Facebook Stories are photo and video content that are only available for 24 hours. With their finite accessibility, they are one of the most effective tools for reaching and engaging a target audience. In fact, according to Facebook, over 4 million advertisers already use this content format in their social media ads every month.
If you’re not already using Facebook Stories for your brand or business, now is the time to do so! In today’s guide, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about Facebook Stories and offer expert tips to help you leverage Stories for your business.
Let’s dive in!
What Are Facebook Stories and How Do They Work?
Facebook Stories are a type of Facebook post that disappears after 24 hours. They can be photos, videos, plain text on a colored background, or music tracks and are located at the top of the News Feed.
Your Stories are visible to the public and can be viewed at any time during the 24-hour duration. Users who view your stories can react to them and reply with a public comment or a direct message.
Detailed Overview of Facebook Stories
With more than 500 million people using Facebook Stories each day, it’s not surprising that more and more brands are utilizing this post type in their strategies.
What sets this content format apart from other post types on Facebook is its limited availability. This means that after the 24 hours are up, your Stories will be gone forever unless you save them to your Story Highlights.
But how is this content format relevant for brands and businesses looking to market on the platform?
Impact on Business Marketing
With the prevalence of social media and technology in our daily lives, Facebook Stories allow businesses to create a sense of urgency and capitalize on the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) among social media users.
A study by Przybylski et al. (2013) in Computers in Human Behaviour found that “FoMO was robustly linked to higher levels of social media engagement.”
With their limited availability, social media users are more likely to view and interact with Facebook Stories compared with other content formats, making it an effective tool for reaching and engaging your target audience.
Comparison with Other Social Media
Facebook Stories were launched in 2017 to compete with Snapchat’s Stories feature. However, despite being the pioneer, Snapchat Stories have a much lower reach compared with Facebook and Instagram.
When it comes to actual content, format, and accessibility, there is virtually no difference among the three. That said, one edge that Facebook and Instagram Stories have is their shared availability on the Meta platform. Because of this, users can easily cross-post their Stories between these two apps to improve reach.
Finally, in contrast to Instagram, Facebook Stories support reactions and interactive stickers that you can use to encourage followers to interact with your post.
How to Create Facebook Stories in 5 Easy Steps
Creating Facebook Stories is quite straightforward and the platform comes with a selection of tools that you can use to optimize your posts.
Here’s how you can create a Facebook Story in five easy steps.
Step 1: Access the Story Feature
There are two ways to access the Story feature on mobile: via the Facebook app and Facebook Messenger.
To create Stories on the Facebook app, open the app and tap the Plus icon on the bottom of the screen or the Stories option below the status bar.
Then, select Story from the options.
Meanwhile, to access the Story feature on Facebook Messenger, you need to open the Messenger app, tap Stories in the lower right corner, and click Add to story.
Step 2: Choose Your Content
After that, you can select the images that you want or tap the camera icon in the upper right corner to shoot your Story. If you’re using the app’s camera, you can adjust the camera settings to apply an effect, shoot a boomerang, or use a layout.
When uploading photos or videos, be mindful of the Facebook Story size requirements to ensure an optimal viewing experience. For instance, Facebook photo Stories are limited to JPG or PNG file formats and must come in a 9:16 or 1.91:1 aspect ratio.
Facebook video Stories, on the other hand, have a maximum length of 15 seconds and must be in an MP4 or MOV file format.
Step 3: Customize with Effects
After selecting your media, you can edit your post to make it more visually appealing and engaging.
At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see some track recommendations that you can use in your post, and on the right side, you’ll find different options for adding text, stickers, and effects.
Facebook has a varied selection of stickers you can use to encourage interactions, such as Add Yours, questions, and polls.
Step 4: Add Music and Links
If you don’t like any of the recommended tracks, you can click on the Music icon to explore Facebook’s music library.
Due to copyright laws, however, there are only a limited number of songs available for businesses on Facebook.
After choosing a song, you can tap its icon on the right side to choose the snippet to use in your post. Music can serve as a background track or be featured in your Story via a sticker.
Next, click on the downward arrow on the right sidebar and select Links from the options. Here, you can add a custom link that users can visit when they swipe up on your Story. Depending on the content and purpose of your post, this can be your website, a different social media profile, or a product link.
Keep in mind that you can only add one link per Story, so choose the one most relevant to your post.
Step 5: Publish or Schedule
Once all the elements of your Story are complete, you can tap Share to publish it right away.
Unfortunately, post scheduling isn’t available on the Facebook mobile app. If you want to schedule Facebook Stories from your phone, you need a scheduling tool like Publer. With our app, you can easily create content and images to use in your Stories and utilize our different scheduling options to streamline your posting schedule.
How to Use Facebook Stories for Business
From engaging your audience to offering a different outlet for customer interactions, there are several ways to use Facebook Stories in business contexts.
Let’s discuss them below.
#1. Engaging Your Audience
Stories are seen as a more authentic and “in-the-moment” content format, which means they are an excellent way to improve your relatability as a brand. Instead of posting overly-edited promotional content, consider uploading behind-the-scenes footage during a product shoot or a quick how-to video using one of your products to connect with and engage your audience.
#2. Promoting Special Offers
Compared to a traditional post that can get lost in the algorithm, Facebook Stories are permanently located at the top of the News Feed. This makes them highly visible and accessible, which means they are the perfect content format for promoting limited time offers.
Make sure to use eye-catching visuals and bright colors to encourage users to click on your Story and add a custom link so they can easily access the offer.
#3. Improving Customer Interaction
Facebook Stories have several features to help encourage customer interactions, such as polls, questions, and “Add Yours” stickers. Rather than posting a photo and calling it a day, consider utilizing these features when creating content.
Using polls and questions is a good opportunity to involve your audience in your brand’s decision-making, and you can even get some valuable feedback on the content and topics that you post about.
#4. Creating Sponsored Facebook Story Video Ads
Aside from posting authentic content, running Facebook Story ads is another great way to utilize this feature.
A Facebook survey found that 56% of viewers browsed a brand’s website, while another 50% searched for the product online after seeing it in Stories. This means that Facebook Stories are crucial for brands who want to boost their marketing efforts both inside and outside of the platform.
How to Create Facebook Story Ads
To create your Facebook Story ad, head over to the Ads Manager and click the +Create button under Campaigns.
Then, select your campaign’s objective from the list. You can also hover over each option to see a list of its benefits.
After choosing an objective, click Continue and customize your campaign by choosing its name and setting other important details like special categories and A/B testing capabilities.
When done, click Next and adjust your audience controls to target a specific demographic.
Below the audience settings, you’ll find the option to customize your ad placements. The placement refers to where your ad appears on Facebook, such as on the feed, in search results, or in Stories.
When done, click Next to proceed with creating your ad. You can upload pre-made images and videos and check their previews on the right to ensure that they are optimized for the Story format.
You can also customize the text, music, and call to action featured in your ad. We recommend utilizing the Facebook ad library to help you create more effective ads for your brand.
When all the details are complete, you can click Publish to post your ad.
How to Make the Most Out of Facebook Stories: 4 Best Practices
Facebook Stories can be a great way to improve your brand awareness and audience interactions. However, simply knowing the basics of creating Stories won’t be enough to make your content stand out on the platform.
Here are some best practices to keep in mind when posting Facebook Stories for maximum results.
#1. Post Consistently
More recent Stories will have higher visibility on Facebook, so it’s important to post them consistently to keep your content at the top of the queue. But don’t just start posting Facebook Stories randomly, as it’s still important to be strategic with your posting schedule.
Some ways to do this are by consistently posting during the best times to post on Facebook to reach your target audience and by experimenting with your posting frequency to help you find the number of posts that works best.
#2. Leverage User-Generated Content
Utilizing user-generated content in your Facebook Stories is an effective way to appeal to your target audience. As one of the top Facebook trends in 2024, UGC can significantly influence the popularity of your Stories and drive clicks and engagements. Plus, this content is already available online, which can help you save time and effort in content creation.
#3. Monitor Your Stories’ Performance
Aside from posting consistently, it’s also important to track and analyze your Stories’ performance on Facebook analytics. What kind of content received the most engagement? Do people finish video Stories until the end or do they stop watching? This information can help you refine your strategy for Facebook Stories and improve your results.
#4. Plan Your Stories
While Facebook Stories are great for spur-of-the-moment posts, planning your Story content beforehand can help it be more effective and impactful. Consider creating a content calendar to organize your content and give you enough time to craft each Story carefully.
You can still create Stories on the fly to maintain authenticity, but if you want to establish a solid online presence on Facebook, your brand voice and aesthetic should be evident in all your content, including Stories.
You can utilize a social media management tool like Publer to help you plan content in advance. This will also help you build a more consistent schedule, which can help boost your visibility on the platform.
Conclusion
Facebook Stories are one of the most versatile content formats on the platform, and they are great for improving your reach and discoverability. You can create stories to connect with your audience or utilize them for ads to help achieve your brand goals.
If you want to supercharge your Facebook strategy, consider using a complete social media management platform like Publer. Our tool comes with an array of features, like analytics tracking and AI integration, to enhance your content creation and distribution process.
Facebook Stories FAQs
#1. What is the optimal resolution for Facebook Stories to ensure high-quality display?
The optimal resolution for Facebook Stories to ensure a high-quality display is 1080×1920 pixels. This resolution is optimized for vertical screens or mobile phones and ensures the best viewing experience.
#2. How can I view analytics for my Facebook Stories?
You can view your Facebook Stories analytics in the Meta Business Suite. Log into Meta Business Suite and tap “Insights” on the left sidebar. Then, click on Content and select Stories under “All content” to view their reach and engagements.
#3. What should I do if my scheduled Facebook Story fails to post?
If your scheduled Facebook Story fails to post, you can try publishing it manually by going to your scheduled posts. This issue is likely caused by system errors or authorization problems.
Ervin Kalemi
