Instastories – one of the main formats Instagram provides us to be in touch with our audience. As you probably already know, using instastories is a great way to step away from carefully prepared and planned, precisely curated content you post on your feed. Instastories seem much more spontaneous, and they’re easy to consume. Research shows that they bring you closer to your followers and give you the freedom to post diverse material.
Today we’re bringing back a commonly asked question – is it indispensable to show yourself up on your instastories? Can your Instagram be faceless?
And if you appear on instastories – does it make a significant difference? Is it accelerating your account’s growth and attracting your target audience more effectively? Is there any research that proves it?
Before we dive deeper into the topic, you should realize that there aren’t any obligatory rules that you’re charged to live – or rather run your Instagram profile – by. We’ll present the psychological aspects of digital marketing along with some scientific research. Still, if you’ve decided you’re not going to show your face or you prefer staying completely anonymous – it’s also okay. You need to consider the advantages, because who knows: maybe you’ll change your mind? But if you’re entirely sure that it’s something you don’t want to do, or it would mean substantially stepping out of your comfort zone – please, don’t feel any pressure. It’s beneficial to do so, but if you’ve decided not to: you indeed have your reasons, we respect that and what is more: luckily there are also many ways to succeed on Instagram without showing up your face, so don’t be bothered.
There are many misconceptions about showing your face on Instagram – we’ve talked to a lot of our clients and friends about it and discussed it with them surely more than once. So, does it make a difference or not? We’ll share with you all our insights and all the things we’ve learned during the research, so let’s begin, shall we?
Building a connection and captivating your audience
Seeing who is talking to you builds trust. Many people, especially those following a lot of influencers, will tell you that they feel like they have this, sometimes even hard to explain, sense of connection with creators that talk to them on instastories on a daily basis. They have this impression that they know them personally – because they know their voice, they know how they look like from different angles, they know how they behave when they’re in different moods. It builds authentic intimacy. Moreover, people often admit that they feel like they’re friends with their favorite creators – because sometimes they see and hear them even more often than their friends “from real life” (yeah, especially now, in the pandemic reality).
When you appear on your instastories, people see that you’re a real, natural person: their age or a little bit younger/older but in general: someone friendly, someone just like them.
Audio + video is an excellent combo for our brains
Studies have proven that people are much better at remembering what they have seen rather than what they have heard (from audio-only forms) or read.
Nevertheless, as long as you’re providing value and your followers appreciate the forms you’re using – you don’t have to switch to audio-video forms only. Of course, you don’t have to transform your account completely. Indeed, it can be a terrible idea as your audience can be confused or even not able to recognize your content. Other formats are working and worth your time as well. There are many cases of successful accounts that don’t show the authors’ faces – solving people’s problems is the number one factor that helps gain the audience’s trust and make people believe in you. It’s the basis of building your Instagram tribe.
Is it worth to try?
The verdict is: if you want to be remembered, you should evoke positive emotions in your followers — and showing your face, as well as honest speaking, can create a feeling of emotional connection.
+ it’s really beneficial for personal brands recognition
+ it makes your profile more friendly, and it humanizes your business
+ it plays a significant role in building trust
As you probably already know – people REALLY like watching other people (that’s the basis of the social media phenomenon, right?)
This kind of challenge can feel like coming out of your comfort zone, but most probably, you’ll thank yourself later on.
You should remember that it’s not a must – it’s still an option, but you can find out it’s surprisingly beneficial for you: not only in terms of growing your Instagram account but building your self-confidence and exercising your on-line branding and self-presentation skills as well.
How to stress less when recording spoken instastories?
What we hear from our clients, our friends, and our co-workers really often?
“It seems stressful. I’d love to try, but you know, I’m kinda scared” – and we know that there are plenty of people out there, fighting the same thought! We’ll discuss our tips for avoiding stress when recording this kind of spoken instastories + the tricks we’ve heard from really experienced and successful influencers, but for now, we’ll leave you with one brainwave. What if you could be extraordinarily great at it, but the fear of showing up is stunting your growth, and you’re not using the full potential of your charisma? Nobody was born a master – practice makes perfect, and the quicker you try, the quicker you’ll know if it’s something you feel good with.
Even the most high-riding content creators were newbies once.
If you have any Instagram questions, don’t hesitate to drop them in the comments down below – and we’re going to answer them in our upcoming posts, along with the marketing research and our insights!
