Snapchat vs Instagram vs Facebook - Which Story Is Right For You?
Snapchat vs Instagram vs Facebook - Which Story Is Right For You?
Social media stories are the hot way to show off your products, events, and daily activities. Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook all have the story function on their platform, but all three are slightly different from the other. For your business, you might think, “which option is the best for me?” or “which story will appeal to my audience and result in revenue?” All three story platforms are a combination of videos and pictures posted together that will run on a limited time frame of 24 hours and then disappear. So, what's the difference and how will it help your business? Adwizar will help you choose the best option for your business, or maybe even apply all three! Each business's social media management needs and audience are completely different. That's why we are here to help you with the details!
What Are The Differences?
Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook stories all share similarities and differences. Here is the basic break down for the story platforms and how to use them:
Snapchat Story
- Spice up your story: add text, stickers, drawings, a funky filter, or a face-mapping motion filter to alter faces in your pictures. Your story will always be in chronological order through Snapchat.
- Advertise with sponsored lenses and geofilters! Sponsored lenses allow you to change the face of the person pictured while adding a brand graphic on top. Geofilters allow you to use a brand graphic in a specific region, for example a McDonald's french fry graphic while eating at McDonald's. You can also place ad content between individual stories which will run for 10 seconds.
Instagram Story
- Editing and adding: these stories can include pictures, short videos, or a Boomerang that you can edit similarly to Snapchat. However, on Instagram, you can “mention” another person in your story with the @ symbol. The story order is not necessarily chronological because it is determined by an algorithm.
- Advertising includes full-screen ads running for 15 seconds and sponsored photos running for 5 seconds. Both are played in between individual stories with automatic audio if necessary.
Facebook Story
- Style effects: add masks, frames, interactive filters, or reactive effects like falling snow into your videos and pictures.
- Advertising through Facebook is very similar to Instagram, except the ads will not automatically play with audio. This function is specific to Instagram.
Popularity And Engagement
All three platforms are extremely popular social media outlets, but the proof is in the pudding, aka the numbers. As of April 2016, Snapchat had the lowest number of users, 158 million, Instagram had 400 million, and Facebook ranked the highest with 1.23 billion users! The popularity of the social media platform is a key component when thinking about which story function will be best for you. Obviously, with Facebook, you can reach the highest level of people due to its expansive popularity. However, many other factors come into play as well. Currently, the story function is the most popular on Snapchat and Instagram; users are still getting comfortable with the function on Facebook due to its newness this year. All three platforms also adhere to different age groups: Snapchat is most popular among 18-24 year olds, Instagram is essential to the 20-29 year olds, and Facebook seems to include everyone, but specifically high among 20-40 year olds.
Adwizar, Help Me Choose A Story!
Adwizar is your social media agency to guide you through this process. We can help with Facebook and Instagram management including monetization across all social media platforms. By partnering with us, together we can analyze your audience and your needs to decide which of the three stories would be most beneficial! Or, if all three platforms are high on your priority list, let’s do all of them and Adwizar will help! Call or check out our webpage to learn more about social media management and monetization. With the right story, you too can be a social media master!
