With over 500 million daily users, Instagram Stories are a great way to humanize your brand, get feedback in real-time, and connect with your target audience.
If you’re still unfamiliar with what it is, it’s a popular feature on Instagram that allows you to post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. At the time when it was first launched in August 2016, Snapchat was the one leading the major trend. Since then, things have changed. Instagram has been outgrowing Snapchat in popularity and is now the go-to platform for both consumers and businesses.
Keep reading to learn tips on how to use Instagram Stories as part of your content strategy to grow your audience and expand your reach.
Be Consistent And Post At Optimal Times
By being consistent, you are showing up for your audience. The recommended amount of times you should be posting on Stories should be between 1 to 7 stories per day. Because Instagram Stories only lasts for 24 hours, you need to ensure you’re posting new content daily in order to keep your audience engaged.
Check your Instagram insights and take a look at where your followers are mostly situated and when they are most active online. An important thing to keep in mind is to post according to their timezones and not your own. This ensures you’re posting at an optimal time frame that will allow you to maximize your potential reach.
Make Use of Hashtags (Yes, Even In Your Stories!)
Not many people know this but you can add up to 10 hashtags per story for better reach. Show up in the Explore Tab even if the people watching your Stories aren’t even following you!
A quick tip to add in multiple hashtags without appearing messy is to either minimize them and hide them under GIFs or, make them the same color as your background so they can blend in and appear less noticeable.
Instagram Stories are a great way to show off your brand’s personality, behind-the-scenes action, and to open up so people can get to know you on a personal level. It opens up the door for 1-on-1 connections with your audience. Since Instagram is all about building community and connection, using Stories as part of your strategy can be an effective way to start conversations and build relationships with your potential customers.
Instagram has created many ways to make your Stories interactive and fun with the use of their stickers, animated GIFs, and other features. A great way to engage with your audience is to make great use of the countdown timers, question stickers, polls, and animated GIFs. These tools can really help you to get people sliding in your DMs! Try out all of the different options and see what works best for you and your business.
If you’ve ever thought about how to use Instagram stories to boost your reach and engagement, now’s the perfect time to do soIf you’re ever lost and need some guidance on how we can help you create an effective strategy for your business, feel free to book a consultation.
