How can you post in your Instagram Stories consistently, without burning out?
This is the purpose of this blog post.
This is Part 2 of our series: “How to use Instagram Stories for your Business”.
In the previous blog post, you saw 25 Instagram Story ideas for business.
Now, let’s look at Instagram Story strategies for business.
Strategies = how you can structure these Story ideas to post consistently.
Here are 5 Instagram Story Strategies:
Choose one of these strategies. Feel free to change strategy whenever you want.
Let me know in the comments if you need help choosing a strategy for your account. Just let me know what your account is about. Happy to brainstorm with you!
Ready?
Let’s start.
Instagram Story Strategy #1. Create a daily routine
The first strategy is to create your own daily Instagram Story routine.
This will help you post consistently.
Here is how to do it:
Segment your day into 1, 2 or 3 parts.
For example:
- 1 part: Post in the morning only or end of the day only
- 2 parts: Post in the morning + end of the day
- 3 parts: Post in the morning, mid-day and end of the day
Here are examples:
Morning:
Story ideas for the morning:
- Share your first set of promotional Stories
- Ask a question (use the poll or question box sticker)
- Share what you’re planning to do today
- Share what you are working on
- Share how you’re feeling this morning
- Share your to-do list of the day
Mid-day:
Story ideas for the middle of the day:
- Share your second set of promotional Stories
- Share what you’re currently doing
- What you’ve been working on so far
- How far you’re up to in your task
- Share what you do during your break
- Inspirational photos, videos or quotes
- Answer someone’s question (that you got in your DMs or through the Question Box sticker)
End of the day:
Story ideas for the end of the day:
- Re-share your customers or clients Stories or posts
- Share a testimonial
- Recap your day
- Talk about what you’ve done
- Talk about how today went
- Share what you’ve accomplished, what you didn’t get to do and will do later, what new ideas you got during the day.
- You can even ask your followers how their day went, using the “Poll” or “Question Box” sticker.
Note: It’s okay if you want to post only once a day. In the morning for example. This way, you can focus on your other business activities the rest of the day, knowing that your Stories have been taken care of.
Here is an example of how you can organize and schedule your Stories with Preview.
One folder = one series of Stories, for one part of the day.
Instagram Story Strategy #2. Daily Themes
This is one of my favorite Instagram Story Strategies for business.
Choose a “theme” for each day of the week.
For example:
- Monday Motivation
- Tuesday Tip
- Wednesday Wellness
- Thursday Throwback
- Friday Favorites
- Saturday Self-Care
- Sunday Recap
Here is an example of Insta Stories planned in Preview, for each day of the week:
Instagram Story Strategy #3. Followers’ Choice
Make your Stories even more interactive. Let your followers choose what you should post next.
Use the “Poll” Sticker and give them two options.
- What should I post tomorrow? This or That?
- What do you want to see tomorrow? This or That?
Instagram Story Strategy #4. The Before-During-After strategy
This strategy can make your Instagram life 1000% easier, because you can talk about the same thing for 3 days.
Basically: Post one post on your feed and creatively talk about it for 3 days.
This means that nearly half of your week of content is already done! Imagine all the free time you will have to focus on your business or care for your community.
I call this the “Before-During-After” strategy.
This is how it works:
Base your Instagram Stories on what you post on your feed.
Let’s say you want to share an Instagram tip on Tuesday.
The “Before” Insta Story:
On Monday, ask a question to your followers related to tomorrow’s post. This will get them involved in your content creation, and you will post what they want to see the most.
The “During” Story:
It is now Tuesday. You have posted your post. Now, share it to your Insta Story.
Engagement bonus: Use the poll sticker to ask your followers who is excited to know the tip, before you share the post.
The “After” Story:
It is now the day after you posted on your feed.
You have 2 options:
- Ask people if they have more questions about your post or the topic you shared, or
- Give a bonus tip related to the post (for example, expand on the topic, go into more details or share a personal story related to it, share more photos related to the product)
Instagram Story Strategy #5. The Flow strategy
And the last Instagram Story strategy for business (especially if you have a personal brand):
Go with the flow.
I know sometimes we want a clear defined plan.
However, magic also happens in the moment.
The strategy:
Pick up your phone and just take a photo or video.
Document your day.
Don’t overthink it.
Or document the day on photoshoot days or behind the scene days. You can use the photos and footage another day.
And if you’re hesitant:
Just for one day (tomorrow?), document your life.
Just for that day.
Capture what you like around you.
Capture what you do.
Talk like you would talk to a friend.
And have fun!
How to schedule your Instagram Stories?
You can use Preview App on your phone and computer.
- Tap on the “Story” icon
- Upload your photos / videos
- Rearrange their order
- Prepare your Link (for the Link Sticker)
- Watch your Stories as if you had already posted them on Instagram
That’s it!
Was this helpful?
Let me know in the comments below if it was!
And if you have any questions, let me know too.
To recap:
- Create your daily routine (morning, mid-day, end of day)
- Choose Daily Themes
- Let your followers choose
- The Before-During-After strategy
- The Flow strategy
Which one is your favorite strategy?
Let me know in the comments if you need help choosing a strategy for your account.
