Instagram Reels may be all the rage right now for growing your following, but Stories are still one of the best ways to engage your existing audience on Instagram and build a relationship that will eventually lead to sales.
In this post we’re sharing 10 Instagram Stories ideas to boost your engagement that are easy to implement and work well for businesses in a variety of niches and industries.
From Q&As to product reviews, scroll down for Instagram Stories post ideas!
Do a Q&A
– Make a list of customer FAQs
– Great way to educate community about your product/service
– Make it a weekly/monthly series
Engagement Tip: Post an Instagram question sticker the day before you do your Q&A and ask your followers to submit their questions. It’ll make your answers more relevant to what you audience wants to know, plus you’ll boost engagement by getting followers to interact with your stories.
Share a Behind-the-Scenes
– Share your creative process
– Gets people excited for what’s coming up and invested because they got to see the work in progress
Engagement Tip: Ask your audience to weigh in, kind of like a choose your own adventure. For example, if you’re working on a logo design, ask them to vote on their favorite version.
Do “A Day in the Life”
– Take followers through your typical work day
– Start with morning routine, to the different tasks you do, etc.
– Gives your audience a chance to get to know you better and see how much work goes into your product/service
Engagement Tip: Quiz your audience afterward to see how much they paid attention to your “day in the life” by using the Instagram Quiz Sticker feature.
Post Before/After
– Everyone loves transformation stories!
– Show before & after you work your magic
For Example: If you’re an interior decorator or organizer, post a before pic and then the end result after you’ve come in.
Or, if you’re a photographer, post a before pic of an unedited photo and then an after pic once you’ve done your edits.
Feature Your Customers
– Powerful social proof
– Feature customers using your products, before/after transformations from working with you, or just showcasing how amazing they are
– Builds a sense of community and know/like/trust factor. Also makes customers feel great!
Engagement Tip: If your customers are willing, ask them to share the feature with their audience. It will help introduce your biz to a new community via referral, which is always the best way for people to find out about you!
Polls/Questions/Sliders
– Survey your audience for feedback from people who are engaged with your account
– Get feedback on the type of Stories they want, new products/services, their favorite colors for your next product launch, or the title of your next E-book
Engagement Tip: Try to use Polls, Question Stickers, Quizes, or the Slider on as many of your posts as possible. It will drive your reach if people are interacting with your Stories posts.
Read this post to find out an easy hack for boosting your Instagram engagement using Polls!
Share Your Favs
– Fun way to let your audience get to know you
– “Favorite Things” list of items that are relevant to your nice (questions you get asked a lot in your niche)
For Example: If you teach people how to work from home, you could post about your favorite work from home tools for online businesses.
Engagement Tip: Ask your audience to weigh in on their favorite things either by answering a question sticker, using a poll, or quiz.
Post a Tutorial
– Film yourself doing a step-by-step tutorial
– Best for short tutorials but if longer, consider posting to your IGTV and posting a preview on your Instagram Stories
Engagement Tip: Consider creating an IGTV series for your tutorials. This will help your audience stay engaged with your content over a longer period of time!
Introduce Yourself/Team
– Show the face(s) behind the brand
– Go formal: hire someone to professionally film a video
-Go off the cuff: Simply share facts about you and your team
– Stay true to your brand voice but don’t overthink it, show up and be authentic!
Engagement Tip: Ask your audience to share a fun fact about themselves, or create a challenge with a custom hashtag and ask people to share an intro, fact, or something else related to your challenge!
Celebrate Your Wins
– Take time to savour your wins before moving to the next goal
– Share important milestones in your business/life
– Share images or video on your stories to celebrate
– Remember to thank your audience for helping you achieve your goal!
Engagement Tip: Host an Instagram LIVE celebration party so that your audience can join in and celebrate with you!
Post a Story and use the countdown timer so that you can build anticipation for the celebration and people can tap to be notified of when you go live!
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