For Belfast business owners
What actually makes a Hot Now story worth watching
Only businesses can post a Hot Now story, so it’s your own channel, not something customers fill up with their own posts. The shops that get real repeat views aren’t the ones just filming their normal menu or their regular shop floor. They’re the ones that make watching feel like being let in on something, and that’s a deliberate choice you can make about what you film, not luck.
Give people a reason to actually check back
The single best-performing idea is an insider’s-only feel: something you wouldn’t know about unless you’d seen the story. A café might post about a secret off-menu item only Hot Now viewers ever hear about. A salon might show a complimentary extra, a quick hand massage while a treatment sets, or a free top-up you don’t advertise anywhere else. It doesn’t need to be expensive. It just needs to be something a customer genuinely couldn’t have known about without watching.
A few ideas to start from
A secret menu item, made only for people who ask after seeing it in a story. A complimentary extra folded into a normal booking, like a hand massage during a manicure, that’s never mentioned on the price list. First-come perks: whoever shows up first after a story goes up gets something small the next person doesn’t. A quick look at something being made right now, a batch of pastries coming out of the oven, a fresh delivery being unpacked, rather than a posed shot of the finished product.
Keep it unscripted
The most-watched Hot Now stories tend to be the least performed ones. Filmed on a phone, nothing scripted, no presenting to camera required. It should feel like someone happened to catch something happening, not an advert.
Questions
Instagram and TikTok already have stories. Why post to CLocal too?
Because the audience is different, not because it replaces them. A story on Instagram or TikTok mostly reaches people who already follow you. CLocal is built around location: it shows Hot Now stories to people nearby who are actively browsing for somewhere to go right now, whether or not they’ve ever heard of you before. It’s a way to reach the person walking past who doesn’t follow you yet, alongside your existing channels, not instead of them.
Can customers post Hot Now stories too?
No. Hot Now is for businesses only. It’s your own channel for showing what’s happening in your shop right now, not user-generated content.
Does a Hot Now story cost anything to post?
No. Posting to Hot Now is free, the same as everything else about having a CLocal listing.
How long does a story stay up?
Hot Now stories are short-lived by design, the same "catch it or miss it" feel as the story row on any app you already know, and that’s what makes checking back worth it.
Do I need to be a confident presenter?
No. The best Hot Now stories are usually the least performed ones, just something genuinely happening in the shop, filmed on a phone, nothing scripted.
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