Instagram Stories Overview

Instagram Stories drive a ton of engagement: since the feature arrived in 2016, time spent in-app has increased to 32 minutes per day for under-25-year-olds. To keep fans watching, creators can choose from a range of content types—live-streaming, polls, stickers, etc.—all of which have a 24-hour lifespan before they disappear.

For artists, Stories offer a laid-back way to communicate directly with fans outside of permanent posts, often by way of behind-the-scenes footage. With "Like” counts now hidden in select countries (Canada, Brazil, Japan, etc.) Stories are a great option to boost follower engagement.

Who uses Instagram Stories?

As of January 2019, there are 500M people who use Instagram Stories every day.

Number of daily active Instagram Stories users from October 2016 to January 2019, Source: Statistica — Number of daily active Instagram Stories users from October 2016 to January 2019, Source: **Statistica**

Beyond this, there are no major data-driven audience studies for Instagram Stories. We follow Instagram’s general demographics for targeting.

The basics: Instagram is a popular platform with Millennials and Gen Z around the world. This age demographic makes up the majority of users on Stories:

55% are 18-29
28% are 30-49
11% are 50-64
4% are adults over 65

In the US, a higher percentage of women (43%) use Instagram compared to men (31%). Instagram users also music lovers. According to a 2016 Nielsen study, US Instagram users spend more money on music (42%) and devote more time to listening to music (30%) than the general population.

Why Advertise on Instagram Stories?

Build awareness
Reach new fans to let them know about a new single, EP, or album. Capitalize on media-heavy moments, such as a Late Night performance, Grammy nomination, or the Super Bowl to promote a new release.
Increase consideration
Encourage fans to watch Stories video that includes an artist’s latest single, EP, or album. Drive fans toward music streaming platforms or YouTube. This is useful when the music and/or video is explicit and breaks Instagram’s content policies.
Reach a young, digital-first audience
Instagram users are primarily young people interested in art, health, fashion, and entertainment.

Instagram Stories Ads Creative Best Practices

To advertise music with Instagram Stories, it is vital to use video that showcases the song hook and artist. Here are some tips:

Mimic the platform
Ads should mimic popular organic Stories content: selfies and personalized videos.
Give viewers an exclusive look
Performance clips and behind-the-scenes videos trend toward higher watch times and CTRs.
Keep quality and contrast in mind
Quickly capture people’s attention with high contrast, colorful music video clips that feature artists.
Add context with text
Unlike video post captions, Stories do not contain text. Be sure to include the artist name, project name, and CTA (“Out Now,” for example) as an overlay.

Read more about what makes a high-performing creative.