7 actionable tips for small businesses to boost their Instagram engagement using stories and reels.
3 min read
Just now
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Just now
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Create interactive stories: Boost engagement by using interactive stickers like polls, quizzes, and sliders to encourage your audience to participate. This not only increases engagement but also provides valuable feedback and insights into your audience’s preferences.
Example: If you own a bakery, you could create a poll asking your followers to vote between two new cupcake flavors you’re considering adding to your menu. This helps you understand which flavor might be more popular and makes your audience feel involved in the decision-making process.
Share behind-the-scenes content: Use Instagram Stories and Reels to provide exclusive, authentic content that gives followers a glimpse into your brand’s operations, team members, or product development process. This helps humanize your brand and build stronger connections with your audience.
Example: As a small fashion brand, you could share a Reel of your design team working on new clothing sketches, giving your followers an inside look into the creative process.
Use text overlays and captions: Make your Stories and Reels more accessible and engaging by adding text overlays or captions. This ensures that your content can be enjoyed by everyone, including those who watch videos without sound or have hearing impairments.
Example: For a fitness studio, you could post a Story with a video of an instructor demonstrating a new workout move, and add a text overlay that explains the benefits of the exercise or provides step-by-step instructions.
Collaborate with other businesses or influencers: Partner with other businesses or influencers in your niche to create engaging Stories and Reels that showcase your collaboration. This helps you tap into new audiences, increases your credibility, and brings fresh content ideas to your Instagram strategy.
Example: A small skincare brand could partner with a local beauty influencer to create a Reel showcasing their morning skincare routine, featuring the brand’s products.
Leverage user-generated content: Share user-generated content (UGC) in your Stories and Reels, showcasing customers using your products or services. This not only encourages more UGC but also provides social proof, which can be a powerful motivator for potential customers.
Example: A restaurant could share a Story highlighting a customer’s photo of their delicious meal and positive review, tagging the customer and thanking them for sharing their experience.
Create educational content: Share short tutorials, how-to’s, or tips related to your industry using Instagram Stories or Reels. This type of content is highly engaging and provides value to your audience, positioning your brand as an expert in your field.
Example: As a small gardening business, you could create a series of Stories with tips on how to properly care for specific plants, providing valuable information to your followers and establishing your expertise in the field.
Optimize posting times and frequency: Experiment with different posting times and frequencies to find what works best for your audience. Use Instagram Insights to analyze when your followers are most active and schedule your Stories and Reels accordingly. Consistency is key, so maintain a regular posting schedule to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.
Example: After analyzing your Instagram Insights, you discover that your handmade jewelry brand’s audience is most active on weekdays between 6–8 pm. As a result, you decide to post Stories and Reels consistently during those times to maximize engagement.
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