Story views have dropped for many of us and we all need a new strategy! This is something you might have noticed in the previous weeks. I’ve been testing different types of stories in the past days and I’m going to talk to you about the results and how to actually take advantage of the changes in Instagram’s algorithm and increase our story views even more than the numbers we were getting before these changes happened.
I’ve been working as a digital marketer and have seen lots of insights from different bloggers that I work with for my clients. Moreover, I’ve worked with brands myself as a creator. So, as somebody who’s been on both sides of the table, I’m going to share some experiences with you today.
First, the change that we’re talking about here is regarding how stories are being shown to followers. You might have noticed that in the past, story view counts were somewhat stable. For example, if you got around 3000 views on your stories you would usually get about the same number most of the days. Some days your stories would work a little better if you could get people to engage with them more, but it would be about the same number in the next days too. Now, the minimum and maximum range has become wider. On the same page, one day you can get 3000 and the other day you can get only a thousand views on your stories. So what is wrong with IG views?
The thing is: interaction has become so much more important on stories. Your standard view count is not guaranteed for every day anymore. You’ll need a strategy to get people engaged with your stories content every day and that will not count for the stories of the next days.
However, the glass is half full! Because this means if you create better stories that get more people engaged, then you can get beyond your previously “standard” view count. I reviewed some of my own content in the past days. I used to get around 3000 on stories, which has dropped to around 2000 and even lower if I don’t do anything special for engagement. But, on days that I have a more customized content for Instagram’s new kind of behavior, I get way over the previously standard number of my own page. Like a recent series of stories that went beyond 6000. In those ones I shared a story about an influencer and the business that she has been doing which is highly relatable to my niche and had a bit of surprise factor in it that made people react to it a lot.
So, it really depends on what you do each day now. There’s no guarantee that you’re always going to get a standard number of views every single day. As somebody who has grown most of my followers using stories, oddly enough because everyone thinks stories don’t help gaining followers, I have some tips for you to increase your views even higher than they used to be:
Storytelling
By this, I mean actual story telling. It doesn’t even have to be about you. Whenever I pick an interesting story from my own niche, which is social media, that’s when I get lots of shares and replies. Because I write these stories in a way that are both informative and entertaining. So, People really get involved and would like to react to them or send them to their friends. This has really worked for me and I’m sure you can find stories in your own niche that can work for you or even be about yourself.
reply!
Reply to every single DM. Because people will not continue interacting if they don’t see a reaction from you. They are not going to talk to an empty chat room! But, if you reply and engage with them they are more likely to react and send you DMs again and that is what you need for getting more eyeballs on your stories. The more people react and reply, the more your stories are seen.
Use story features
Story stickers like pole and quiz are great ways to encourage people to react and get them into the habit of interacting with your content. Don’t over-use them and let people still have reasons to DM you and say something, but it’s good to use them from time to time whenever it feels right.
Show up!
This is examined before; people interact with people. When you show up in your stories and talk to people, you’re more likely to get their attention and let them feel closer to you.
The last tip I want to share is very personal. I can’t even call it a tip! Maybe a personal experience worth trying. I find that people really love to give advice. We, content creators, are so used to giving advice and sharing what we know or learn, but try this: when you ask people for help they are so ready to do it. I have several experiences of times I asked about a plant, or a recipe, or anything that I wanted to know quickly and my followers were so ready to help me. This is a great way to both get them to interact with you and at the same time make a stronger bond with them and feel closer to them. So try getting help and advice.
Thanks for reading! There is so much that I would like to share. Let me know what you want to know about stories or any other social media features.
