You may be thinking, ‘She’s just the intern. What does she know?’ But I’m also a young millennial fresh out of journalism school, which kind of makes me a natural social media guru.
Most everyone knows (and hopefully you do too) the social media channels their nonprofit should be on. And if not, we can help with that. Instagram could be one of those channels for your nonprofit. Its not-so-recently-rolled-out story feature basically ripped off what’s made Snapchat so popular. And it’s become even more popular than the original. If you haven’t figured out how this feature can add to your nonprofit’s social media presence, it’s time.
What’s a story?
For those of you who never jumped on the Snapchat train (mad respect), let me explain the story concept.
When you first open Instagram, you’ll notice several circles at the top of your screen. Each of those circles, when clicked on, will show you the “story” of someone you follow. Go on, try it out.
Stories consist of pictures and videos users piece together to document parts or all of their day. They stay up for 24 hours before disappearing. As you click through a story, you’ll see each picture or video that your friend added.
So what’s it for?
The point of the story, in my opinion, is to document life in real time. Where an Instagram post captures the big picture of what you or your organization is doing, the story can show behind-the-scenes small moments and tell more of a story…hence the name of the feature.
To share an example of this concept, I’ll give you a peek into my summer. Right after graduation, I packed a backpack and headed to Europe for two weeks with a friend. Being the communications girl that I am, I documented my experience on Instagram.
For each country I visited, I posted one captivating picture to Instagram. Big picture. But for almost every experience I had in each country, I posted a picture to my story. Small moments.
Obviously this is a personal example, but the same concept applies to the life of your nonprofit.
Have an awesome picture of the crowd at your annual donor banquet? Great, post it. But in between those big moments, show me what’s going on daily with your nonprofit on your story. Show me pictures of the people you’re impacting. Show me a video of a volunteer sharing her heart for your mission. Tell me the story of your nonprofit.
There are so many features and tricks to use with Instagram stories. Start with the basics and think creatively about how you can use your story to tell your nonprofit’s story. And as always, we’re here to help. Ask me any questions.
