Snapchat Stories vs. Instagram Stories: Which Is Best for Your Content

By Rachel Moore August 23, 2016

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/snapchat-stories-vs-instagram-stories-which-is-best-for-your-content

#1: How Content Posts Differ

The purely episodic nature of Snapchat works to promote timely engagement and audience retention through consistent sharing of snaps.  By combining the longevity of your feed posts with the 24-hour duration of your story segments, you can generate urgency while providing consistent and engaging content for your Instagram followers.
Bottom line: Snapchat relies on 24-hour stories from users, providing content that is purely episodic and temporary to viewers. Instagram content can be delivered episodically through stories or more permanently through the feed.

#2: How Filters Compare

Snapchat Geofilters for Location-Based Snaps

When you want a customized geofilter to reflect an event or location, Snapchat geofilters will frame your image or video snaps with branding and themes. While large organizations often sponsor geofilters on a bigger scale (think the Olympics or national holidays), Snapchat also lets you create and use your own geofilter.

Snapchat Face-Mapping and Motion Filters for Creative Snaps

Instagram Filters for Various Coloring Effects

Bottom line: Instagram story filters are limited to overall color, contrast, and lighting adjustments. Snapchat filters provide more options for customization, motion, and branding from the filters themselves.

#3: How Hashtags Work

At present, you can use hashtags in your Instagram and Snapchat stories to indicate segment topics or commentary. However, the hashtags don’t provide any functionality for users. In other words, users can’t tap a hashtag to search for that term within the app.