Instagram stories aren’t just a repository of photos and information that don’t fit into an otherwise carefully fine-tuned feed on Instagram. They can serve as a great tool to stay in touch with your followers, build a relationship with them and bring them content that will entertain and interest them. And as a bonus, you can get information about your customers that will come in handy not only when planning.

 

Why engage your followers through Insta stories?

Dealing with stories on Instagram means playing a complicated game with Instagram’s algorithm. Breaking through the flood of avocado toasts, mountain views and puppies isn’t easy. But it is a challenge worth accepting.

Your main weapon will be to create a space for follower reactions that will increase your reach. Just add interactive elements to your Insta stories. You don’t have to worry about professional production or giving your graphic designer extra work. Stories have such a short lifespan that they are a great place to be creative, show your brand’s human side, and most importantly – draw your fans into the action.

 

This is how you create interactive Instagram stories

Keeping in touch with your followers doesn’t have to cost you half of your work day. Take advantage of the tools and features that Instagram offers and start a conversation with your fans in your next stories:

 

1. Start a challenge

If you don’t encourage your followers, the chances of them speaking up are slim. Add calls to action to your stories, ask your followers’ opinions and create interactive stories that will entertain them. To do this, use one of the stickers that stories offer and that have become a great way to start a conversation with the fans.

Tip: Make stories thoughtful. Everything you share on networks should go hand in hand with your communication strategy.

 

 

For example, Dunkin’ Donuts creates interactive stories that involve their community.

 

2. There are different ways to use stickers

Stickers serve not only as a way to engage your fans, but they’re also an ideal tool for finding out more about your followers without forcing them to fill out complicated forms. While their function is clear at first glance, we want to introduce you to the individual stickers and offer more options for their use.

 

 

Slider

Thanks to the slider, followers can easily respond to your story. Its simplicity offers space for creativity. In addition to expressing how much the followers like something, you can use it to choose between multiple options or just entertain your fans for a while.

 

 

Poll

Use a poll to find out your fans’ preferences. In addition to learning something new about them, their feedback can help you develop new products or services. Also, try to create a series of stories with a survey that will entertain your followers for a while and also show them what others prefer.

 

 

Quiz

A quiz offers up to four answer choices. It’s a great way to dispel myths, offer all sorts of interesting bits of information and educate your audience. Whether it’s information directly related to your brand or generally related to your products, you will certainly find topics in which customers may not be clear and you can profile yourself as an expert in the field.

 

Question

If you don’t know something about your customers, ask them through the question sticker. You can also use it to gain new insights into the thinking of your followers. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to offer fans space to ask questions. You can then save the most frequently asked ones to a selection of stories on your profile. This will save time not only for you, but also for your new followers.

 

Countdown

Are you planning an event or launch of new products? Don’t forget about a countdown. Let your fans know about your event in advance and increase their interest in everything you are planning. Your fans can also turn on a countdown tracker to be sent a notification once the countdown has finished and the event has started.

 

 

3. Share your fans’ content

User Generated Content is a phrase that has been used in marketing circles for some time. Content that is shared by users is up to 50% more trustworthy than content that you create yourself (Business2Community 2016). Therefore, it is important not to neglect it and let your fans know that you are interested in how they use your products. Don’t forget to share their posts in your stories and comment on them. All you need to do is add a quick thank you note, an appropriate gif or some information about the product that is in the photo.

 

 

Sharing posts from your fans increases their loyalty and also proves that you care about what they think of you. For example, at Next Level Specialty Coffee, they select and share the stories of their customers once per day.

 

4. Be a storyteller

Stories take place on a daily basis in any company. Start noticing and telling them. Get your followers excited about anything new you are planning, take them behind the scenes or record a “day in the life” video. In addition to video, don’t be afraid of longer text. Create several stories to divide the information into. Your followers will tolerate it better and it will be easier for them to get to the point itself.

 

5. Create your own gifs

Gifs are a great way to add movement and emotion to static stories on Instagram and highlight important information. It’s also great if you create your own gifs that are related to your brand and your products. Come up with animations that your fans will identify with. You can also ask them through questions what gifs they would welcome for use in their own stories. Then just get your graphic designer to work and upload your gifs to giphy.com.

 

6. Do you shoot videos? Don’t forget about subtitles

Videos are an ideal way to take fans around your offices or show what is included in the packaging of a particular product. But be sure to include subtitles, or captions, for each video. Remember that time when you were watching Instagram stories at a meeting or training and you couldn’t have the sound turned on? Think of your followers that are often in similar situations and add the information you provide in the video. Thanks to subtitles, they won’t have to skip your stories and they will click through to the end. And the algorithm likes that.

 

7. Juice the metrics

Instagram itself offers a large number of metrics for brand accounts. Take a look at them and find out, for example, what types of stories are most watched, which stories people interact with the most, or at what time your fans are active. Analyse what you see and adjust your next strategy so that your stories reach as many people as possible and benefit from them.

Tip: Learn how to increase reach beyond stories so that your brand is visible across social networks.

 

Involved followers = faithful followers

Engaging your followers in Instagram stories is a guaranteed way to build a loyal fan base and become their love brand. Being aware of them on a daily basis is the result of long-term communication and the creation of stories that will captivate and be relevant to your brand and fans at the same time.

Don’t have enough time to devote to creating stories? Leave it to us. Managing social networks is one of our specialties. We build our work on data and complete care for your profiles and followers. Based on goals we set up together, we will plan a strategy and take care of your content, including texts or graphics.