Are you looking for cool Instagram story ideas to boost your Instagram engagement?
So you have mastered the art of creating a perfect Instagram feed.
And now, you want to tackle Instagram stories.
What a great place to be in!
Instagram stories are the perfect place to connect with your audience on a more personal level. And No, you do not need everything to be perfect on Instagram stories, you just need to be consistent.
Instagram stories are getting more views than ever and if you are still not posting on Instagram stories, you need to start. Like today.
And if you have no idea what to post on instagram stories, I get you.
I have been there.
When they first started with Instagram stories, I had no idea what I wanted to post about. And if you are still wondering what to post to instagram stories and are looking for engaging instagram story ideas to keep your audience engaged, you are in luck.
Because over a period of time I have tried various kinds of Ig stories and in this post I am deep diving into some of the best tips and hacks for boosting your Ig story engagement and getting more views.
BUT, before starting with Instagram stories, let’s address a few things.
Why are Instagram Stories important?
Instagram stories are probably the most important feature in Instagram right now. Some people would say they are even more important than your feed posts. And those people are right.
- To build a better connection: Instagram stories are so important because they are more personal and they help you make better connections with your audience. Instagram stories is the perfect place where you can show your personality to your audience and help them understand you a lot better.
- To increase your Engagement: When people see your Ig stories everyday, they feel better connection with you and are more likely to engage with your posts. Instagram algorithm also shows your feed posts to people who regularly watch and interact with your content i.e. via stories.
- To build trust: This is especially important if you are looking to monetise your Instagram account. Having an audience that trusts you is extremely important. And Ig stories is the perfect place to build that trust.
- To increase reach: Instagram stories are great to boost your reach as well. As Instagram stories still appear in a chronological order, they are not affected by changes in Instagram algorithm. And thus, you can reach a far wider audience than you can with your feed posts.
Let’s see what are the reasons why you are not posting to Instagram stories:
#1: I have no idea what to share: That’s a valid point. But you’d never know if you never try. Figuring our what kind of content your audience likes to see on instagram stories will need some trial and error. Try a couple of things and see what kind of content does your audience respond well to.
And if you are hesitant to try, why not simply ask your audience what they’d like to see more of. Do they want to see more behind the scenes of your life as a blogger, or do they want you to talk about business aspect of things or just life in general. Put up a couple of polls in your stories to get an understanding.
#2: I don’t like my voice: This is a very silly fear to have but something that a lot of people have. But the thing is, you do not have a “funny voice” and no going is hate your voice. So practice talking to the camera every day and you’ll slowly get over this fear. And if you do not want to talk in your stories, that’s fine too. You can still be consistent on stories in other ways.
#3: People are going to judge me: Okay, that’s true. But that’s true for everything you do in your life. People will always judge you but you shouldn’t let this fear keep you from being active on IG stories. Mostly because you shouldn’t care, but also because stories are there for only 24 hours and then they’re gone. And I am sure no one(except you) is going to remember a little spelling mistake you made or a word you said in a funny accent.
#4: My life is boring: So is mine. For real. But people still like watching other people’s routines and boring lives, because I guess we are all curious. And we are all a little nosey too, otherwise all the “my morning routine” and “my night time routine” videos wouldn’t be as popular as they are on social media.
Now, if you are still wondering what should you share in your Instagram stories, let me help you, just a little bit.
15 Instagram story Ideas:
#1: Share your Daily morning routine:
If you go on a daily morning walk around the neighbourhood, why not share that? Do you love taking your mornings slow and making yourself a big cup of tea/ coffee? Why not make it a daily feature.
You can even have your own hashtags for it.
And no, you do not need to find something new to share every single day.
In fact, when you share the same thing multiple times, your audience starts forming a connection. For eg, if you share about protein pancakes or a healthy breakfast smoothie every single day, your audience starts associating those things with you.
I have some people in my audience who often tag me in tea posts on Instagram and that makes me genuinely happy because they associate tea with me.
PRO TIP: So, Take whatever you want to share and try to think of a way how you can share it in a more interesting way?
So if you share your morning cup of coffee everyday, think about how you can do so differently.
- Can you do a little video of you making the coffee?
- Can you do a really fun edit on the photo?
- Can you share details about which coffee you use?
- Can you share a little snippet of you actually drinking the coffee?
- Can you share something else that you always do when you’re having coffee like journalling?
You get the point, right!
Related: 20 cool Instagram story edits to try
#2: Routines in general:
Okay, it doesn’t have to be a morning routine if that’s not your thing. How about any other routine? People love watching routines, I know I do. Don’t tell you don’t, I will not be able to relate, lol. But in all seriousness, sharing routines is great. And there are so many ideas to share:
- Morning Routine
- Night Routine
- workout Routine
- Skin care Routine
- Cleaning Routine
- Make up Routine (if you wear makeup)
#3: A weekly or monthly challenge:
Challenges are a great way to connect with your audience and it will be something that keeps bringing them back to your profile. So try taking up a challenge. It can be a workout challenge, a decluttering challenge, a creative photography challenge, a self care challenge. Whatever you want to do, the possibilities are endless.
If you have no idea what the challenge should be, a quick search on Pinterest for “30 day Challenges” will bring up a lot of beautiful challenge infographics. Select one, share with your audience and ask them to take the challenge with you. You guys can also make your own hashtag for the challenge and follow along others and see how they are doing.
I did a declutter challenge last January, and it was such a big hit among my audience. I later made quite a few posts on decluttering here on the blog and a lot of people asked for links to those blogposts.
#4: Questions and Answers:
Doing a Q&A on your Instagram stories is another great idea to interact with your audience on a deeper level. This is something that I often do. Ask them to ask you questions related to a particular topic and then answer those questions in the next stories.
It is great if you usually get a ton of questions regarding a particular topic. And it’s great to answer them on your stories rather than replying to people individually.
You can later turn them into a highlight on your Instagram account so that people can keep going back if they want to.
#5: Monthly favorites:
I love doing a monthly favorites on instagram stories wherein I share all the products or things that I have been loving in the last month. I only share the products or things that i genuinely really loved and what I’d like my audience to try.
It could be anything ranging from a beauty products, a skin care item that I tried, a book I read, a coffee brand I tried and fell in love with. Again, you get the point, right?
Pro Tip: If you decide to share a monthly favorites series on your Instagram, only ever share the things you genuinely loved. Never include a paid product if you didn’t love it. This helps strengthen the trust your audience has in you.
#6: Reviews:
Going along the lines of a monthly favourites, you could do a review of products on your stories. Now, before you say, but I don’t use that many new products each week or month to have “review content”, let me stop you right there.
You can review anything. Literally anything. Allow me to explain.
Let’s say you tried a new productivity tool or a new way of time management. You could review that. Let your audience know what you tried and how it went for you. Let them know what worked for you and what didn’t work and what you think can be changed.
Or if you took up a weekly or a monthly challenge like we discussed in #2, you could even review how that challenge went for you. And what were some areas where you struggled and how rewarding did you find the challenge as a whole.
So, whenever you are thinking of what you could review, ask yourself is there something that someone in your audience can find value in. Did you try something that could be of some help to someone?
Related: How to make Puzzle Instagram feed
#7: Something Personal:
Okay, this is not for everyone. But if you feel like sharing, you could share something personal you are going through. But only if you feel comfortable sharing that, of course. I recently started sharing quite a lot about my PCOS diet and lifestyle changes, because I wanted to.
I was making some lifestyle changes and trying a new low carb diet that was working amazingly well for me. So I genuinely wanted to share because I thought it could of some help to someone, maybe.
So, think about what you can share and do so only if you feel like you want to.
I ended up making quite a few genuine string connections with girls in my audience.
#8: Show Behind the scenes of an Instagram Post:
I find behind the scenes of Instagram photos very interesting. I guess it’s kind of cool to see how people work to get a particular shot. It’s especially fun if you do a lot of flat lays. It shows your followers how much efforts go into creating one single simply looking post.
And when your followers understand the amount of work you put in, chances are they’ll more likely engage with it when they see your posts on their feed.
If you are a brand who sells physical products, you can share the process of the products being made. you could share how and from where do you source the products, how do you package your orders, just something that helps your audience connect with you more.
If you are a blogger who makes paid products like templates and printables, you could ask your audience for suggestions about colors and fonts. That way they feel more involved in the creation process and will be more likely to buy the products from you whenever you launch.
#9: Show a day in your life:
Of course all the days in your life don’t look the same. But as a business owner, you could share what a typical work day looks like for you. This gives your audience a really great idea of what all a blogger usually does and how many tasks do you manage at once.
Even if you are not a blogger, it’s always interesting to see how people work and what productivity tools they use and what their day typically looks like.
And I find that whenever I share a day in my life, I am somehow even more productive than usual days ( I guess it has something to do with performance pressure, I am not complaining!), so it’s a win-win.
#10: Quick Tips:
I love sharing quick tips on my instagram stories. They can be about anything. If I tried a new organisation hack, I will share that. If I have a new cleaning schedule that has done me good, I will share that.
Think of little things you do that make your life better each day and share that. Again, all about providing your followers with value, right?
#11: Share a joke:
Social media can be a dark place at times. People often mindlessly scroll through social media. So if you have something really funny to share that will make someone laugh and make their day better, why not share that?
And not everything needs to go with your theme and aesthetic. You know you can share a meme in your stories right? That makes you human and more relatable.
#12: Recipes/Cooking or Niche down:
I kind of have two perspectives on this. One is you want to connect with your audience and would love to share a recipe you really liked. So go ahead and do that. That’s if you want to share more of your life in your Ig stories. This is great if you have a personal Ig account and you are using Instagram just to make genuine connections with women who are kind of in the similar age group. So basically you share a little bit of everything and build an audience that relates to it.
But, if you are very cautious of your brand image and if you want to niche down only in one category, that’s okay too. So, let’s say your niche is cooking, so in your stories, you can share recipes, your fav kitchen equipments and appliances, how you grocery shop and how your meal prep etc. So basically anything that’s related to your niche.
Niche also works great if you are a blogger who is looking for another platform to connect with their audience on a more personal level. So basically you’ll share a bit of everything, but then your main focus in Q&As on your Ig stories for example will be on blogging.
Of course you can change your niche and expand as your grow as a person or in your business. But your followers should know what kind of content they should expect from you.
Related: How to create a killer Ig feed
Related: The best ways to get the right followers on social media
#13: Vacation or Travel Content:
That’s something anyone can do. Be it a weekend trip with your besties, or a staycation, bring your followers along virtually. People love seeing your real personality and the way you dress up, what you pack etc.
Of course this will come under the niche category if you have a travel based Instagram account, but again if it’s a mix of everything, then it’s a great idea to share.
#14: Daily affirmations:
If you write daily affirmations, share it with your followers. Or if you keep s gratitude journal, share some entries with your audience. People love reading positive inspiring things and your Ig stories can be their daily dose of positivity.
#15: New post/ New IGTV etc announcements:
Instagram stories are a great place to cross promote your content. So if you have published a new feed post, share that in the stories. Use cute stickers and Gifs to let your followers know that you have put up a new piece of content.
Okay, now you have a pretty good idea about what you could share on instagram stories. Next, let’s talk about some Instagram story tips and hacks to increase your engagement.
Instagram Story HACKS and TIPS to increase your Engagement:
Okay so you want to use Instagram stories more often, because you know how important they are.
You also know what you to post about because we just talked about 15 cool instagram story ideas.
But there is something more you need to know. Shhh!! It’s top secret.
Okay, maybe nothing that dramatic, but it will definitely help you get more IG story views.
There are ways you can boost your Instagram story Engagements.
Let’s talk about. Okay? Okay!
#1: Using hashtags in IG story:
We can not talk about Instagram and growing on Instagram and not talk about hashtags.
I know you probably hate them and cringe at the very mention of hashtags.
I do too, at times.
But they are the necessary evil. AND, even if with the new changes in Instagram’s algorithm, they don’t work as well as they used to. But they are still quite important.
You can use upto 10 hashtags in an Instagram story and do not be afraid to use them. Just make sure they are relevant.
If you do not like the look of hashtags in stories, you can simply hide them under some cute GIfs.
#2: Using location sticker to reach a wider audience:
This is one of my favourite hacks to use. It seems so simple and helps you reach a wider audience.
And if you are living in the suburbs, tag a bigger city that’s close to you to reach a wider audience. Like I live about an hour from Delhi NCR region, but often tag Delhi as the location in my stories.
This works especially well if you are a local business. This will make sure that you reach your ideal customers who live in close proximity to you.
#3: Adding GIFs for a call to action:
I love using GIFs. There are so many cute ones too. I love using them to add a call to action to my “new post” announcements on Instagram stories.
Or if you want people to reach a particular post or watch your IGTV, you can simply add a swipe up link, if you have more than 10k followers that is.
Sometimes, something as simple as telling people to like and show support works as well. Just make sure to make it cute.
#4: Adding polls:
Adding polls to Instagram stories is such a fun way to engage your audience. I personally love polls and I love seeing the responses. And I love answering polls in other people’s stories as well.
I guess the reason why polls work so well is because people like voicing their opinions and feeling like their opinion matters.
you can either ask important questions in your polls or do really fun polls that your audience would love, like this or that format polls.
#5: Adding a DM me box:
If you are sharing something in your stories that you could go into a lot of detail in, encourage your followers to send you a DM to chat further if they are interested in that topic. This tells your followers that you are open to having individual conversations with them and are actually encouraging them to message you.
I often share stories about recent blogposts that I have written and then tell the followers to DM me if they want a link to that blogpost. It’s such an easy way to promote your blog as well.
Of course if you have more than 10K followers you can simply add a link to the blogpost as a swipe up link. But adding a DM me box is a great way to send links to anyone who is interested, when you don’t have 10k followers yet.
It is also great because when people Dm you, it tells Instagram that you have genuine connections with these people and thus IG shows your posts to more people, thus increasing your reach.
#6: Share reposts:
Sharing reposts in your stories is such a fun way to build a strong Insta community. I find that this works especially well if you are taking on a weekly or a monthly challenge. You can encourage your followers to take on the challenge with you.
And when they do that particular challenge, they can tag you. You can then re-share posts from your community or reposts that they have shared in their stories.
Related: Instagram Hashtag Strategy
#7: Doing a Q&A:
Doing a Q&A in your stories is again a great way to increase your Ig story engagements. Have people send you questions that you can answer in the next few stories.
This is especially great when you have followers who ask a lot of questions about a specific topic. So let’s say you are a blogger, so you could do a blogging related Q&A in your stories and when people send in questions, it counts as engagement.
#8:Host a quiz:
Hosting a quiz is such an easy way to increase your Ig story engagement. Ask questions and multiple choice answers on your stories. It could be about any specific thing or totally random. people love taking quizes. And when more people respond to your stories, your engagement automatically goes high.
Phew! That’s it for this post guys. I hope you found some of the tips helpful. Until next time.
If you are looking for more resources on Instagram, do check them out here: Instagram Resources
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