Instagram Stories offer an opportunity for Bloomberg to showcase the best of its financial, technology and lifestyle content to younger audiences who are thirsty for context and explanations about the world around them.
@bloombergbusiness is the home of business news on Instagram, with 150,000 followers. The photography, videos and graphics on this account are exclusive to Bloomberg and cannot be found elsewhere.
Bloomberg was one of the first organizations to use Instagram Stories after their launch in 2016. It has developed a range of storytelling techniques that generate significant referrals to Bloomberg.com, as well as high levels of engagement and retention.
Its "5 big stories" sequences run every Saturday and Sunday. These feature striking images and succinct headlines and link to five separate articles, which users can access by swiping up on the relevant slide.
Other Instagram Stories have tapped into followers' desire to learn more about subjects such as finance, cryptocurrencies, technology and travel, and to read the views of the biggest names in business.
Successful sequences have included the best ways to invest $10,000, whether the Bitcoin bubble has burst, and how Elon Musk could become the world's richest person.
Stories have been used to offer unique perspectives on businesses, such as a 30th anniversary guide to the Wall Street crash, as told by the traders who were there, and the shocking secrets learned by a butler at a high-end hotel.
Bloomberg reporters have also filed images and video from high-profile events such as the G-20 summit in Hamburg, providing on-the-spot coverage and glimpses behind the scenes.
The "5 big stories" sequences generate clickthrough rates of more than 30% on both Saturdays and Sundays, with thousands of referrals to each article.
There have also been significant levels of retention and swipes for single-issue Stories.
And the polling function has been successfully used to ask followers for their opinions on topics such as the future of Bitcoin, before they swipe through to relevant articles.
Instagram Stories have become a regular source of traffic to Bloomberg.com and this new method of storytelling has generated significant engagement as @bloombergbusiness grows. Follower numbers to the account increased by 322% in 2017 alone.
