If you’re creating stories on Instagram but feel like no one is seeing them, you’re not alone. Many people post stories regularly but aren’t seeing the engagement they want. So why is no one seeing your story on Instagram? In this article, we’ll discuss the factors that can affect your stories’ visibility and provide tips to help you start boosting your story views.
1. What Is a Story On Instagram?
A story on Instagram is a feature of the photo and video sharing platform that allows users to post a series of photos and videos lasting up to 15 seconds each. These posts appear in a slideshow format on the user’s profile and at the top of their followers’ feeds when they appear. Stories on Instagram can be used to capture a moment or promote a larger event, creating a narrative that lasts up to 24 hours before disappearing.
People often use stories on Instagram to take advantage of features such as adding stickers, tags, GIFs, and music to posts. Videos taken with Instagram Live can also be posted as stories, giving users the opportunity to broadcast live videos to their followers. Story posts remain pinned to the profile when they first appear, until the user manually moves them up or down.
The Benefits of Using Stories on Instagram:
- Provides an extra avenue for engaging followers
- Enable more creativity when crafting posts
- Lasts longer than regular posts and cannot be deleted
- Allows users to promote a larger event or message
- Can be used to communicate a full narrative quickly and concisely
2. The Algorithm Behind Viewing Stories
When it comes to viewing stories, an algorithm determines which story to prioritize and put in front of users. All the stories a user can view come from several sources such as their friends, the people they follow, their close friends, and following trending content on the platform. Through programmed logic, the algorithm will take into consideration the user’s preferences, the popularity of the stories, and what stories are most relevant to the user. The algorithm is especially useful for people with a large pool of friends and lots of subscribed feeds.
Prioritizing Factors of the Algorithm:
- Organic Growth – Capturing organic growth through page impressions of a user’s friends and the people they are following.
- Personalization – Tailoring the user’s experience to the stories they are most likely to engage with.
- Fresh Content – Analyzing how recently a story was posted and taking into consideration how often similar content appears in the user’s feed.
The algorithm is constantly being tested and refined as the platform changes and people’s viewing habits fluctuate. This allows for more accurate viewing experiences and exposes users to more relevant and interesting content that they would otherwise not necessarily encounter. As the platform grows and changes, it is important to note that the algorithm will continue to change as well.
3. Reasons Why Your Story Is Not Being Seen
Lack Of Promotional Efforts
In today’s marketplace it often requires a dedicated promotional effort to get noticed. Whether it’s through leveraging social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, creating shareable content, or teams strategically utilizing online publishing, every story has an audience and should be promoted accordingly. Sadly, a large number of stories languish as the creator fails to properly expose them to the public.
Lack Of Quality Content
Another potential reason why a story isn’t being seen is the lack of quality content. People become aware of stories through referrals or reviews, so it’s critical to have a story with substance. Without a thoughtful and unique angle to the subject matter, a story easily gets lost in the noise.
Incorrect Target Audience
Finding the right audience can be just as difficult as creating something worthy of sharing. If a story attracts the wrong people, it can never gain the traction it needs to be seen. This issue often stems from creators simply not connecting with their target audience. Doing the research to know who to appeal to and crafting multi-faceted marketing campaigns can bring the desired audience to any story.
4. Ways to Increase Visibility of Your Story
Share and Promote on Social Media
Social media is a great way to reach a wide audience, boost your story’s visibility and gain traction. Make sure you account for the social networks each of your reader groups prefer, and create effective messages that grabs attention and shares the value of the story. Consistent promotion of the story is key to reach the right audience, so schedule regular posts on your accounts.
Partner with Influencers and Experts
Seeking out influential voices in the industry to share your stories will help boost visibility and generate reach. As experts have already established trust among the audience, they are a great source of referral traffic. Ensure you carefully select the right influencers and offer them the right incentives to promote your stories.
Optimize Content for Search Engines
Investing in SEO optimization is one of the key factors in driving visibility and getting more readers for your stories. Using the right keywords, titles, meta tags and links to your story can help search engine algorithms to pick it up and rank it higher in search results. Regularly review and improve the SEO of your stories to gain more visibility.
5. Takeaway Tips for Making Your Story More Discoverable
Optimize for keywords and hashtags
Use popular and relevant keywords associated with your story in captions and hashtags to make it more discoverable. Consider what words and phrases are used in related stories to give you insights into popular topic keywords and hashtags—this should help you to craft effective and targeted headlines and posts on your own. Additionally, don’t be afraid to include industry-specific words that help to identify your story.
Start telling your story early
Think about the beginning points of your story early on in your marketing strategy. When you’re creating content, consider if it fits in with the overall narrative and theme. Doing this will create a cohesive story that potential readers can follow and engage with. Additionally, providing “teaser” content before your content is published can be a great way to generate excitement around your story and attract attention from new readers.
Promote your story across multiple channels
Once you’ve crafted your story, don’t stop there! To get the most out of your story and make it discoverable, you should promote it on multiple channels, including social media, blog posts, email lists, and other outlets. Use each channel to provide unique content and angles, such as print versions, infographics, or podcast interviews. This will help to draw attention to the story and keep readers engaged over time. Understanding why your story may not be seen is an important step in improving your overall visibility on Instagram. It can be disheartening if you don’t receive the reach that you had hoped for, but by keeping in mind the factors that we discussed in this article, you can get back on track and increase your story’s viewership.
