How 8 Brands Use Instagram Story Swipe Ups

As a marketer, you know you've got what it takes to build and manage an incredible Instagram page.

For instance, you've made your business' account branded so it aligns with your company, filled it with eye-catching posts, and turned the page into a great outlet to encourage audience engagement.

Everything … well … almost everything, is going smoothly.

The tiny snag: How in the world are you supposed to make Instagram Stories Swipe Ups worthwhile, for your audience and your ROI?

Instagram is one of the most widely-used platforms for marketing efforts, but only 21% of marketers are seeing a return on investment from their Instagram strategy. You might be experiencing the same snafu — you're putting a lot of effort into your Instagram, like adding Stories, but they're not earning the traffic you need.

The problem may not be in your content, though. It could be your delivery.

But don't worry — in this post, we're going to cover some strategies you can do to give your Story viewership a 180, as well as take a look at what other brands are doing to make their Stories a worthwhile tool in their content strategies.

Let's go over some best practices for driving traffic to your Instagram Stories before we get into how to leverage the Swipe Up tool.

Best Practices for Driving Instagram Story Traffic

Are you keeping these practices in mind when you go to upload your Story? Before you schedule your next one, refer to these strategies to give your viewership a boost.

1. Preview the Story on the main feed.

To drive traffic to your Instagram Story, a sure-fire way is to make a post about it on your main feed.

Posting a "preview" photo or video on your main feed, and then alluding that the rest of the post is in your Story, compels the audience to explore the missing content. This method caters to the fear of missing out, or FOMO, because Stories disappear after 24 hours. The only way to combat this is archiving the story in a highlight.

2. Make it into a highlight.

Highlights can be a traffic driver, as well. If you encourage user-generated content, save them in a highlight when you share them to your Story. Then, tag the customer who posted the content. If audiences see that you shout-out customers, they'll be more inclined to check back to see if their submission gets picked.

3. Promote the Story on other channels.

Another way to drive traffic to your Story is to let your audiences know about it. Adding a simple "Follow us on Instagram!" CTA in email newsletters or on another social media account will let audiences outside of your current Instagram followers know that there's another way to engage with your content.

4. Run interactive Stories.

Finally, running a contest or Q&A on Instagram drives traffic because it encourages audience participation. For instance, if you run a contest that gives away an item, and make one of the rules tagging two friends, you can spread your content through your audience's shares.

Similarly, if you give your followers the chance to engage directly with your brand, they're more inclined to check your Story for more opportunities to interact. By doing this, you're strengthening customer relationships.

So, now that you know some ways you can get more eyes on your Story, let's look at some examples of how you can keep them using the Swipe Up feature.

Additionally, if you're still unsure about how Instagram Stories works, take a look at Instagram Stories: What They Are and How to Make One Like a Pro.

Examples of Brands That Include Links in Stories

So, you have a pretty good idea of how to drive traffic to your Story. But once audiences get there, what should they see? And, what is the content to keep them coming back?

Let's go over some examples of brands using their Stories in a way that makes audiences think, "I can't wait to look at this account again!"

1. The Newsette

Tactic: Promote A Blog Post.

The Newsette is an online daily newsletter, supporting stories of women in the workplace. Their corresponding Instagram account supports the newsletter, especially in the Stories. This Story in particular, for instance, highlights a new blog post:

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Right off the bat, this Story is graphically compelling. The background is fun and enjoyable without distracting from the focal point of the Story — the post. Using Stories to promote your latest interview or blog post can entice fans who don't want to miss out on the 24-hour offer.

2. Maddie Lymburner

Tactic: Share A YouTube Video.

As a health food blogger and fitness influencer, Maddie Lymburner has a lot of content she can share on her Instagram Stories. For her fitness Instagram, Maddie posts at-home workouts or a preview of her new workout video, like shown below:

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This Story features a sneak peek of the workout, and provides the link, so Instagrammers can watch the video without closing the app. If your YouTube account could use some love, you can leverage Stories to get more views on your YouTube channel, as well.

3. Father/Daughter Records

Tactic: Post A Link To Stream Content.

To bid a "Happy Birthday" to a record, independent label Father/Daughter Records used Stories to celebrate. What else is included in the Story is a link to stream or buy the record:

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You can use Stories to give your account some brand personality. For instance, if your team just created a new podcast episode for your brand's podcast, you can use the swipe up Instagram feature to compel new listeners to follow along.

4. Steffi Lynn x Adobe

Tactic: Partner With An Influencer.

If you are an independent artist, or part of a business that does partnerships, this is a great way for you to use the Swipe Up tool on a Story. For instance, Steffi Lynn is an independent graphic design artist, and uses her Instagram account to showcase her work, or announce a new partnership, like in this Story, sponsored by Adobe:

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The swipe up links back to Adobe's new product, and its supporting product page. Independent artists like Steffi Lynn can use swipe up to link to their own ecommerce pages, and marketers or advertisers can work with influencers to include their company's links on the Story.

5. Coveteur

Tactic: Promote Your Podcast.

Coveteur is an online fashion and beauty publication. Recently, the team at Coveteur have been branching out and exploring more ways to deliver content, and to support that initiative, have been linking back to episodes in Stories.

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What's especially great about Coveteur choosing this episode to link to is that Bobbi Brown was the CEO of a successful cosmetics company of the same name, so to Coveteur's target audiences, Bobbi Brown is a respected thought leader in the beauty industry. Seeing a recognizable name on a Story from a brand that may be unrecognizable at first, instantly gives the publication a credibility boost.

6. Franklin & Whitman

Tactic: Share Your Ecommerce Options.

Do you sell your products online? The swipe up tool is an excellent way to inform customers about a sale or promotion, announce new products, or give updates about home-run products, like this one from skincare brand Franklin & Whitman:

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Fans of the company can enjoy the ease of buying their favorite products by swiping up on an Instagram Story, and leads that engage with this Story will find the pricing information useful as they continue on in their buyer's journey. Being proactive and using Stories to let customers know about your new products or upcoming discounts proves to your audience that you care about their needs as a customer — including allowing them to purchase your products wherever they prefer

7. The Mayfair Group

Tactic: Build Buzz For Your TikTok Videos.

If you have another social account that could use more followers, you can use Stories to link back to it, like brand representation company The Mayfair Group did below:

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The Story itself was a clip of a TikTok from the company's account. It asked followers to write what they're grateful for in a TikTok and tag the company. This is a great idea for promotion because it inspires action — after seeing this, I was immediately interested in making a TikTok of my own.

8. Girls' Night In Club

Tactic: Share Your Newsletter.

Maybe you have an email list, and are looking for more subscribers. You could leverage Stories for that, and post a highlight from the newsletter. Then, the swipe tool could link to the email sign-up form.

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Above is an example of how you can promote your newsletter through your Instagram account. Notice that, because the promotion was for an interview, the collaborators were tagged. This gives the community newsletter, Girls' Night In, more exposure from the collaborators' followers when the post gets reposted.

These are just some of the strategies and methods you can use to upgrade your Story content. Not only is there a chance to get a spike in viewership on your Instagram account, but you can also get eyes on some of your other content, as well.

Will I see your brand the next time I open the Discover page?