Instagram Stories Guide 101
Stories were created as a way to share behind-the-scenes moments of your day-to-day life. Instagram Stories launched in August 2016 when Snapchat was so big, and since then they’ve continued to grow in popularity!
The little photo and video clips automatically disappear after 24 hours unless you specify otherwise. If you want a story to last longer, you can add it as a highlight (which appear on your profile). Here’s a quick how-to on adding highlights.
Instagram highlights allow you to feature stories as long as you would like, and you can feature as many as you want. We typically recommend 3-5, and they should represent your brand.
You may also like our Fast & Frustration-Free Guide to Gain Instagram Followers
Can you tell who looks at your Instagram story?
You can see a list of everyone who views your Instagram story by opening your story and clicking the icon in the bottom left. This will show you each user who has viewed it, and you can also click the bar graph to see more insights. Only you can see this information.
Can you hide your Instagram story from people?
If you don’t want someone seeing your Instagram story, you can hide any story from them. You can do this when you go to share the post or after publishing the story by clicking the 3 dots on the bottom right and selecting Story Settings.
Whether you select it before and or after the story is published, you will see these same options.
How do I get my Instagram Stories at the top of the feed?
Instagram Story views used to be in chronological order, but now they are based on an algorithm.
This means, if someone usually watches and engages with your stories, the more likely you will be shown first to them.
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What counts as a view on Instagram story?
It’s anything over 3 seconds a this time.
Can you see how many times someone views your Instagram story?
No, Instagram only allows you to see who has watched your story. They do not reveal how many times someone has watched it.
Can you see if someone screenshots Instagram story?
Unlike Snapchat, you cannot see if people screenshot your Instagram stories.
9 Simple Hacks to Triple Your Instagram Story Views
1. Consistently Post the Best Stuff
So many trainings teach to post to Instagram stories every 2 hours. The idea is that you will continue to pop up in the feed higher than if you did one story; however, this isn’t the case anymore because of the Instagram Story Algorithm.
Since Instagram stories are also now sorted by relationship and likelihood of engagement, it’s better to focus on quality over quantity.
We recommend aiming to post to stories 3-5 per day as the ultimate goal; however, you should always focus on quality.
So if this means you can only post something really unique and cool once in the mornings consistently – go with that!
2. Engage With Your Community
Your Instagram story views will increase as your relationship with your audience grows stronger. This is due to the algorithm. One way you to build that relationship is by asking your audience questions and featuring polls.
Both questions and polls are Instagram features under the sticker tab.
3. Use Hashtags
You can also use up to 10 hashtags in each story if you have a business account. By including hashtags, people can find your story when they search that hashtag. They also can see your story if they follow that hashtag.
We recommend using some of the larger hashtags (over 1 million) and hiding them in your story.
Here’s how to hide hashtags in your Instagram Stories:
- Write out each hashtag you want to include. It should be underlined.
- Use the little color dropper on the bottom left and click it on part of the image.
- Then move and shrink the hashtags onto that part of the image.
4. Share a Location
Just like people can find your Instagram Story by a hashtag, they can also find it by location. We love to include a location anytime we are in a new city, at a fun event, or a hip restaurant.
5. Tag Other Relevant Accounts
With your Instagram business account, you can tag other accounts in your stories. When you do, these accounts can also add your story to their stories.
If their audience is engaged, this can be a huge opportunity to get your name and personality in front of a new audience!!
If you are using a specific product, sharing a podcast, wearing a certain type of clothing or reviewing something – tag that brand!
6. Use Text
A lot of people watch Instagram stories with the sound off. By including text when you are speaking will help increase your Instagram story views because people can follow along even with the sound down.
7. Play with Different Features
Don’t be afraid to play with filters, boomerangs, super-zooms, rewinds and gifs! Instagram Stories are where you can show your personality and add in a little whimsy!
We bet your audience will like the variety too instead of just seeing front-facing video or text too!
8. Check Your Analytics
You can always check your analytics to see what stories have the most views too! You can find this under Insights on a business account. Just go to your profile > click in the top right > select Insights > Content > Stories > See All.
There it will show you impressions from your stories from the last 14 days. This can help you identify what format, hashtags, and locations are working best for you!
9. Log Off
If you are feeling burned out or struggling to do stories consistently consider logging off for a set period of time.
We recommend letting your audience know how long you’ll be gone and that you’re excited to reconnect on with them on a specific date.
What hacks have helped you increase your Instagram Story views?
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