With over 500 million daily active users, Instagram is undeniably an intuitive social networking platform to maintain an online presence.
As one of its highly-acclaimed features, Instagram story ideas allows you to create temporary engaging posts and share them with your followers.
You’ve probably checked out stories from people you follow on your feed. But how do you create your own and make them appealing to your followers?
Why Use Instagram Stories?
A few days after Instagram rolled it out, Instagram Stories took the world by storm. It offers a broad reach, which is almost three times what a regular Instagram post has.
Influencers and marketers hugely rely on this feature to interact with their audience and promote products or services.
Instagram Stories are highly engaging, considering that they disappear after 24 hours of posting. Plus, they’re ideally short (with up to 15 seconds for video) and don’t eat up users’ time. As bite-sized images and clips, they are also convenient and easy to consume.
20 Cute Instagram Story Ideas To Boost Engagement
So, now you know that you need to be posting on your Instagram Stories. The only question is, what will you be posting? Well, here are 20 Instagram story ideas to get you started:
1. Answer Your Followers’ Questions
Do you frequently receive lots of questions from your followers or customers? Perhaps, they may be asking about ways you manage to get something or the ideal way to use your service/product.
One of the creative Instagram story ideas to consider is answering these questions.
You may respond to your followers’ questions through text images or short videos to make it easier for people to access. If you’re getting the same questions over and over again, save all the relevant answers on a FAQ story highlight.
You may also use IGTV to answer multiple questions in the form of one continuous video.
2. Give Your Followers a Glimpse of How Something is Made
Your followers will appreciate you more when you give them exclusive content. When thinking of creative Instagram stories ideas, you may consider sharing how-to-videos.
The clips may feature your favorite recipe or a fun craft project. Ensure that your how-to videos or pictures are relevant to your followers.
3. Go Live
Live videos are a fantastic way to promptly and directly engage your followers. As an Instagram story idea, they allow you to receive real-time comments or questions from numerous users. Instagram will notify them with a push notification once you go live.
If you’re looking to boost engagement on your Instagram page, you may consider live videos. Once you finish addressing your audience, the video will automatically appear on your stories. This makes it easier for those who missed the broadcast to check it out later.
4. Start an Employee Takeover
Are you an employer finding it hard to come up with Insta stories ideas? Well, your employees may have different kinds of exciting things to share in your stories. Why not do an employee takeover, in which you allow an employee to post your stories?
Your employee can share a peek into their usual workday or give your followers a unique tour of their workspaces. They can also provide a behind-the-scenes take on what their lives or your business are like. With this type of exclusive content, you get to keep your audience engaged.
5. Share Before-and-After Pictures
Before-and-after pictures can help you show something before its transformation and what it looks like at present. You may share with your followers’ pics of your weight loss journey or how your business changed over the years.
If you’re in the service industry, you may post an insta story on how your service changed a particular customer over time.
6. Use Instagram’s Poll Feature
Instagram’s Poll feature is an ideal way to garner diverse responses from your audience. It offers respondents two options to give their feedback on something you asked. For instance, you may ask your followers to choose between two names you have in mind for your new pet.
The Poll feature is a great Instagram stories idea that helps you involve your audience in your decision-making.
7. Take Advantage of the Countdown Sticker
Instagram’s Countdown Sticker allows your followers to keep tabs on an upcoming event or special occasion.
You can customize it with backing text and a title to let your audience know what to anticipate.
Use it when releasing a new product, organizing your brand’s anniversary or reminding your followers about an upcoming sale.
You may also use the Countdown Sticker to update people on contest close dates and new store openings.
Your followers can even tap on the sticker to set a notification for the due date of the countdown. Instagram also allows them to share details of the event with their followers.
8. Have a Happy Customer Takeover Your Stories
Like the employee takeover Instagram stories idea, you can enlist a happy customer to post on your stories for a day. You get to engage with the said customer and attract the attention of potential customers and other followers.
The stories will help you promote your brand and create highly interactive content as well.
9. Teach Your Audience Something New
Instagram Stories allow you to provide your followers with informative content in the form of teaching. For instance, you may teach them new dog tricks or share how they can use your service/product effectively.
If your content exceeds 15 seconds, you may use IGTV, which gives you more time to communicate with your audience. Always fact-check your content before posting it in your store is to avoid giving biased or misleading information to people.
10. Share Behind-the-Scenes Pictures or Videos
Do you have something cute or exciting you’re proud of? Are you a filmmaker or photographer with an Instagram following? You may give your followers a little sneak peek of things you adore doing or creating.
As one of the thoughtful Insta story ideas, behind-the-scene peeks help you establish a personal connection with people. You may also ask your followers to interact with the post to increase engagement. Ensure that the clips are brief and precise to avoid losing the viewers’ attention.
11. Host a Contest
Contests don’t necessarily have to involve logistical difficulties as most people assume. Hosting a contest on your Insta stories will drive engagement and help you get more followers. You won’t have to worry about technical bits of the competition since it will disappear in 24 hours.
You may ask your followers to participate in the contest by posting a short story about a specific item on their feed and tag you. For instance, their posts may feature pictures of them using your product or making funny faces. The user with the highest number of likes may receive a personalized gift from you.
12. Share Accounts Worth Following
Want to cultivate a stronger sense of community on your Instagram page? Why not use your stories to share Instagram accounts that you may consider worthy of following? All you need to do is post screenshots of these accounts to your story and tag the users for them to know that you posted. The users might return the favor by promoting your page.
13. Ask Your Followers for Suggestions
Do you have a problem you can’t seem to solve? Or do you need a genuine opinion about a product? Do you want to know the kind of content your followers would like to see on your page? Well, with Instagram Stories, you can ask your audience for different suggestions.
Suggestions are among the cute Instagram story ideas you should consider. You may ask your followers to message you directly with their responses or comment on your most recent post. With this approach, you’ll be showing your audience that you value their feedback.
14. Fill out a Survey and Share it
Instagram Stories is an ideal place to get people to know you better. You may fill out a survey template with personal questions and share it with your followers. Posting a blank one on your stories and asking people to fill it out is also a good idea.
Want the process to be more fun? Try creating your branded survey templates and share them in your stories. With these templates, you get to engage your audience and attract new followers.
15. Promote Your Most Recent Blog Post
Are you a blogger who’s looking to drive traffic and increase engagement on your posts? Why not promote the posts to your Instagram followers? Instagram Stories allows you to directly add links to your stories to take users to the designated web pages.
You can also include the link to the most recent blog post on your bio. Instagram may flag your link if it seems suspicious. You can even set reminders on Insta Stories using the Countdown Sticker for your followers to anticipate new posts.
16. Offer a Promo Code or Discount
Are you looking for creative Instagram stories ideas to spice up your Instagram profile? You may consider offering exclusive content in the form of promo codes or discounts to drive sales. Your followers will feel like you’re offering them something that other people aren’t getting.
For instance, you may give them a promo code for 5 percent off an item or free shipping. Choose what works for your business. The goal here is to attract profits and strengthen your online presence at the same time.
17. Take Advantage of Your Story Highlights
It’s general knowledge that Instagram Stories usually disappear after 24 hours. What if we told you that there’s a way to make your cute Instagram stories readily accessible to your followers after the 24-hour window elapses? Well, you can add some of your Insta stories to your highlights for future viewing.
Simply tap the “Highlight” button found on the bottom right corner of your story to save the story. You may add that story to an existing one or use it as a new highlight. Either way, the clips will appear at the top of your Instagram page for easy access.
18. Share Your Current Location
The location sticker is one of the fun stickers you should check out on Instagram. Add it to your story by clicking the happy face icon found on the upper right-hand corner of your screen. Scroll down the options until you find the location sticker and then choose your current location.
While using this feature, you get to inform your followers about your location and improve their engagement. It will also be easier for users interested in finding you to know where you are. Use the feature when you want to meet with Instagram users residing or dwelling in a new place you’re visiting.
19. Start an Engaging Series
Most people on Instagram love predictability. That’s why you have to be consistent in your posting to attract new followers and keep the existing ones. Consider starting a regular series of Insta stories to help your audience anticipate new material from you.
Get creative and have fun while you’re at it. For example, you may create a series that details your daily encounters with people if you’re a customer care representative. Your followers will keep coming back for the content provided that it’s engaging and appealing.
20. Announce a New IGTV Episode
With IGTV being among the hottest things on Instagram, creating a long-form IGTV video will help you engage your audience. You can announce the airing date of the video on your Instagram story to build anticipation. Make the announcement daily at least three to five days prior to the airing date.
You may also use the Countdown Sticker on your Instagram Story to set a countdown to the episode’s airing date. Either way, ensure that your story has maximum viewers before posting the video. Your IGTV clip might attract a large number of viewers with this simple approach.
Ready to Use these Instagram Story Ideas To Engage with Followers
You have unlimited options for using Instagram Stories to promote your brand of yourself on Instagram. Keep an open mind when exploring these options for them to be fruitful.
The Instagram Story ideas discussed above can offer you some creative inspiration when you’re feeling stuck.
Instgram Stories are so vital for your brand, Allow you to reach new customers and drive free web traffic to your website. Experiment and have fun with them.
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