How to Use Instagram Stories for CPG Marketing

When it comes to marketing tactics, Instagram stories are incredibly overlooked considering that’s where Instagram users spend a significant chunk of their time on the app, right after reels. Based on the results I’m seeing with my social media management clients and what I’m observing from brands online, here’s how to use your Instagram stories for CPG marketing.

How to use Stories for Pre-Launch Marketing

At this stage, your ultimate marketing goal should be to position your brand and product within the market.

Because what you’re really selling is your brand and founder story, not the product itself. You might not even have a finalized product yet so you don’t want to build an audience that’s obsessed with product A when you actually end up launching with product C.

At this stage of your business growth, your Instagram stories will largely be photos of you building your business. We call this “building in public” and it’s all the rage right now. I love recommending pre-launch brands use their stories for this because that content will disappear within 24 hours. And again, you’re still iterating your brand concept, product development, and ultimately validating your idea. No need to create high-effort reels you might end up having to archive later.

I do recommend weaving in low-key comparison content at this stage so your audience starts to understand how your brand is different from what’s already in the market. Does your beef jerky have less calories but more protein than a protein bar? Does your sauce have more fiber and less sugar than the conventional alternative?

How to use Stories for Early-Stage Marketing

At this stage of growth, the most impactful form of marketing is social proof. And the best place to share that is in your Instagram stories.

You want to show off every single review, comment, message, and literally any other content people are creating about your product. You want to continue building hype now that your product is available for purchase. Those testimonials are so valuable for validating your product to people who haven’t tried it yet.

How to use Stories for Expansion Marketing

This is the growth stage where most CPG brands start to outsource their social media marketing in some way. You’ve grown, you’re busy AF, and your time for marketing is slim to none.

As a result, this is the stage where your content begins to look less DIY and more polished.

You’ll start to want your brand to come across as as legit as your business is. This is when your Instagram stories will start to look more branded and when you’ll start adapting grid content for stories instead of just reposting.

But I still recommend reposting and sharing the same content as your early-stage strategy. Use Instagram stories to continue reposting content other people are creating, sharing new social proof (reviews, comments, messages), and continue taking every opportunity to publicly validate your product.

How Often Should I Post on Instagram Stories?

Based on what’s working right now, I recommend CPG founders of all stages post on Instagram stories every day, Monday through Friday. I recommend posting 1-3 times per day. The reason being is one story slide gets you the visibility but the views drop off significantly after three story slides.

Using Instagram stories for marketing your CPG brand helps you take advantage of the content other people are creating around your product, they help you increase your visibility and stay top of mind, and ultimately they’re one of the most impactful yet lower effort social media tactics.

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Wait, Who Am I?

Hiiii! 👋🏻 I’m Sarah, a CPG social media strategist with over 10 years of experience. I went from starting a clean beauty blog right out of high school to managing social media for Canada’s largest wellness retailer. Now I live in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina, helping high-growth entrepreneurs get SEEN so they can build a crazy fun life their business supports, and not the other way around.

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