Businesses sometimes feel the need to quickly adopt new social media platforms or features in order to stay top-of-mind with their audience. At GMS we sometimes recommend that. Being nimble is important. We believe, though, being strategic is paramount. That sometimes means not doing it all. Choosing the best option, based on your target markets and your goals, is a much better decision than choosing all the options just because they’re there – unless of course, you have unlimited budgets and resources.

One of the latest options being debated by many is the use of stories in social media. Is Snapchat or Instagram better? Instagram has taken a strong hold in this area, formerly lead by Snapchat. But the platforms are still the platforms and there is still distinction in their value.

To reach teens and those under 25, particularly females, Snapchat is still the stronger platform. It works well for businesses with a quirky, creative, or spontaneous image and brand voice. The Instagram user base skews slightly older and the platform is well suited to showcase visuals that are a bit more stylized.

In the case of stories, as with any new promotional opportunity, we focus on the “why” in our marketing recommendations. Here are the top reasons why Instagram stories might work better for you:

Audience: Instagram’s audience is bigger, broader and growing faster.

Searchability and Discoverability: hashtags, geolocation and tagging all give Insta the edge.

Driving Business: You can add a URL to an Instagram story, making it easy for viewers to swipe up and follow the link.

Does this mean you should stop using Snap’s stories? Again, it depends on the audience you want to reach and your marketing goals. If you want our recommendation, contact us. We’d be happy to work with you to find the best platform.