Instagram introduced stories around 5 years ago, and with time, it has become one of its most popular features. Stories are a great way to engage with your audience, primarily due to multiple new elements being added to it frequently. From stickers and gifs to polls and questions, there is so much you can do with just an Instagram story post.
While there is considerable debate regarding the optimum number of stories on a profile, it always comes down to the individual profile and page. Instagram stories give influencers the opportunity to put up content that will only be available for 24 hours, giving them the liberty to create spontaneous and experimental content.
What should influencers look at when posting stories?
Here are a few things you should consider when posting stories to your Instagram account. By taking into consideration these aspects, one will be able to increase engagement and grow their brand and business.
Attention span
Research shows that the attention span of humans has considerably decreased in the past few years. A study has learnt that the average human attention span is currently just 8.25 seconds. This makes it impossible for influencers to post more than 3 stories if they wish for their audience to engage with their content. An ideal number of stories would mean nothing more than 5 stories daily.
Adam Mosseri gave his thoughts on how to increase engagement on Instagram and he suggests that 2 feed posts per week and 2 Stories per day will be perfect to grow your following.
Engagement rate
Influencers should pay attention to the insights on their account to understand what is best for their profile. Viewers tend to exit stories when they get bored. By looking at the insights, influencers can gauge the engagement per story and from which number their view count drops. This will vary from influencer to influencer, making it important that you look at your distinct insights.
Time of the day
When do your followers spend the most time on Instagram? Learning this information can be a game changer for influencers on the platform. Posting at the right time ensures that your followers come across your content on time and are not buried under a pile of other posts.
Story content and quality
While every story you wish to post may be interesting, you must be able to distinguish between your content. Put up the fun and exciting stories first so that your viewer comes across them first. Boring content will result in viewers clicking away before they get to your best content.
Days to post
Just like there is an optimal time to post stories, there are also perfect days to get your posts up. Information regarding this can be obtained by studying your Instagram Insights. Are your followers on Instagram during after-school hours, or do they spend time on the app during the weekends? Once you have this figured out, you will be able to get more engagement for your Instagram stories.
Interactive element
One of the biggest highlights of Instagram stories is the ability to add interactive elements. Studies show that users stay on your story when they are also interacting with you. Put up a poll or a question once in a while to get your followers to feel more involved in your content.
Due to the rate at which content is produced in today’s world, it becomes crucial for the brain to be constantly stimulated. When users click on a story and see numerous dots on top, it is highly likely that they click away very quickly. This is because repetitive content in any form potentially bores the average viewer.
According to Buffer, 1-7 stories are ideal when posting on Instagram. The completion rate of the stories is believed to decrease after this range. Having said that, the way viewers engage with different influencers varies greatly. It is, therefore, essential for the creator to closely monitor their insights.
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