How to Increase Instagram Story Views in 2024
Today, we’re talking about how to increase your Instagram Story Views!
We covered how Instagram is prioritizing DMs and Stories in this video, and a question that came up frequently was “How do I get more views?” In this post, we’ll share top tactics you can use to optimize for views and include some quick best practices at the end - so let’s dive in.
If you’d prefer to watch rather than read, we got you:
Use Engagement Stickers on Your First Story
Instagram values interactions, and one of the best ways to get interactions on Stories is through the use of engagement stickers (that’s why they created them!). Engagement stickers include Q&As, polls, the emoji slider, and more.
You want your first Story frame to not just be something that everyone can tap by; instead, you want to encourage interaction so that way Instagram serves it to more people which will help your other Stories in sequence.
Pro-tip: Think of important content you can share as a “minimum 2 frame set”. Add a poll or Q&A sticker before you share. For example, before we post an educational piece of content, we poll our audience and then follow up with an answer or solution to the poll which not only helps drive more views but immediately satisfies the question or problem introduced in the first frame.
Add a Hook or Cliffhanger
The goal here is to reduce the number of exits you get and increase the volume of views through your full set of Stories. This will let the algorithm know your content is keeping people in the app and active.
TV Shows and Soap Operas had this right from the beginning. People don’t want to be left hanging; they need to know what’s next, so especially in the first Story of your series for the day, lead with a hook. Something like “This new strategy led to 5x the views on my Story… tap next to find out what it was!’, or “Sharing behind-the-scenes content at this amazing event, stay tuned for what’s next…”, or “Free resource loading…”
Invite people to DM you
DMs are high-engagement markers in the algorithm. We’ve spoken on how Instagram emphasizes DMs because of their popularity amongst users (especially sharing of memes, in addition to general use of Messenger).
Inviting someone to DM will set off that signal that your story is engaging, and it will set off a relationship signal so you appear more consistently in that person’s Story feed. When inviting people to DM you, make sure it ladders back up to your pillars and serves a purpose. For example, if you create haircare products, you can ask your audience to DM you with hair care struggles they go through and kick off a conversation, or have them fill out a survey or quiz - which you could automate using Manychat.
Manychat is an Instagram automation tool, so it allows you to set up workflows that are triggered by a comment. For example, you could say in your post and/or caption “To get your free PDF on how to do X, comment “freebie” below!” Manychat can be set up to automatically respond with a unique comment (you can set up as many as you’d like so they’re not too repetitive), which will then trigger an automated direct message to the user. The DM can be something like “Tap the button below to fill out our survey!” or even have a stream of multiple-choice questions if you want to have some more fun with it.
This is by far the most efficient and effective way of driving traffic to your DMs, and you can try their Pro plan for a month for free via this link, and use the code HIGHSEASON at checkout to get that free month. Also, watch this video for a walk-through on how you can set up Manychat organically.
Another great way to get people to DM you is in place of the Link Sticker. Link Stickers are actually taking people OFF a Story and over to a website, and that’s not always desirable if someone’s intention is to open the app and cruise. Instead of just sharing a Link Sticker, ask them to DM you a keyword so you can get them in the DMs and send them the link instead - this will help you in the algorithm with engagement and also with driving leads for your offer.
Share quick hits of Inspiration or Entertainment
This content may not be your own, but it’s hyper-relevant to your audience and connects on a human level. For example, for us, that looks like quotes that we may create ourselves in Canva or share from another source, or, meme-style Reels that we know our audience will relate to.
This will help you to get more views because people are likely to react to that content, whether it be hearts or laughs, maybe even a DM if it really hits, which will help your Story to be sent to more people.
Look for content that is already performing well, particularly in shares, which you can find in your Explore page or from hashtags you follow - because it performed well elsewhere, it’s more likely to perform well for you.
Replicate your top Story content
Head to your insights and check which Stories in the last 2 years gave you the top Story Interactions and Most Reach. See if there is a commonality that you can replicate!
For example, if you see those quick hits perform well, aim to post one per day. Or if you see that behind-the-scenes vids of you perform well then aim to incorporate that more into your content.
Some additional best practices:
Tell a Story
Show up via behind-the-scenes content or show your face
Use mixed media
Static / Video, especially in a series
Use native captions and/or add summary text to talking videos so people don’t skip by if they don’t have their audio on
Leave 24 hours between Stories, especially if they are underperforming. Re-introduce the next Story with an engagement sticker for the reasons we mentioned earlier.
And that’s it! That’s how you can increase your Instagram Story views - let us know if any of these tips work for you, and don’t forget to check out Manychat and use code HIGHSEASON for a free month of their Pro plan.
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