In addition to Reels and carousel posts, Instagram creators should always post Stories too. This increases engagement and reduces unfollows. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri explains why Stories are so important.
In 2023, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri emphatically stated that DMs and Stories have long since become more important than the feed. Reels and especially carousel posts are now the absolute go-to formats for boosting reach and follower growth. While over 50 percent of the time spent on Instagram is spent on the reach champion Reels, engagement is highest on Carousel posts. But stories are by far the most used format, as Metricool recently discovered.
Now Adam Mosseri encourages all creators to post stories regularly. Although this does not usually bring any new followers, content creators can use it to build on concrete advantages.
Stories, Reels and Carousel Posts:
Tips and insights for maximizing reach
The relevance of Stories on Instagram: Special content binds the community
Stories should always appear as a complement to Reels and Posts, especially in carousel format. They are particularly useful for community building, which can also be seen in the popularity of stickers such as Add Yours, surveys and the like. Users can now even comment on stories, strengthening the bond between followers and creators.
Instagram repeatedly demonstrates how important stories are in the format mix. Most recently, current stories were displayed between feed posts, the story highlights should be moved to the profile grid and given their own tab, and sharing Facebook stories on Instagram or threads content as an Instagram story will always be easier. Stephan PichlmeierHead of Marketing DACH at Metricool, already explained in the Metricool report on Instagram analysis:
Stories are the most flexible and authentic format on Instagram when it comes to driving real-time interactions and actively engaging followers. Through the targeted use of interaction stickers such as surveys, reactions and quizzes, brands sustainably increase engagement.
And that’s exactly what advises Mosseri the creators too. In his post he writes as explanatory text:
Stories are an important way to engage your followers with behind-the-scenes or day-in-the-life content. We’ve also found that creators who post to Stories often see fewer unfollows than creators who don’t, which can lead to stronger growth over time.
Regular story posting can keep the number of followers constant (high). Adam Mosseri also explains what he shares and what works well. Stories from his life of travel and family, i.e. behind-the-scenes content, performs well. But he also shares work contexts, such as in his series Ask Me Anything, Instagram and Threads Features.
You can read about how you can optimize stories yourself with functions such as Add Yours, subsequent marking, new stickers and brand new effects, solid color in the background and special emojis in our tip article.
Instagram:
7 tips for more success in your stories
Use Instagram weight and stay up to date
Now it is not a fundamentally new finding that Instagram creators should combine stories, reels and posts for successful performance and, ideally, should also be active in the comment areas. How important such processes can be for (personal) branding is also confirmed by the raw numbers that Meta recently shared. In Germany, an average of 45 million Instagram accounts are active every month. And the platform is also extremely popular in other European countries, the USA, etc. with more than two billion monthly active users.
Brands and creators shouldn’t miss this. To keep yourself up to date on current developments, new features and potential on Instagram, you can read our articles and listen to the Digital Bash Podcast. The platform is currently irritating users by discontinuing the follow feature for hashtags.
Instagram sets follow option for hashtags and brings story highlights to the profile grid
Source: onlinemarketing.de
