Localogy Insider invites experts in a field relevant to our community to share practical advice on how to do the business of local better. In this ExpertTake, Tiger Pistol‘s Amy Abell explains how to get the most out of Facebook Stories. 

The way we share information constantly evolves, and, as advertisers, we’re always looking for fun, fast ways to tell our story and promote our business. Facebook’s standard placements are proven drivers of user engagement and great business results, but the social platform’s latest offering, Facebook Stories, offers prime real estate for your advertisement.

Facebook Stories bring your ads to life, and it’s easy to see why they secure more than 300 million users’ attention every day. Shown front and center on a user’s news feed, Stories are likely the first thing users see upon login. One tap accesses a user’s Stories Feed, and subsequent taps scroll through their friends’ stories.

Stories ads are sprinkled throughout this feed, generating views and allowing in-feed engagement as they move from one Story to the next. The mechanism of accessing Stories creates a captive atmosphere for the ads to appear within, increasing a business’ potential reach to a larger and more diverse audience.

As Advertisers, Why Should We Care?

With their full-screen creative format, Stories engage mobile audiences on a different level than in-feed ads. Mobile advertising is essential to driving brand recognition and determining campaign effectiveness, and advertising in stories has proven to drive valuable business outcomes. According to research by Ipsos, a global market research and consulting firm:

• 62% of people said they became more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in a Story.
• 68% of people polled said they use Stories on at least three apps regularly.
• 63% said they plan to use Stories more in the future.

What are the Elements of a Successful Stories Advertisement?

• Begin With Your Brand – Introduce yourself at the beginning of the creative and remind users who you are.
• Keep Attention with Speed – It’s important to remember things move fast in stories, so make sure to deliver your message and showcase your brand quickly, we recommend within the first 5 seconds.
• Creative is Important – Creative is a key factor in driving campaign effectiveness and must align with your business goals and objectives. Define your strategy and align your creative elements to support.
• Enhance Your Story with Sound – Music can help enhance your message for your brand.
• Design with Your Objective in Mind – Tailor the creative of your ad to the objective and ask yourself, what are you looking to achieve?
• Test and Learn – Experimenting with creativity on stories will help identify what strategies work for your audiences, creative, and business objectives.

Leveraging Facebook Stories at Scale

When it comes to localizing ads at scale, the Stories ad placement should not be ignored. Whether using localized dynamic video ads or static creative, advertisers can still reap the benefits of Facebook Stories’ unique real estate, mobile optimization, and captive elements within the Facebook Newsfeed. What’s more, localized story ads published from local Pages give you the opportunity to direct consumers exactly where to buy your company’s products or access your services at a location most relevant to them.

Facebook Stories image credit: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/video/facebook-story