6 Tactics To Increase Your Instagram Stories Engagement

21 Feb 6 Tactics To Increase Your Instagram Stories Engagement

In the current state of social media marketing, it’s all about engaging the audience you currently have. It’s not always about the views or reach of our activities, but more about how many people are taking action when they see these posts. This week I want to share with you 6 tactics to help you increase your Instagram Stories engagement. Let’s get going!

Tell A Story

First and foremost, the easiest way to improve your Instagram Stories engagement is to actually tell a story. One with a beginning, a middle, and an end. I know it’s easy to just throw a photo up (I’m guilty of this myself), but giving your audience a little context makes the experience better for them.

Add Captions Or Let Viewers Know To Keep Their Sound On

A simple and clever thing to do to increase your Instagram Stories engagement is to add captions to your video stories. Let’s be honest here – most people don’t have their sound on when their browsing through their phones. Instead of just being a talking head in a video, take a little time to write out what you’re saying.

Use Stickers

Instagram Stories stickers are so fun and make your stories more interactive already. There are 2 stickers in particular that could help you wit your stories engagement:

Question Sticker: Although you can simply prompt your audience to ask you a question in your stories, using the stories sticker has its own benefits. When you repost the question submitted, the person who asked gets a notification that their question has been answered (giving you an automatic view on your story). Ask your audience to ask you about a particular subject, what their biggest challenge is, or what they’d like to see from you next.

Poll Sticker: People love polls! Use the poll sticker to get in on your audience’s preferences, let them help you make choices in your business (like the next flavor in your line), or just general feedback. A cool thing about the poll sticker is that you have easy access to a list of people who answered your poll. You’ll be able to send them a direct message for 24 hours after the poll has concluded and take the conversation further.

Don’t think that these are the only 2 stickers that will improve your stories engagement. Remember that using location stickers and hashtags within your stories call help you get in front of more eyes. Learn more about Instagram Stories for business here.

Use Prompts

Sometimes you have to tell people what you want them to do. In the case of Instagram Stories engagement, you can use prompts to increase time spent on your story or retain viewership through a multiple tile story. Here’s how:

Hold To Read: Try creating long text posts in your stories. Prompt viewers to “hold to read” the full text.

Tap For More: Start your Instagram Story with a tile that asks a question and add “Tap for more” after the question. The next tile (or few tiles) can be videos of you giving information or static images of the info.

Get Ready To: The “get ready to” prompt creates anticipation and excitement and it helps you set the tone for what’s coming next. You can prepare your audience to take a screenshot of the next slide, turn their screens horizontally, or even just simply turn their sound on.

Screenshot-able Stories

Screenshot-able Instagram Stories can be really interactive. What do I mean by screenshot-able? You can offer several things for your audience to “Get ready to screenshot”. Here are some examples:

Fill in the blanks: You can have so much fun with fill in the blanks Instagram Stories. You can make them simply for entertainment or to again to get more insights about your audience (think of it as a survey) which you can use to create products, services, or content. Don’t forget to brand your fill in the blank tiles and ask followers to tag you in their stories when they post them or send them to you via DM so you can collect answers. Adobe Sparkpost even has some ready made templates you can adjust to fit your needs.

Wallpapers: Wallpapers are an easy thing to add value and give a little something to your audience. Your wallpapers can be quotes, or simple images. Gary Vaynerchuck has weekly wallpaper Instagram Stories which he shares with his audience. This tactic is also an opportunity for you to be creative, show personality, and reinforce branding or brand values.

Stories Contests: Gamifying any experience is a great way to increase engagement. Apply this mentality to your Instagram Stories. You can award a prize to people who fill out your survey or fill in the blank or create a standalone giveaway using the screenshot and repost prompt. Again ask entrants to tag you or use a hashtag within their story or send it via DM.

DM For Download

In the current social media climate it is all about engagement and getting your current audience to talk to you. Here’s a page taken from email list building tactics – ask for a DM in order for your viewer to receive a freebie. This can be anything from a downloadable checklist, to an ebook, or even a seat at your next webinar. Now you have a list of people you know are interested in a particular subject AND you’ve started a direct conversation with them – which is more engaging than simply adding them to your email list.

Instagram Stories can be a good way to stay in your follower’s feeds when you’re not necessarily posting to your own feed. I find when I am active on Instagram Stories, my account does better overall. I hope these 6 tactics for increasing your Instagram Stories engagement help your creativity around stories spark! Who do you think is doing a great job using Instagram Stories? Let me know in a comment.

<3 DhariLo

P.S. Are you posting to your Instagram account but not seeing any leads or sales? Download my guide to discover the 4 elements every PROFITABLE Instagram strategy has and how you can apply them to your business here: The 4 Elements Behind Every Profitable Instagram Strategy Guide