Instagram story post ideas
Whether you’re a creator, a small business or a brand, these Instagram stories ideas will make sure you never run out of Instagram stories post ideas again! (And if you want to boost your stories engagement too, these are great as they encourage conversation, not just views!)
I’ve broken it down into categories so this list is easy to skim-read and from this list alone you should never run out of Instagram story post ideas again.
Criminally underrated (and secret!) stories features:
✔️ Use the “share a comment” feature (under a post or reel) to open up a conversation about...
✔️ Use the reveal feature to share a secret. Your community will only know the answer if they DM you.
✔️ Use the layout feature, splitting the screen into two to share a before and after. The more juicy and dramatic, the better!
✔️ Pick a “X” for me, eg outfit - use 3+ polls to pick different elements so it’s fully interactive (and 24 hours later, share the result)
Want to start a conversation? Do this:
✔️ Share a throwback - one, five, ten years ago (or if you want loads of DMs, a baby photo!)
✔️Ask your audience to choose the topic of your next post: A vs B
✔️Ask for recommendations based of you liking “X” (ie - my favourite book was X and...”)
✔️ Talk about something that you think is really underrated
✔️ Seasonality wins. Love halloween? The Oscars? Christmas? Talk about it!
✔️ Share something you didn’t know before today (see if you’re the only one!)
✔️ Quick tips and "hacks” that were life-changing for you. Even if it’s about a mundane thing, let’s see who else loves what you do
✔️ Tell us something we don’t know about you that would surprise us
Cheerlead your community by doing this… (they deserve your support!)
✔️ Share your favourite reels and posts from the week (and why!)
✔️ If another creator’s post inspired you (ie - holiday destination rec), share that post!
✔️ Tag the usernames of the accounts who always show up for you
✔️ Collaborate with another creator and tag them!
✔️ Share an exclusive with them: that could be a reveal, a discount code with a brand…
Don’t just show the end result, share your journey!
✔️ If you’re learning something new, share your story. A new language, a new hobby, even the start of a new book.
✔️ Behind the scenes content performs so well for a reason!
✔️ Day in the life could also fall under this category. Take photos throughout your day and write on top of them (if somebody holds down on the screen, Instagram can see they’re engaged with your post)
✔️ Share a tutorial, step by step.
✔️ Use the layout feature to split your screen into four, and then share a quick four step process.
Want to grow your stories engagement for your business?
✔️ Share BTS of what you do for work
✔️ Share your business goals so your audience can help you
✔️ Launch a limited-time sale just for those who see your stories (and offer a code)
✔️ Share testimonials as social proof!
✔️ Show us your products! Talk us through what’s new in your store and why you think we’d love it
✔️ Share an exclusive with us… something that’s about to drop that we would be excited to check out
✔️ What’s coming up for you over the next month? Tell us what’s coming!
✔️ Think about the seasonal references that you could connect to your business (halloween, Christmas etc)
✔️ Tell us something we don’t know about your business
Want to increase your link clicks out of Instagram?
✔️ If there’s a topic that you’ve spoken about in the last month that’s done particularly well - share content about it that goes into more detail. That could be a blog post (like this!), a newsletter, a YouTube video. The main thing here is that you provide value and you look at your stories insights to see what’s doing particularly well for you!
✔️ Share helpful news related to your industry/niche
✔️ Share your favourite article/blog post you’ve read this week
✔️ And if you’re a business, talk about your service/product!
Other story ideas
✔️ What’s the one thing people are talking about in your niche right now? Share your two cents!
✔️ What’s something you do as a part of your everyday routine? (Morning coffee, your favourite breakfast etc)
✔️ It’s easy to forget this feature sits in your stories, but you could go live!
✔️ Share your favourite lyric or quote. You can make it extra cheesy or more thoughtful - you choose the tone.
✔️ Simple - share a selfie and what you’re up to!
One of the hardest things about social media is coming up with ideas, and I can help you come up with lots of post ideas that’ll be perfect for your channel over one of my “Ask Me Anything” calls. If you’d like to find out more, you can just here!