How to use Instagram stories to engage followers and boost business

Are you leveraging Instagram Stories? If you’re using them but are still looking for significant results, it might be time to rethink your strategy. This writing will summarize the best practices for Instagram Stories to help you optimize your approach. We’re rounding up a few helpful tips to expand your Instagram audience reach successfully; you’ll also learn how to use the anonymous Instagram viewer to follow your competitors.

The numbers speak for themselves, with over 500 million Instagram Stories accounts daily. Considering the platform’s overall daily active users match this figure, it’s clear that Stories are a powerful tool. Those who still need this feature need to utilize the board. And for those who feel they’re not maximizing its potential, prepare for a change.

Instagram Stories are Visible for 24 Hours

Unlike your feed posts, Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours. Following this period, they’ll be removed—unless you save them to your Instagram Story Highlights.

If you have crucial and valuable content for your followers, relying exclusively on a 24-hour Story might not be the best choice. Consider other ways to make that information more permanent. Also, you can view the Instagram highlights viewer anonymously, and competitors won’t see that you’ve viewed them.

Unleash Your Creativity with Stickers, GIFs, and More

Instagram offers many features, such as GIFs and emojis, that allow you to get creative with your Stories. However, these tools serve more than just aesthetic purposes.

Stickers come in various types and functionalities, including regular stickers, location stickers, mention stickers, hashtag stickers, emoji sliders, polls, GIFs, questions, chat, and shopping options. With such a diverse array, knowing how and when to use each type can significantly boost your engagement.

Maintain Consistency with Your Aesthetics

Feel free to experiment with your graphics and videos, but strive to keep them aligned with your brand’s image—much like you do across all your social media platforms. Consistency in your aesthetics enhances your brand’s recognition.

One practical approach is maintaining a consistent color scheme or font style in your Story images and videos. This ensures that people can instantly identify your brand by looking at your Stories. The goal is to be both recognizable and familiar.

Engage Viewers by Asking Questions or Running Polls

Boosting engagement opens doors to numerous opportunities. Instagram Stories offer various tools to engage your audience, such as question and poll stickers. These features allow you to quickly gauge audience opinions on specific topics and foster stronger connections.

You can swiftly gather valuable insights that enhance your digital marketing strategy and brand using questions and polls. Many people enjoy sharing their thoughts and opinions, leading to increased engagement.

Moreover, this approach makes your audience feel valued, reinforcing the importance of their opinions to your brand.

Consistently Use Stories to Stay at the Top of News Feeds

One of the most effective Instagram Story best practices is to update or upload Stories regularly. Doing so ensures your visibility and keeps you at the forefront of the news feed, which sorts content by “freshness.” Each time you post a new Story, your profile picture moves to that prized spot.

Frequent appearances in Stories increase your chances of attracting traffic. However, remember that quality is just as crucial as quantity. Please don’t post a new Story merely for the sake of it; ensure it is high-quality and valuable to your followers.

Save Important Stories to Your Highlights

Instagram Stories last only 24 hours, but you can extend their visibility by adding them to your Highlights. These Highlights remain accessible until you choose to remove them.

To improve the visual appeal of your Instagram profile and draw attention to your Highlights, consider customizing their appearance to align with your brand’s theme. You can adjust colors, select images, and add labels to make navigation easier for your audience.