By Lydia Calderón, Smart Tan Marketing Manager

Instagram recently launched Stories, their rendition of Snapchat’s app. Like Snapchat, stories are photos and videos that can be viewed for 24 hours before disappearing. On Instagram, they’re located as little circles at the top of your Instagram feed and can also be viewed on a user’s profile.

With more than 300 million people using Stories daily, users are spending significantly more time on Instagram compared to Snapchat. Instagram is quickly taking over Snapchat and dominating the Story scene. Of the eight million businesses that are on Instagram, over 50 percent have created a story. Of that 50 percent, one in five organic stories are estimated to elicit a message from a consumer.

If you’re not taking advantage of Instagram stories, it’s time to give it a try. Posting on your Instagram feed is a necessity for your marketing efforts, but also adding Stories will definitely expact your reach and impact. With tons of new features, your salon has the opportunity to stand out from the crowd and create interactive posts for your followers to take part in.

Instagram stories are a charming and unique way to reach your customers. Instead of your followers scrolling endlessly and potentially missing your post, they automatically see your story after they stream stories from their friends. And, there are additional elements you can add to your stories to enhance enhance engagement and help followers remember your post. What features should your salon use?

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.