Instagram stories are vital to the success of many small businesses. It is a straightforward way of connecting with the intended market faster and cheaply. Adding a link to the Instagram stories has proved a challenge to these small business people since they probably have few followers. This feature of adding links is called swipe up and was longed by Instagram in 2018.
The swipe up feature is restricted to accounts with over 10k followers. These accounts must be verified and have the elusive blue tick. Such accounts are less than 10% of all the registered Instagram accounts. For the other Instagram accounts, providing a link to their stories is very frustrating.
Luckily, there are alternative ways of getting swipe ups for small accounts with less than 10k followers. Such alternatives should be maximized by business people to reach a wider audience.
How to Add Links to Instagram Stories with Less Than 10k Followers
1. Use IGTV
IGTV is an Instagram platform for long videos. It was launched in 2018 to provide an alternative long video sharing platform. It faces a fierce rivalry from YouTube but servers the purpose. IGTV is very useful since it can be linked to any external source provided it is within your description. It means that the evergreen video content time can be maximized upon the establishment of the IGTV, making the link visible in your stories and gives more opportunities to the few followers; you have to click the link hence promoting the business.
Before using IGTV, you must change your account from a personal account to a business account.
With IGTV, you can share longer videos that are relevant to your followers. Also, this can either be product demos or product tutorials. It also works perfectly for service bas3ed business. The link directs viewers to your website.
IGTV categories
Currently, there are three categories of IGTV.
- For you - it is a group of videos that of like on Instagram, people you follow. It is suitable where the business is specific and targets a small number of people.
- Following - following is the collection of videos that have been posted by the people you follow.
- Popular- it is a collection of popular videos. It can either be videos posted by the celebrities you follow or most watched videos on Instagram.
2. Use The” Join Chat” Sticker
A join chart sticker is a feature that allows you to add a link to Instagram stories even with less than 10k followers. This pro0mpts those story viewers who are interested in the topics you post to join your group chart. The chart sticker enables you to share the link once. Everyone in the group chart can then view the link. However, this sticker comes with some limits. A total of 32 people can join a single chart group. The beauty of this sticker is that you can create multiple charts hence reach a wider audience. Everyone following your IGTV channel automatically becomes your follower.
3. Using A Poll Sticker
A poll sticker is mainly used when collecting data through votes and can be used to get swipe ups on Instagram without 10k followers. It is done by sharing the facts, frustrati0ons, and problems relating to your topic then ask a poll on them. Make sure you DM all the followers who took part in the survey within 24 hours.
4. Sharing The Link To The Followers Via DM
Asking your followers to hit your DM is another way of getting swipe ups on Instagram stories. It is useful in getting the people who relate to your topic to follow your link. Posting relevant stories can make some followers hit your DM. to void missing such replies, keep the messaging function on all the time. Reply to the DMs with the link.
5. Asking The Followers To Follow The Link On Your Bio
Placing a link on your Bio is a sage idea. It is straightforward and efficient—most Instagram users’ login to their accounts for fu. When the users love our topic, they would probably check your Bio. Having a link ion your Bio can make such people follow the link. Many users use this hack for marketing their websites.
6. Pay to Swap
When creating a budget for your business, consider a marketing plan. Paying for story ads is one such plan. A paid story ad comes with a swipe up option. The option is given regardless of the number of followers an account has.
Videos of up to 15 minutes in length are eligible for this plan. Nobody should be mentioned in these videos. Your story should be eye-catching and straightforward to understand to maximize this window,
Conclusion
With the gradual rapid growth of social media influence over the past few years, businesses should embrace it to succeed. Harnessing the online market is one step away from making it especially for small and medium enterprises. Instagram is a perfect marketing platform due to the ability to share links through the various stories. You should practice, learn, and perfect the art of sharing links on Instagram. Links can be shared with any Instagram account regardless of the size.
