In a recent episode of Social Media Marketing with Michael Stelzner, social media strategist Michelle Gifford gives some valuable advice on how to use Instagram stories to build your following and increase revenue. The first key takeaway is that the nature of Instagram stories is different from grid posts, so it requires a different approach. Stories only go to people who already follow and care about you. This is where you build real loyalty and stay top of mind.

Here are some things to avoid with Instagram stories:

• Don’t train your audience not to care, if there is no effort in your stories, your audience can feel that.
• Don’t show up whenever you want, post regularly. 
• Don’t post too many stories at once, this will drive people away. 
• Don’t make yourself the star. Unless you are an influencer, followers don’t necessarily care about your personal details.
• Don’t post too many links. This takes followers away from your page, which decreases engagement.

You want to encourage engagement with IG stories, build connections, and sell your product. You don’t necessarily need to attract more people on IG stories, but rather nurture the connections you already have. Building engagement with IG stories takes time, so invest energy into posting if you want to see results. 

Here are some strategies to use: 

• Story Content Formula: 50% Value: Teach something useful. Tips, how-tos, and quick lessons that help people. 30% Engagement: Polls, Q&As, etc. 20% Connection: Share some personal life, but keep it light and relatable. 
• Photos with text > videos: Most people aren’t listening; 85% have the sound off. This forces people to hold down the story to read it, which boosts engagement. If you do post a video, always add captions.
• Batching: make content in bulk to stay consistent. If you don’t what to batch, set aside the same time each day to post – put it in your schedule. 
• Invite DMs: Direct Messages are a great way to boost engagement. Replying to an Instagram Story sends a DM to your account. Engagement stickers like Q&As prompt DMs. Gifford uses strategies such as asking followers to reply with an emoji to signal which option they are interested in seeing more of. 
• Story Reset: Wait 24 hours before posting your next story so all stories from the previous day have expired. The first story back should be a picture slide that prompts DMs, because Instagram pushes the first story out to more people over the second, third, etc. If you get high engagement on your first story, then Instagram will also push out your other stories.  
• Poll Tricks: Some people don’t answer polls. This could be because they don’t know  the answer or don’t want to share, but they still want to know the results. Use the poll sticker to ask a question and always include an inclusive option for those who don’t want to answer, such as, “I don’t want to answer, but tell me.” 

All of these tips are important in order to maximize the impact of your IG stories and make sure your content is showing up in your followers’ algorithms. The goal is making your audience feel seen and heard—building this trust and connection will help you sell your product.