This document analyzes Instagram Stories and its growing popularity and use for advertising. Some key points: - Instagram Stories sees 250 million daily active users and allows users to post photos/videos that disappear after 24 hours. - Popular brands and publishers like Buzzfeed, Vogue, and ESPN are using Stories to engage audiences in an authentic way. - Advertisers can run pop-up ads in Stories or promote influencer content through sponsored posts and links. - As Stories continues to grow, more companies are adapting by using it to promote content and drive traffic to their sites and apps.

1. Media Landscape Analysis:
Instagram Stories
Authentic Conversations With Audience
A.J. Gersh, Haley Jones, Sasha Levin, Lindsay Schiffman
Syracuse University, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications

2. Media Landscape Analysis
- Instagram Demographics
- Instagram Stories
- What Is It?
- Why?
- Advertising
- Sponsored Content
- Swipe Up To Link
- Who’s Killing It & Why
- Instagram vs. Snapchat
- BuzzFeed & Conde Nast on Instagram Stories
- Looking Ahead

3. Instagram Info & Demographics
Instagram (Aslam, 2017):
- Daily Active Users: 400 million
- Daily Active Stories Users: 250 million (6/21/17)
- 68% of users are female.
- 80% users are outside the United States.
- 32% of internet users are on Instagram.
- 59% of internet users aged 18-29 use Instagram.
- 17% of teens say Instagram is the most important social media site.

4. Instagram Stories: Overview
- August 2, 2016: Instagram introduces stories (Instagram, 2016).
- Daily users: 250 million
Features:
- All users are able to post and view stories. Once posted, they stay online for
24 hours.
- Users have the ability to personalize stories with filters, location services,
stickers, and different brush strokes and sizes.
- User’s stories can be posted as pictures or as videos, using hands-free mode,
Boomerang, reversed videos, or even the Live feature introduced on Nov. 21,
2016 (Instagram, 2016)

5. Instagram Stories: Why?
- A conversation
- Unique/Novel Content
- Authentic
- “BTS”
- Urgency + Fun
- Watch now or miss out
- Interactive
- Tagging places & people
- Reply (text or photo)
- Share

6. Instagram Stories: Who’s killing it
@mashable @voguemagazine @espn @nordstrom

7. Instagram Stories: Advertising
1. Actual pop-up Ad
- Raw tone of Instagram
Stories makes pop up ads
feel less like an #ad
- Targeted Advertising to
reach their desired audience
(Instagram)
@dvf @fabfitfun @birchbox

8. Instagram Stories: Advertising
2. Sponsored Content
- Since influencers are
top curators of
engaging Stories, their
audiences are more
accepting of said
Stories even if it has
sponsored content
3. Native Advertising
@somethingnavy @somethingnavy

9. Instagram Stories: Advertising
Native Advertising on Instagram Gets
A New Look
- When influencers post Instagrams paid
for by brands there will now be an
option to write “paid partnership” for
transparency with their audience
- IG hopes to eliminate risks associated
with native advertising such as
deceiving consumers and risk of brand
integrity
- Disruptive?
- Changed how people advertise on
social media@songofstyle @songofstyle

10. Instagram Stories: Swipe Up To Link
- “Learn More” and
“See More” are
features to further
interaction with a
brand
- Facilitates shopping
- BuzzFeed uses this
feature to engage
their audience and
draws viewers to the
actual BuzzFeed
website @buzzfeed
@lullbed

11. Instagram vs. Snapchat
- IG Stories has bigger reach
- There are more monthly active Instagram users (700 million) than monthly
active Snapchat users (300 million) (Ward, 2017).
- Snap can’t tag people, just adopted swipe up
- Influencers like it better
- Snapchat's search function makes it much harder to find and follow
someone than on Instagram.
- Snap offers less stats: Unique views, how many stories viewed, and
number of screenshots.
- But influencers and advertisers want much more. Instagram provides
followers, website clicks, impressions, reach, engagement,
demographics.
Study- Influencer Agency MediaKix tracked Snapchat's top 12 influencers (who have close to 100m followers) for 30 days to see
how often they posted on Instagram Stories…
- The top Snapchat influencers actually posted 25% more on Instagram Stories than on Snapchat! (Forbes, 2017)

12. Instagram Stories: BuzzFeed Adapting
- BuzzFeed
has started
to promote
content
through IG
Stories
- Tasty has
over 13.5
million
followers,
alone.

13. Instagram Stories: BuzzFeed Adapting
- BuzzFeed can leverage Instagram Stories to
further promote their brand and drive more
viewership/revenue.
- Buzzfeed has started promoting sponsored
content through pop up ads, too.
- Businesses like BuzzFeed are able to track stats
like reach measurement, replies and the number
of people who have exited the content (Liffreing,
2017).
- BuzzFeed News could begin to break news
stories on Instagram Stories.

14. Instagram Stories: Conde Nast
Conde Nast Brand Followers
(Instagram, 2017):
- Vogue: 16.4 mil
- GQ: 3.8 mil
- Vanity Fair: 3.1 mil
- Bon Appetit: 2 mil
- The New Yorker: 1.7 mil
- Glamour: 1.4 mil
- Golf Digest: 647k

15. Instagram Stories: Conde Nast
Conde Nast Traveller: 1.4 mil followers
- Conde Nast uses food, pop culture, architecture and appealing views in stories to draw
users to swipe up and visit their website (Willens, 2017).

16. Instagram Stories: Looking Ahead
- Increase in user growth
- Advertisers take more control over it and use influencers (popular makeup
artist saying “Swipe up if you like this makeup”)
- We could see content creators better utilizing IG Stories
- TED Talks or new Apple Releases on Instagram Live?
- Allows for a quick and urgent way for content creators to promote
- Offer more behind the scenes and personal content from users
https://giphy.com/gifs/personal-squidward-existential-crisis-2013-zk6HuNKb9WauQ

17. References
Aslam, S. (2017, August 24). Instagram by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts. Omnicore. Retrieved September 18,
2017, from https://www.omnicoreagency.com/instagram-statistics/
Constine, J. (2017, January 30). Instagram Stories is stealing Snapchat’s Users. Tech Crunch.
Retrieved September 18, 2017 from https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/30/attack-of-the-clone/
Giphy. Retrieved September 19, 2018 from https://giphy.com/gifs/personal-squidward-existential-crisis-2013-zk6HuNKb9WauQ.
Instagram. Advertising on Instagram | Instagram Business. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2017, from https://business.instagram.com/advertising
Instagram. (2016, August 02). Introducing Instagram Stories. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from
http://blog.instagram.com/post/148348940287/160802-stories
Instagram. (2016, November 21). New Ways to Share in the Moment. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from
http://blog.instagram.com/post/153474421572/161121-launches
Liffreing, I. (2017, January 11). Instagram introduces ads within stories. Campaign.
Retrieved September 18, 2017. http://www.campaignlive.com/article/instagram-introduces-ads-within-stories/1420426
Moss, S. (2017, June 03). How Instagram Stories Could Change Commerce As We Know It. Social Media Today. Retrieved
September 18, 2017, from
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/how-instagram-stories-could-change-commerce-we-know-it
Nesbitt, J. (2017, June 27). Instagram's ’s New Native Advertising Feature: A Necessary Step Toward Transparency. Adweek.
Retrieved September 18, 2017, from
http://www.adweek.com/digital/jason-nesbitt-strike-social-guest-post-instagram-native-advertising-transparency/
Ward, T. (2017, May 03). Oh, Snap: Instagram Stories Is Killing The Competition. Forbes. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomward/2017/05/03/oh-snap-instagram-stories-is-killing-the-competition/#28d4f603b0
4e
Willens, M. (2017, July 27). Conde Nast is using Instagram and Facebook to sell mugs and beach towels. Digiday.
Retrieved September 18, 2017, from https://digiday.com/media/conde-nast-using-instagram-facebook-sell-mugs-beach-towels/