8 Instagram Story Ideas to Get You #InstaInspired

Coming up with story ideas for Instagram is a little like the iconic speech from the Barbie movie. You have to be trendy but original. You have to be creative, but not too creative. You have to be original but relatable.

You also have to generate Instagram Story ideas more than once. So, how do you keep coming up with the right balance over and over to get more followers and likes?

First, take a breath.

Forget about what your competitors and everyone else are doing on Instagram. This is a conversation between you and your audience. Put yourself in their shoes and think about what they might want to know about your company or about you. You can also think about what you want to know about them.

We often believe we always need to talk to our audience. But what kind of content can you post that will turn the tables? Think about ways you can get your audience to talk to you. With the following Instagram story ideas, you can engage with your visitors in a few ways.

WebFX is a Partner in Driving Results

Hear from HydroWorx, who saw a 131% increase in organic forms by partnering with WebFX

Watch the Video Testimonial

1. Play games with your audience #InstaFun

We have all heard about polls and surveys, but what about playing games with your audience? A few fun games you can play are:

• Guess the image: Take a close-up shot of your product or an image and get your audience to guess what it is.
• Bingo: Create a bingo template and ask your audience to take a snapshot. They can mark off the relevant squares and share it on their profiles, while linking back to you.
• Give them a challenge: It can be a truth or dare, or it can involve creating something creative, and then sharing the results with you in their own story.

A great example of this is playing a game of hide and seek like @LocalPaige did with her cat.

Can you spot him?

2. Include your audience #MakeTheCircleBigger

Create a community with your audience by making them feel included in your social media. A great way to do this is to share your audience’s stories about your products on your page.

It encourages them to engage with your content and use it in new ways while sharing it with their followers. Make sure you ask them to tag you so that you can keep track of your potential viral content, as well as for the new audience to find you.

An example of this is Lilyloutay, a southern gal from Georgia in the US who shares wholesome recipes on her Instagram page. She always shows the results of her audience’s attempts at her recipes on her Instagram stories.

3. Be yourself #WhySoSerious

We all have a quirky side, and social media is a great place to share it with your audience. It adds depth to your personality or, if you are a business owner, you can use it to show your company’s culture.

Sometimes, it is good to show the lighter side of your business. If you pose all the time or just give images of your products at their best, your content will lose interest or become very one-sided.

But letting your audience know that there are multiple levels to yourself or your brand can make them feel at home and more comfortable.

For example, look at Henry Cavill — a celebrity known for his roles as Superman and Sherlock. Very stern, serious characters, indeed. But, his Instagram shows a different side that is welcoming to fans who want to know the real Henry behind the suits and posh camera shots.

4. Give insight into your life #Friends4Life

People with similar quirks will relate, and others can find the humor and authenticity in your brand. Let’s look at how we can put this into action with the following Instagram story ideas.

If there are key people in your life or cornerstone employees, then share them with the world. It can be anyone from your best friend to the front desk person at your business who is the first person your clients interact with.

Give insight into the type of person they are and share their story.

Bridey Drake owns a pajama business in the depths of Australia. Her best friend, Jiny, is a common face on her Instagram, and often, the two of them also model the pajamas together.

Her audience feels included in the fun by Bridey sharing her friendship and antics behind the scenes at the photoshoot with Jiny. She shares the professional photo shoot on her Instagram page, but the real fun is in her Stories, where she shows the behind-the-scenes moments and gives insight into their personalities.

5. Share your family #FurBabies

One Instagram story hack is to look towards your furry fellows. Pets are always an amazing source of inspiration and content. Sharing your puppy or even your pet pig can open a new channel of conversation with your audience. You can show your pets doing tricks or silly moments that show their personalities.

There are a lot of pet owners out there who can relate to a dog that doesn’t listen or a cat that doesn’t care.

If you have a pet that doesn’t move, like a salamander or lizard, you can be creative by giving them speech bubbles or fun mustaches. It is all about thinking outside the box and deciding whatever your pet is comfortable with.

6. Share your process #BackStory

Another inspirational idea for Instagram stories is to share your company’s backstory or process. Think about what might interest your audience.

We often get used to doing the same thing every day, and forget how unique a process is for someone on the outside. Take a fresh look at your business or daily life and tell your audience how you start the morning at your business or how you make your product unique.

South African coffee makers, Terbodore, provided insight into how they roast their beans. They showed the whole process, including adding flavor and packaging and shipping it to all the different shops and coffee cafés.

7. Create an Instagram series #DoubleOrNothing

If something hits home with your audience, don’t feel like it must be a once-off viral content. Expand on it. Create a whole series of stories about. The great thing about Instagram Stories is that afterward, you can combine them up into highlights.

If you create a story that has momentum, consider continuing the series. Each story can be a different take or version. You can combine the stories into a highlight.

For example, @lagomchef was challenged by his audience to create yummy food with mushrooms. He rose to that challenge and created a mushroom dish.

But he didn’t stop there. He continued to make more stories about mushrooms and has so far made a mushroom ragu, smoky mushrooms with lentils, and a mushroom and spinach tart.

While each one as its own story, he combined them on his profile as the “Mushroom Series” highlight.

8. Tell a story #WaitTheresMore

Another Instagram story hack with stories is to, well, tell a story. Think of each story as a slide to your story. With each one, you can give more information, a few more links, and another angle.

Comedian Celeste Barber, known for her parodies of Instagram influencers, does this storytelling particularly well.

She starts off the conversation with text, then reveals the cover from her photoshoot.

She zooms in on all the different angles of the photo shoot and gives funny points and hashtags, as well as brings in the designer, hair, and makeup artists.

Keep Calm and Story On with WebFX Instagram Designs

Mastering Instagram is no small task — from posting pictures on your profile to sharing fun stories, it takes time, creativity, and effort to nail your Instagram strategy. If you need help managing your presence on Instagram and other social media platforms, WebFX can help.

Our social media marketing services provide you with everything you need to create a winning social media presence. We’ve made over 165,000 social media posts for our clients, so you can feel confident we know how to create posts that dazzle and delight.

Give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online to see how we can help take your social media strategy to the next level!