Instagram stories strategies: What you should share on your IG stories

Anyways, enough with the talks about IG and its success.

Let’s talk about how you can also become successful using the Instagram stories feature.

I know that’s why you’re here. And I’m pleased to inform you that the couple of tips you’ll find on this will be more than enough to get your stories game rolling.

So let’s get started, shall we?

Use texts on all that you share on IG stories

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. But, sometimes, a little bit of text can give context to what would otherwise have looked ordinary. If you’re used to posting on Instagram, then you must know about captioning already and how it helps provide context for your posts.

Unfortunately, the Instagram stories feature doesn't yet have a room for captions. While this might seem rather unimportant, it actually is the first issue you want to address on your stories page because without a context, people might not open, or even if they open, click the sound button (in the case of videos) on your post.

How do you address this? Find a way to add texts into your videos/photos. Normally, you can use any photo or video editing tool to do this.

Once a text is added, you’ll be giving your viewers the reasons they need to click on your content.

Share notifications and use it to drive engagement

Another benefit of IG stories is that it can be used as a tool for notification. Thanks to their placement location on the Instagram app, it is almost impossible for a viewer to miss them. As such, when you post a notification there, you can rest assured that your target audience will see it.

But what exactly are you looking to notify people about? Well, what else other than your new IG posts, your newest ads, the discount offers that launch soon, or the giveaway you intend doing in the next 24 hours.

Use your stories like this, and you'll be driving organic traffic to your most important posts.

Share customers’ reviews and feedback

Social proof is one of the biggest factors for profile growth on Instagram. If not, why else do you think people buy likes for Instagram? You need to constantly show viewers that people already love what you’re doing if you want them to also fall in line.

Thankfully, with over 500 million monthly users, the Instagram stories feature represents a good place to share any social proof you’ve got.

So if you've got any positive client's review, great feedback in your Whatsapp DM, some nice words from some of the customers in your Facebook groups, chats with customers, or some order confirmation pages, screenshot them and share on your IG stories.

Share trendy subjects

Trends and Instagram stories are one and the same. They're both elements of time, and like each other, they vanish with time. More often than not, there is always a trendy subject in various industries, from opinions to events, gossips to controversies, breaking news to exciting offers. 

Take advantage of the Instagram stories feature to intimate your audience with what’s trending in the industry. Since a trend is bound to become stale with time, it makes sense to use a tool that only allows you to post something for a 24-hour period.

Share user-generated content

If you don’t want to put yourself through the stress of deleting posts time and again, Instagram stories can be a great place to post your user-generated content. Perhaps you've asked your followers/customers to take part in a contest or a survey that features their names and identities, and now they're starting to send the results of what they've done in your DMs, as well as tagging you. 

Instead of posting each and every one of the user-generated content on your direct IG timeline, you can post them on your stories, knowing full well that after 24-hours they'll disappear, and you can post the next batch of responses that come in.

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.