The short guide to using web stories as a growth lever

As a marketing or communication manager, you are always looking for trends that will help you boost your brand's visibility on the web, as well as your conversion rates.

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However, lately, a key word keeps coming up in your watch: web story. 

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So what is this format, which reminds you of the famous Instagram or Snapchat stories? Can you use it in your own marketing strategy? How can you do it?

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To help you answer these questions, we've put together this short guide, which reveals all the innovative use cases and key steps for using web stories for your brand.

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Ready to make your communication take off?

Web stories: what exactly are we talking about?

Remember: in 2013, the social network Snapchat exploded, as it released a feature never seen before in the web universe. These are the stories, these ephemeral videos that disappear after 24 hours. 

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In just a few years, all social networks understand the appeal of this engaging format, and are also getting into it. Now, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn, or even YouTube are getting involved, and offer their users to broadcast their stories on their platforms.

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In 2018, web giant Google also jumped on the trend, integrating web stories into its Accelerated Mobile Pages, under the name AMP Stories, and then Google Web Stories. This is where web stories are really born: short mobile-friendly videos, which allow for a combination of visuals and other forms of content (text, images, GIFs, links, quizzes...).

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Why use web stories in your communication?

Whether you have an e-commerce site or a simple showcase site, there is no doubt: web stories can become a powerful ally in achieving your marketing and sales objectives!

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You still doubt it? 

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Here are the good reasons to use web stories in your branding strategy: 

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• Because they correspond to the habits of your targets. There's no denying it: the story format has become part of your audience's content consumption habits. They love this dynamic and punchy format, which allows them to discover new products or services in an engaging and authentic way!

• To work on your SEO. Since the arrival of AMP Stories, Google values pages containing web stories, positioning them at the top of search results. By indexing your web stories, you will be able to position your website both in the search engine results, but also in Google Images and Google Discover. This will attract even more attention to your web content.
• To boost your e-commerce conversion rates. In a web story, you can integrate links, to make the video a conversion lever for your targets, more dynamic than a traditional CTA. Moreover, web stories integrated to your web pages can bring reassurance to your new customers, when they consult your products on your online store. With the JOIN stories tool, it is on average +2.5 points of conversion rate on mobile that web story creators observe. Exciting, isn't it?
• Because they are a great storytelling tool. There's no denying it: video is an ideal storytelling lever, an optimal media to tell stories about your brand. In this sense, the web story can be scripted to attract the attention of your targets and keep it, and its visual side helps you convey strong emotions. What's more, by making humans appear in your content, you humanize and personify your brand, allowing your users to project themselves into it more easily.
• Because they differentiate you from the competition. In an era where textual content is everywhere, integrating short videos, in a format that is conducive to snack content, makes your communication strategy more engaging! Web stories are still relatively unused by brands: it's up to you to activate this lever now to differentiate yourself.
• Because they have an unlimited lifespan. While on social networks, stories disappear in 24 hours, your web stories can be integrated into your marketing strategy for as long as you want.
• Because you own them. Another difference with Social Media stories is that web stories belong to you, and can't disappear if the social network where you published them goes down.
• Because they can be part of every step of your marketing funnel. And that's what you're going to find out right now!

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8 smart ways to use web stories throughout your customer journey

Looking for inspiration to design your web stories? Discover here 8 ways to use them in your digital strategy, to reach your marketing and sales objectives in an innovative way.

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Strengthen your sales prospecting

Are you struggling to reach your potential customers with simple promotional emails or cold emailing? Web stories are a great way to inject a dose of excitement into those emails!

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Suggest to your sales team that they film their prospecting message, and prepare engaging web stories to include in their emails. By doing so, you humanize the relationship with your prospects, and create a memorable first impression of your company.

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Boost your natural referencing

As you can see, web stories are a great format to work on your SEO, and make your website move up in the search results. Google loves web stories, with their responsive and engaging format!

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So take the time to create a web story on each of the pages you want to see rise in the SERP. For example, you can integrate a web story presenting one of your products on the page where you sell it, by designing your content around one of the keywords of your SEO strategy. 

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When integrating, don't forget to fill in the metadata and tags related to your web story: this is where the power of the web story comes into play. For more information on the subject, go to the last part of this article.

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Create a more dynamic experience for your traditional content

It's a fact: 86% of consumers want to see more video content from the brands they like. So what better way to make your web content even more appealing than with video web stories?

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For example, you can decide to integrate a web story... 

• In a blog post or landing page, by making it automatically triggered when the page is scrolled.
• In your SMS, to lead your targets to the landing page of your choice.
• In your emails and newsletters, in the middle of more traditional formats you already use, such as blog posts or product pages.
• In your print communication strategy, by integrating a QR code redirecting to a web story on your brochures or print magazines.
• On your social networks themselves, in your brand account feed. With a well-crafted web story, you can create a LinkedIn carousel, an Instagram story, or a Pinterest story, to be natively integrated into your feed. Clever!

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So many levers to test in your content marketing strategy, to make the content you already offer to your targets shine.

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Increase the e-commerce shopping experience of your visitors

A YouGov study from October 2021 indicates that in France, 61% of 18-34 year old s find video indispensable to guide them through their online shopping journey. And, with the democratization of this engaging format, this trend is also extending to other types of web users. 

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The good news is that web stories can be easily integrated into your online customer journey to create an innovative user experience.

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You can for example integrate... 

• A web story on your product page, to show it in action, and inspire your potential customers to buy it.
• A web story in the form of a tutorial, to be integrated into your home page or product pages, to help your customers to project themselves in its use, and guide them towards the online purchase.

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Put forward elements of reassurance on your site

You know it: to buy a product or a service from a brand they don't know, today's consumers trust another consumer's testimonial much more than your marketing content. This is where the web story fits perfectly into your social proof strategy.

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With the agreement of your customers, you can for example use User Generated Content (content generated by your current customers) in dynamic web stories and integrate it into your product sheets. These can be testimonials from satisfied customers, or dynamicunboxings, which put into context the use of your products and services.

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In the same vein, consider using the web story format in your influencer marketing strategy. One of your company's influencers talked about your brand in an attractive way in one of his posts? It's time to turn his testimonial into a web story, and insert it in a key place on your website.

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Improve your customer onboarding

All the use cases presented above help you attract and convert your customers. But the web story also has the power to help you retain your existing customers! You know the first step to do this: offer them the ideal onboading.

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Just after the purchase of your products online, or the download of a content on your site, integrate a tutorial or advice on how to use your products on a dedicated page. This way, you ensure that your offer will be well used, and therefore, that customer satisfaction will be optimal!

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Collect valuable customer feedback

Is it difficult to get feedback from your customers after they have purchased your services or products? Here again, the web story format can be of great help.

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Consider creating a web story that contains a survey or quiz, which your customers can take once they have made a purchase. By doing so, you collect customer feedback in an engaging and non-intrusive way.

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Make your internal communication more punchy

Your employees also love the story format: they regularly consume them on social networks where they go in their personal lives. So why not use it in your internal communication strategy, to promulgate an innovative and engaging corporate culture?

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Instead of designing blog posts, infographics or videos in the traditional horizontal format, tryintegrating web stories into your intranet, your instant chat streams on Slack or Microsoft Teams, and in your internal newsletters. Employee engagement guaranteed!

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4 simple steps to create your web story

You've got all the inspiration for your web stories, and now you want to take action? It all starts with the following 4 key steps.

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Find the theme of your web story

As for any content creation, it is first of all necessary to start from your marketing, communication or commercial objective to find the subject that will be developed in your web story. 

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Don't hesitate to use your persona profiles or Ideal Customer Profiles to select a topic that really interests the audience you are targeting.

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Also think, from this phase of ideation, the place where your web story will be integrated. For example, on a product sheet, a tutorial or a dynamic product presentation will take all its power.

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Create the script of your web story

Then it's time to create the script for your web story. Even if it's only a few seconds long, it must be carefully designed to attract and hold your target's attention from start to finish. This script will also guide you in the editing of your final content.

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Take care to determine what key message you want to see in your content, and then structure your content into different screens. For example, for a tutorial web story, segment your content according to the different stages of use of your product.

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For an engaging effect, aim for web stories of 15 seconds maximum, and half a dozen pages. At the end of this step, you can read the script out loud to make sure that the length you were aiming for is respected.

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Design your web story

It's time to enter the visual creation phase of your web story. At this stage, several options are possible: you can integrate still images or videos. 

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If some brands choose to use content from royalty-free image banks, the web story becomes really powerful when you use content created by yourself or by your customers (the famous User Generated Content). 

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Then add text to each of your pages. Be careful not to overload the page with textual information: a maximum of 280 characters, the length of a tweet, is often the maximum.

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Don't forget to emphasize your brand's visual identity, so that your web stories are easily recognizable, regardless of the web environment where you deploy them. The key to doing this? Use an easy-to-use web story creation tool that allows you to integrate your brand identity in a few clicks. 

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Good news: this is what JOIN stories offers you!

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Broadcast your web story

Last but not least: the distribution of your web story. Choose a key place on your web page or your email where to integrate it, to make your users want to stay on the page for a long time. For example, for a product presentation web story, you can integrate it after the visuals that highlight your product.

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Your goal is to get your web stories listed on search engines? Take care to respect the good SEO practices in this matter: 

• If it is a web story in the form of images, add your targeted keywords to the alt-text tag.
• If it is a web story in video format, fill in the meta title tag.

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You are now armed with concrete use cases and key tips to design web stories that will boost your communication strategy!

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