If you aren’t utilizing Instagram stories, you absolutely should be! People love seeing face behind the account and getting to know YOU. Today, I’m going to share some tips to help you boost your engagement on Instagram stories.
Here are some tips that have helped me to boost my engagement on Instagram stories:
Post often!
Hopping on stories every day, even just for a little bit can seriously help to boost your story engagement on Instagram. It can be something as simple as sharing a cute photo of your dog, your breakfast, your workout, etc. Sharing sales is a great way to create story content for your audience that they can find value in. Sometimes, I’ll hop on and just share a little about my day – even if I’m not wearing makeup or looking my best! People don’t care, in fact, this may help you to seem more authentic and you are actually sharing a real part of your day with your followers.
I’m not going to fully say quantity over quality… but I will say something is better than nothing here! Get on stories often. I’ve heard as much as 1 post on stories every 2 hours in different Clubhouse rooms with Instagram execs. 1. Take that info with a grain of salt because you can’t believe everything you read online and 2. If this is not realistic for you, and probably your work schedule, don’t feel like you have to.
Personally, I aim to hop on stories every 4-6 hours with at least something! I can usually share something in the morning before work, a couple stories at lunch, a story or two when I get off work, and some in the evening. This strategy is sustainable for me, but I will admit I mostly stay off stories on the weekends so I can have a break. Since I have started sharing more stories, I have definitely seen higher engagement and views throughout the week!
Ideas for your posts
I’ll help get you started – here are a few ideas:
- A cute picture of a furry friend
- Your daily to-do list
- Your breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack
- Any sales that are going on
- A quick snap from a workout class you attended
- A new recipe you tried
- A fun craft idea you can do at home
- A quick pic of your home – something as simple as your fave candle or your fluffed pillows on the couch
- Hop on and chat about your day
- Share some of your unpopular opinions and ask your audience what theirs are
- Talk about a cause that is meaningful to you
- Share tips on a subject you are an expert on
- Your favorite books
- Tag your favorite creators in a post with a pic of their grid and why you love it
Some of my every day stories – just making a small connection with my audience based on things that actually happen in my day-to-day life.
Poll your audience
One of my new favorite things is polling my audience on stories. I don’t know about you but when I see a poll on Instagram, I can’t help but participate. Participation in polls is something that absolutely boosts engagement on stories. I like doing polls where it’s “this or that” and I’ll put some items against each other. For example, mountains vs. beach, fall vs. spring, etc.
I like to ask questions related to what my story post is when using the polls feature. For example, if I’m sharing my breakfast for that day, I might add a poll that says “Sweet or Savory?” and let my audience select their favorite! This might even lead to a conversation over DMs about which they prefer.
Interestingly enough, I have conducted some polls on Instagram to see what my audience prefers – stories or feed posts? I was shocked to see that the overwhelming majority preferred STORIES! It was split 70-30! I like to use polls to check in with my audience from time to time. I’ll ask them about what type of content they are interested in, what posts they’ve been enjoying from me, etc. I’ll often ask questions like “Stories or Feed Post?” or “Fashion content or Beauty content?” This helps me get to know my audience better, and to create content that is valuable to them.
Ask questions and share responses
Using the question box feature goes hand-in-hand with using the polls feature to boost your story engagement on Instagram. I’ll often use this feature when I pop on stories to share a bit more about my day or weekend. When doing so, I’ll ask my audience “What did you do this weekend?” or “Any fun weekend plans?”
Sometimes I’ll even use the question box to create an interactive game for my audience. I recently did unpopular opinions on my stories and it was super fun. I asked my community what their unpopular opinions were and shared their responses. When I shared the opinions, I created a poll to see if my audience agreed or disagreed with the opinion. The results were so fun and I was getting tons of DMs about each one. This was a great time and an awesome way to boost engagement on stories.
I also frequently use the question box to ask my audience what they want to see me post about next. As many of you know, I share tips for new bloggers and influencers every Thursday (#TipThursday) on Instagram (you can view the past ones with hashtag: #EmilyErinTips). Whenever I share one of these posts, I’ll often ask my audience what they’d like to see from me next #TipThursday. Not only does this help me get ideas for my next posts, but it also boosts engagement on my stories AND helps me to provide valuable content to my followers.
I recently opened a question box and asked people what their least favorite trends were. It was so much fun and I loved how interactive it was!
Add tags: location, brand tags, tag friends
Did you know that using location-based tags can help you boost your story engagement on Instagram? For example, say I’m recording a story at home. I may use the location tag “St. Petersburg, FL.” This allows my story to be pushed to the “St. Petersburg” story so that anyone who looks at the St. Pete location tag on Instagram can see my stories. You can also hide your location tag behind the text in your story so it doesn’t interfere with the aesthetic of your story post – it will still be functional!
Show your face
I try to show my face on stories at least once a day and especially before I share any branded content. Sometimes I film in advance when I’m wearing makeup on the weekends to post during the work week. Most of the time, however, I just post in real time! I used to feel nervous that people wouldn’t want to see me without my hair or makeup done, but I actually think being more “real” has helped me make a great connection to my audience.
Let your audience see a more personal side of you
I’ll open a question box from time to time so that my audience can ask me questions to help get to know me better! I really enjoy this exercise as I can answer questions and get to know my audience better while they get to know me better.
I also did this recently where I asked my audience “How well do you know me?” This was a super simple exercise & I thought it was a ton of fun!
Ask your community what they want to see from you
Stories are a great place to check in with your community on Instagram. You can use stories to gauge the type of content they’d like to see from you in the future. I ask my community for ideas for my Tip Thursday topics all the time. I also regularly check in with polls or quizzes surveying them on different topics. Below is an example of when I did this heading into the new year of 2021:
Create stories around a theme
If you’re not sure what to post about or don’t feel comfortable just sharing your day-to-day life, creating stories around a theme can be a great way to boost your story engagement on Instagram. For example, you could share a haul of Target finds under $30. Here you could film some videos of you trying on various clothing items from Target to share with your audience. Here, you can even include some swipe-up or affiliate links so you can MONETIZE the story! This post from Easil shares some different strategies and Instagram story ideas that can help boost your story engagement on Instagram.
Do you think you will implement some of these strategies as you work to boost your engagement on Instagram stories? Do you have any tips that have worked well for you? Please share them down below – let’s all learn from each other!
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