10 Ways to Boost Your Instagram Stories Success
There is no question that Instagram Stories has changed the way audiences consume the platform, securing its status as a ‘must-use marketing tool’ for brands looking to flex their creativity and bring extra eyeballs to their business.
Stories’ unique formula (they disappear after 24hrs and don’t affect your grid - phew), is a game-changer for businesses looking to inject some personality into their marketing. Not only are they an incredibly effective way of inviting your consumers to engage with you, but they also have their own VIP status in the algorithm - meaning the more taps and swipes you get the more likely your content is bumped up the feed. Yay!
Making the most of these bite-sized pieces of content is a great way to connect with your audience at a deeper level. If you want to be #Insta-Stories-Savvy, then check out these 10 simple steps guaranteed to help you boost your Stories success.
1. Build Stories Over Several Slides
Stories are a fab way to flex your creativity. One of the best ways to keep hold of your consumers’ attention is to build intrigue through your content. Using multiple slides in your Stories offers you a way to grab attention (and keep hold of it) as you tease a reveal. Use an emoji 👉🏻 to guide your audience to tap to the next slide or open with a question that you then reveal the answer to. Whether you show a before and after or unveil a new product, layering your messaging is a playful and engaging method to get consumers’ attention.
2. Use Video as Much as You Can
Video is great at showing off your brand or business personality. Whether you take your audience behind the scenes, show funny outtakes or deep dive into how your brand or business works, video can help you really flex your human side. Consumers don’t want to interact with faceless corporate brands, they like to see you and hear your voice. Being open and honest are values consumers can really relate to, so don’t overthink it. Genuine, unedited content is what makes Stories so authentic and so successful!
3. Think About Your Brand Aesthetics
Just because Stories don’t live on your grid it doesn’t mean your style guide needs to be thrown out of the window. We recommend keeping a level of consistency to your content that taps into or gives a ‘nod’ to your main vibe. This can be as simple as choosing one or two font options and sticking to them for all your content. Same goes with colours; choose those closest to your brand or even better use your ‘actual’ colours by adding your own brand palette - see how to make one here. Feeling creative? Why not consider using Canva to make your own Instagram stickers? Whether that’s leveraging your logo or creating playful stickers relating to your content, adding sleek, on-brand imagery is easy and simple to do.
4. Use Highlights
Highlights are a great way to extend your Stories content beyond its 24hr lifespan but it’s a feature that is best used wisely. Think about what content makes most sense for your business. Then use highlights to give extra life to the most helpful stuff - the things that show off your product or provide information that your audience will find most valuable. Whether it’s an upcoming event or product launch or frequently asked questions, making your content easily accessible for your consumers is a great way for them to quickly discover more about what your business and brand is all about.
5. Use Tags to Engage with People, Places and Hashtags
Expand the visibility of your post by adding @tags and #tags to your stories. Tagging actively encourages interaction and naturally draws attention to your content. Tag other users (if they’re featured in your Stories or if you want them to notice it), tag locations (this will help when people are ‘exploring’ places) and use relevant #hashtags to boost your findability (people follow hashtags as well as people don’t ya know). Tagging is a simple yet highly effective way to get discovered, increase your exposure and get your brand or business firmly on people’s radar.
6. Include a Call to Action (CTA)
Stories might be short, fun and immersive but don’t forget to add a call to action! Once you’ve captured your audience’s attention, then what? What do you want them to do? Do you want them to sign up to a newsletter, read a blog or answer a poll? Stories are particularly useful for CTAs as they also have the option for adding links, which you can’t do on a grid post. But remember once clicked, that this will take your audience away from Instagram (and your story) so use these strategically. CTAs using links can boost your organic engagement and help drive traffic to your website, blog or e-commerce site. Remember to track your Stories metrics so you can monitor your interactions and click-through rates to see what content converts best!
7. Use Interactive Fun Features to Stimulate Engagement
Stories have lots of useful (and playful) interactive features that are cleverly designed to boost engagement. In fact, features are an integral part of Stories overall appeal, quizzes and poll are some of the most popular features used in Stories - and with good reason. They are quick, light-hearted ways for your audience to engage with you and a brilliant way for you to learn more about your followers. Find out what your audience like (or don’t), gauge their interest in new products or what they *really* love about existing ones. Whether you’re testing trends or asking your audience about what they’d most like to see or maybe even posting some ‘just for fun’ content, tapping into all types of features on offer is a positive and playful way to fully engage your audience.
8. Repurpose and Share Content
Repurposing your content with Stories is a simple yet savvy way to maximise it getting seen. When you’re creating new content for your reel or posts, don’t be shy - share it to your Stories too! Stories offer you the opportunity to give your content extra exposure.
Likewise, sharing content from someone else, is a Stories no brainer. If you like a post or reel from another account, chances are your audience will enjoy it too - so share it. When sharing content make sure you tag the original creator (to give credit but also let them know you liked it!) and hopefully you’ll create an opportunity to engage and connect with a like-minded business or brand. Who knows by boosting your connections you might even gain some of their followers too!
9. Use Music
Music helps communicate a vibe and can make a story instantly more interesting. It’s easy to see how adding music can not only increase your content engagement but it can do wonders for your view time - especially when you match the *perfect* sound to your content. Even better, adding music to your Stories is easy to do. Simply add your tune of choice using the music feature where you can browse through tons of tracks to find the best fit for your message. Voila!
10. Use Captions
The best content is always the content that is easiest to consume. When it comes to Stories, keeping your content accessible is key – especially when many users consume Stories in silence. Which means, if you’re not using captions, you’re missing a trick. Adding visible words to your content means you can still get your message across, with or without sound. The easiest way to do this is to record your video in app and hit the captions button. Our top tip when using captions is to always preview the text! We have had some interesting transcripts pop up when it doesn’t quite pick up the word correctly!
Instagram Stories marketing is proving to be one of the most valuable marketing tools for all kinds of businesses and brands. If you’re interested in getting even more Insta-inspo why not sign up to our newsletter for loads of practical tips on how to get the most out of your marketing efforts, or simply check out our stories! At Queen Bee we love to help clients build their brand and achieve their dreams on social.