So, you’ve mastered the art of the Instagram Post!
Yes, you’re now getting a consistent couple of hundred or even thousands of likes on your photos.
You’ve even got several thousand followers behind you. You’ve made it! But oh wait… now there’s Instagram Stories (since writing this post, Instagram TV or IGTV has also launched)!
You might be thinking, what’s that?
Or, why am I not getting as many views here as I do on my regular posts?
Learning how to get more views on Instagram stories is actually pretty simple as well – like 6 easy tricks for how to get more Instagram stories views simple!
How to Get More Instagram Stories Views: 6 Easy Tricks
After implementing all of the following into my own Instagram stories strategy, my views more than tripled!
So, let’s get to it and learn how to increase your Instagram reach with a solid Instagram stories plan.
1. Tag Your Location
Tagging locations in your Instagram Stories is a great way to increase local exposure and is an essential part of the Instagram post checklist you should utilize every time you post new content!
Whether you’re at home or out and about, you should also ALWAYS tag a location in your stories – it’s one of the easiest ways to increase Instagram stories views!
For example, while I live just outside of Vancouver, BC, I consciously tag this metropolis when I am at home as the potential for a higher view count far exceeds that of my suburb.
If you’re on location, assess the popularity of the spot you’re visiting and make the call as to whether or not you should tag this specific destination or something more general (again, like the city of region).
Have fun and experiment to see what works for you!
Pro tip: if you want to hide the location tags in your stories, change the colour scheme to grey and white and then minimize it as much as you can before hiding it somewhere on the page (preferably a white area so your little spec blends in flawlessly). Boom!
2. Use Hashtags
I am a HUGE advocate of hashtags!
Whether you’re using hashtags related to your niche or trending ones like those for each day of the week, hashtags play the role of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in the world of social media!
Essential companion apps for IG, like Tailwind and Preview, are also excellent places to search for new and popular Instagram hashtags.
If it wasn’t for capitalizing on these little gems, I would have never achieved the kind of success I have on Instagram (in such a competitive field, why not use everything you can to make yourself discoverable to potential new followers and customers).
I’m personally of the thought that you should MAXIMIZE on your hashtags in Instagram Stories!
That’s right, use up to all 30 of the hashtags that you are allowed for maximum impressions. This will also help you to increase your profile views by reaching new potential followers.
But wait, don’t get squeamish! It’s not going to look tacky if you do it the right way!
Remember how we minimized our location tag to make it blend in with our story and become essentially invisible?
You can do the exact same thing with your hashtags and increase your Instagram stories views tenfold!
Keep a set (or four!) of 30 hashtags you love using (or as many as you are comfortable with) in your phone’s notes section and then copy and paste it into a text box in your new Instagram Story.
Once you’re happy with the tags you’ve chosen, again, pinch the corner of that “tags box” and minimize that bad boy as much as you can.
Find some white space, put your little white dot in there, and you’re tagged and ready to share!
3. Strive for an 50/50 Rule
What’s your Instagram page about? Motherhood? Travel? Food? A combination of these things?
What do you normally post about on your main feed? Make sure you try and stick to this theme here too.
While I’m a firm believer in sharing content that’s not high quality enough to go onto your main feed in your Instagram stories (consider doing a bit of photo editing to give some of these materials new life), sticking to a 50/50 rule for content related to vs. unrelated to your account is essential in building a story following.
Chances are, people are following my Instagram account because they like my style of photography, image curation, or found me here on the blog first.
Not everyone is interested in the day to day lives of others – adding unique tips and ideas or referencing blog posts to help your audience will do wonders for your story views.
Be sure to also add your old stories to your Instagram Highlights and brand your profile with custom made highlight covers.
You only have 24 hours or 1440 minutes in a day – as does your audience! Appreciate the time that they are devoting to you and make it worth their while.
People naturally want to learn and be inspired.
They are constantly looking for ways to improve themselves or, in the case of brands, new things to fall in love with.
Give the people what they want and as a general rule of thumb, post 1 inspirational story for every personal story you share.
4. Run Polls Semi-Often
People LOVE to give their opinion on things and even the ones who don’t follow you on Instagram will be curious about that new question story that just popped up in their hashtag or location pages.
Create engaging content for Instagram by asking for input on your newest blog post or on your Instagram feed. Ask a general question related to an upcoming holiday or new product release (perfect for beauty bloggers or reviewers).
The options are endless and you can never go wrong with trying to engage your current and potential new followers!
5. Spread Out Your Posts
Instead of posting 10 new stories back to back, consider sharing once per hour to better distribute your content.
This is one of the easiest ways to increase Instagram stories views while at the same time improving your reach! After all, real story views are far more valuable to both you, the content creator and/or the business than inauthentic views ever could be.
The odds of your followers catching a glimpse of your icon in their new stories bar will be much higher if you post at different times throughout the day.
For example, when posting a dozen new Instagram stories at 11am, only those who are active on Instagram at that time (and those who already closely follow your IG stories) will see the great new content you’ve produced.
Posting at different time of the day is incredibly valuable for your Instagram business strategy.
Have a look at the time stamps on the last Instagram Stories of the others you follow that are showing up first in your newsfeed right now; usually within the last couple of hours, right?
Instagram arranges these stories as a combination of those you view most often as well as most recently posted.
This is where you have an opportunity to attract others to view yours!
Instead of focusing all of your efforts into banging out many new Instagram Story posts as you can at one time, set a reminder in your phone if it helps you, and spread out those stories.
6. Post Daily
We’ll finish with an important reminder here!
In order to stay relevant, you want to stay on people’s minds so, don’t go full ghost mode for days or weeks at a time!
Even one update, a funny meme, or inspirational quote is enough to keep you fresh in your audience’s thoughts.
Pro tip: searching other accounts you love on Instagram or Pinterest and screenshotting (is this a word? It is now :P) some fabulous posts that made you laugh or moved you is a great way to build your “filler” content arsenal!
Write something clever, and then credit and tag the rightful owner before sharing it in your stories! Who knows, maybe you’ll even get a shoutout in their stories too!
And there you have it! Six of the most simple yet powerful ways you can increase Instagram stories views:
- Always tag your locations
- Use relevant hashtags
- Strive for a 50/50 rule
- Run polls semi-often
- Spread your new posts throughout the day
- Post every single day
What was your favourite tip? Let me know how you did after a week of implementing these ideas in the comments below 🙂
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I loved your post! I needed these tips really bad. My IG story views are terrible. I get like 1-3 views tops,lol. I had no clue what I was doing. I don’t really see many bloggers writing about IG stories. I really appreciate your post!