6 Strategies to Crush it on Instagram Stories
Grid posts… reels… stories… Does logging on to Instagram these days just make your head spin?! Girl, I feel you. It can feel like a lot. While reels may be all the rage these days and yes, there’s a ton of benefits to using them. Stories are still one of my favorites and one that can be so beneficial for your business. One of my favorite things about them is they are often more personal and less curated than some of the other options. It feels like you’re getting a window into someone else’s life and can really get to know them. So today I’m breaking down my top 6 strategies when it comes to crushing it on Instagram Stories
Focus on Engagement
I know you’ve probably heard this before but your follower numbers are WAY more of a vanity metric than a sign of success. And while the algorithm may have changed things a bit over the last few years, the truth is all of your followers were NEVER seeing all of your content. Here’s a little secret though, and NO algorithm change will ever affect this strategy…. If you want more people to see your posts then you NEED to focus on engaging with others. Seriously, there’s no better way to get people to take a look at your content than posting authentic and genuine comments on other people’s posts or replying to their stories. Social media is about building relationships so if you want people to give a hoot about what you’re posting then you have to put in some time! Quit posting, and running… That’s not going to get you where you want, especially in today’s landscape. Engagement is gold and this also goes for the content you’re creating.
If you want people to talk to you or engage with you then you need to give them the opportunity to do so! A few good ways to do this through Stories is:
Use the questions feature and host a Q&A
Ask for feedback at the end of your Stories
Share your latest grid post on Stories and ask a question and ask your followers to go to your grid and share with you
Create polls in your stories relating to your content — they don’t always have to be serious either you can have fun with these!
When you’re providing a balance of quality content and also giving people prompts to talk to you, you’re opening the door of communication. Social media should be social so make sure you’re making an effort to include your audience instead of always just talking at them.
Show Your Face on Camera
If you aren’t doing this already, it’s time to get your face on camera — especially if you’re a small business or influencer. It’s a little different if you are (or are managing) a bigger brand’s presence, but for the sake of today’s post, we’re going to focus on small biz owners. Remember how we talked earlier about how social media is about building relationships?! Well, there’s no better way to showcase your expertise, highlight things you like and let your personality shine than showing up on Stories. This is even more important in the service industry. People want to hire people they vibe with and Instagram Stories allows you to connect with others without even having to set up a one-on-one and showing your face can really make an impact.
Think Ahead When it Comes to Your Message
Something we really love about Instagram Stories are they are a little more off-the-cuff than the grid and we think you should keep them that way! When we’re talking about planning on Stories we’re talking about being strategic and thinking ahead about your messaging.
So what exactly does that mean? Well, one of the things we hear the most from people about why they aren’t using Stories, or aren’t using them regularly is because they don’t know what to post. We get it, it can be daunting and sometimes it feels like just “another thing you have to do”. So instead of always having to come up with something to post, have a brainstorming session — either weekly or monthly.
What are 5 things that you are super passionate about?
Or how about things you want to share your expertise on?
What types of activities do you do regularly at your business?
Just as we suggest having content categories for your planned posts, having a list of categories you can talk about will make the process much easier! Unlike content categories for your planned posts, you don’t have to be as rigid about them on Stories — remember we like that off-the-cuff vibe! But, having a list of things you are super passionate about or could talk about will make doing Stories so much easier when you’re drawing a blank. You can also batch and save your stories ahead of time like you do for your grid content which can make life a little easier too.
Another aspect of planning is on the smaller scale and that’s making sure there’s a clear message or CTA or both in each series you post. Some days you might just have a segment or two but others when you do more elaborate posts, make sure your messaging is clear! Storyboarding your messaging can be a great way to think ahead and include your intro, your key points, and end with a CTA or clear action point you want to share. By thinking ahead and even writing some bullet points down before, you can go into your stories more focused.
Add Captions to your Posts
You’d be surprised by how many people scroll through Stories with their sound off. But Anna, you just told me to get my face on camera and start talking to the people! What gives if they aren’t listening?! I hear you. So it’s still super important because seeing your face will always be gold but here is another pro tip. When you add a new series of Instagram Stories, add a text summary or write out the key point on each segment. Not only will this allow people watching without the sound on to still get the point of what you’re talking about, but it will also nail in your key points to those actually listening. You don’t need to write a novel on these but a quick summary sentence or some bullets can be a great way to tie everything together. You can also use the auto caption option if you want.
Take Advantage of Instagram’s Built-In Features
Instagram is constantly rolling out new features and there are some really great options to make your Stories even more fun and engaging! Here are a few of our favorites and how you might want to use them:
Gifs: gifs always make Instagram Stories better IMO! There’s no real functionality or optimization perk here, just good ol’ fun.
Questions: If you’re looking for an easy way to ask your audience to engage with you, questions is the way to go! It’s a great way to ask people specifically if there’s something they’d like to ask you about, submit feedback or just answer simple questions right from your stories.
Poll: This is another really easy engagement tactic for your audience that can be used to see what people are more interested in or get their opinion on things.
Countdown: If you have something exciting coming up this is an awesomeee one. Not only is it a fun feature visually, but people who watch your story can actually turn on reminders about your timeline and share it in their stories. Score!
Location or Hashtag: Now you don’t have to go hashtag crazy here but adding a tag or location tag when it makes sense can really increase the reach of your posts.
If you use one of these features just make sure they’re also more centrally located on your story. If you have them too far to the right or left, it may cause users to swipe to the next story which kind of defeats the point of what you’re after.
Be Consistent
Down to the last tip of the day, be consistent! You want people to keep seeing your Stories (and hopefully your pretty little face) pop up. Repetition is key and the more times you pop up in others’ feeds, the better the chance you’ll further connect with your followers and they’ll pay attention to your content. Plus, when people watch your Stories on a regular basis, your content will show up closer to the front of the line. There’s a reason you generally see your best friends or favorite brands at the beginning of your Stories line-up. That algorithm thing is in action here too!
The other part about being consistent is for straight practice! If putting your face in front of the camera is scary, do it more! The more you do it, likely the less scary it will get. Chances are you’re going to get a lot more comfortable with it and better at streamlining your messaging and presentation. Plus, the more you do it, the better you’ll get at brainstorming content as well as finding out what kind of content resonates best with your audience. And often it’s not what you think! True story, some of our most engaging Stories have been silly things I thought weren’t that important but decided to share anyways and spoilerrrrr, people ended up loving them. Like most things in social media, consistency is key and once it’s more of a habit it will feel much less like a chore.
I hope this post was helpful and can’t wait to see how you put this advice to good use! As always, drop any questions you have in the comments section or send us a note for how we can help further! Or bonus, connect with us on Instagram so we can see how you put these tips into action!
Anna Osgoodby
Founder of Going Bold Studio, Anna Osgoodby is an award-winning designer and social media marketing expert. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in helping small businesses with their social media, branding and Squarespace website design.
