Why we like Instagram Stories…
As the old Picasso saying goes, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Now we’re past the initial shock of how similar Instagram Stories are to trusty Snapchat, let’s look at what we like about the platform and how we think it can act as a unique window into the lives of our clients in the high speed world of F1.
1. Your followers are already there!
Unlike Snapchat, you don’t have to grow a new audience on Instagram Stories. This has to be the biggest benefit. Having been regularly posting on Snapchat for a few years now, I was amazed to find my first post on Instagram stories got double the engagement straight away! Not bad.
2. Raw, on the fly, video-first
It’s safe to say that Instagram Stories is a video-first platform which makes it exciting and fun for experimentation, especially in the F1 world which is notoriously guarded and exclusive. It doesn’t have the funky lenses like Snapchat, which are surely heavily guarded by copyrights, but it does have a neon writing tool, which we like. It will be interesting to see how these features develop…
3. The ‘real’ side of Instagram
Before Instagram stories we’ve been used to Instagram being a platform that’s as beautifully attractive as it’s often an untruthful and unrealistic reflection of someone’s life! Stories act as a refreshing juxtaposition between the glossy, selective and curated, with the raw, random and unedited.
4. Behind the scenes is best
Working with individual F1 drivers and sponsors, the content that performs the best is behind the scenes. Showing unique angles of the car or what the drivers are getting up to when they’re not throwing it round corners at 200 mph. Now both sides of the story can be shown; the aspirational content sits on the main Instagram page with its beautiful light filters, and on the Stories side, the audience gets a first person view where the randomness and chaos is informative and exciting. The action of F1 instantly becomes more relevant when it’s captured by a driver.
5. Embrace the humour
As serious as F1 is on the technical side of things, we know it’s a sport with a top sense of humour too. Like Snapchat, it seems that the style of content most people want to see has a funny angle to it. Whether it’s a cat with laser beams coming out of its eyes, or an F1 car with the Batman logo drawn on, it’s time to start embracing the humour in everything!
Now we’ll wait and see if Instagram gets sued by Snapchat, OR if they bring out more amazing features like lenses, geo-targeted filters and the rest. One thing is for sure, if you’ve got a healthy following on Instagram already, jump onto Stories. Your fans will love it and you might make them LOL!
