How Instagram Stories are fuelling the App’s growth
by Maverick on 08/2/2017 | 2 Minute Read
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It might be hard to believe, but Instagram Stories is already turning one year old (remember the drama with Snapchat? Maybe not but I do).
Instagram Stories hit its first anniversary, and the Facebook-owned app has spent much of 2017 heavily investing in bringing vertical video and augmented reality filters to the format. As a result, Instagram is growing rapidly, adding 50 million daily users in just two months to hit 250 million users in June. In comparison, Snapchat’s own platform had just 166 million as of the first quarter of this year, according to the company’s most recent quarterly earnings (which is hardly a kick in the toosh).
When it first introduced Stories last year, Instagram was immediately accused of copying Snapchat as a way of syphoning its growing user base ahead of its inevitable IPO back in February. Executives have admitted to being inspired by the younger Snapchat, but in an interview earlier this year, Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom said adding Stories was a way for users to get away from only posting highlights of their lives. Doesn’t sound very convincing, nonetheless, it doesn’t appear to be stopping people from using (and loving) the feature. Users have quickly taken to popular face filters like puppy ears, sleep masks and bunny ears, but businesses have also caught on as well. In fact, according to Instagram, more than 50 percent of businesses produced an Instagram Story in the past month, while one in five organic stories from a business elicited a direct message from a user. Thus it seems that the feature is not only fuelling the App’s growth but used wisely, it could do the same for you.