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By reading the topic itself, you might have a thought, “Is it possible to add links to Instagram stories?” If so, how to add them? Adding Links to Instagram stories plays an important to drive more traffic to your website and increase more followers to your Instagram profile. In this article, we are going to discuss how to add links to your Instagram stories and find ways to incorporate story links into your Instagram marketing.
Instagram Stories – An Overview!
So, what are Instagram stories? Hope everyone aware of it! Instagram stories are nothing but simple stories as something that lets you “share all the moments of your day. The stories feature enables you to share multiple photos and videos, and they appear together in a “slideshow format”, which basically means a reel, like Snapchat. Just same as Snap Chat stories and WhatsApp Status feature, Instagram Stories too disappear automatically after 24 hours.
How Does Instagram Stories Work?
Instagram Stories works in three phases which includes:
- Posting
- Viewing
- Replying
Posting Instagram Stories
Tap the camera button in the top left of your screen or swipe right from anywhere to get the camera mode on. Now, tap or long press the record button to take photos or videos respectively. Once you’ve done with photo or video, now it’s time to edit with text, or sticker icons to add effects. Stickers can include location information, polls, and songs.
Once you’re finished editing, save your creation and tap the + circle icon to share your story with your followers. Photos and videos you share to your story disappear from the feed and your profile after 24 hours. Instagram also offers a privacy policy when it comes to sharing your story. You can decide who wish to see your story; if If you don’t want someone to see your story, you can hide your story from them. Just tap the profile icon to access your profile, and then tap the settings/more button.
Viewing Your Instagram Stories
When you post a video or photo as an Instagram story, it appears on your profile; i.e. a colorful ring will appear around your profile picture, and people can tap it to see your story. And just like Facebook, your story will appear in the news feed section of your followers.
And also, if you’ve added a HashTag, location, or location-based sticker, it may also appear on HashTag or location pages.
Replying to Instagram Stories
Just like WhatsApp status feature, you can send a reply to stories with a photo or video. You can send a reply just with text or with an image. While you’re viewing the stories, there’s a new camera button at the bottom of the screen. Tap that, and then snap a pic of yourself or record a video or take a Boomerang. You can move and resize the story image that you’re replying to, as well, and insert that in your photo.
You can also apply filters or stickers and hit send to share your creation with your friends. Your friend will get this reply as the direct message along with the thumbnail of the original story which he/she can view from their direct message inbox.
Features of Instagram Stories
- Add effects: Like Snapchat, you can add doodles, text, stickers, live face filters, and location stickers to your story.
- Add music: The most recent update to Instagram is the ability to add music directly to your Stories. Facebook has signed deals with all the major record labels to secure various songs, with more being added each day.
- See who’s watching your story: When watching your own story, swipe up to see who’s watched each photo and video. (Just like WhatsApp Status feature, you can see who has viewed your story)
- Make your story private: If your account is set to private, your story will only be visible to your followers. You can also hide your entire story from anyone you don’t want to see it, even if they follow you.
- Post your story to your profile: Your Instagram Story by default won’t appear on your profile grid or in feed, but you can choose to feature a particular part of your story by posting it on your profile.
How to Add Links to Instagram Stories
One of the biggest issues faced while using Instagram for marketing is that links in captions aren’t clickable. You can add a URL to your Instagram post caption, but this is not a solution.
At first, Instagram released clickable links in stories, they allowed this to only verified accounts but starting from last year the social network app is letting all business Instagram accounts with 10,000 or more followers add links to their Instagram Stories. Adding clickable links to your Instagram stories will help you to drive more traffic to your website, boost your Instagram followers and promote your product/services.
If you want to add a link to your Instagram Story you have to follow the following steps:
Snap a Click to Start Your Story
Tap the Camera Icon on the top right of the screen to begin your story. Once you have tapped the camera icon, you can explore a wide range of options which assist you to take a photo, a video, or you can swipe up and access your library so you can choose any photo or video that you captured within the past 24 hours.
Add Hyperlink
Click on the Chain or Hyperlink icon on the top and a new page will open where you can either enter or paste the URL that you want your followers to click. Once you put your link make sure you press done. Keep in mind, this feature will be enabled to your profile only if you have a verified account or if you have a business profile that has more than 10,000 followers. And also, to avail this feature, you need to convert your account into a business account.
Include Call-to-Action
Adding call-to-action is the important step, as it is the one which makes the audience to click the link; so make sure to keep the call-to-action engaging, interesting and also create an urge to click the link.
Few Examples of Call-to-Action
- Swipe up for more!
- Read more here!
- For more information!
- Find out more!
- Swipe up at any time to join!
- Want more? Swipe up!
- Swipe up for the tutorial!
Once you’re done, your Instagram story is done with a clickable link.
Effective Ways to Use Links in Your Instagram Stories
Depending on the number of posts in your full story, you may want to include one or two clickable links to the entire story collection. For example, if your story is a series of three or four posts, only one should have the link. If your story has six to eight posts, you can include the link in two of those posts. Below given are few of the creative ways to add links to your Instagram stories:-
Newsletter Sign up Page Link
If it’s worthwhile for users, newsletter signup pages are fantastic because it’s low commitment: it takes two seconds and people can opt out at any time if they want.
Company Blog Page URL
While you’re promoting your latest article on your Instagram Stories, be sure to insert the link to it for your followers to swipe up and read it right then and there. Including your blog page URL as the clickable link in Instagram stories will automatically drive more traffic and visitors.
YouTube Channel Link
If your business has a YouTube channel, Instagram Stories are the best spot to promote it. Give viewers a little teaser on a story card and add the link to the full video, so it will make your followers feel crazier and head over to subscribe your YouTube channel.
Product Link
Are you producing an Instagram story to demonstrate the usage of the product or the product description of a specific item? Then, you can provide the product URL as the clickable link here!
A Special Sale
Are all your products on sale? Or maybe you’re running a special contest to celebrate the upcoming holidays? Either way, it’s an awesome thing to broadcast through your Stories, along with a link to it.
There are countless ways to engage your audience through the link in your Instagram Stories, and there are so many advantages that come with doing so. A great creative paired with an effective CTA is all it takes. The more value you can bring to your fans, the likelier they are to become emotionally connected to your brand, which ultimately translates to your bottom line.
How to Get Followers to Click Your Profile Link
- Make sure that you add your opportunity or site link to your profile page as well as a 150 character description. If you are a blogger then a very good strategy would be to use a customized Bitly link that you can swap in and out as your site updates with new content to highlight the changes. You can also then take advantage of Bitly’s analytics tools to track how you are doing and see who is viewing your content and when.
- Add a text hyperlink to your images. Simply edit your pictures and add a link to the pic in text form that viewers can then copy into the address bar. This will help with branding especially if you add a cool logo or watermark. It also helps to stop other members from stealing your images.
- Refer your Instagram followers to your bio/profile link with a call to action like, “for more information on this opportunity click the link on our bio” or “Click the link in my bio to visit my site” something along those lines
That’s all for now!
I hope I have provided some information to help you get that clickable link that would help your Instagram marketing! Stay tuned with BulkQ to stay up-to-date with Instagram marketing strategies!
