Do you want to grow your Instagram audience and earn money along the way? Then stories are the feature you can’t pass by! The numbers are impressive, just think about it – 500 million daily active users, such a great opportunity to be noticed, among the hum of other voices. Their interactive elements are fun to use and 24-hour lifespan motivates viewers to act quickly. Spice it all up with irresistible CTAs – clicks and sales are in your pocket! Read on to discover inspiring Instagram story ideas to suit all tastes and needs and make your campaigns memorable and profitable.
Creative Instagram Story Ideas
To get your creative juices flowing, we’ve prepared some cool Instagram story ideas with eye-catching visuals and unique twists. Let’s learn together how to keep your stories exciting and fresh!
Be Bold and Colourful
Do you want to monetise your creative skills? Then you need to make sure your works sparkle and catch everyone’s eye. Illustrator Monica Kamakura made a series of stories featuring her playful sketches in the form of screen wallpapers (which perfectly fit story dimensions). If your content is not only visually pleasing but also has a practical application, you are most likely to get shares and saves. And when your followers promote your work, it inevitably leads to wider exposure. Today you are supported just by likes and tomorrow your talent can attract fruitful collaborations with those who admire what you have to offer.
Share Behind-the-Scenes Content
In this example, a talented ceramist uses stories to take her followers on a journey through the inner workings of her business, the meticulous process when she crafts a custom order for a local restaurant. From fresh clay, to delivery and then, finally, in their new home, beautifully plated with dishes and delicacies. It gives her audience a deeper appreciation of her art plus shows its real-world application, two-in-one package.
Use Trending Challenges or Themes
In these stories we can see how sports clothing brand Lululemon has teamed up with activity tracking app Strava to launch the "Move and Stay Connected" challenge. This way their followers are motivated to stay active and share their progress on social media. Surely, wearing Lululemon apparel and showing Strava’s tracking capabilities. Clever promo and synergy between two brands at the same time! The caption is clear and easy to follow and the tracking template can be copied in one click – the simpler the steps, the more likely the campaign is to go viral.
Showcase Your Personality
Radiohead's Instagram stories offer an intimate look at each band member as they immerse themselves in the creative process. The design is simple: candid photos, captured during moments of inspiration, and unpretentious text. Altogether, they reveal musicians’ individual personalities and add a deeper layer of meaning to their art. These snapshots, which are part of the upcoming photographic book “How To Disappear – A Portrait of Radiohead”, highlight the unique dynamics within the band. Each story not only brings fans closer to their favourite creators but also promotes the book by including a pre-order link. It’s a perfect combination of personal storytelling with effective promotion.
Interactive Instagram Story Ideas
Now that we’ve reviewed creative Instagram story ideas, let’s see how to tweak them to be more interactive. If you expect active participation from your audience, explore features like polls, quizzes and Q&A. Get inspired with examples below and connect with your followers like never before!
Conduct a Quick Poll
Skincare brand Cocokind utilises a poll in their stories to ask followers about their preferences. This vote is easy to create with a special built-in Instagram sticker plus the brand can use the results to spark further discussion about both products and engage the followers even more. Besides, since they mention the products anyway, it’s only natural to add links so that eager shoppers could add them to the cart.
Use Quizzes to Engage Followers
How about challenging your diehard followers? Try using a quiz sticker to ask questions about your brand. In return, you will get that juicy engagement and present your audience with a fun way to interact with your content. Let’s be honest, everyone enjoys a little serotonin boost when they get the question right. For instance, New York Magazine created a quiz about one of their feature stories, inviting followers to read the article to find the answers. This is a wise strategy to drive readers to explore the feature and, ideally, other content on the site as well.
Create a “This or That” Game
This kind of game works well for both personal and business accounts. It can be any “would you rather” question relevant to your identity or niche. Let’s say, you are a fashion blogger, then you might post a selfie in some outfit and ask your followers to choose what clothing item goes well with it (e.g. dress or trousers). The possibilities are endless, let your imagination run wild!
Ask Followers to Vote on Future Content
If “this or that” or multiple choice is not your cup of tea, you can opt for open questions. Here is how it was done on the TED Talks page: they introduced a newly launched podcast about AI and asked their followers to share topics that could be thought-provoking to uncover in this field. It's a smart move because it uses the interactive nature of social media to engage the audience deeply and promotes the podcast while gathering valuable insights directly from followers.
Promotional Instagram Story Ideas
Apart from capturing attention, stories are also a great tool for driving sales. Let’s explore some ideas on how to make your promo content noticeable and encourage your followers or random profile visitors to take action.
Highlight a Product Launch
Clothing brand Smash +Tess introduced their mystery boxes coupled with a dynamic countdown sticker. As each second ticks by, the excitement is growing and followers eagerly anticipate to finally get their hands on this sought-after product.
Share Exclusive Discounts
As you might have already guessed, stories are a goldmine for promoting products in the e-commerce niche. You just need to use an attractive picture of a product, make an easy route for a buyer to acquire it and there you have it – the deal is sealed. Even if you sell hand-crafted luxury bags, share a discount in your stories, because saving money is always on trend.
Announce Upcoming Events
Quiksilver successfully used Instagram stories to announce the offline movie premiere of "Sequencer," their latest production. Initially it was promoted as an in-person event, but later they offered an online viewing option and provided links for fans to watch it from the comfort of their home. This way, the Quiksilver team managed to generate excitement for the event and also extended its reach to both live and virtual audiences.
Feature User-Generated Content (UGC)
User-generated content is a real gem if you want to promote your business with ease. When customers create and share content featuring your products, it builds trust and authenticity without any extra effort from your side. If you repost this content to your story, you get a double benefit: acknowledge your loyal customers and subtly invite others to share their experiences. This is exactly what the brand Rhode did: they showed the photos of their beautiful customers using their recently launched Barrier Butter. These stories perfectly align with the brand's aesthetics and values and add up to their cohesive and engaging narrative.
Fun and Light-Hearted Instagram Story Ideas
How about sprinkling some joy and laughter? Let’s check out these funny and cute Instagram story ideas to brighten the day for your followers!
Post Funny Memes or Gifs
SparkNotes has a knack for making studies enjoyable! They mix complicated topics with memes so that their young audience (mostly schoolers and students) could crack some laughs while grinding away at their books.
Share Cute Pet Moments
Without exaggeration, everyone loves photos and videos of sweet animal companions! Your heart just melts when you see pets all dressed-up and engaged in human-like activities. Have a look at this cheerful poodle party, one of the greatest Instagram birthday story ideas. Furry friends in their tiny hats, so adorable!
Create Playful Challenges for Followers
Duolingo is really inventive when it comes to marketing, their Instagram story post ideas are no exception. The challenges they launch like impressive streaks or quirky sentences inspire friendly competition and make their content relatable and entertaining. It’s a classic win-win: users feel recognised and motivated and the brand organically amplifies its visibility.
Host a Mini Virtual Scavenger Hunt
The Oxford Park Commission created a scavenger hunt to find Tom Turkey and seamlessly blended online and offline engagement. They posted clues in their Instagram stories and guided participants to real-world locations where the turkey could be found. Enthusiastic participants set out on the hunt, snapping pictures of their discoveries. To make the whole activity even more exciting, those who completed the scavenger hunt were included into a prize draw with gifts from the event's sponsors.
Informative Instagram Story Ideas
If you share useful insights on a daily (or weekly) basis, your followers will see your account as a go-to source of valuable information. Let’s explore some ideas on how to keep your followers engaged and informed.
Share Tips and Tricks Relevant to Your Niche
Online magazine Bustle regularly creates recommendation lists from their editors for their female audience. The topics vary: movies and TV series, beauty, fashion, wellness, etc., so that everyone can find something to their liking. It’s like a refined collection of some really good stuff from your bestie to break the monotony. Heartfelt advice worth a click!
Highlight Important Industry News
Prada Group launched the "Kindergarten of the Lagoon" campaign in collaboration with UNESCO and made an announcement about it in their Instagram stories. It is a groundbreaking initiative, a combination of fashion with environmental education: preschool children in Venice take part in outdoor learning experiences about the lagoon ecosystem. As the fashion industry in general is notoriously known for its harmful impact on the environment, this campaign raises awareness about sustainability and shows Prada’s commitment to social responsibility.
Provide Educational Content with Graphics
Infographics are always a good decision, especially if you need to convey a complex matter in plain words. Have a look at how Curology educates the followers about the ingredients of their skincare products. You don’t have to be an award-winning chemist to understand this, as consumers only need to know what good it can do to their skin. Beauty is, indeed, in simplicity.
Offer Quick Tutorials or How-Tos
The NPR team cares about the well-being of their following base, which is why they created these cartoon sketches to explain quick and easy ways to “snap out of funk”, as they call it. So if you thought that self-care posts are only for lifestyle bloggers, you are a bit off the mark!
Seasonal and Themed Instagram Story Ideas
Do you want to keep your followers hooked and excited to see every new story you upload? Here are some pointers to create relatable thematic content, from holiday magic to exclusive event overviews.
Celebrate Holidays with Themed Posts
Yelp, the company that publishes crowd-sources reviews on local businesses, asked pooch pals to share their favourite dog-friendly spots. It’s a nice way to celebrate National Dog Day and make the followers feel that their input is valuable.
Share Seasonal Tips or Products
Starbucks never misses an opportunity to play the seasonality card. They basically have a special drink for every holiday and weather and don’t hesitate to announce these new menu items in their socials.
Create a Themed Photo Challenge
Netflix posted a blank banner on their Instagram stories and invited followers to edit it in order to create their own personalised documentary titles about their lives. It encouraged user-generated content and made the campaign go viral when people started to share their often humorous takes on life journeys.
Post About Relevant Local Events
Tinder came up with an original idea to collaborate with local tattoo studios for cover-up sessions to celebrate fresh starts. It’s a great initiative to help singles move on from past relationships (especially if you need to hide your exes’ names behind a new and meaningful tattoo, haha). Besides, it can open a new chapter in your love life as such a Valentine’s Day event is a good way to meet a new date.
Engaging Instagram Story Ideas for Businesses
To see what’s behind the curtain of your favourite brand is always thrilling, so here are some examples of how to show your business from different angles.
Feature Customer Testimonials
Reviews are the bread and butter of every photographer, this is why whenever you get a good word about your work from a happy couple, missing out on sharing it would be a mistake. You can use multiple photos in one Instagram story to reflect the atmosphere of someone’s anniversary or wedding and subtly inspire your followers to consider your photography services for their own photoshoots.
Share Team Highlights or Employee Spotlights
It’s a nice touch to give a face to the people behind your products. Kotn, a fashion brand known for sustainability and ethical practices, used Instagram stories to show transparency of their supply chain. This way they informed customers about the origins of their materials and introduced them to some hardworking individuals. With fast fashion dominating the world, it’s comforting to know that people in Egypt (which their high-quality cotton is sourced from) have fair wages and safe working conditions.
Showcase a Day in the Life at your Business
Rainforest Foundation's stories give a glimpse into their efforts to promote sustainable forest management. They take followers on a journey into the heart of the jungle and show their work in communities like Uaxactún.
Tour Your Workspace or Storefront
Showing your workspace can be essential if you want to attract and retain clients. Let’s imagine you are running a beauty studio. Then you can give a virtual tour in your stories and share images of your clean and chic salon’s interior, professional tools and luxurious products. This will assure your customers that they are choosing a top-notch service provider. Do you already have some aesthetic Instagram story ideas in mind?
Aesthetic Instagram Story Ideas
Because if you don’t, we’ve got more to share with you. Keep reading for some eye candy!
Use a Cohesive Colour Palette
Nowadays influencers show their lifestyles and outfits in different “aesthetic cores” (e.g. cottagecore, normcore, dark academia. etc.) They all come in more or less calibrated colour palettes which are important to maintain not only across profiles but stories as well. It helps to create a visually appealing and harmonious feed and makes the content more recognisable for the followers.
Create Mood Boards or Inspiration Boards
Thought that mood boards are only for Pinterest? Nah! They’ve spread all over visual-centric platforms, including Insta and its stories. So if you were craving some Instagram story collage ideas, just use hashtags like #moodboard and you’ll find tons of inspiring examples.
Share Aesthetically Pleasing Quotes
Aesthetics are personal and can vary greatly from person to person. Some people love the vibrant look of flowers and butterflies, others prefer a clean and minimalistic style. For example, Nike's inspirational story quotes with white letters on a black background are very simple but perfectly fit their brand's style. It's all about finding what resonates with you.
Use Minimalistic Layouts for a Clean Look
Look at these Instagram story layout ideas by Coursera: they use minimalistic design to deliver career recommendations to their followers. As these stories don’t have overwhelming visuals, it’s much easier to absorb and act on their advice.
Conclusion
Instagram stories are perfect for enthusiasts who want to show their brand’s personality and connect with their audience. Just take time to thoughtfully craft your content and it will draw followers and keep them absorbed.
Now it's your turn! Take these ideas and start creating your own awesome Instagram stories. Experiment with different styles, highlight your unique features and watch your engagement grow. Good luck and happy storytelling!
