How create and publish a Facebook story optimized and engaging as a business? What are the best practices? How to evaluate the impact? Here is our complete guide to making your Facebook story a success.
What is a Facebook story?
A Facebook story is ephemeral content (photo, video or text) visible for 24 hours at the top of the news feed and profile. This format, inspired by Instagram and Snapchat, allows you to share spontaneous moments, news or offers in a more direct and engaging way.
For a company, publishing stories is an effective way to strengthen its visibility, humanize its communication and create proximity with its community. They appear before the news feed, which guarantees them maximum exposure.
How to create a Facebook story?
Creating a Facebook story is quick and easy, whether from a personal profile or a professional page. Here are the different steps to follow to create a Facebook story.
Technical parameters to take into account
To create effective Facebook stories, accepted by the social network, you will need to respect these technical parameters:
- Recommended dimensions: 9:16 or 1080×1920 pixels;
- Supported file types: jpg, png, mp4 or mov;
- Maximum size: 30 MB for an image, 4 GB for a video;
- Duration of a video: 15 seconds maximum;
- Subtitles: not available, but can be embedded in the video.
Create a story from a professional page
If you manage a business page, stories are a powerful tool for highlighting your brand. Here are the different steps to follow:
- Access your page via the Meta Business Suite application (or from Facebook on computer);
- Click “Create story” in the toolbar;
- Import a photo, video or create a visual directly from the integrated editor;
- Add interactive elements: link to a product, event sticker, or call to action (“Learn more”, “Buy now”);
- Publish your story (it will be visible on your page and in your subscribers' stories).
💡 Tip: Consider harmonizing your stories with your graphic charter (logo, colors, typography) to strengthen your brand image.
Best practices to follow for a successful Facebook story
Publishing a story on Facebook is not enough to capture attention: you still need to take care of the form and the message. Here are the best practices for creating effective and engaging stories, whether you are an individual, a brand or a business:
- Use the correct format : vertical 1080 x 1920 px, ideal for mobile;
- Capture attention from the first seconds : users scroll quickly;
- Add text or subtitles for videos, many people watch without sound;
- Be authentic : stories work best when they are spontaneous and human;
- Analyze your performance via Meta Business Suite : number of views, reactions, clicks on links.
Facebook Story: the art of making it interactive
To ensure that your story engages your community, you can encourage your “Facebook” friends to comment on it or carry out a survey. When you have selected your photo, you have the option to add a poll. Just like the creating a quizthis is an excellent way to generate interaction, either by asking an open question, or a closed question if you are looking for a precise answer on a subject.
In any case, encouraging engagement on your stories will allow you to strengthen your connection with your community.
How long is a Facebook Story?
A Facebook story remains visible for 24 hours after its publication.
However, you can find your old stories in the stories archive (accessible from your profile).
Videos can be up to 20 seconds long, but Facebook can automatically trim them if they exceed this length. For a fluid rendering, favor short and dynamic videos, adapted to the vertical format.
How to download a Facebook story?
It is possible to download your Facebook story before or after its publication.
- Before publishing: press “Save” before sharing;
- After publication: open your story, click on the three dots (•••) > “Save video” or “Save photo”.
For other users' Stories, Facebook does not offer direct upload for privacy reasons. It is necessary to request authorization before any capture.
How to delete a Facebook story?
To delete a Facebook story, it's very simple. First, open your profile and click on your current story. Select the three dots (…) at the top right, then choose “Delete Story”.
If the story is archived, go to Menu > Archive > Story Archive, select the story you want to remove, then Delete. This action will immediately make it invisible to all users.
Post simultaneously to Facebook and Instagram
When you use Facebook and Instagram professionally, it is possible to save time by posting a story on both platforms at the same time. This feature is possible because Facebook bought Instagram, making it easy to link your accounts and manage your posts centrally.
Here are the steps to follow to sync your story:
- In your News Feed, click Pages in the left menu and select the page you want to manage;
- Click on Page Settings then on Instagram in the menu on the left;
- Click Link Account, then enter your Instagram username and password;
- Confirm the link and activate the “Allow access to Instagram messages in messaging” option if you want to manage Instagram messages directly from Facebook;
- Check that your Instagram account is professionally configured to benefit from all the features (stories, statistics, links, calls-to-action).
5 tips to optimize your Facebook Story
#1 Go beyond promotion in your content
As with any marketing strategy, avoid only promoting your products or exceptional offers in Facebook stories. Use this channel to show a new side of your brand and humanize it. Look for ways to delight your audience with engaging content. For example :
- Celebrate your company milestones and new hires;
- Create a fun and entertaining teaser;
- Share them events online that you organize;
- Share relevant advice related to your sector;
- Show your team or backstage: 43% of users' favorite stories have an authentic dimension.
#2 Add sound
According to Facebook, 80% stories containing voiceover or music perform better. These elements keep your audience engaged, which makes your story more captivating. However, your message must also reach people who view it with the sound muted.
The soundscape must therefore be a “plus” and not an essential element of the story.
#3 Find the right posting frequency
The best time to post depends on your audience and your products (for example, cereal will be relevant early in the morning). Stories remain visible for 24 hours, which guarantees them continuous exposure. Test different schedules and analyze the results to identify what works best.
In terms of frequency, the ideal is not to publish more than one story per day to avoid cannibalizing your previous content. Then adjust according to your ability to produce relevant content on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
#4 Import CTAs
Also think about the calls-to-action available to bring traffic to your website, receive calls or encourage purchases.
#5 Plan stories in advance
You can now schedule your Facebook Stories from the Business Suite app on mobile. This allows you to remain visible to your audience even when your community manager is not in front of his computer, for example during breaks, weekends or public holidays.
To schedule a story: create it in Business Suite, click “Share on”, select your accounts (Facebook and/or Instagram), then choose “Schedule for later”:
#6 Invest in Stories Ads
Stories Ads allow you to boost the visibility of your content by integrating it directly into users' stories feed. These advertisements are particularly effective:
- 56% of users visit the brand’s website after seeing a product story;
- 34% consult the product sheet to find out more.
Investing in Stories Ads allows you to convert your audience in an engaging and immediate way, while increasing awareness and sales of your brand.
Facebook Story: Test without being afraid to innovate
To ensure the success of a Facebook Story, focus on creativity! The possibilities are endless, especially since the social network allows you to personalize your content in an attractive way: stickers, emojis, gifs, etc.
Take advantage of this to challenge your community in a fun way, offer them surveys, quizzes, competition games…And see how your subscribers react!
How to track performance?
To optimize your future stories and get the desired level of engagement, analyze their performance. There are several ways to access your Facebook Stories statistics:
Via stories directly
The first option is to navigate to one of your active Stories and tap the eye icon in the lower left corner. You will thus obtain a list of subscribers who have viewed your content:
Via Facebook Stories Insights
You can also find out how stories are performing via the “Statistics” tab on your Facebook page. You obtain an overall analysis of the last 28 days, all stories combined:
This chart lets you see unique opens and interactions. Further down, you see the details of the latest stories with, once again, openings and interactions, as well as “swipes forward”.
This last data shows you the number of times a viewer has dragged the cursor to move to the next slide. This therefore indicates the interest of your subscribers in the information transmitted.
As you will have understood, Facebook stories allow you to enhance your image, promote your products and share authentic content with your community.
To save time, use creation and programming tools, or call on a community managers specialized on Facebook free by deposit your project on Codeur.com.