How To Use Instagram Story Features For Engagement

You know where the party is at right? It’s all happening in your Instagram stories. Your profile may look radiant and clean as can be, but you might’ve noticed by now that engagement on posts is never consistent. This puts you in the position of considering other options.

How can I boost my engagement?

How can I increase my visibility?

Turn to your stories, boss babes! It’s one thing to post a photo or video story in the moment, but have you considered the different add-on/app features that Instagram offers for stories? Let’s dive into the different features available and how you can utilize them.

LOCATION

Tagging your stories with a location can increase the chances of your profile being viewed. For example, let’s say you’re at an event like Coachella or traveling to a popular tourist destination, those location stories are hot real estate for viewers even if they don’t follow you already. 

MENTIONS

This is a feature that’s a given. You tag another profile in your story if it’s relevant to them and the great thing is, it ends up in that profile’s DMs and gives them the opportunity to repost. You could be doing shoutouts, hanging out on the town with friends, etc. and those things definitely give room for you to use the @Mention feature to tag a profile.

With a lot of influencers on Instagram, the best way to utilize that feature is to tag up even company profiles. Let’s say you’re showing your outfit of the day. In this case, you’d tag the company profiles for the clothing or accessories you’re wearing!

#HASHTAG

The key to using hashtags on Instagram stories is to zone in on the hashtags that are most relevant to your profile, and of course the story itself. When people search hashtags on Instagram, they can either choose to comb through static posts or view the Instagram stories that are consolidated under that tag!

Pro-tip: The Instagram Planner has a Hashtag Bank so you can log your essential hashtag groups that apply to your posts.

POLL

People love to voice their opinion on things. Polls are a simplistic way you can keep people on your stories. In one example we’ve seen from a fashion blogger, she posted different clothing pieces she found online and posted to her stories asking if she should go for it or pass.

The poll option only offers two answers that you can customize (it’s set to standard Yes/No at first), so depending on what answers you’re trying to obtain, you can consider splitting them into several stories.

QUESTIONS

This feature is GOLD.

You can load an image or video and add this feature to it where you ask a question and people viewing your story can submit answers. Answers can be viewed by swiping up on your posted story or through your standard Instagram notifications. 

Depending on your intent, a good practice is to share the answers to your questions and tag the person who submitted the answer. You can also load an image to act as a background for these answers.

One such example of this question feature being used is an Instagrammer Q&A or AMA (Ask Me Anything). You invite people to ask YOU a question and post your answer when you reshare the submission. This creates a sense of community and encourages your followers to keep up with your stories.

REACT SLIDER

There’s probably a different name for this, but this is the feature that allows story viewers to scale their reaction (via emoji) on a slider. You can use it to gauge the kind of content your viewers or followers like seeing all while getting visitors to stay on your stories longer!

QUIZ

The quiz feature is used by brands to engage their audience in a fun way. It allows you to plug in up to 4 answers to a question and set the correct answer. Everyone loves a good challenge, and if your profile is dedicated to education or informational things, this is a valuable feature to utilize. It makes your profile more enticing as a hub for learning and growth. 

These options available are fairly simple to use thanks to Instagram’s sleek setup for stories, but their effectiveness is at the hands of the user.

However you choose to use these features, we highly recommend coming up with a plan. Good news is the Instagram Planner from Pose Planners has a story planner feature that you can use to map out your stories for the week!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE INSTAGRAM PLANNER

For more tips, make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter at PosePlanners.com and check out our other pro-tips and planner walkthroughs at the blog section of our site! Questions or comments? Drop a line below!