Instagram updated their platform recently and added a new feature called “Instagram Stories” to their app and people were quick to point out it was a complete copy of Snapchat’s own version called “Stories”. Since it’s release, there has been plenty of mixed reactions from users who are still divided among the two apps and are unsure whether to use only of one of them of both.
“My thesis is a story is a slideshow format,” Systrom said in an interview with The Verge. “Just like when Facebook invented the [News] Feed, and every social product was like, ‘That’s an innovation, how do we adapt that to our network?’
While Snapchat reaches 150 million users a day with 10 billion daily video views , Instagram boasts 300 million daily active users.
Even though Instagram has two times the number of daily users than Snapchat does, more and more people (especially younger ones) are using Snapchat. With the Stories, Instagram is trying to get those users back and using the app more throughout the day to compete with Snapchat.
Since a lot of people are still conflicted about whether to use one or the other, we decided to list a few of pros and cons as well as a few ways publishers can take advantage of Instagram Stories.
First, Instagram took advantage of Snapchat’s popularity and built an interface people already know how to use. Once you have Stories on your account, you already know what to do. Click the “+” sign on the top of left of the app, take a picture, add a caption/drawing, and post it. This wouldn’t be widely accessible if Snapchat wasn’t around because now, people already know how to use it and the functionality behind it.
Second, it streamlines everything into one app. There are many celebrities and brands that are using Instagram Stories and not Snapchat just because they don’t want to download and use another app on their phones. There are already more than 300 active users on Instagram so people are already using the app and they can continue using the app without having to add another icon to their home screen.
This leads to much higher viewers and engagement. For example, Nike has 60.3 million followers on Instagram and their Instagram Story on the first day it was released generated 800,000 views in 24 hours while their best video on Snapchat got 66,000 views according to Nike and its social media agency Laundry Service.
Third, there are no ads in Stories as of yet but once it does start to roll out, publishers can take advantage the Facebook/Instagram ad platform to target their users. This will lead to a higher engagement rate because advertisers will be able to get their ads in front of their demographics instead of rolling out ads to everyone at once like Snapchat is doing right now.
However, since this is still a new feature, there are a few downsides.
One of the main differences is the lack of lenses and filters because this is what makes Snapchat stands out. Look through your Snapchat feed and you will notice a large percentage will either use a lens or filter. It is what makes Snapchat fun to use. Without it, Instagram won’t be that much appealing to use especially for the younger demographic.
Also, there isn’t an option to make your Stories private unless you make your account private as well. I can see this being a problem for some people because they still want their regular pictures to be public but their Stories viewable to those who they follow only.
Ways publishers can use Instagram Stories
The beauty of Instagram Stories is whatever you post is gone in 24 hours but if you make a regular post to Instagram, it is still permanent. This makes Instagram Stories a great way to “show your work”. One example is a restaurant or chef can use Stories to post how their dish is prepared and then post the final product for everyone else to “like” and comment on. Stories is ironically a great way to tell your story without spamming and overwhelming your users’s feed.
Easier way to have takeovers
One thing that is starting to take off are takeovers where a brand/publisher/user has another person make posts on their behalf. While this has been predominant on Snapchat, it will be easier to use on Instagram because it allows users to add multiple accounts to their app while Snapchat allows one user to be logged into one account at any time. This will make it easier for users to have account takeovers and then be able to curate and reply to comments at the same time without affecting the person making the posts.
Different perspectives
Aside from takeovers, companies can now have multiple users use Stories to cover events. Have a Christmas party or fundraiser coming up? You can assign a few people to post their perspectives and views throughout the day without having to log in and out each time. This is similar to the curated events that Snapchat has on their app.
Easy way to get feedback
And like Snapchat, viewers can easily send you replies to your stories by tapping on the “Send Message” on the bottom of the screen. Publishers can turn this feature off or limit replies to those who they follow so they won’t get bombarded with messages if they have a large following.
Clickable-link
One thing that is lacking on Snapchat that publishers and advertisers want is a way for people to click on a picture/link. There isn’t a simple way to do it as of yet. You can post the link but sometimes, people don’t remember it or it is simply a hassle for them to exit the app, open safari, and then type in the URL. With Instagram, users have been using the link in the bio as a hack for quite some time now. Links in captions and comments are not clickable but they can tell readers to click on the link in their bio instead.
In the end, it seems that Instagram Stories will not necessarily eclipse Snapchat but it will have the ability to introduce the concept to more users on its platform that are unaware of Snapchat’s presence. Where Snapchat continues to gain traction with the social market share Instagram could slow that growth by making Instagram Stories a more convenient option to non-millennials.
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