Facebook stories gives you a valuable opportunity to ramp up your engagement and following on the platform.
Over 500 million people use Facebook stories every day. That’s a boat load of people you can share your business with.
And because Facebook stories appear at the very top of your audience’s newsfeed, you can access a prime viewing location that many others aren’t taking advantage of yet.
So if you’re not using stories for your business right now, I urge you to reconsider making it a part of your marketing strategy.
In this post I’ll share the 5 types of Facebook stories you can share, and some practical tips to help you get started.
This post was inspired by the Facebook stories masterclass members get access to inside the Pet Biz Thrive Online Club. Where members not only get a complete tutorial on how to use stories, but get access to a bunch of story ideas to keep them active.
Not a member yet?
About you and your business
Facebook stories are a brilliant way to share the more human side of your business. They should give a better insight into you with behind-the-scenes content.
It’s an opportunity for you to be more playful and informal than the content you share in your regular page posts.
So get creative and start capturing your life day to day.
These might be simple images or videos you snap with your phone while you’re going about your day.
A few story ideas to get you started:
- A sneak peak of what you’ve been working on
- A video of you in action with your customer’s dogs
- A recent win you’re celebrating
- What you like to do in your free time when you’re not working
- Your big goal this year
Engagement boosters
We all want our audience to engage with our brand. It’s a great way to build real relationships with your audience.
So getting people to interact with your content is a good goal to keep in mind.
Facebook stories allows you to add a whole host of stickers to your stories to boost engagement.
You can tag people in your story, ask a question people can answer, share polls and more.
A few story ideas to get you started:
- How many pets do you have?
- What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought your pet?
- Do you celebrate your pet’s birthday?
- Does your dog sleep in your bed?
- If your dog was a human celebrity, who would they be?
Your top tips
Stories can be more educational too. It’s another chance to share your expertise and show your followers you know what you’re talking about.
Top tips videos work well, but keep them short and snappy.
If you’re sharing your tips with images, break your tips down into one tip per image story to make it more digestible.
A few story ideas to get you started:
- The #1 mistake your customers should avoid
- Your 5 top tips on your area of expertise
- Your thoughts on trends in your field
- Share your top 3 books you recommend
Lead generators
Every marketing activity you pursue should serve your business.
Engagement is great, and helping people get to know you is good too. But we also need a way to turn those viewers and followers into leads for our business.
This could be by talking about your lead magnet in your story, or by offering a free discovery call.
Unfortunately, adding custom links to stories is only for accounts with over 10,000 followers, or those that have been verified.
But there is a workaround.
If you click on the ‘link’ icon in your story you can add an action button that says ‘learn more’, or ‘book now’.
These call to action buttons use the links you already have featured on your about section on your business page.
So if you have a specific goal in mind to drive more discovery calls or get more email subscribers, add that link into the web link area in your about section.
Or, you could just ask people to reply to your story to book in or get the link for your lead magnet.
A few story ideas to get you started:
- Have you been struggling to… DM me to grab your free ebook
- A client’s success you’re celebrating
- Want to know how (your client’s name) achieved (result)? DM me to find out more.
Sales generators
Facebook stories are also a great way to generate direct sales for your business. And there is a handy trick to help you do that.
If you add a shop area to your Facebook page, you can add a button to your story that will take people directly to your service or product where they can learn more. This then links directly to the sales page on your website where they can buy.
All you need to do is click on the ‘link’ icon again, and select the ‘view product’ button.
The products or services from your shop will then be listed for you to select.
A few story ideas to get you started:
- Introduce your product or service
- Why your product or service is different to others
- I’m looking for 5 (Your ideal client) who want to (result) in the next 30 days.
- A video sharing the benefits of your product or service
I hope these story ideas have given you some inspiration for your own Facebook story strategy. Let me know in the comments how you get on…