It's Fun

I think we can all agree that Snapchat and Instagram Stories are simply more fun and less formal than the 'official' posts posted on the holy trinity of social media. Facebook-Twitter-the Insta Feed.

So fun.

Read: Instagram Stories Made Instagram Fun Again

Snapchat vs Instagram Stories

It's easy to give Instagram Stories the side-eye for literally just copy/pasting the entire concept from Snapchat.

However, it seems that Instagram Stories have managed to get their engagement side better worked out. As former Snapchat enthusiast Lintao put it:

"Would you rather snap your acai bowl and show your four best friends? Or take an Instagram Story and show the restaurant, your followers, and the people scrolling through the Discover page?"

The tags, both location and hashtags, work for both the actual posts but also for the ephemeral part, i.e. the story. From experience, it's also not uncommon after posting a Instagram story to receive a direct message from someone.

Anecdotally, it seems that views on Instagram Stories reach more people than Snapchat, and also encourage more interaction. One of Snapchat's key advantages, is the Groups feature, which is fantastic for groups of friends. In Lintao's words: "Snapchat is for friends, but Instagram is for the world."

Friends vs Personal Brand

While some people certainly have managed to build up massive following on Snapchat, many agree that Snapchat feels more like it belongs in the messaging-and-keeping-in-touch-with-your-friends category with the likes of WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, than in the building-an-audience category. 

If one is in the business of building up an online presence for the self; it's hard to overlook the level of engagement, and the the sheer weight of Instagram as a platform.


graph from DreamGrow

This is simply the fact of the matter; Instagram is now a part of the 3-biggest-social-networks-on-the-planet-club, and Snapchat isn't.

And for those who are not fans of anecdotal evidence, here's data (from here). 


Building an Audience

As explored in this piece "The 6 Elements Proven To Be Viral by Buzzfeed – Ariana Grande Style", a group of people becomes your audience when they're emotionally invested in who you are, what you do, and your work.

It's much easier to achieve this bond with something that's fun and relatable like the fleeting format of the Story. Not many connect with announcements or more practical information ("tickets go on sale next Friday!") that is often the content on choice on the traditional non-ephemeral platforms. People get excited if they already like you, but the connection is not built on announcements. 

We'd have to recommend for those looking to build an audience to give Instagram Stories a go, if you haven't already.

If you have, we'd love to hear what's been working for you – and we're specially interested in knowing if and then how your experiences with Snapchat and Instagram Stories may vary.

Tips for Stories

Behind-the-Scenes Content

For anyone in the entertainment industry, the potential for behind-the-scenes type of content is massive, and our absolute recommendation.

  • It works so well.
  • Let's repeat this again
  • It. Works. So. Well.

It's soooo intriguing and builds up interest for whatever you're working on, without being an official part of any kind of campaign (read: it takes the pressure off). 

It works. It even worked when yours truly was literally sitting next to the musician creating the behind-the-scenes content. On my recommendation. It worked. 

It totally worked. On me. Not a joke. 

Read: What To Post on Social Media

More Ideas

Here's a list we found from Bas Grasmayer:

Moments’: being in the office on Sunday, travel, having lunch with friends, nice views, parties, etc.;

Hints: previews of what I’m working on (I actually added the title of this article to a story);

Calls: “anyone want to join me for…?” — it really doesn’t matter what the picture that goes with it is, as long as it’s fun and doesn’t confuse. I was looking for someone to join me to IKEA and I put that call in a pic with graffiti

Time-lapse vids: these are a really fun way to put a lot of content in one short story and communicate action, e.g. moving from the office to a party on Friday;

Vids of vids: fits into moments, but basically if you’re at home watching artsy YouTube videos, weird Japanese commercials, memes, whatever, you can post quick snaps of that too — it helps with diversity & it’s FUN;

Creative: doing funky stuff with the filters, pinning surfers to foam in the bath tub while the water flows, reality distortion like Hyperspektiv, using Pantone‘s photo app, etc.;

And then there is music.
[go read what Bas says about music sharing]


Technical Help

The Verge put together a comprehensive technical guide as to how to use Instagram Stories: from the absolute basics of adding to your story, up to and including the point of driving click-throughs as a verified brand account.


Hrefna Helgadóttir
Promogogo Product Manager