An In-Depth Guide to Instagram Story Ideas in 2023

You might be thinking ‘what’s the point in Instagram Stories if they only last 24 hours?’, but in internet time, that’s plenty. Finding Instagram Story ideas to fill those 24 hours can be tough. 

You must also remember that 500 million Instagram users access this feature every day, with 58% stating that they’re more interested in a brand after viewing their Stories. That makes them pretty worthwhile in our books. 

Instagram Stories have the capacity to be more real and raw with the content they share, compared to Instagram posts, with unedited, in-the-moment pictures and videos often prioritised. However, only sharing this content to your Stories can soon become rather repetitive and boring for your audience. If you want to keep them engaged, you’ll need to start getting creative and planning ahead. 

With Pride month fast approaching, it is wise to plan your Instagram Story ideas in advance so that they remain engaging, fresh and interactive throughout the month of June. Content planning can be a tedious task, but recruiting the help of an Instagram marketing agency can make it a lot easier. Industry experts can plan a month-long content calendar filled with exciting Instagram Story ideas to spotlight your allyship for the coming month. 

Wanting fresh Instagram Story content? 

Read on!

Instagram Story ideas for increasing follower engagement

Conduct a poll

The great thing about polls is that they can be about anything you want them to be about. Not only this, but they serve as a way of getting more content ideas and feedback from your audience without being overly pushy for answers. 

Say you own a press-on nail business. You can poll your audience on their design choices, purchasing considerations and wearability expectations. The social media marketer for this press-on nail business could even use the Poll feature to discover that a percentage of their audience don’t know how to apply their own nails; creating the opportunity for a future Instagram Story dedicated to teaching others how to apply their own press-on nails.

Host a Q&A

A Q&A allows your audience to get to know your team better. 

Here are just a few of the benefits:

1. You can quickly and directly connect with your audience in a low-effort way
2. Based on the questions you get, you can create an FAQs highlight that will live on your profile and help all future visitors 
3. You will discover information gaps between you and your audience

Spotlight your customers

Spotlighting your customers is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. While maintaining a relationship with an existing customer, you are also attracting new ones by leveraging social proof that your product or service is enjoyable. In turn, this will increase your credibility and serve as a testimonial for your brand.

Quiz your followers!

Everyone loves a quiz, making this Instagram Story feature one of the most fun and engaging ways to interact with your followers through your Stories. Alongside this, Instagram quizzes can also offer interesting insights. 

This Pride month, if it is relevant to your brand, consider opting for a quiz that tests your audience’s knowledge on the history of Pride month.

Re-post user-generated content

If you are struggling with Instagram Story ideas, reposting UGC is an easy, yet effective way to overcome this challenge. Pride month is all about lifting others up and celebrating differences, so be mindful of those whose content you share.

Ways to set yourself up for UGC success are:

1. Start a hashtag and encourage your followers to incorporate it into any content they share about your brand
2. Search relevant hashtags to find posts that are related to your brand without directly tagging you

Host a giveaway

Who doesn’t love a freebie?

Hosting a giveaway is a great way to increase your reach and this Pride month is all about that! They act as incentives for others to share your content with their own network of followers, strengthening their loyalty to you. 

When hosting a giveaway, make sure you create an in-feed Post featuring all of its details and entry requirements. This way, whenever you promote it on your Story (which you can do multiple times), users will be able to access it and enter at any time.

Cool Instagram Story ideas for products/services

Share testimonials and reviews

As mentioned earlier, testimonials are a great way to improve your brand’s credibility. 

When you find a favourable review you can turn it into an aesthetically pleasing Story. Once the 24 hours are up, consider adding it to a Story Highlight for future visitors to read. 

Top Tip: create a testimonial/review template that you can simply pop your customer’s review into each time and share with ease. 

Highlight your products/services 

Every now and then you’ll want to promote your products/services in Stories. This keeps things fresh and reminds your followers of what you have to offer. 

Say you have a sale going on over on your website, posting a Story of the sale items on your Story and making use of the Shopping Sticker is a great way to drive traffic to that product and generate sales.

Announce discounts and special deals

Discounts and special deals are a win-win. People love them, and your brand generates more sales. That is why you’ll want to share this information with your audience via Stories. From here, you can share a link to your website, creating a seamless shopping experience. 

These Instagram Story ideas in particular should be loud and entice the viewer to click through, so make use of all of the animated stickers and colourful fonts that Instagram has to offer. 

Instagram Story ideas for educational content

Pride month is all about educating others, whether that’s on the history of Pride, social media advocates to follow or stories about famous members of the LGBTQ+ community. 

If this is your goal this June, then consider doing the following:

Share community news

With an array of Pride-related activities and events taking place throughout the month of June, consider sharing the information with your audience via your Stories. Being a reliable source of information will build trust with your audience. On a similar note, sharing your opinion on Pride-related news this month could make you a thought leader in the LGBTQ+ space. 

Post tutorials

Valuable, short tutorials add value to your audience. For this to work, your tutorial must be to-the-point and include bold visuals to keep your audience swiping right.

If you’re a beauty brand, consider sharing a one-Story graphic on potential makeup looks your audience could rock at their next Pride parade. Something as simple as this makes it easily digestible and shareable! 

There you have it – a detailed list of Instagram Story ideas to make sure you never run out of content this June!

FAQs

How do you make a catchy Story on Instagram?

To attract attention, get creative! Include Emojis, Stickers, colourful fonts and fun language that includes CTAs.

How can I increase my Story views?

1. Add an engagement-driving Sticker (ie, a Poll, Emoji Slider or Quiz)
2. Add an extra Story at the end of the day 
3. Share exclusive content on Stories (for brands this could be a 24-hour discount code and for creators a personal story)

What is the current Instagram Story trend?

The ‘Add Yours’ Sticker creates a public thread in Stories. You can customise the prompt (such as ‘show me a picture of your pet’) and wait to see who responds to it with a picture on their Story. For brands, this is a great way to encourage UGC.

How do I make my Instagram Stories interesting?

To hold your audience’s attention you can:

1. Start a ‘this or that’ game on your Story
2. Show how something is made
3. Share a buying guide
4. Create fun graphics with useful tips
5. Create a fun quiz
6. Start a trend using the ‘Add Yours’ Sticker
7. Participate in a Story trend

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