Instagram Story Ideas
I’m about to get candid, I get REALLY nervous when it comes to Instagram stories for my brand. I am definitely more of a behind-the-scenes type of person. I like to strategize, write, and get creative with graphics but I do not like to post about myself and even worse I cannot talk on Instagram stories.
I’m not sure why I get so intimated by it but I am. So I’m not here to lecture you about “getting out there” and chatting with your audience on stories. The one thing I will say is that I know and understand how important it is to some brands but not all brands are created with that front person in mind. In fact, the Health Foundations I work with prefer to not have one person but rather have their brand be referred to and posted about in the third person eg. The Foundation would thank… So while I work on confidence to actually chat with you on Instagram stories, let’s talk about how you can utilize this feature without actually having a face-to-face conversation with your device.
#1. Talk in the background. If you are just afraid of having your face on stories, then point the camera in another direction. For example, if you are promoting a product, have that product on a shelf or in your hand and point the camera at that. Then in the background, you can discuss the product details.
#2. Create a really pretty graphic that captures the attention of your audience or post a funny meme that might be a pain point for you or your audience. Pretty up your Instagram stories with any template on Canva or a beautiful photo that showcases your brand. Then you can include links to a website, some fun gifs, or text to follow. If you are including a long text, make sure you add “Hold to Read” so the audience has the opportunity to read the whole text (Instagram Stories that are photos have a default time of 7 seconds while videos have 15 seconds time limit.)
Tip: Instagram stories are removed after 24 hours so the content you share doesn’t have to be evergreen. They can include sign-up links, quick event details, daily updates, etc.
#3. Repost. If you or your business is tagged in someone else’s story, you can repost this. If you are tagged it will show up in your DM’s (top right) and once you open that story, you will have the option to share. This is a creative way to showcase your audience and partners without getting in front of the camera.
#4. Share a new post to your stories. Have a post in your feed that you want to draw attention to? Maybe you have an important business update you want to reach your audience? Then share that post to your stories. All you have to do is go to the post, click the little arrow mail icon, and choose “ Add post to your story”. Spice it up a bit by adding some graphics, tagging someone, adding location, etc.
Tip: If you want your stories to be available after the 24 hours is up (i.e. you have some fun stories from an event) create a highlight. Learn about creating Instagram Story Highlights here.
#5. Create a poll, or questionnaire, or include a question box that your audience can ask a question that you can later respond to in stories via text.
So while we are out here building confidence to communicate directly with our audience through Instagram stories, don’t skip utilizing this tool now.