With over one billion users and counting, Instagram has become a platform for people to share their lives through pictures, videos and stories. But, the key question is when is the best time to post stories in order to reach the most viewers? This article will explore when you should post stories on Instagram in order to get the most engagement.
1. Understanding When to Post Story Updates on Instagram
Determine Your Goals
Before you post an update to your story on Instagram, decide on your goal. Are you wanting to build a brand, tell a story, or just let people know what’s going on in your life? Depending on your goal, you may want to post several times per day, several times per week, or a few times a month. The stories you would post for each situation would be very different, so determine your goal and then set a timeline that works for you.
Audience and Timing
Once your goal is set, consider your audience and your timing. Knowing your audience is important, as it will help you determine the stories that you post. Are you targeting other businesses, potential customers, millennials, or a subset of one of these? Your timing of the stories is also important so consider when your audience is likely to be online and interact with the stories.
Frequency and Content
Once you have a plan for when to post, choose the frequency and content that you will put in your stories. Consider how often you want to update your story and the content you want it to include. You’ll want to be sure to include a variety of content so that no two stories are the same. This can include images, videos, polls, GIFs, live streams and more.
- Determine Your Goal
- Understand the Audience and Timing
- Choose the Frequency and Content
2. Benefits of Posting Frequent Story Updates
More Engagement from Your Followers
Posting frequent story updates is key to forming meaningful relationships between you and your followers. Hearing from you, seeing your stories, and knowing you have something to share on a regular basis gives them a reason to keep coming back. Plus, staying active is more likely to be featured in the explore page, which can get your post even more likes, views and followers.
Posting regularly also encourages followers to take part in your story, providing interactions with your content that massively boosts engagement.
- Encouraging followers to comment
- Regularly asking followers questions
- tags to relevant people
These are great ways to increase the chances of having your follow up on your action and engage with your story.
3. Identifying the Right Time to Post Your Stories
1. Understand the Audience: The first step to posting at the right time is to understand who your target audience is and when they are generally available. To get a better sense of your audience, take a look at analytics related to your page or website. You can determine the geographical location, age, or interests of your readers—which can help you understand the right time to post your stories.
2. Utilize Time-Zone Based Analysis: To select an ideal time for posting stories online, it is important to factor in time-zone differences. For instance, if your target readers are mainly based in the United States, you might want to consider when the majority of U.S. residents are available to read your story. Research some of the analytics of your readers to get a better idea of their time-zones.
3. Determine the Platform: Depending on what platform you are looking to post your stories on, you will need to take different approaches. Every platform follows its own internal analytics and settings. Additionally, they often have their own algorithms and times during which posting is best.
Below, we have listed some of the more prevalent platforms and their best posting practices:
- Facebook- best to post between 12pm-3pm
- Twitter- best to post between 12pm-3pm
- LinkedIn- best to post between 7am-9am and 5pm-6pm
- Instagram- best to post between 11am-1pm
4. Strategies for Ensuring Your Stories Reach the Maximum Number of Viewers
When it comes to getting the most people to view your stories, there are a few strategies that are known to work. Here are 4 that are worth exploring:
- Build a Network of Influencers. Reach out to influencers in your industry and create relationships with them. They’ll be able to share your story with a much wider network than you would be able to on your own.
- Optimize Your Content. Make sure you thoroughly research and optimize the keywords in your story so that it appears higher in the search engine results. This will make it more likely to be seen by viewers.
- Be Active on Social Media. Make sure you’re actively engaging with viewers and sharing your stories on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
- Create an Email List. Develop an email list of potential customers and make use of email campaigns to broadcast your stories directly to your email list.
By using these strategies, your stories will be given the potential to reach larger audiences and have the potential to be seen by many people. Additionally, the more people who view your stories the more likely others will share them and spread the word about your content.
In order to maximize the potential for your stories to reach your target audience it’s important to be proactive, maintain strong relationships with influencers, and make good use of the available technologies.
5. Tips for Making the Most of Your Story Posts on Instagram
Instagram offers a powerful platform for sharing stories. Here are a few tips for making the most of your story posts:
- Develop a series. Connect posts and develop story arcs. This will keep viewers coming back.
- Interact with users. Engage your followers. Ask for feedback and advice. Give them a way to me their voice heard.
- Experiment with different formats. Try a mix of different formats, from short animations to self-portraits.
In addition, consider using hashtags, polls, and music to make your story post stand out. With the right approach and combination of tools, you can create great stories that will attract even more viewers.
Lastly, take advantage of the analytics to track your performance. This will help you identify stories that are resonating with your followers and craft even better ones in the future.
Posting stories on Instagram can be a great way to engage and build relationships with your followers. When used correctly, it can be a powerful tool to showcase your products and services and grow your presence on the platform. However, it is important to understand when the ideal time is for your individual posts in order to maximize engagement and spread the reach of your content. Hopefully, armed with the information given above, you now have a better understanding of when to post stories on Instagram.
