The document provides five tips for making the most of social media stories: 1) Start with Instagram as it has the most daily users and is the most preferred platform for stories; 2) Create a regular cadence for posting content to build user expectations; 3) Use the creative tools available on each platform to make engaging content; 4) Supplement real-time content with pre-produced content for campaigns; 5) Consider expanding efforts to other platforms once successful on one in order to reach different demographics.

1. HOW TO MAKE
THE MOST
OF STORIES ON
SOCIAL MEDIA

2. Social media stories are growing fast. In August of 2018,
Instagram announced that more than 400 million people
use the story feature each day, up from 250 million
just one year prior. With that many eyeballs already
viewing content, and more coming each day, social media
stories have become a platform marketers can no longer
ignore. If your brand is ready to start getting more out
of your social media story efforts, the following
five tips will help you get there.
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3. STARTWITHINSTAGRAM
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4. If you’re unsure where to begin or feel overwhelmed by the whole
process of launching a social media stories strategy for your brand,
start by focusing solely on Instagram. “Why Instagram?” you may
ask. Well, for starters, Instagram boasts the most daily users of the
story mode of any of the social media platforms. It’s also the most
preferred story-capable platform, with 35 percent of users marking
it as their favorite. These two things make Instagram stories a must,
even if it’s all your team can handle.
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© Copyright 2019 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. anamarketers
CREATEACADENCE

6. One of the keys to having your social media stories succeed is to get
users to begin expecting content from you regularly. In order to do
this, it is crucial to have a set cadence for when content rolls out.
Whether it is daily, weekly, or monthly, figure out what is feasible for
your brand and stick to it.
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© Copyright 2019 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. anamarketers
USETHETOOLS
AVAILABLETOYOU

8. In order to have your content perform well in stories, you want it to
resemble the type of work users are used to seeing in their story
feeds. Instagram offers a wealth of native tools to turn a run-of-
the-mill picture into something more engaging for the eye. Add in
some of the video tools, like Instagram’s looping Boomerang tool,
and you’ve got a whole array of assets to help create fun, compelling
content. At the bare minimum, using the doodle and sticker tools in
stories is a great place to get started.
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© Copyright 2019 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

9. anamarketers
SUPPLEMENTWITH
PREPRODUCEDCONTENT

10. While it’s a must to use the native tools available to you on whichever
social story platform you’re using, you’ll also want to create some pre-
produced content to supplement whatever you’re doing in real time.
These are especially handy for offer-focused campaigns on a certain
product or service. As you build out a calendar and cadence for post-
ing story content, task your design and/or video production team with
regularly creating content that can be used around whatever upcoming
content you have planned.
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© Copyright 2019 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

11. anamarketers
GOCROSS-PLATFORM

12. Though starting on one platform is important, you may find that
your story efforts are so successful, they are worth scaling out to
other channels. This is especially true if your brand is targeting a
specific demographic (teenagers are more engaged with Snapchat
stories than Instagram, for example). Don’t fret. Repurposing con-
tent you create on one channel is actually quite easy. Instagram
allows you to save any story segments you create, so if you feel it’s
time to scale your strategy out, begin saving content you create on
Instagram and uploading it elsewhere. This is a quick and easy way
to expand your social media story footprint.
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© Copyright 2019 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

13. Want to learn more about how to maximize your marketing
efforts with social media stories and more? Our Marketing
Knowledge Center has plenty of reading on that:
2018 Insight Brief: Social Media
Mastering Social Media in 2019
Social Media Marketing Plan Playbook
IFC: “Always On, Slight Off” on Social Media
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