Why Use Instagram Stories? So it's no surprise that marketers at HubSpot and on inbound.org saw the advantages of leveraging their reach with existing audiences on Instagram to share ephemeral content. So it's no surprise so many members of our community found it easier to use compared to Snapchat. Because Instagram is such a visual platform, some marketers have found their audience members and customers to be more engaged than on Snapchat -- especially when it comes to sharing (or re-gramming) pictures of products. Like we mentioned earlier, because so many millions of users were already on Instagram when it introduced the Stories feature, many marketers find it easier to share content on the platform they were already using to share photos and videos. Why Use Snapchat Stories? 4) It's popular among younger audiences. Why Use Instagram and Snapchat Stories? This is only a sampling of a couple of discussions, but the vast majority of people I asked chose Instagram Stories for marketing and Snapchat Stories for personal sharing. So, does that mean that Snapchat is out, and Instagram is in?
Be honest: Do you spend a lot of time during your work day chatting with colleagues on messaging apps, like Slack?
It’s okay — so do we. And while some of our messages are GIFs and emojis (okay, the majority of our messages), we also get into lots of lively Slack discussions (okay, debates) about news stories and product announcements in the marketing technology space.
So when my colleague, senior growth marketing manager Niti Shah, sent around a link to Apptopia’s analysis of Snapchat’s slowing user growth, it sparked a discussion of who uses which app for sharing disappearing messages, and which is better — Snapchat Stories, or Instagram Stories.
The conversation evolved from there, so we wanted to open it up to our inbound.org community members, too.
So we asked marketers the following:
- When do you prefer to use Snapchat, and when do you prefer Instagram for Stories?
- When do you use Snapchat vs. Instagram for different marketing purposes?
And now, we’re sharing some of marketers’ biggest reasons for why they prefer each platform — read on for some of the highlights of the debate below.
Why Use Instagram Stories?
1) There’s more engagement.
The most resounding point that came up again and again — on both inbound.org and on Slack — was Instagram’s size advantage: While Snapchat hit 166 million users earlier this year, Instagram Stories alone has already racked up an impressive 250 million users.
And that’s probably because any one of Instagram’s 700 million total users can click on Stories to start seeing ephemeral content from accounts they follow. So it’s no surprise that marketers at HubSpot and on inbound.org saw the advantages of leveraging their reach with existing audiences on Instagram to share ephemeral content.
Marketers found that Instagram Stories achieved higher levels of engagement than Snapchat Stories, so their sharing habits have dwindled on Snapchat — and in some cases, dropped off significantly.
Some even went so far as to delete Snapchat from their devices altogether.
2) It’s is easier for individuals and businesses to use.
Because Instagram has been around slightly longer than Snapchat, users were already familiar with the interface when Instagram Stories was unveiled last August. So it’s no surprise so many members of our community found it easier to use compared to Snapchat.
Benjamin Choy cited Instagram’s business tools, which are managed through Facebook’s impressive ads manager, as another compelling reason for marketers to spend more time and effort on Instagram.
A couple of my colleagues cited the ease of permanent and Stories sharing all in one app, and my colleague, growth marketing manager David Ly Khim, made a great point about Instagram’s messaging capabilities compared to Snapchat: Individual direct messages don’t disappear, as they do on Snapchat.
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