Instagram is undoubtedly one of the most used social media platforms. The social media giant has made it to one of the world’s most popular social media apps. The application is expected to cross over 2 billion active users by 2023. Instagram Marketing has also been highly prominent, with more than 60% of the world’s top brands using Instagram for marketing their products and services.
The platform offers different features to engage- Feed Posts, Reels, Stories, Highlights, IGTV, Live, Guides. Making the best use of all the options makes a profile stand out, and a business to get the best leads/interactions. In this blog, let’s look at the difference between Instagram Posts and Instagram stories as these are the most commonly used features on Instagram and to understand how to make the best use of them.
Instagram Post:
Instagram began its journey by introducing the Instagram post- original feature of the social media platform. Instagram post offers users to share images and video content with captions and hashtags. The feature provides tagging of other accounts on the post as well as tagging location. The audience can like, comment and share the post. The post works based upon the Instagram algorithm and not in chronological order; this implies that the audience will see the post with better analytics and engagement than the post posted prior.
Instagram Stories:
Instagram launched Stories in August 2016, and it has become Instagram’s popular feature. It took people a while to get used to the new feature, but later on, it gained popularity with over 150 million Instagram users using Stories daily. They make up 25% of all Instagram users. Stories allow the user to share multiple photos and videos that appear in a slideshow form. Different story features such as Poll, Question Tag, Ranking bar, Quiz etc., allows the audience to engage with the users.
Instagram Post Vs Instagram Stories
- Content Life: Content life implies how long the post/story will remain on Instagram for the audience to view.
Instagram posts are evergreen in nature, and the audience can see the post, doesn’t matter how long ago it was shared, while stories have a definite duration. Stories last only for 24 hours after they have been shared.
- Purpose: Both features have a different purpose for serving.
Due to their evergreen nature, Instagram posts are ideal for gaining reach in terms of followers, account discovery, and profile visits. On the other hand, stories are better used for engagement. The story’s main purpose is to engage with their present audience by sharing short life content such as as- sales, discounts, peek into the day and other in the moment content. Using stories effectively is a great way to engage and understand the audience using polls, question tags etc.
- Advance Planning: For users using the Instagram account for business purposes, it’s important to plan content.
The posts need to be well planned with the target audience’s content, which initiates desired action when it comes to posts. Posts need to be relevant to the business. In stories, they are more random and do not follow a hard and fast rule. Stories are much more casual than posts; hence can be shared at the moment.
Business accounts, though, today to make the best use of the platform, tend to plan the stories as a part of their marketing strategy.
- Nature of Content: Nature of content refers to the message, action, relevance the content is bound to make.
Instagram posts are more structured to maintain a well-organised feed with a theme and colour scheme. Content is relevant to the business and eye-catchy to stop people from scrolling and check it out. The content is evergreen in nature. Stories need not be so structured. They are fleeting as they last only for 24 hours and are only relevant for a brief time. Stories can also welcome content that is not or less relevant to the business.
Type of Content on Instagram Post
- Long-lasting Content
- Text Graphics
- Carousels
- Professional Photos (Events, Portfolios etc.)
- Products/Service
- Concepts/Descriptions
Type of Content on Instagram Story
- Behind the scenes
- Announcements/Updates
- Polls/Quiz/Q&A
- Content with less shelf-life
- Anything not worthy of the main feed
Which one is better?
There is no definite answer as to which one is better amongst the two. Instagram Posts and Stories both cater to different roles. For a business to grow comprehensively, it needs to create a mix of both. It all comes down to what outcome you are seeking from the post.
References:
21 Important Facts About Instagram | Inc.com
Instagram Feed vs Instagram Stories: Which is Best? (a $1,000 Experiment) (adespresso.com)
Instagram Stories vs Instagram Posts — Atlanta Social Media Company – (imaginemediaconsulting.com)
Instagram Stories vs Instagram Feed: What to Post and Where [Infographic] | Social Media Today
Instagram Stories vs Instagram Feed: What to Post and Where [Infographic] | Social Media Today
Ecliqs Consulting a group of highly experienced and creative professionals who are focused on improving our clients’ digital footprint. Get in touch with us for digital marketing services. We can help you in growing your business!
Join us on Social Media:
