A Facebook Story can be a much more dynamic, colourful and engaging selling tool than a Facebook post. That’s why this company specialising in Facebook marketing in Auckland believes more businesses should tell a story on Facebook because when it comes to converting prospects into customers, there is invariably a happy ending.
For the uninitiated, Facebook Stories are user-generated slideshows and video collections that are available on the platform for up to 24 hours. They’re short and snappy, and based very much on what Snapchat has already done to great effect. The difference is, Facebook supports 2.2 billion monthly active users, which is about three times the viewership of Snapchat. As a way of telling a brand story to an enormous and global audience, Facebook has no rival. In fact, 14 months after launching, Facebook Stories boasted 150 million active users per day.
Facebook Stories consist of visual content in video or slideshow format that are created on a smartphone camera and last for about 20 seconds. For added impact, Facebook Stories can be embellished with text, filters and stickers. By adding these sorts of elements to a story, from location-specific tags to unique images, engagement is increased. And because Facebook reveals who has watched the story, it becomes a highly effective way to enhance a targeted marketing strategy.
A Facebook Story just demands to be seen and that is why it is such a potent marketing tool. Published stories appear on the “Stories Row, a section at the top of the news feed which lists available content. It’s the first thing potential customers see when they log onto a company profile, which means it grabs attention within seconds and doesn’t get lost in a news feed. It can be considered as something resembling a smart SEO strategy, where the content is visible and engaging, and primed to convert.
Digital marketers point to Facebook’s Stories ability to connect with viewers as a big part of its effectiveness. People are more cynical these days and traditional marketing hyperbole isn’t swallowed as eagerly as it once was. Yet the genuine and authentic nature of video can overcome audience suspicion by connecting with customers in a more organic way. With video posts on Facebook Stories, brands can reveal what happens behind the scenes of their business or introduce their team members so that the audience can get a glimpse into the human factor of an organisation.
Facebook Stories are also commonly used to announce important updates and announcements (if only for a limited time), host competitions and giveaways to reward engaged customers for interacting with the brand in the first place, and show off limited-time sales and discount codes. These things work well in the Stories format thanks to their visibility but also because of one very important thing; they’re on Facebook.
Approximately 95% of advertising and marketing professionals say that Facebook produces greater ROI than any other social network. Plus, it’s the best platform for targeting and analytics.
When someone uses Facebook Stories, it’s easy to see who has tuned into them. This allows for sharper targeting efforts in future social campaigns, and an even higher rate of conversions as a result.
You’re probably using Facebook as a marketing platform, and so you should. But if you have a great story to tell, are you posting it in words – or are you telling it in a more colourful and visible way? Facebook Stories is a visual marketing tool that you need to explore and capitalise on. As a marketing strategy it tells quite a tale, even if the 24 hour time limit means it’s more of a short story than a novel.
