Instagram Story Booster

1. Share a feed post with a “new post” sticker

You might notice that your stories are getting more views, likes and overall engagement than your Instagram feed posts are. Some users only view Instagram stories and don’t scroll through their feeds at all.

To make sure your content is still reaching those people, you can share new posts (or Instagram Reels) to your story — ideally, adding something like text or a sticker to make it more engaging. There’s plenty of “New Post” stickers that perfectly sum up that action.

2. Hide a new post with a sticker

Similar to the above, you can use a sticker to obscure a photo that you’ve posted or shared to your feed. This creates an intriguing image that is tempting to click on and learn more about—like a lift-the-flap book.

3. Make a poll

Asking your followers to vote or state their preference using a poll is a great way to engage them, and it’s easy with Instagram’s built-in poll sticker. If your poll references a product, you can link to that product in the same story.

4. Make a quiz about your content

Test your diehard followers (and get some valuable engagement) by using a quiz sticker and asking them questions about your brand. It’s a fun way for your audience to interact with you as a creator—and answering a question correctly gives all of us a little boost of serotonin, right?

5. Say thank you to your followers

Without your followers, you’re just shouting into the void (which has its place, for sure, but is not really what we are going for from a social media marketing perspective). Show them some love by saying thank-you via your story.

6. Share a coupon code and link

Saving money is cute, right? Sharing a coupon code on your Instagram story as well as a link directly to that product gives followers an incredibly easy route to getting a discount (and you, an incredibly easy route to getting some money).

7. Share content that inspires you

Whether you’re a business or a creator, chances are that you find inspiration somewhere—from a walk in the park, from an indie song, a cool vase you once saw, etc.

Sharing photos or videos of things that make you, you (and make your brand, your brand) is an effective way to communicate a genuine humanity to your followers. You’re not a bot, prove it.

8. Share a great product photo with a product link

Text, stickers and emojis have their place, but there’s something to be said for a plain, clean, high-quality photo. If you have a great lifestyle shot of one of your products, consider simply sharing that with a link to the product. Effortlessness screams cool.

Hint: Fill in the “text” field when adding a link in your Instagram story to replace the hyperlink. Instead of your website, the tappable sticker can say something like “READ THIS,” “LEARN MORE” or “SHOP NOW.”

9. Post your out of office message

When you’re going on vacation (you deserve it) you can let your followers know via an Instagram story. It’s an opportunity to share a more personal side of your brand, and to show off a cool vacation photo.

10. Share a photo from another Instagram account

It doesn’t always have to be about you. Sharing content from other accounts (with proper credit, of course) helps you to provide your followers with a more holistic experience, and might even foster some good relationships with other creators.

11. Use a simple interactive sticker

Different interactive stickers require different amounts of brainpower (and overall effort) to engage with. For example, a question sticker is high-effort — it involves the user thinking of an answer and typing it out. A poll is slightly lower, as the user just has to read the answers and tap one.

12. Make a countdown for an event

Instagram’s countdown stickers are engaging because they’re dynamic—the clock changes every second. The countdown also generates a sense of urgency, encouraging your followers to get excited about the event.

13.Give a sneak peek of a sale or special event

Everyone likes feeling like an insider, and providing your followers with a little pre-event content helps to hype them up. This kind of story doesn’t have to be polished: give your audience an authentic look at what kind of preparation goes into your work.

14. Share a positive review

You can advertise all you want, but nothing hypes your business up quite like a positive review. Share one on your Instagram story to humbly show your followers how terrific you are.

15. Share progress photos

Rome wasn’t built in a day, they say, and if Romans had Instagram you can bet they would have been showing progress pics. Sharing several photos of the same thing in different stages can be super compelling

16. Ask for followers’ suggestions

Take advantage of your follower’s wealth of knowledge and connections by asking them for suggestions. This can be something that’s related to your business, brand or something personal

17. Share an aesthetic collage

Not every story you post has to have an actionable component—in fact, posting too many stories with polls, question stickers and links can get a little exhausting for your followers.

Break it up by posting a beautiful collage (lifestyle photos of your brand, if you like, or even just a few pretty pictures from your camera roll).