Did you know that one billion people use Instagram regularly? That’s approximately the population of China! Talk about staggering! And of those one billion people, about 630 million use the popular image app every day.
But that doesn’t mean that people would love whatever you post in your stories. So, how can you excitingly engage your target audience?
Yes, you guessed it! The answer is Instagram stories!
However, posting random pictures and text in your Instagram stories would not work. People expect a story in your story. It’s called “story” for a reason. So, how can you make people get excited about your stories?
Well, that is what we are going to discuss. Stay tuned!
Tip 1: Use poll stickers
Who doesn’t like to be asked questions! Especially, when you can answer by tapping on fun emoji on Instagram! That’s what poll sticker on Instagram helps you do.
With this feature, you can ask questions about your opinions or business offerings. It enables you to interact with people on a personal level. These days, people adore persona connection.
So if you can manage to ask questions that your target audience can relate to and use attractive pictures or videos, people would definitely love you back!
Tip 2: Develop how-to content
Have you learned to make a delicious smoothie recently? You can make a video of yourself prepping it and share with your Instagram story. Who said the Instagram story has to be just fun!
If you have a business, then you can prepare how-to videos around your products and services.
When you share these via Instagram story, people would learn more about your company. Besides, they would learn about ways to get more out of your service or products.
Do you know what happens if they do?
These people would talk about your brand with their friends, family, and followers! Wouldn’t you love that!
Tip 3: Put some thought into your Instagram stories
Most people and brands put random images or moments in their stories. The underlying assumption is, a story lasts only 24 hours; why waste time planning the content?
Nothing could be more wrong! About 20% of impressions on Instagram are attributed to Instagram stories. So, take time before you post your story. Read about current trends. Use your imagination to come up with ideas for your story.
Remember. The more creative your story is; the more people would engage with it! Period.
Tip 4: Use emoji slider
Sliding an emoji from left to right is fun. It gives people something to do to express their opinion. And when they do, they engage with your story content. It brings you closer to them.
If you do it consistently, it will boost your followers as well. I would like to put emphasis on taking time once again. When you fuse your creativity, you will come up with more fun or relatable questions that your audience would want to engage with. When you do, people would love you more by sliding your emoji from left to right!
Tip 5: Use the “doing chat”
Gone are the days when brands only interacted with their audience through TV and radio ads. People must have felt so isolated in those days.
Thanks to Instagram and other social media platforms, people can interact with brands just like they with their friends and family.
Through the “doing chat” feature of Instagram stories, you can achieve that. Get people to talk about your experience, products, services or a new offer.
Since it’s a story feature, only a limited number of people can participate for a short time. It encourages people to get onboard faster and express themselves as much as they can. More engagement for you!
Quick recap
Let’s do a quick recap of the five tips to boost your Instagram story engagement.
- Use polls
- Develop how-to content
- Put some thought behind your Instagram stories.
- Use the “doing chat” feature of the Instagram story.
- Use the emoji slider on your story.
Do not ignore Instagram stories.
Instagram stories are not something you should ignore. Whether you have a personal account or a business one, Instagram stories can enhance your engagement as part of your regular images and videos.
Just so you know, there are hundreds of ways to make your stories more engaging. So I would strongly suggest you not to limit yourself to the five I have talked about here.
I would repeat it once again. Use your imagination. Get creative; take inspiration from other personal and brand stories. Then fuse those with various Instagram story features.
And remember. Initially, your story may not get a lot of traction. Do not let that sink your hopes. Keep coming up with fresh ideas and use those in your stories. When done consistently, your Instagram engagement would definitely surge!
Article by Liakat
Liakat Hossain is a web strategist, freelance writer, and an independent blogger. He currently works at WebCommander an eCommerce website design company based in Melbourne. He is used to writing well-researched articles that readers will find insightful, engaging, and highly informative.
