Сторитейлинг в бизнесе

 

Кирилл Гопиус

Есть истории, известные всему миру. Успех многих брендов сегодня в том, что приобретение их товара - это прикосновение к истории, которая так поражает воображение. Знаете, с чего консультанты «Мэри Кей» начинают свое общение с новичками? С истории. Они не говорят о продукции, хотя она весьма недурна. Они не говорят о деньгах, хотя процент от продаж здесь высок. Они говорят о том, как одна женщина в безвыходной ситуации смогла сотворить чудо и как важно этой женщине дать возможность другим сотворить такое же чудо в своей жизни. Сторителлинг, одним словом...

История не должна лежать на полке. Она должна работать, представлять вас, капитализировать бизнес, если хотите. Она должна жить.
Кирилл увлекся сторителлингом в 2005-м. Впрочем, эту историю он расскажет сам.

- Я тогда работал в Кувейте. Страна мусульманско-ортодоксальная. Там для европейца культурной программы не предусмотрено, гулять жарко, приходилось сидеть в номере и много читать. Там я прочитал книгу датского футуролога Рольфа Йенсена «Общество мечты». В ней рассказывается, как в современном мире ни товар, ни услуга, ни информация как таковые ценности не представляют, потому что этого много и примерно по одинаковой цене и качеству. Инструментом создания добавочной стоимости является история, которая сопровождает товар, услугу или информацию. Собственно говоря, вся книга посвящена тому, как умение вспоминать, создавать и представлять свои истории не только увеличивает капитализацию компании, сообщества или отдельного человека, но и создает целые рынки. Читая книги, я люблю подчеркивать отдельные интересные моменты. Так вот эта книга была вся подчеркнута. Когда я ее закончил, мне захотелось больше информации про сторителлинг. В русском поисковике мне сказали, что такого слова не существует. Я набрал его английскими буквами - и на меня вылился поток информации. За рубежом это целая индустрия, включая политическую, социальную составляющую, образовательную. Бизнес, культура, искусство, даже медицина используют сторителлинг в различных областях. С тех пор я начал исследовать саму эту науку. Стал пересматривать свою жизнь с точки зрения сторителлинга. Я долгое время занимал руководящие посты, работал и в России, и за рубежом в разных сферах бизнеса и убедился, что везде, где возникают проблемы, это проблемы того, что человек или компания не умеют представлять и создавать свои истории.
Сейчас представлять товар и услугу бессмысленно, сразу натыкаешься на конкурентов. А получить конкурентное преимущество можно тогда, когда ты начинаешь представлять на рынок «результат исследования человеческих отношений» (так переводится слово «история» с древнегреческого), связанных с товаром или услугой.
- Как история помогает развиваться бизнесу?
- Есть тема, над которой я сейчас работаю и которую пытаюсь донести до российских бизнесменов. Это сторибанки. Важно не просто вспоминать свои истории, но хранить их, анализировать и использовать как материал для формирования внутренних и внешних стратегий развития. Важно понимать, какие истории нам нужны. Сейчас очень модно говорить про истории успеха, а на самом деле интереснее истории преодоления. Когда человек сталкивается с препятствием, у него есть выбор: преодолеть или отойти. В этом как раз есть формирование ценностей человека или компании. Когда мы начинаем вступать в истории преодоления, мы начинаем проявлять ценности, которые для нас важны, также как в сообществе или компании. Ценность - это не что-то желаемое в будущем, ато, за что мы дорого заплатили в прошлом. На базе этих ценностей мы можем формировать стратегию или развитие. Если не отталкиваться от того, что действительно важно, построить хорошую стратегию не получится. То есть построить-то можно, но никогда она не будет мотивировать сотрудников, они не будут вовлекаться в нее, если эта стратегия не соответствует тем ценностям, которые внутри человека заложены.

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У меня была возможность сделать социальный проект вместе с моим хорошим товарищем. Мы с ним давно хорошо друг друга знаем, прошли огонь, воду и медные трубы, говорим на одном языке. Мы не могли решить, чему проект посвятить. Он говорит: надо помогать старикам. А я говорю - детям. Мы долго спорили и в итоге взяли паузу. Я вдруг задумался и понял, почему. У него недавно умерла мама, и история вины перед старшим поколением для него в это момент была наиболее важная. А у меня, наоборот, тогда были проблемы в отношениях с детьми, и для меня эта тема важнее.

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 Архетип «рассказчик и аудитория» ложится на разные сферы человеческой жизни. Политик и электорат, директор и подчиненные, предприниматель и клиенты, учитель и ученики, актер и зрители. Соответственно сторителлинг помогает рассказчику, который является инициатором этих отношений, создать общую историю со своей аудиторией. Тогда они получают общую выгоду и отношения становятся долгосрочными и взаимовыгодными. Это о том, как рассказчик со своей аудиторией создает общие истории, в которых и исследуются эти отношения. 

- Почему именно сейчас, в век корпораций, технологий и обезличивания, история способна продвигать бизнес? Нет ли здесь противоречий?
- Я не думаю, что сегодня наступает обезличивание. Это случается, когда все отдается на откуп искусственному интеллекту и забывается, что мы - люди и наше главное преимущество перед искусственным интеллектом - человечность, эмоциональный интеллект. Поэтому век виртуальности подчеркивает то, что единственный капитал человека или компании - это его имя, он сам, его история или набор людей и набор историй. Противоречий я не вижу. Но я вижу очевидное расслоение: часть работы уходит на откуп искусственному интеллекту - там, где нужно работать с огромными массивами голой информации. Почему старые профессии, которые работали чисто по инструкции, изживают себя, их заменяют программы и приложения. А человеку живому остается то, что связано с эмоциональным интеллектом и творчеством. Тут как раз - представление своих историй и главное - общение со своей аудиторией. Это и есть то, что никакая машина не заменит. Даже если мы говорим о продажах, мы сталкиваемся с тем, что нужно выстраивать отношения с конкретным потребителем, и это ни работник колл-центра, ни машина делать не умеют.
У меня даже есть такая концепция, которую я параллельно со сторителлингом разрабатываю: «Рынок имен». Это то, к чему современное предпринимательство идет, когда конкурировать на уровне товара сложно.
- Приведите какие-то яркие, на ваш профессиональный взгляд, примеры в мировой практике, когда именно история бизнеса помогала ему развиваться?
- Книга, которую я привел в пример - «Общество мечты» - вся посвящена примерам, как сторителлинг помогает не только увеличивать капитализацию, но и создавать новые рынки. Товар эконом-класса за счет добавочной стоимости приобретает совсем другую стоимость и самое главное - значение для потребителей. Продаются целые образы жизни, когда продается какой-то товар этого сегмента. Самый простой пример.
Что могут стоить кусочки льда, которые мы кидаем для охлаждения напитка? В 1995 году в аэропорту Копенгагена их продавали дороже, чем 21-летний солодовый виски, в который они погружались. По причине того, что этот лед был привезен из Гренландии. Когда он таял, высвобождался воздух, по возрасту старше египетских пирамид, и человек мог вдыхать этот воздух.
У сторителлинга есть дополнительное качество - это умение вписывать личные истории в глобальный контекст, тогда у человека или сообщества появляются смыслы.
Когда я работал с питерскими студентами, обнаружил, что у них просто бум на записные книжки Moleskine, они готовились к покупке этих книжек к Новому году и ко Дню рождения, а стоили эти блокнотики бешеных денег. Я заинтересовался, отчего это. Пошел в магазин. Ко мне подошел консультант и начал рассказывать не про книжки как таковые, а про Эрнеста Хемингуэя, Жан-Поля Сартра, Ван Гога, Матисса, которые ни дня не проводили без этих книжек. Это были их рабочие инструменты. Фактически, покупая Moleskine, вы покупаете не записную книжку, а билет в мировую литературу. И, конечно, за него питерские студенты готовы заплатить деньги. Я на себе проверил. Купил эту книжку, открыл ее и понял, что в голову не придет написать в нее список продуктов, например. Сюда нужно писать «Прощай, оружие!», не меньше… Так это работает. Так история, которая добавляется к товару, причем не придуманная, помогает выходить на рынок и завоевывать его.
- Что делать стартаперам, когда истории как таковой нет и бизнес вполне обычный?
- Если вам кажется, что у вас истории нет и бизнес обычный, лучше уйти в дворники. Если вы не можете создать свои истории и считаете, что ваш бизнес обычный, то стартапами заниматься не имеет смысла. Это серьезная проблема того, что человек, забитый оперативными делами, считает, что с ним ничего великого не происходило. Он забывает обо всех своих преодолениях, в которые он вступил и не отступился, он ни много ни мало герой и может этим гордиться. Вступая в это преодоление, он обязательно что-то приобретает и выходит на новый уровень развития. Важно, осмысливая истории своего преодоления, вспоминать как вы дошли до сегодняшнего стартапа. Ведь он наверняка начался не на пустом месте. Есть истории отношения с партнерами. Есть личная история. Возможно, путь к стартапу начался задолго до того, как идея пришла в голову. А иногда вы вдруг понимаете, что по жизни занимались другим, и ваш стартап - это какая-то блажь. И не нужно им заниматься, а лучше подумать о чем-то другом. Наши истории - это наши маячки, которые показывают наш пройденный и будущий путь. Поэтому стартаперам я, как никому другому, советую обращаться к сторителлерам.
- Какие истории сегодня публика воспринимает хорошо, а с чем лучше не переборщить?
- Мое отношение простое: во-первых, не нужно ничего придумывать, а во-вторых, важно, чтобы представление истории было искреннее и уверенное. А темы истории не имеют значения. Нужно собирать свои истории преодоления по разным темам, чтобы у вас в любой момент было, что представить аудитории. Я стал замечать, что в последнее время мне очень легко давать комментарии в соцсетях. Мне не нужно заново придумывать ответы, я просто захожу в статью с той или иной историей.
- Есть советы, как создать идеальную историю?
- Я остановлюсь не на советах, а на кодексе сторителлера.
1. Умей слушать. Сторителлер - это профессиональный собеседник.
2. Рассказывай истории - постоянная практика, важно это превратить в ритуал. Неважно, где вы эти истории рассказываете, этим нужно заниматься постоянно.
3. Уважай текст. Текст - это полотно, если он состоялся, нужно уважать его и в нем искать какой-то смысл. Любой состоявшийся текст для чего-то нужен.
- Есть ли у истории срок годности?
- У красивой и правильной истории, содержащей миф, ритуал и жертвоприношение, срока годности нет. Он может быть у новостей. Если мы говорим о бизнесе, история о том, как вы создавали свой бизнес, с чем сталкивались, всегда будет интересна, к этому всегда можно обращаться и сотрудникам, и партнерам, и клиентам.

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Core Principles of the Integrated Business Framework. 5 Story-Driven

 

RoundMap® understands that impactful narratives resonate more effectively than product-centric pitches, and hence champions storycasting. By connecting with audiences on an emotional level, it cultivates long-lasting relationships that extend far beyond business transactions.

 

Crafting Magnetic Stories: An Introduction to StoryCasting™

 In the compelling theater of business, where value is the script and brands are the actors, how do you ensure that your performance captures and holds attention? Enter StoryCasting™—a transformative principle within the RoundMap All-round Framework that unites the ancient craft of storytelling with the modern art of strategic engagement. This is not storytelling as you know it; this is storytelling that ‘casts a line,’ akin to an angler skillfully luring fish, but here, the catch is infinitely more valuable: the hearts and minds of your audience.

 Traditional storytelling serves as a mirror, reflecting human needs, desires, and aspirations. StoryCasting™, on the other hand, functions as a magnifying glass, focusing the rays of your brand’s value into a compelling narrative plot. It operates at the intersection of emotion and action, melding the tale with the target, guiding the audience through a story and toward a carefully orchestrated outcome.

 Every potent story has a pivotal element—the plot. Within the framework of StoryCasting™, the plot serves as the foundation upon which your brand’s value proposition is built. You can resonate with your audience’s deepest desires and aspirations through this lattice of interconnected events and moments. This is not mere storytelling; it is about story ‘doing,’ where your narrative transforms from informative to performative.

 StoryCasting™ opens new avenues for businesses to connect, communicate, and convert. It elevates storytelling from a passive, reflective act to an active, directive force. As you delve deeper into this groundbreaking approach, we invite you to consider the story you want to tell, the actions you want to inspire,and the value you seek to deliver.

Welcome to StoryCasting™—where your brand becomes not just the narrator but the narrative itself, driving action and manifesting value through the alchemy of strategic storytelling.

 

The Indispensable Role of Storytelling in Modern Economies

While our basic needs for food, water, and shelter operate almost universally, requiring little more than instinctual signals to be understood, our complex human lives demand something more nuanced—narratives. These narratives aren’t luxuries but necessities for anything that transcends our immediate, basic requirements.

Through storytelling, we articulate the intricacies of our experiences, aspirations, and desires. Stories lend context, infuse meaning, and enrich our solutions with emotional resonance, making them palatable and compelling. Hence, they serve as a vital instrument for brands to grasp their customers’ unique needs and deliver products and services that meet and exceed expectations.

 

What is our role in the story of needs?

Our role in the stories of our needs is central and active. As individuals, we are both the storytellers and the protagonists in the narratives of our needs. Our needs arise from our desires, aspirations, and circumstances, and we play an essential part in expressing, understanding, and addressing them.

 Here’s how our role plays out in the stories of our needs:

 

1.    Identifying Needs: We are responsible for recognizing and identifying our needs. This involves self-awareness, introspection, and understanding what truly matters to us in various aspects of life, such as health, relationships, career, and personal growth.

 

2.    Expressing Needs: Once we identify our needs, we must express them to ourselves and others. This can involve articulating our desires, concerns, and goals and sharing our experiences and challenges with those around us.

 

3.    Seeking Solutions: As protagonists in our needs stories, we take the initiative to seek solutions and fulfill our requirements. This may involve proactively finding ways to meet our needs through personal efforts, seeking support from others, or engaging with products or services that address those needs.

 

4.    Making Decisions: We make choices and decisions that shape the course of our needs stories. We prioritize certain needs over others, decide on the best action to address them, and continuously adapt our approach as circumstances change.

 

5.    Learning and Growth: Our needs stories are a journey of learning and growth. As we encounter challenges and opportunities, we acquire new knowledge and insights that inform our future decisions and actions.

 

6.    Interconnectedness: Our needs stories are interwoven with the stories of others. We interact with family, friends, colleagues, and society, and these interactions influence and shape our needs and experiences.

 

7.    Creating Meaning: In fulfilling our needs, we create meaning and purpose. By pursuing what matters to us, we find fulfillment and satisfaction, and our needs and stories contribute to our sense of identity and well-being.

 

In essence, our role in the stories of our needs is one of agency, responsibility, and self-discovery. By actively participating in these stories, we shape our experiences, influence our relationships, and ultimately contribute to the ongoing narrative of our lives.

 Now you understand why we created the ValueActor concept: we all play our part in the stories of our needs.

 

https://bitly.ws/3dMUm

How to write a user story

By Simon Buehring 

Writing user stories takes a bit of practice when you are new to agile. That’s why we have developed this simple guide and handy graphic to get you started! They are covered in the popular Agile Project Management course.

If you think this guide will give others a good start to writing user stories, feel free to link to it from your blog or share it with your networks.

What is a user story in agile?

A user story is a simple description of a requirement and is a popular agile method to capture user requirements. It serves as a guide for the team about a user requirement. User stories are one of the many agile technique or methods which you will learn on the Agile Project Management courses.

User stories provide context and clarity of expectations, without focusing on technical details. Defining technical details too early can discourage alternative design options and changes. Being purposely vague, user stories provide room for creativity and interpretation.

A user story speaks from the end user perspective and follows this format:

As a ….. I want to ….. so that …..

User stories encourage team conversation which may uncover hidden assumptions and requirements. They are to be kept brief and should always meet the allocated acceptance criteria or definition of “Done”.

Who can write a user story?

Users are the ideal people to write user stories. If you’re using Scrum, it’s the Product Owner’s job to keep the Product Backlog full of user stories. The highest priority stories are pulled from the backlog to work on during a Scrum sprint.

How to write a user story

The key to writing an effective user story is to determine the who, what and why. Ensure that your user stories follow the I.N.V.E.S.T. standard – independent, negotiable, valuable estimable, small and testable.

1. Define your end user

The first thing to do when writing your story is to define your end user. Who is the person that will be using your product? A helpful way to visualise your user is to make them a persona profile. Give the person a name and find them a photo. Add their relevant attributes, attitudes and behaviours. Finally, give them a goal. The following example is a user definition for a smart baby monitor.

Example:

As a [parent]

2. Specify what your end user wants

For this part you’ll need to think about the solution your product is offering. What does your end user want from your product? Refer to the “goal” section of your persona profile, then add a brief description of this to your story. The following example shows what the end user wants from using a smart baby monitor.

Example:

As a [parent], I want to [check up on my sleeping baby without going into their room]

3. Describe the benefit of your product

Imagine that you are the end user speaking to the product developer. Tell the developer the benefit you will gain from using this product. The following example shows how the end user will benefit from using a smart baby monitor.

Example:

As a [parent], I want to [check up on my sleeping baby without going into their room], so I can [ensure their safety without disturbing them].

4. Add acceptance criteria

In agile, teams are required to deliver products that are potentially shippable. Acceptance criteria is the clearest and quickest way to determine whether a user story is done or not-done.

Each user story should have at least one acceptance criteria but try not to list too many. You can use S.M.A.R.T objectives to ensure your criteria are measurable. Always remember to write from your end user’s perspective and not confuse acceptance criteria with a to-do list.

Example:

As a [parent], I want to [check up on my sleeping baby without going into their room], so I can [ensure their safety without disturbing them].

- Night camera installed on baby’s cot monitor
- Baby temperature and breathing monitor function
- Data sent to parent’s smartphone
- Parent alert sent to smartphone if problem occurs

Start building your backlog

Once you have written your user story, you can add it to the backlog. Once you have a bunch of user stories, you can work on prioritizing and estimating the effort.

Embracing change is all part of the agile ethos, so product requirements may change during a sprint and you can refine your user stories as you progress. If you find that your user story is becoming complicated or undoable, you can break it into smaller user stories. That way, the stories are less likely to be left not-done at the end of a sprint.

Four Storytelling Techniques to Bring Your Data to Life

Nancy Duarte

The adage that “our world runs on data” means that decisions are being based on vast amounts of statistics. Data-derived insights drive what time trains stop running, when Starbucks introduces holiday cups, and the temperature of the building you might be sitting in right now.

Even though most corporate roles now work with data, it’s shockingly easy to forget that people generate most of it. When a user clicks a link, gets blood taken at the lab, or sets up a smartwatch, that person generates data. As people move, buy, sell, use, work, and live, their actions nudge numbers up or down and drive organizational decisions, big and small.

If it’s your role to communicate data insights and persuade people to change their behavior, you’ll have more influence and promote better decision-making if you emphasize the people behind the numbers. In a story, we root for the hero as he or she maneuvers through roadblocks. To use data to steer your organization in the right direction, you need to tap into the human tale your data can tell.

By leveraging four techniques from storytelling, leaders can bring a richer, more human understanding to the problem that the data reveals and better understand the opportunities it presents. Those techniques are identifying the hero and the hero’s adversary, speaking with people generating the data, identifying and addressing conflict, and sharing context.

Search for the Hero and the Adversary in the Data

Because most organizational data is generated by humans, the first step toward insight is to empathetically understand the people whose actions generate that data and who can turn slumps around.

These data-generating people are the characters in your story. In any story, myth, or movie, we get to know various characters and grow to love some and revile others. Some become heroes who overcome the obstacles in their paths and eventually defeat their adversaries.

In a data story, the hero is whoever can play a role in moving the data in the desirable direction. For businesses, the heroes could be employees, customers, or partners.

Consider the scenario of a CEO at a midsize software company where sales dropped 30% in the previous quarter. As she’s faced with the task of course-correcting this sharp decline, she needs to dig into the question, “What happened?” To find out, she’ll have to understand the people behind the company’s numbers and who the hero is who can reverse the sales slump.

In this scenario, the CEO’s determination is that the sales team is the likely hero in the turnaround. The data shows that they have been working harder than ever, and the decline isn’t due to their lack of effort. But perhaps the team has an adversary, something or someone causing the numbers to go down. Or perhaps new inefficiencies have been introduced by a change in process or added bureaucracy.

Speak With the People Generating the Data

Data tells you what has happened in the past, but it doesn’t always tell you why. Talking to the people generating the numbers can help.

To help a hero get unstuck, a leader has to go straight to the source. Reading forums, conducting surveys, analyzing customer comments, and hiring consultants are all tools to help learn what is in the hero’s way. But the best way to really understand people’s issues is to speak with them directly.

To do so, identify a random sampling of data heroes. Speak with them, asking about their concerns, opinions, and motivations. Empathetically listen. You’ll hear things that surveys and Salesforce data simply can’t tell you.

By talking directly with a senior manager, the software CEO from our sample scenario might learn that her sales team has been struggling to fully adapt to new sales software that was designed to streamline a previously sticky process. While half of the sales team has wholeheartedly embraced the change, more senior team members are feeling frustrated. They’re fumbling to learn the new tool and still leaning on a legacy process.

This is a human element of the story that may not have been revealed through data alone. But after speaking with the people behind the numbers, our CEO knows who to work with in order to reverse the trajectory.

Identify and Address Conflict

All heroes in a story face conflict. Having a hero to root for makes a tale engaging. Heroes typically face some classic encounters: discord with another character, clashes with nature, tension with a social group, war within themselves, and struggles with change.

In a business context, heroes can be in conflict with a system (as some of the sales team has been with the new software in our scenario), conflict with another person (a change in leadership could be causing issues within the organization), or conflict with themselves (maybe they’re struggling with burnout or didn’t take the training they were asked to).

By identifying the type of conflict people are facing, a leader gets a clearer view of how to communicate information that will help the hero get unstuck.

Share Context

Current data points, though significant, don’t exist in a vacuum. Data collected over time creates a bigger picture of victories and defeats. Sharing context can help leaders motivate their organizations and move their heroes forward and on to victory, especially after a defeat.

In the sample scenario, if the CEO were to share just the most recent data, her team might not feel that they can recover the lost sales to date. Seeing a 30% decrease could demoralize them. But if the CEO zooms out a little and looks at a longer time frame, she might discover that sales bounced back after a similar decline five years earlier.

Sharing the details about how the sales team recovered in the past demonstrates to them that if they could make a turnaround then, they can certainly do it again.

We should never let our data speak for itself. With big data as pervasive as it is today, it is easily classified as noise, and that’s especially true when there is no real context to support it. Productive people help data move in a desirable direction. In every shocking statistic, hockey-stick growth curve, or line chart that hits the x-axis like a lead balloon, there’s a heroic story waiting to be revealed.

Learning to curate and tell stories within an organization can become a kind of superpower for a leader. By humanizing the data, leaders bring a greater understanding to the problems that data initially reveals. When they take the time to speak with the data story’s characters, get to know the hero-in-waiting’s fears and motivations, address the conflict that the hero is facing, and put the data challenge into an appropriate context, leaders develop a deeper, more human connection to their opportunities for moving forward.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nancy Duarte (@nancyduarte) is CEO of Duarte Inc., a communications firm in Silicon Valley and New York. She’s the author of DataStory: Explain Data and Inspire Action Through Story (Ideapress Publishing, 2019).

https://bit.ly/2Zu3RvG

Quick Instagram Tips for Promotional Products Businesses

By Sarah Semple

Instagram for Promo: 5 Ways to Build and Connect With Audiences

Building brand awareness can be hard if you aren’t up to date with the latest business tools, including social media. That's why we’re diving into ways to use Instagram—perhaps the most popular social channel—in order to reach your ideal audience. Instagram is not only a great way to connect, but also a helpful tool for promoting your business.

Last month, The Next Web ran an article on how the New York Public Library (NYPL) created a new project called Insta Novels. The project was designed to encourage younger generations to crack open a book by recreating classic novels as Instagram Stories. Social media isn't going anywhere, especially for millennials and Gen Z, so NYPL took something those audiences love and turned into something they'd want to interact with. We think that’s pretty genius:

While the content that NYPL created might not apply directly to the promo industry, it does give us a creative example of how places, like the library, are developing innovative ways to reach a new audience and better connect with existing audiences.

With that in mind, here are a few tips on how you can use Instagram for promo businesses, or even for your clients.

1. Determine your goals

This might be one of the most important parts of using any social media, and it's especially so for Instagram. Think about these next few questions before starting out your page:

• Who is your audience?
• What type of message do you want your followers or potential customer to takeaway?
• How much time do I want to dedicate to building this platform?

We talked to Angela Morris, promotional product consultant at Geiger, mid-south division, whose @thepromoshopper Instagram account is one of the best in the promo business. For Morris, defining goals is the single most crucial step for companies on Instagram.

“If you want a gazillion followers, then you would have a much different approach than if you just want to interact with existing clients," she said. "Go with the flow. Though there is a ton of advice and statistics out there on how you 'should' do things on Instagram, this is ever-changing and it’s important to not lose sight of your own identity for the sake of following what worked for someone else. Remember, it’s subjective—what works for someone else may be different because their objectives, goals and time commitment was also different than yours. #YouDoYou”

2. Keep the Instagram Stories coming

So, how exactly can Stories work in the promo industry? Looking at what NYPL did, companies can utilize Instagram Stories to market products or showcase events. It’s always a good idea to stay up to date with posting images to your profile, so why not take a video and upload it as well? This can work for any business that doesn't want to overcrowd their Instagram feed. Seeing numerous videos in a row (on your feed, that is) can get kind of repetitive. Now, you can save them to your Stories and have followers tap through them. It’s as simple as that.

Another tip is to create a "highlight" that you can save your content to. This is a great option if you’d prefer your Stories stay on your page for longer than the standard 24 hours. Plus, end-users can go back and view it whenever.

Later, an Instagram scheduler app, released a blog post called "The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Stories for Business," and it covers just about every question you might have about using Stories. One section is based on what to post, which is useful for anyone starting out. From the article:

Like with regular posts, if you’re using Instagram Stories for business, it’s good to post a mix of fun, lighthearted content and promotional content. Instagram Stories is a pretty relaxed place in general, and the quality standards are a lot lower than they are for regular posts.

Unlike posts, you don’t have to feel as much pressure to create lasting content. Think of this as a way to allow users to see your creative spark in action and have a little fun.

3. Create compelling posts

Josh Storey, social media writer for SanMar, Seattle, Wash., shared his experience creating content for the supplier's robust Instagram channel. “This is an evergreen piece of advice for all social media," Storey told us. "Inform, reveal, entertain but do not advertise. If a customer wants to see your catalog, they’ll go to your website."

In general, we find that one of the biggest issues with social media is being able to push out interesting content, every single time. It’s not always easy creating posts that are going to appeal to everyone in your audience. But, if there’s something we’ve learned from asking the social media pro, it’s that when you create posts about things you actually care about, your followers can tell.

“I also like to interject personal posts about my other loves, travel and cats, as these two things are what have brought me closer to clients, colleagues and supplier partners above all else," said Morris. "Showing your interests and personality opens a door for commonalities, inspiring ideas and more meaningful connections! If you’re wondering about if it’s possible to mix your personal and professional social media, the answer is yes!"

4. Construct powerful hashtags

Instagram isn’t always just about the posts. In a post for Social Media Today, writer Andrew Hutchinson offered up a few pointers businesses could benefit from. One of them centered on hashtags. While posts and stories allow you to connect with existing followers, it's the hashtags that allow businesses to reach and cultivate new audiences within their industry.

In addition to explaining that you're able to use up to 30 hashtags per post, Hutchinson points out in his article that, as of last December, Instagram users can now follow specific hashtags. This is big news for Instagram. The tough part about building an audience is actually being able to reach them. With this newer feature, people can find your hashtag and stay on top of it whenever you use it. Remember to use words or phrases that people would actually search for. You do have 30 hashtags to play around with, but make the most out of them—and make sure they're relevant and targeted—in order to grow your following.

“Hashtags are important so that you can attract certain people or industries, plus help make it easy for them to find you,” Morris told us. “I love using hashtags creatively and sometimes throw in some funny ones. That’s when I know who is paying attention. I’ve had clients that never interact on social media call me and say something about that funny hashtag. #WhoAreYou #MyCatLikesColeman”

5. Set a schedule

This last step is more of an overview of how you can use Instagram more effectively for your business. Storey gave us some advice on how to stay consistent with your posts. “Set yourself a schedule and post at least four times a week,” he said.

We wrote previously on how to regulate your social media with a scheduling app. While this might not be exactly what Storey means, it can be an option if you’d rather automate the timing of posts.

If four posts a week is too many (or too few), adjust to your own needs and goals. Once you find a posting frequency that works best for you, do your best to stay consistent.

“At first, it might seem like a challenge to come up with content that often, but once it becomes a habit you’ll find your feed filling up with followers,” Storey said.

1. Post captivating images and videos

Instagram is the spot where users go to see visual 
content, but it also provides a prime chance to share 
videos with your followers. Unfortunately, since Instagram is 
all about quick visuals, it can be a challenge to hold people’s 
attention. The time you put into creating captivating content, both image and caption, will ultimately be the difference between a post users see and engage with and one they just scroll past.

Angela Morris, a promotional product sales consultant for 
Geiger based in Nashville, Tenn., previously told us that for her, being sincere in your posts is big, and something your audience will notice. “For me, I like to post about products that I personally like and would use, because no message is worth posting if it’s not based in sincerity and authenticity,” she said. “The old saying ‘a picture says a thousand words’ is true and will be felt by your audience as they scroll on by. #BeReal.”

“Post visually engaging content—content that catches the eye,” said Evan Tarakjian, social media and content creator for Spector & Co., the promotional products supplier based in Montreal. “People scroll through their feeds quickly. Make sure your content stands out. How? Tell a story with your content. Instagram offers you the ability to pair video with still images. Mix it up, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Make sure the look and feel of your content stays consistent. Use similar colors, and try not to mix styles from post to post. When someone lands on your Instagram page, the grid needs to look polished and consistent.”

If you’re interested in posting videos on Instagram, Tarakjian suggested using subtitles, since most people prefer to keep sound off for social media feeds. “Also, be sure you have linked your Instagram account to your Facebook business page to 
access the Instagram Insights,” he added. “This will allow you to determine valuable information about your audience and the best times to post.”

2. Use the Instagram Stories and Highlights functions

Instagram Stories don’t have to be meticulously crafted images or videos—they can be brief updates better for “real-time” interaction with users. They’re especially useful during trade shows or events, or even if you want to directly address your audience. Stories disappear after 24 hours, but you can always add them to your Highlights section if you’d like your 
audience to be able to go back and view them later.