How to Engage Your Audience With Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories offer a convenient way for businesses to communicate with their followers, while the platform also encourages creative storytelling.
Create your own Instagram Story from the app’s home screen or profile page by tapping the + icon at the top right and choosing Stories. Choose a photo or video from your gallery, or hit Camera to take a new one. Afterwards, you can add text, stickers and drawings to these visuals.
You can also utilize the tools at the top of your Story to add fun, interactive elements like quizzes and polls. Doing so will keep your Story fresh and encourage viewers to engage with it meaningfully.
Create unique Stories with creative stickers and countdowns by using creative stickers and countdowns. Many brands utilize these stickers to tease upcoming events or introduce new products.
LEGO uses IG Stories to showcase works of art created with their products. Their posts appeal mainly to younger viewers on Instagram, but they also add fun polls and quizzes that keep the stories fresh and captivating for older followers as well.
In addition to adding interactive elements to your Stories, you can also utilize hashtags and emojis for engagement with your audience. Be clear about what each hashtag stands for as this will determine how viewers view your content on Instagram.
Promote Your Content from Other Platforms
With Instagram now allowing all users to post links to their Stories, this is an ideal chance for brands to showcase their latest blog posts or press releases. Doing so can help your brand build awareness and drive traffic to its website or other online properties.
Encourage your followers to contribute to your Stories by asking them to upload their own photos and videos using the “Add Yours” sticker. Some people also use “Question” or “Music” stickers for questions or playing favorite music for them in order to add something special to the Story.
If you want to increase your story engagement, add swipe ups and encourage users to go from your Story to a full article or product. Doing this increases the likelihood that followers will swipe up and continue exploring your brand further.
Create a regular stream of content for your followers and post when they are most active on the platform. This may be challenging if you have a hectic schedule or your audience doesn’t use the platform at the same time as you, but it’s definitely worth trying!
Save Your Instagram Stories for Later
Once you’ve created your story, save it to your phone’s camera roll and repurpose it if desired. Doing this helps avoid creating multiple versions of the same Story each time it posts and also prevents it from disappearing after 24 hours.
Set a reminder to post Stories at designated times of the day or week
Posting your Stories regularly is ideal, as this helps maximize their reach and engagement. This is especially beneficial if you want to foster loyalty among followers.