Ephemeral marketing is a big trend in social media advertising. You may know it as “stories.” Snapchat started the idea with short video or picture updates that disappear after 24 hours. Instagram copied the feature successfully, and this summer announced it had 400 million daily users on Instagram Stories. Over a million brands are creating Instagram Stories, and according to numbers Facebook released back in May, agencies are investing about 8 percent of their digital marketing budgets in the form. Kate Talbot is a marketing consultant who wrote a book on using Snapchat for business in 2016. Marcus Collins is chief consumer connections officer at the Doner advertising agency. Both tell Molly Wood that branded stories are a hit with audiences, and their disappearing act increases the appeal. (09/05/18)