Instagram stories are one of the best ways for brands to engage with their followers, increase brand awareness, and promote their new products. According to Instagram, more than 500 million users view Instagram stories daily, so it’s a big loss for any brand that doesn’t include it in its social media strategy.
Now, it does not mean that you can put up anything in your stories. You have to be creative and make your stories as attractive as possible. This will ensure better engagement and ultimately better results.
Here comes a frequently asked question, how can brands make creative Instagram stories to engage followers? Luckily, we are here to tell you exactly how you can do that.
Here are some creative Instagram story ideas that will boost your engagement. So, without further ado, let’s jump right in!
1. Answer Questions
Followers always want to know the brand as much as they can. So, ask questions about literally anything to your followers, and answer as many questions as you can on your Instagram stories. This way, you can convey the answers to as many people as possible to avoid repetitive questions.
The easiest way to ask questions is to use the “ask me anything” sticker. You can make it more attractive by adding any picture.
Source: @womenshealthuk
2. Promote Blog Posts
Instagram stories are an excellent place for brands to promote their blog posts. Take a screenshot of your latest blog, put it on your story. Then add a swipe-up link, and you’re good to go. The swipe-up feature will let your followers go straight to the blog post. This is a great way to increase your blog traffic, which will increase your brand recognition too.
However, the swipe-up feature is only available to business accounts with more than 10,000 followers.
It doesn’t mean you can’t promote your blog posts through it, simply post a screenshot of your blog post on your story. Then use one of the stickers that say “link in bio”. Put the link of your blog in your Instagram bio. This way is not as effective as the swipe-up feature, but it is still a good shot.
Source: @visitmammoth
3. Promote Products
One of the best ways to promote their products for brands is through Instagram stories. There are countless ways of doing that as well. If you are launching a product that you want to create buzz for, then Instagram stories should be one of your top picks. Post the product as an Instagram story, explain the features and qualities of your product, etc.
However, make sure that whatever you are posting is of high quality and presents clearly what your product is about. This way, you can get feedback on your product, increase engagement, and at the same time generate more sales. Double win, isn’t it?
Just like Skincare did here;
Source: @skincare
4. Offer Deals and Discounts
Offering deals and discounts on your Instagram story is also a cool idea. People are always searching for discounts on Instagram, so they never miss a great deal. Share your discount announcement as an Instagram story with a swipe-up link.
Just like Dollskill did here;
Source: @dollskill
5. Make a Shoppable Story
Shoppable stories are a great way to generate more sales. Followers interested in purchasing your product can easily purchase it by using the swipe-up link or tag the place they can get it from.
Just like Madewell did here;
Source: @madewell
6. Story Takeover
Story takeover means that you let one of your employees, ambassador, or anyone who doesn’t usually have access to your account post anything for one day. This is a cool way to create some fun for your audience as well as your employees.
Source: @benefitcosmetics
7. Go Live
Live videos are an effective way to engage with your audience directly. The audience can ask questions directly and you can answer them immediately. This is an excellent way to build trust with your audience. It is great for boosting your engagement too. Overall, this is one of the most fun ways to interact with your followers.
Just like Chipotle did in the live session.
Source: @chipotle
8. Share your IGTV
IGTV lets creators and brands post long videos just like YouTube. Instagram also lets you post a preview of your IGTV on your normal feed. To increase the viewership on your IGTV, you can also share it on your Instagram story. This way, you can remind your followers to watch your IGTV in case they missed it.
9. Conduct a Poll
Use Instagram’s poll sticker to conduct a poll. Ask questions and give two options to choose from. Conducting polls is a high-engagement idea for your Instagram stories. You can do customer research by using this method as well.
10. Thought Leadership
If you have some useful tips and tricks, or valuable information to share, then use Instagram stories to share it with your audience. If your tips and tricks are actually genuine, then they will help you build your brand’s trustworthiness and recognition.
11. Show Off Your Workplace
A fun Instagram story idea is to show your work to your followers. This way, your followers will get the impression that you trust them enough to let them in completely. Overall, this is a fun and high-engagement idea.
12. Share DM’s From Your Followers.
Another way to answer questions asked by your followers is to take a screenshot of their DM and post it on your story with your answer. Other than that, you can also post the DMs that are appreciating your work and your products.
13. Contests and Giveaways
If you really want to increase your followers and boost your engagement rapidly, then a giveaway can do it effectively.
The giveaway can be one of your products or services. You can put terms and conditions to enter your giveaway. For example;
- Tag a friend
- Follow your brand
- Reshare your post, etc.
Just like benefit cosmetics did here;
Source: @benefitcosmetics
14. Tutorials and How-to’s
Excellent marketing is one that provides valuable information to the followers. All the big brands always make their product guidelines clear and precise. A great way to do that is to post tutorials and how-tos of your product or service on your Instagram story.
For example, if you have a beauty product, you can post the tutorial of any influencer that uses it. You can share a step-by-step tutorial too. Or, you can tell your followers a great tip to use your product in the best way.
Just like makeup guru and entrepreneur Huda did here;
Source: @hudabeauty
15. Before and After
Posting a before and after picture is also a great idea for Instagram stories. You can post a before and after picture of your logo, your workplace, your staff, how people look after using your product, and much more.
This idea works better in the beauty and fitness niche. Just like a popular cosmetic surgeon “Dr. Simon Ourian” used it here;
Source: simonourianmd1
16. Share a Quote
Quotes are very effective. So, a cool Instagram story idea is to share a quote. It is a great idea to share one that is relevant to your business, or one that is positive. However, you can share any quote you want. It can be funny, or positive, or whatever you like. Sharing quotes can be used for spreading awareness as well
17. Countdown to an Event
To create hype for any upcoming event, you can do a countdown on your Instagram story. You can use the cool “countdown” sticker for that.
You can create a countdown for;
- An upcoming launch event
- Your brand’s anniversary
- An upcoming sale
- Product launch etc
Using the countdown sticker is also a key part of a successful grand opening strategy.
Source: @fearlesss_uk
18. Throwback Thursday
Throwback Thursday “#TBT” is a very popular hashtag. You can use this hashtag on your story and post a past memory that you cherish or one of your brand’s achievements. This is a very fun way to show how your brand started or what your journey has been like.
For example, you can post;
-
- Your first product
- An award
no-follow
- Your first workplace, etc
19. Donations
Use Instagram’s donation sticker to ask followers for donations. This way, you can do a good deed and increase engagement as well. Choose any non-profit firm for donations. It is a great way to show your support. For your followers, it is a chance to make a change.
Just like American Cancer Society did here;
Source: @americancancersociety
20. Interview An Employee
Conduct a short interview of any employee. Ask them some fun questions. This way, your followers will get to know what your brand’s work environment is like. It will build trust with your followers too.
21. Share Your Location
You can add your location using the “location sticker” on your Instagram story. This will increase your brand awareness. Using the location sticker will increase your content’s visibility to your targeted audience as well. It helps in increasing your engagement rate too.
Source: @socialbakers
22. Celebrate Your Wins
You can use your Instagram stories to celebrate your wins, no matter how small or big they are. Everybody adores a success story and trusts the brands which have proved themselves. So, whenever you achieve something like an excellence award or a certain number of sales, make sure you promote them on your Instagram story.
23. Promote Instagram Posts
Whenever you post something new, make sure that you promote it in your story as well. The reason is that Instagram stories are always shown on top, but not the posts. It is just a matter of a few seconds, and your Instagram post won’t be shown at the top of the feed anymore.
To make sure that your followers see your new post, add it in your story. To make your followers a bit more curious, put a sticker to hide the content of your new post.
Just like popular fashion and lifestyle influencer, Tysee Marie did here;
Source: @tyseemarie
24. Share Behind-the-scenes Stuff
Followers love to see what goes on behind the scenes of a brand. So, a fun and engaging idea is to share some behind-the-scenes of your brand on your Instagram story. You can show the making process of your products, the packaging process, etc.
You can show that you treat the package with care, and also take care of the safety measures and precautions. Make it known to your followers that you appreciate their orders and deal with them carefully.
Source: @questnutrition
25. Show Off Your Skills.
Instagram stories are an excellent way to show off your skills and specialties. For example, if you are in a restaurant business, you can show one of your master chefs amazing cooking skills. A pro tip is to make it more interesting by editing the video in a creative way. People always like to watch interesting and creative videos, so this idea will boost up your engagement.
26. Create Mode Games
You can create mode games now on Instagram stories. This is a high-engagement and fun idea. All you need to do is fill out a game template and share it in your story.
Just like Outback Steakhouse did here;
Source: outbacksteakhouse
27. This or That
“This or that” is a very famous trend on Instagram. Choose two things and let your followers pick one. You will get to know your follower’s preferences this way. You can also use this idea for research purposes.
28. Fun Facts
A fun Instagram story idea is to share fun facts. These are very popular, and people love to know something fun every day. You can tell a fun fact about you, your business, or just anything interesting. Sharing something fun on your Instagram story always boosts the engagement rate.
29. Shoutouts
Giving a shoutout to your loyal customers and business partners is a great way to keep them loyal. They can, in return, do the same for you. This way, both of you get more brand awareness.
Hudabeauty does this regularly. In the below Instagram story, it is giving a shoutout to Smashboxcosmetics;
Source: @hudabeauty
30. Share a Sneak Peek
You can give a sneak peek of your upcoming product to excite your followers. It is a great way to build hype for your upcoming product. It is a great way to build hype for your upcoming product.
Source: @converse
Conclusion
Instagram is a fast-paced platform, so the key to making your social media strategy successful is to use Instagram as a marketing channel. And Instagram stories are an excellent way to do that. Use the amazing Instagram story features in the best way possible. Make them creative and attractive.
Some of the best ways to increase your engagement through Instagram stories is to include interactive features like polls, sticker questions, mode games, and many others that we have mentioned above in this article.
If you have over 10,000 followers, then the swipe-up feature is a great way to drive traffic to your blog and products.
We hope that all the ideas mentioned in our article will help you make your Instagram stories creative, engaging, attractive, and fun.
