Letting People Watch: Why Use IG Stories as a Marketing Approach

What do you believe is the most effective type of marketing on Instagram? When it comes to your account, what draws folks in the most? 

To answer that, I often start asking myself about what I watch most on Instagram. What’s the type of content that engages me the most? And where on Instagram do I always see stuff I want to buy? This is important because what I like resonates with what my target audience likes - well, most of the time.

And the most viewed funnel on Instagram that draws potential clients is your STORIES. Yes, most people spend their time swiping on IG stories, and here’s why.

People like to watch people

I’d like to share this story when I was in elementary school. Our teacher was explaining something to the class. I understood it, but my classmate did not. That’s when I began thinking that if she could explain it in another way, maybe my classmate would understand. That person might understand it well if it’s relatable, just like it did with mine. 

We all have different perspectives on things. And resonating is important for us to understand something.

In marketing, people like watching something relatable. Large companies like Apple use this concept in their marketing strategy. They use real people in their ads to tell a story that their product can be used by everyone in their daily lives. That is because people love to learn from something they relate to. 

This is the very same logic why people like to watch people on Instagram stories. It makes it easier for us to find something that relates by watching other people. And that’s how we all fall into the trap of swiping left and right. I sometimes caught myself doing that.

Most of my viewed IG stories are time-lapses of me meditating and working out. It’s nothing fancy at all. Your followers just love watching you do things they could relate to. And you could use that to funnel your target market and resonate with them. 

People watch to trust

My meditations turn out to be a form of selling in some ways. Potential clients could be watching my stories looking for reasons why they should trust me. And unknowingly, with me sharing how much I'm working on myself, I'm showing people that I'm taking good care of myself. That could lead to enforcing my credibility as a coach. 

It's kind of like this back-end way of marketing that's being spun now right into showing and giving more examples of our lifestyle. When you run a service-based business, that's when showing your personal growth and personal development is going to benefit your business in the long run. 

This makes it easier for a client to trust you.

You can feed content for free that might help, or something that they can learn from you. 

Now, that's not why you should share these practices, because you may want to keep your meditating for yourself. But you can still talk about what you're meditating on in your stories and whatever you have to share. So, it's all about finding that happy medium of what's going to work for you.

Takeaway

Do what’s authentic with you. 

Think about what you can show to your target audience that resonates well with you and your business. You can step away from having a coach telling you exactly what to do. Take what you can and reframe it to your style. 

Turn your thoughts from “What I do is boring.” into “Wow, I could actually teach somebody today!” 

If you want more about these kinds of content, you can tune in to the End in Mind Podcast. Or follow us on Instagram @meraki_media_management. I hope you learn something and start showing up as your ideal you.