Transcript
Introduction
Why are my Instagram stories views so low? We hear this question a lot at Later, and it's actually a question we've asked ourselves before. After a lot of trial and error, we figured out the secret sauce. I'm going to share four ways you can hack the story system, all tried and tested by the Later Social Team.
Hack #1: Add an Engagement-Driving Sticker to Your First Story
You may have heard a rumor going around a little while back where people were saying that if you use an Engagement Sticker on the first slide of your story, you'll automatically get more views.
We tested this theory out with Later's Instagram account, and to our surprise, it worked. We found that whenever we added a question sticker to the first slide of our Instagram stories, these stories would get almost double the amount of views compared to if we didn't use an Engagement Sticker.
Now, if you're wondering what I mean by an Engagement Sticker, I'm talking about the Emoji slider, poll, quiz, or Question Stickers. The reason behind why using an Engagement Sticker might be driving more views is simple. It's because it encourages people to engage with your story right off the bat, which is a major indicator for the Instagram algorithm.
Hack #2: Add an Extra Story at the End of the Day
Another little trick we have up our sleeves is adding a brand new Instagram story about an hour or two before your old story is about to expire. We're not entirely sure why this works, but every time we've tried it, it does the trick. We'll usually keep it short & sweet and share something like a meme or repost a story that we've been tagged in. Something else we've heard is that if you take a short posting break on Instagram stories, this will boost your views.
We've tried this out, and unfortunately, we didn't have any success. We weren't able to replicate results consistently, so this isn't really a tactic we can vouch for...but it might be worth trying to see if it works for your audience.
Hack #4: Tap into Instagram's Close Friends Feature
Okay, now this is a fun little hack. Have you ever noticed that if someone has added you to their Close Friends list, you're more than likely to see the little green circle at the front of your Instagram story feed? This is because Instagram prioritizes content from close connections. Now, I am not telling you to add all of your thousands of followers to your Close Friends list, but maybe add a group of important ambassadors or influencers. If you're a brand, or if you're an influencer, you can add your most engaged community members.
Lastly, if you want to tap into every opportunity for engagement, I'd recommend planning your Stories in advance. With Later, you can visually plan your stories before you post, and it's just the best way to improve your Instagram Story strategy. If there is one major takeaway from all of these hacks, it would be to make sure you're constantly testing out different types of Instagram Stories content.
If you're posting the same content every single day, it's likely people are going to stop watching it. Try out a poll one day, a tutorial the next, try talking directly to the camera, and maybe the next day, try something behind the camera. Make sure to analyze your Story's results on a regular basis, so you know what's performing and what isn't. Thank you so much for watching. If you found this video helpful, don't forget to like and subscribe. Feel free to drop your comments down below. I'll see you later!
