Creative instagram story ideas for 2021
Rajendra Zadpe
Instagram Stories are a great way to interact with your audience on Instagram. In fact, in late 2017 more than 300 million people watched Instagram Stories daily.
That’s almost two times more than Snapchat.
No doubt, it’s clear that Instagram Stories should be a part of every account’s marketing in 2020 and onward. It’s worth noting that we’ve seen a significant decline in engagement rate for regular posts while Story engagement has stayed high.
Therefore, if you’re not making Stories on Instagram, you’re missing out.
“So what should I post to Stories?” you might be asking.
Not to worry.
So without further ado..
Here’s my best Instagram Story ideas for 2021.
1. Location. Location. Location.
It’s not an accident that this idea landed first.
Using location markers in your Stories is huge. All the accounts I’ve worked with get around 50% more views. Combine that with relevant hashtags and you’ll be scooping in two times more views to your Stories.
More views = more followers.
Easy enough.
2. Ask a Question #polltime
Every once in a while Instagram adds new features. A while back we got the option to do polls.
Obviously, Instagram wants to push new features and rewards better views and rankings for the accounts to help their new features be accepted by the community.
Doing polls isn’t that new anymore, but it’s still an awesome way to get your audience to do something.
Getting someone to do something for you makes them like you more and increases the chance of them doing something more for you in the future (#psychology).
The key to doing polls is to ask simple questions with very easy answers.
For example, if you’re in fashion you could ask which shirt you should wear today.
Blue vs. Red
3. Encourage People to Message You
After the big algorithm changes in late 2017 more people have reached out to me about the declined engagement rate.
Now, Instagram is trying to serve content based on what you’d like to see.
If you open your feed, you’ll probably see content from accounts that you know and are heavily interacting with.
Having direct message communication with someone is a very strong signal to Instagram. It tells them the person you’re talking with is your friend, not just a random account you used to follow back in 2016. Therefore, ask people to send you a message.
Increasing your engagement rate is one thing, but you should also be genuinely interested in having real relationships with your followers and customers.
That’s what social media should be about. Real relationships.
4. Encourage People to Turn on Post Notifications
Another great way to boost your engagement is to ask people to turn on their post notifications. So every time you post something, they will receive a notification. This increases the amount of likes and comments you receive.
5. Show Your Mood
Not all days are alike.
Instagram Stories can be raw and human. Don’t always aim to be perfect.
When you’re in a hurry, just let your audience know what’s going on and why you aren’t sharing.
If you simply don’t feel like putting something cool together, it’s perfectly okay to say that.
On the other hand, this depends on your niche a little bit as well. In some cases you might not want to come off as lazy and moody. For example from fitness coaches I expect constant energy and motivation.
6. Have a Rant About Something
If there’s something you’re passionate about, then it will probably make good content for Instagram Stories.
To become an opinion leader you need to develop an opinion on things. If you’re in between with most things and being “politically correct” all the time then you might become boring over time.
Have an opinion and don’t be afraid to say it out loud.
There will always be people who dislike you no matter what you do. People who agree with you will respect you even more for stating your views.
7. Teasers
Planning a product launch?
That’s awesome! Doing teasers for your upcoming launch is a great way to warm up your audience. I would use both video and photo posts.
8. Use Stickers
When you’re just feeling crazy, use stickers.
You can do really funny things with just using stickers in Instagram Stories. For example, think about doing #funfridays
9. Promote Your Product
This is pretty obvious, but if you have a product or you’re running a service – promote it in your Instagram Story.
Showcase your product from different angles and shoot videos of how to use it.
If you’re running a service, make short videos explaining what you are doing and why it’s important for your customers. Be very clear about the value and benefit of the service.
Don’t just focus on the features.
10. Do Shoutouts
Yes, shoutouts still work on Instagram.
It’s a great way to build meaningful relationships with people you like and who share similar content with you.
Also, if you have spent quite a lot of time building that perfect looking Instagram feed, you don’t really want to post screenshots of somebody’s feed there right?
The great thing with Instagram Stories is that they don’t have to look amazing. They just need to convey the message and have a strong call to action.
That’s all folks
Instagram being a visual medium allows for images and videos to be shared with your followers. You can add multiple images to create a slideshow or create a grid layout on your Instagram profile. You can also create Instagram ads to generate leads, boost traffic to your website, and promote app installs. Instagram Stories and IGTV are also very effective in connecting with your brand audience.
Ultimately, Instagram – as a medium of Content Marketing – is about storytelling. You need to share effective stories that connect and empathize with your followers.