Ever since Instagram introduced the Story feature a few years back, people have used them in the most innovative ways to make sales, attract more followers and find success. But all those things are only possible with good engagement on your Stories.
Instagram Stories only have a lifespan of 24 hours and don't give you much time to reach everyone you might want to. But, there are tools in Instagram Stories that you could use to boost engagement easily. Uploading a Story will also help your engagement on your page just by doing that. Still, to really make a difference in your Stories, let's dive into how to make the most use out of all the stickers and tags that you can add to improve your engagement rates.
Geotags
A geotag or geo-location sticker is when you add your location to your Story, and it’s an easy way to boost organic engagement with your audience. Because engagement is based on viewer/user involvement with your Story, it's essential to ensure that your Stories also reach the right audience. For this reason, Geotags can increase local discovery and lead to much higher engagement rates. For example, posts that show areas of natural beauty but don't show the location will have a lower engagement rate than the same post with a geotag… because people won’t be able to click to find out where it is.
Geotags will help you reach outside your following and make your Story discoverable to a wider audience. Attracting a wider viewership to your Story will lead to a higher chance of further engagement from viewers. With geotags targeting certain specific viewers within the radius of your location. Those viewers are likely to respond and increase story engagement.
Polls
Don't be afraid to use a poll on your Story. People love getting involved in a poll and sharing their opinion, so giving your viewers a chance to do so is great for your engagement rates. This is also a fantastic way to start a conversation with your followers and between your followers too. Not to mention, polls will allow you to see what your audience thinks.
When users choose their option on the poll, they will see the additional option to share their thoughts. They will also see which choices are leading in the polls after voting. With the poll being available for 24 hours, the voting viewer is likely to return to your Story to see how well their choice is doing in the polls. This is an excellent option for small business owners who want to get the opinion of their customers on their products.
Questions
A fantastic way to communicate to your followers, whether you're a content creator or a small business, is via Questions on your Stories. This feature is a great way to let your audience communicate with you and ask you questions. It gives you insights into what your audience finds interesting about you and provides your audience insights into who you are.
The questions sticker offers you two rounds of engagement too. The first round is when you use the sticker to ask your audience if they have any questions on your Story. The second round of engagement comes when you answer their questions and post the answer on your Story. This second part allows your audience to view the answers to theirs and other questions. Those who didn't ask you questions on your Story can also see the questions and the answers in Story. This gives you an extra shot at more engagement with a different section of your audience that didn't engage with you the first time.
Emoji Slider
The beloved emoji slider is a bit of a subtle tool, but it’s worth more than you might have thought. The emoji slider sticker is a chance to ask your audience a nuanced question in an easy and non-complicated way. All they need to do to answer is slide the emoji all the way to the right to give their full approval or just a little to provide some slight approval.
This is an excellent way for you to get your audience's opinion on something you have produced as a content creator or business owner. The interactive aspect of the sticker compels users to get involved in the engagement as it's easy to do, hard to resist, and takes up no time at all.
Shoppable Sticker
Now, this is one more for the small businesses out there. The shoppable sticker is the tool for you if you not only want more engagement with your Story, but also more engagement with your products. Having this sticker on your Story with a featured product is the new way to get your product flying off your shelves and into your customers' arms.
This feature allows your viewers to head straight to a tab where they can purchase your product without the hassle of leaving Instagram. With this sticker, you can really turn your Instagram Story into a powerful sales machine.
Quiz
This is a sticker we all can't help but love and get involved in when we see it on an Instagram story. If you want to boost engagement on your page, this is a proven way to do it. People love to break up the monotony with a bit of fun quiz and perhaps even learn a thing or two in the process. This sticker will allow you to write out your question and provide multiple-choice answers. When the user has voted on the answer they think is correct, the correct answer will be displayed to them so they can see if they got the answer right.
It's simple, easy, and takes no time for the user to do. It's also engaging and fun, so the user will likely take a second or two of their day to cast a vote and learn something if they get the answer wrong. If they, however, get the answer right, they can enjoy the feeling of being intelligent. So either way, your Story will be a gift to whoever engages with it.
Countdown Sticker
If you're looking for a way to create a sense of urgency within your audience, then look no further. The countdown sticker is an incredible way to make that desired sense of urgency to get your followers to take action faster. It's well known that people do have a fear of missing out, otherwise known as FOMO. So if you are a content creator running an event or tickets to a live stream or a small business owner with a new product coming out soon. This is the perfect way to engage your audience in your Story and content.
Link Sticker
Lastly, we have the Link Sticker. This method can boost your engagement on your Instagram Stories and allow you to promote your other platforms. Maybe you have a website or an online shop to which you'd like to promote the link through your Story. This is the perfect way to do just that. Simply feature in your Story what you'd like to promote with some information to compel the interest of your audience. And then, add the Link, change it's name if you wish and you're done!
To customize your sticker text all you have to do is enter the link you want to share and then click on the plus next to customize and write the text you wish to have on your sticker!
Stories have become a powerful tool that content creators and small businesses can't afford to miss out on if they use Instagram (which they of course should!). This is a free resource to push your content and products out into the world. All you need to do is engage your audience in your content. This might take some time, but you must be patient and consistent.
As more and more creators use the platform, making your voice heard is becoming harder, so you will have to make your page stand out from the crowd. Another way to help your Instagram page cut through the noise is by using Instagram Reels. Reels are currently prioritized by the algorithm and the perfect way to make your page stand out. We can teach you all you need to know about Reels here.
Until next time,
