Your own InstaStory filter – does your brand need one?

REGULAR AND INTERESTING INSTASTORY – WHAT FOR?

How to tap the potential of Stories on Instagram.

Publishing regularly on Instagram is one of the more important things you can do to grow a brand in the online market. Building and holding on to your audience's engagement, and keeping them constantly active, is the key to raising awareness that the brand exists and what it stands for – and, with that, to its business success. Plenty of companies decide to bring in a marketing agency, which takes the weight of producing content off their shoulders while adding its own experience to the work.

InstaStory, one of the more important features of this social medium, took over the world of the app's users relatively recently. The idea, though it bore a striking resemblance to features of Snapchat (still popular back then), came with Instagram's core advantages built in: links back to content published permanently on the profile, that is, the grid of photos and videos. Those Stories are usually more or less staged snippets of life, product showcases, funny images and so on. For popular figures, InstaStory became a form of no-strings contact with their followers.

Filters, which vary the look of whatever Story you post, were added to the whole thing very quickly. At first the only ones on offer were made by Instagram's own staff; now anyone logged into the app can create their own! Private users may not find much benefit in any of this beyond the fun of it, but for companies it's a chance to stand out from the competition through professionalism and a joined-up approach. So why not take it?

Custom “masks” on InstaStories are a great chance for a brand promoting itself on Instagram to show up in the world of social media and put its audience's activity to work. These days almost every influencer posts through this feature daily. More often than not they use a filter that improves how they look or how their surroundings look. From shifted image colors and cooler or warmer tones through to thicker lashes, whitened teeth or 3D add-ons. Plenty of observers call that option a step too far and a danger to younger members of society. Instagram itself defends the feature by consistently telling viewers when a filter was used on a given photo or video, and the number of people using the add-on keeps growing.

source: instagram.com, filter search.

The reason interest in the feature keeps growing is certainly the undimmed popularity of Stories, among the people who make them and the people who watch them alike.

We decided to check how this plays out with influencers. We put Instagram accounts sitting right at the top of Poland's popularity rankings under the microscope. That narrowed it down to the profiles of Natalia Siwiec (@nataliasiwiec.official), Anna Lewandowska (@annalewandowskahpba) and Ewa Chodakowska (@chodakowskaewa). On October 21, 2020 each of them posted more than 30 InstaStories frames, and most were labeled with the filter used – which confirms the format's success.

source: instagram.com, @nataliasiwiec.official

source: instagram.com, @chodakowskaewa

source: instagram.com, @annalewandowskahpba

HOW IS IT DONE?

Creating your own design means working in SPARK AR. The elements built into an AR filter can point directly at the brand's character and logo, or they can be a separate thing with purely aesthetic value. For your business to keep growing, we recommend combining the two. A subtle element that signals who designed the filter is an excellent way to lodge your distinctive symbols in a potential customer's memory. Careful finishing that improves the visuals is a further advantage, and makes it more likely that other people or brands will use the filter. Games and playful effects, driven by your facial expressions or movements, are another very popular form. How do you check whether a given company has filters of its own? A visit to its Instagram profile is enough. Right below the highlighted Stories there's a menu leading to the main grid, tagged posts, IGTv material and InstaStory filters. That section is marked with a smiley face icon. 🙂

source: instagram.com, @cocacolapolska

source: instagram.com, @cocacolapolska

WILL MY FILTER BECOME POPULAR?

How often a filter gets shared drives how popular it becomes. If a well-known influencer uses your design, you improve the odds that their followers will save that effect to their own library and, with it, use it regularly. Attention to the details of the design matters a great deal, and it is what catches the eye. Let's not forget, though, that Instagram stars make money from brand partnerships. There are more and more listings and collaboration offers online built around promoting InstaStory filters for a set period. Prices vary; they depend on how often those posts go out and how popular the celebrity in question is. It's worth mentioning, though, that many of these choices about which filter to use are spontaneous, driven by personal preference and by how the person wants to come across in their own Story. The better we as a brand “nail” our target audience's taste, the more likely our own filter is to get used by fans and by current/potential customers.

A dedicated Instagram filter is a valuable addition to running your social media professionally. It's useful for brands that want to build their position in consumer awareness. It works best as an extra angle in the promotion of a company that sells products or offers services. Make sure you've done everything you can to stay in a potential customer's memory for longer!