OPTIMISE YOUR INSTAGRAM STORIES
April 25, 2020
Throughout this year along with my usual tips on the visual side of business, I will be sharing valuable brand building insights from business specialists in the Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex area on various subjects.
As part of this I have been speaking with social media expert Katy Earley of Modern Media, and I am really excited to share her top 5 tips on Instagram stories.
Over to Katy:
There are so many Instagram Stories features, all of which have been designed to help make you more discoverable, so it’s really important that you use them! Here are a few examples - give them a go on your next few uploads and see how it affects the number of views you get!
- 1. Use the geotag feature to share where you are. You don’t have to be super
specific, but even by saying you’re in Haslemere, Surrey, your story will be
added to the story for that area and new accounts will be able to find you. I
geotag every single story I upload. TOP TIP: you can hide your geotag to the side
of your video / behind GIFs or text to keep your story looking tidy.
- 2. Still use hashtags. Just like in your static grid posts, people will discover
you when searching through hashtags in stories. Add as many as you want - if
you want to stop your story from looking messy, hide them - again, either
behind a GIF or by matching the colour of the text to the background so that
they are virtually invisible.
- 3. GIFs and music. Not necessarily the most professional, but lots of fun and
using these turns a still image into a video in IG’s eyes, which makes the
algorithm happy.
- 4. Polls / questions. This is a brilliant and ridiculously easy way to conduct
market research with your followers / customers! Ask them questions, find out
what they like and what they’d like to see from you. Getting your followers /
customers to interact with your stories in this way also gains you Instagram
brownie points.
- 5. Lastly, something to remember: stories may only last for 24hrs but highlights
last for as long as you want them to! Save your favourite / most useful
highlights and update them regularly. Remember to direct your followers over to
your highlights via your grid imagery and your more recent stories to remind
them what’s there!
Such great tips Katy, thank you so much. I hope this article has provided some new things you can action immediately to help maximise the exposure of all your brilliant content. I am very much looking forward to sharing more brand building pointers in the coming months. Keep an eye out for my next journal entry by following me on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Head to my Home Page to find out more about my work or contact me to if you would like to discuss your brand’s photography.
