Social Media Posts vs. Stories: Which is More Effective

Social Media Posts

You are probably familiar with traditional social media posts, which show up in the regular feed in the center of the page. This is the same place you see updates from your friends and family, and the occasional posts from your favorite brands.

(Source: Facebook)

When it comes to publishing content on social platforms, there are plenty of benefits to using traditional posts to get the word out:

• Permanence 

  Once you create a new post, it can stay on your page forever unless you delete it. That means customers or potential buyers will always be able to find your content, even if it’s years later, and continue to drive traffic to your site if you include links. With Stories, your content is ephemeral—that is, it disappears after a set period of time, such as 24 hours, never to be seen again.

• Exposure 

  Since social media posts show up in the main feed, the chances of your audience seeing the content are greater than with other areas of a social platform where they have to navigate away. With your content front and center, you have more opportunities for engagement, including comments and shares, which can boost the reach of your current and future posts.

• Real Estate 

  With traditional social media posts, you have more room available for text. You can expand your brand messaging more than you can with social media Stories, which usually limit the amount of text you can use. Of course, you don’t want to go overboard with what you say, but at least with posts, space is there if you need it.

The typical social media posts you see in the main news feed have some big benefits, which can make them more effective by the nature of their format. Still, there are plenty of reasons to engage social media Stories, like those you see on Facebook and Instagram.

Social Media Stories

Now that we have looked at several ways traditional posts can be effective for getting attention on social media, let’s take a look at how social media Stories can help brands stand out. FYI, Stories are the short clips of images or videos you see at the top of your social media networks, displayed as rectangles on Facebook or as circles on Instagram.

(Source)

• Fleeting 

  Stories have an extremely short lifespan, usually staying on your social media page for no longer than 24 hours. This may seem like a drawback, but the fleeting, urgent nature of these is actually what makes them appealing. Because they are brief, they create that FOMO (fear of missing out) in some audiences, which can actually drive users to seek out this engaging content.

• Authenticity 

  Generally speaking, social media Stories are more casual by nature and, therefore, are more authentic in look and feel. Oftentimes, you will catch celebrities taking snapshots of their vacations and setting them to music, giving followers a glimpse inside the life of their favorite stars.

• Efficient 

  With Stories, brands can keep a steady stream of content in front of followers without creating a backlog of content for people to navigate. Stories keep your content moving through a fresh cycle of images, video, or just plain text and music.

As you can see, brands can leverage the benefits of Stories to engage followers in an entirely different way. And more than half of marketers say that using Stories has been effective.

But is it more effective than posts?

That depends on your goals. If you want to create that sense of urgency and excitement with your content, then Stories may be the way to go. However, if you want a more permanent solution for driving traffic to your site or establishing a presence on social media, then traditional posts may make the most sense.

You could also explore the benefits of using a combination of social media posts and social media Stories to satisfy more than one goal and to serve different audiences within the same platform.

Learn More Through Certification

A prominent social media presence is essential for all businesses in today’s cloudy and mobile world. To learn how to leverage this channel, check our Simplilearn’s Advanced Social Media Certification Training program now. If you are a business owner or executive, you can also get your team up to speed on the latest platforms and techniques through our Corporate Training programs.