Instagram stories are a great tool for brands. And as brands catch on, so this space has become rather congested. So how do you stand out from the crowd? Here are 4 tips to get your Instagram story to the top of your followers’ newsfeed.
1. Quality over quantity
Only post when necessary. This may sound strange, but the more times you post, the harder it will be to maintain a successful follower: view ratio.
Instagram’s story algorithm ranks you at the top based on these 2 criteria:
- If users rarely post a story
- If you have just followed someone – as Instagram wants to test how likely you are to watch that story from the new account.
Constantly posting Instagram stories will, therefore, place you lower down in the pecking order
2. Don’t post more than 4-6 times daily
When you do upload a story to Instagram, make sure you don’t upload more than 4-6 times over a 24-hour period. Why? Well, the longer your stories are, the less likely a follower will keep watching all your story clips. Instagram’s algorithm takes this into consideration and in turn places your story towards the back of the queue.
3. Include hashtags and locations
As you know Instagram has a few new features. The one being the ability to follow hashtags and the ’explore’ feature (the small magnifying glass at the bottom of your Instagram screen). Stories that are most relevant to you are showcased more often. That’s why it’s important to include one or two relevant hashtags along with your location to maximize your stories impression potential. More impressions = being placed higher up the pecking order.
4. Live stream…occasionally
Instagram favours live-streaming and pushes these to the front of the Instagram story feed. The algorithm also places an Instagram story alongside a live-feed. So, including a live-stream about once or twice a month in your story strategy is definitely worthwhile.
If you want to ensure your brand is performing optimally on Instagram chat to us about an effective Instagram Strategy. We are a team of #girlgeeks who make it our business to remain ahead of the trend curve when it comes to social media. Email us.