeople, where one can learn more about NASA's employees and career opportunities.
Guinness World Records may take the prize for the most fun story of the day. Over a long series of posts—almost all of them video—the brand established the setting for the event, teased what the record attempt might be, revealed it, built tension as the would-be record breakers attempted their physical feat and came to a satisfying climax. Now that's great storytelling. I followed the account after seeing it, and it'll be no surprise if the brand sets some engagement records of its own if it keeps up quality posts like this one.
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