I know I’m not alone in this, but this winter, my Instagram story views totally tanked for a bit. As in less than 1% of my followers were seeing my stories. Things felt so quiet that I could hear the crickets! It was frustrating, confusing, and made me feel very unmotivated to share. Instead of sulking about it and being mad about not knowing how to increase Instagram stories views, I considered: is what I’m posting just not engaging? And then also, what strategies can I try to fix this?!
So, I did some things differently. I tried all sorts of things, and I want to share with you today what worked! So if your story views aren’t where you’d like them to be, this episode is for you. Also worth noting: the majority of these tips are based on my personal experience with the app so not necessarily any hard “research” or things heard directly from Instagram. It’s just what I’ve WATCHED work. I hope these will help you like they did me!
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1. Allow your stories to expire for 24 hours and then start fresh.
This was my first step when I decided to try to expand my reach and increase Instagram stories views. I had been letting my stories completely expire with nothing there often.
When I started back fresh, I tried to not let it get back to zero for a few days! This doesn’t mean you have to have a ton of stories, but it does mean that there is also something on your stories for a few days. By doing this, you are showing Instagram that you are here and posting consistently.
2. When you come back to posting, try sharing every hour for a whole day.
This is a great Instagram stories tip. When I came back to posting on Instagram consistently, I did a “day in my life”! This is where I was showing the behind-the-scenes of my day and it went so well. It allowed me to actually hit a bunch of these Instagram tips I’m sharing with you all at once and actually increase Instagram stories views.
I wouldn’t recommend posting a bunch of stories all at one time and then not sharing again for 8 hours. Post a few stories at a time all throughout the day. As you do this, vary up what you are sharing in those stories.
3. Use polls, question boxes, and other features that create simple engagement!
When your Instagram story views have been down, you want to get people back with engagement. Use the Instagram features that are meant to create engagement however it makes sense. Just ask people to engage with what you are sharing.
4. Utilize trending stickers
Some people Instagram not like this tip to increase Instagram stories views. But this is something that has seriously worked for me. I watched my views go up with this because Instagram was showing my stories to more people when the stories were about something trending.
If doing this makes you uncomfortable, don’t do it. But it worked for me and I think it’s worth trying!
Tune in to the full episode to hear the examples of exactly how this played out for me and what I did. Try it for yourself to find out!
5. Utilize trending words
This tip is different than stickers. I’m talking about the actual words. This is based on no research but just observations on my end.
If you didn’t know, Instagram can read the text that goes on your stories. This is how know when to add warnings about what you are sharing. A great example of this is the link to the CDC website if you are sharing COVID or vaccine-related content.
You can use the fact that Instagram is reading your stories to your advantage and talk about what’s trending to increase Instagram stories views.
I think this helps with increasing views for two reasons:
- If it is trending, it is for a reason. That means people want to hear about it and talk about it, which means naturally people on Instagram will be interested in what you’re sharing
- Instagram wants your stories to be relevant and current to what is happening, so they are more likely to boost your content when it is in line with that.
6. Tell a story that will encourage people to click through all of it.
Would you guess, storytelling on Instagram stories actually WORKS! Of course, it does!
Instead of putting all your text on one story really tiny, tell the story over multiple slides. This encourages people to click through it all to read it and therefore engage more.
When Instagram sees that more people clicked through all of the stories you have up to see, it shows that it was interesting and they will show it to more people which will obviously increase Instagram stories views.
7. Encourage people to DM you about what you are sharing then write them back.
This is a simple one and it is good for your business for so many reasons! One of those reasons is that you need to engage with potential customers on a 1:1 level. DMs is the place to do this!
Share things that might encourage people to write you back. When they do, you actually respond back to them. I know this is a simple thing but this will increase Instagram stories views because when you show Instagram that people want to respond to what you are sharing, so they will show it to more people.
8. When someone tags you in a story, reshare it!
This is a basic one, but I do think this works because again, it is encouraging engagement and utilizing features Instagram has made available.
9. Try new features
Right now, the new feature is “Add Yours.” But there will be plenty more. Whatever the new feature is, test it out! Hopping on the trends that Instagram is pushing is always a win with the algorithm and a way to increase Instagram stories views. Use and share content that features anything Instagram is pushing and it should help you on stories.
Bonus tip!
Sometimes we need to step away from the app for a little bit and let it go. Let go of the fact that it is not working, let go of the comparison of watching a competitor seem like everything is “perfect”. News flash, it probably isn’t, but I know it’s easy to feel that way! But just let go. So if you need to just take a break, do that for yourself.
So there you have it, friends! These 9 things all helped me get my story views back up after being intensely low. I believe these same hacks can help you. Do all of them together, or just try the ones that make sense with your business and leave the rest. Either way, you’ve got this.
