Sometimes we get so focused on making sure our feed looks great and our posts are getting high engagement that we forget that 300 million users log on for Instagram stories every day. If you've been sleeping on your stories, here are some tips to get your stories just as much love as your feed.

1. Get Your Story in Front of More 👀

To get your engagement rate up, you want to make sure your story is being seen by as many Instagram users as possible. A great way to do this is to always include two things:

location

6 - 8 hashtags

This is a simple way to get your story to show up on the explore page and in a specific location’s story. If you don’t want the location stickers and the hashtag text to mess up the aesthetic of your story - it’s easy to either hide these things behind another element in your story or shrink them so small that they can’t be seen. Either way - make sure you have them on every story.

2. Add Captions to Video Stories

Forty percent of Instagram users watch videos without sound on. This makes sense because we’re often in public when we’re scrolling through Instagram. If your video has no captions, users are likely to swipe past your content because they can’t hear you. To fix this - make sure you add text to your video to tell your audience what you’re saying. This keeps users watching your video - and better yet, it makes your profile more accessible to users with differing abilities. It’s a total win-win.

3. Use Poll Stickers

We know. The word "poll" is almost a trigger word by this point, but poll stickers on Instagram are such an easy, effective way to raise your engagement that we couldn't skip over them. They're also great to use when you feel your content is running dry, and you want to figure out what your followers like hearing from you. People love to feel that their opinions are being heard and taken into account - even if it's just on an Instagram story.

4. Use GIFs as CTAs

You don’t want to overload the screen with too much text, or your followers eyes will zone out and they'll be tempted to swipe past you. Instead of typing out "Check out the link in my bio to read my blog post about my favorite fall fashions" try simply adding a picture of you in a sweet fit, the words "Fall Fashion Blog Post", and a cute gif that says "Link in Bio." Boom. Simplified and affective. Plus, the eyes are drawn to the important part - the CTA - link in bio.

5. Start a Conversation With the Question Sticker

You can ask almost anything, and bored Instagram users just might answer. Make sure you're asking questions that have relatively short answers - the sticker can't hold very much text. Ask an attention grabbing question! And make sure it supports your brand - don't make it out of the blue. And here's the important part - respond to every question by sharing the sticker back to your Instagram story. This will make a notification pop up for the user that answered your question - making them feel involved and connected to your brand. This will increase their likelihood with engaging with your content in the future, all because you asked a simple question.

Start implementing these 5 simple things and watch the analytics for your Instagram stories soar. And better yet - the more people engage with your Instagram stories, the more likely your posts and stories will show up on their feed and in their explore page.

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