5 ways to use in-app stories

When creating an app for your brand it can be had to differentiate yourself from the competition. On the one hand, you want to stick with a similar design. After all, your target audience is used to a specific app layout. And the more you diverge from it, the more you risk your app being unintuitive. On the other, if you stick too close to what is tried and true, you risk your app becoming too generic. After all, the whole point of marketing is to make your brand memorable. And if people visiting your app forget about it the moment they close it, what's the point of branding?

Well, an easy solution to make your app stand up comes in the form of in-app stories. As a relatively new type of content, in-app stories are both underused and misused. So, in this article, we will give you a couple of ways to use in-app stories with great effectiveness.

Different ways to use in-app stories

Thinking about story content usually leads people to think about stories on social media platforms. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok... All are plastered with various story content left and right. And the more people see it, the more they connect story content with these platforms. Therefore, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that brands rarely use story content in their apps. Fortunately, this gives you ample room to make your app stand out. By understanding what story content is all about, you can look to optimize your app, and see a tremendous ROI.

Product promotion

Out of all the ways to use in-app stories, product promotion seems like the most obvious one. Namely, what better way to promote a new product within your app than through an in-app story. Firstly, story content is by nature engaging and eye-catching. So, whatever your user is doing within your app, they will pay attention to your story.

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Secondly, in-app stories can be dynamic. This enables you to personalize your in-app stories to specific users. In the context of product promotion, this means that you can recommend different products to different users. If you manage to gather the necessary customer data, you can easily learn which products are suitable for different segments of your customer base. By doing so, your product promotion will be far more successful as you'll recommend the right product to the right customer.

User onboarding

Another way in which you can use in-app stories is for user onboarding. For those that are new to app design, user onboarding is the process of familiarising your user with your app. In order to teach your users how to use your app, you need to provide some learning experience. The more seamless this experience is with using the app, the easier it will be for users to come on board (hence the term).

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Both in-app and web stories are terrific for user onboarding, as they are able to convey plenty of information in a small format. If designed properly, in-app stores can nudge the user in the right direction and ensure that they understand what your app is all about. This doesn't mean that your app can be unintuitive or difficult to use. It simply means that if your users require some explanation, in-app stories are the way to go.

Getting declared data

Declared data is customer data that your users willingly provide. For instance, email info, personal data, specific preferences... These are all types of declared data. The main trouble with declared data is that it is both quite valuable and quite difficult to gather. If you've dealt with marketing, you already know how valuable it is for your customers to tell you what they are like, and what they prefer. But, there are a few things that are as annoying as having to fill out an in-app form or a questionnaire. Especially if one yanks you out of your ongoing app experience, and takes too long to fill out.

This is where in-app stories provide an effective solution. You can optimize them to show up in specific situations during the user journey. By doing so, your in-app stories won't yank people out of their experience, but can even help enhance it. Furthermore, as in-app stores can be dynamic, you can look to ask for the right data at the right time. No one wants to fill out long lists of personal data. But, a quick question here and there is no bother. Especially if you preface it with the right content.

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Bridge to the rest of your online presence

Regardless of how well-made your app is, it should never be the end-all of your online presence. A website, social media presence, emails... These all need to be a part of your branding if your app is going to succeed. But, where most people struggle is with connecting their app to the rest of their online presence. Yes, they do know how to use other platforms to guide people to their apps. But, seamlessly guiding people from your app to other platforms can be difficult. Again, in-app stories come to the rescue.

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An in-app story can seamlessly guide the user's attention from your app to your website (or any other platform). By doing so you can free up your app from extra information, and declutter it of unnecessary content. For instance, say that you need to explain something to your user. Instead of having to shoehorn that information into your app, you can simply guide them to your website. If you feel that a video can better explain something within your app, an in-app story is a way to go. And if you have multiple apps that you wish to connect, guess what. In-app stories have you covered.

In-app recommendations

People rarely use an app in its entirety. While you may have worked long and hard to make your app as intuitive and easy to use as possible, users will likely stick to what they find comfortable. So, if you add new features to your app as you go along, don't expect your users to try them out on their own accord. Instead, use in-app stories as an easy way to explain your app. Based on user behavior, you can even recommend in-app features or shortcuts that they might have missed.

Final thoughts

What we've listed so far are only some of the ways to use in-app stories. Once you understand story content, and what it is all about, you will easily find your own use for them. The fact that they are dynamic, engaging and attention-capturing makes story content ideal for numerous marketing needs. And the fact that they naturally connect to personalization means that educating yourself on story content is a must for any serious marketing manager. Creating story content is easier than ever through platforms like StorifyMe. And seeing that you can export them as widgets, you can look to add them to your app without much trouble.

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