Keeping fans in the action before, during, and after games with Instagram's story feature

Why “insta-story" it?

Instagram has been taking the world by storm since 2010 as a leader in the social media universe. Typically Instagram users post a picture or video using the app’s built in filters and features and follower’s of the original poster’s profile can view and “like” the featured photo/video. More recently Instagram has updated the ways to share videos (and photo images) with the world via Instagram stories. The “story” feature is similar to Snapchat stories as followers can only view the story for 24 hours before it disappears completely.

There are some major differences between the “story” feature on the two apps though, for instance, only on Instagram can you save or “pin” a story to your profile and label it so that followers can view it longer than just the 24 hours. Instagram has also partnered with Boomerang which is an app that enhances the use of your camera by creating short gifs that repeat a 3 second loop. Live videos are another option that Instagram stories offer so followers can comment questions/statements and get immediate response from the account. Because of these unique tools Instagram’s story feature has rapidly grown in popularity.

Instagram, Sports, and PR: the love triangle

Sports fans know that Instagram is important to their favorite teams, but maybe they are unaware of the relationship Instagram has with sports PR. PR, as a field, relies heavily on photography and visuals to represent their clients and launch campaigns. This does not come as a surprise given the creative energy of the discipline. Instagram’s creative take on “stories” and photography makes it a useful tool in sports PR. An entire PR campaign could be executed via the resources Instagram provides.

What do Instagram stories have to do with sports?

EVERYTHING. This feature is changing the way fans watch sports. Teams are even displaying Instagram stories on jumbotrons during games to keep fans in the action. Locker room pep talks, pre-game/post-game interviews, celebrity athletes making a shot...these are a few insider exclusives that are made possible by Instagram’s story feature. The live video is a great way to include the fans who were unable to come to the game by allowing them to see live segments of the game from the team’s Instagram story. Instagram’s feature of adding text and enabling profile tags can help fans navigate their team’s roster and better follow along with the game. Pinning these game-highlights to the team’s page allows fans to go back and view them at their leisure without the worry that it will be gone in the 24-hour time limit.

IG stories can also be used by sports teams to market and promote the team and gain support for game turnout. Instagram stories allow users to add sponsored content by having a feature that lets the viewer swipe up and follow a link to a new page which can be very beneficial to sponsors.

#NOWTRENDING

No professional sports team is absent from social media, for obvious reasons, however not all teams are using Instagram to its full potential. The story feature on Instagram has changed the game (get it?). Like in most things Instagram does, they have set the bar for quick game updates. What features would help Instagram’s stories work more in favor for sports?

https://www.adweek.com/digital/sports-teams-are-putting-instagram-stories-on-jumbotrons-to-keep-fans-eyes-on-the-action/

http://sportspr.com/sportsprnews/2016/12/23/from-sponsored-content-to-animated-graphics-and-snapchat-like-content-instagram-stories-and-sports

https://stndigital.com/portfolio/instagram-stories/