Instagram Stories is one of the fastest-growing forms of social content. Launched in August 2016, it already has 250 million daily active users.

Now Instagram is pulling some more levers to make the format appeal to brands. They include integrating it with parent company Facebook's Canvas tool for advertisers.

Mattress company Casper is one of the brands already taking advantage, with Facebook keen to ensure brands are using its full range of tools – and thus spending more money on its properties.

Of more relevance to influencers is the news that businesses can now convert their existing Instagram stories into advertisements. Instagram says that 50% of the brands on its service have created at least one story in the last month, so there's a large pool of photos and videos to draw on.

"This new uploading feature allows advertisers to extend the reach of their existing stories creative and have it live permanently within Power Editor and Ads Manager for future use," explained Instagram in a blog post outlining the new features for brands.

"Now, advertisers can use camera features like face filters, boomerangs, and drawing tools to create an organic piece of media, and then repurpose as an ad."

This may in turn be an incentive for more brands to work with individual influencers using the stories format, in the knowledge that they can later turn those stories into ads, and boost their reach on Instagram.

Will this also has an impact on the fees they pay those influencers? That remains to be seen.