Instagram stories. We’re all intrigued by them and wondering how to use them – but how do you know if you’re using them to their full potential?

To get started, let’s first talk about what Instagram stories ARE. Instagram stories are images or videos that you can upload, and they disappear after 24 hours. If you add an Instagram story, your followers can view them by clicking on your profile image that will show up at the top of their feed.

Instagram stories are great for showing content that you without clogging your feed – if you want to post about something but already have a post planned for Instagram, just throw it in your story instead!

However, you don’t want to just throw random things in your stories – you want to make sure there’s a plan behind it. Here’s what Instagram stories accomplish.

1️⃣ You can build credibility and trust with your audience.

Instagram stories are AMAZING for building credibility and trust with your followers. They’re perfect for showing the “behind-the-scenes” of your life so that you don’t have to clutter your feed with that type of content. BUT, I always tell my clients that people are NOSY and they LOVE to know what the business owner is like outside of their business – and it’s true. Give a peek into your everyday life and show things like your morning routine, how you unwind at night, what you do on the weekends, etc.

By opening up to your audience and revealing more about you, they’ll start to trust you more because they’ll feel like they actually KNOW you – and that will help to establish that know / like / trust factor. And of course, people do business with people that they know / like / trust.

2️⃣ You can learn more about your followers.

Instagram added poll options on stories and Instagram Live for a reason – to encourage your followers to engage with you! Therefore, you SHOULD be using these to their full potential. Create polls to learn more about your followers, encourage them to reply to your stories, and go live to talk about topics your audience would want to know about.

Use these strategically to discover your followers’ pain points and problems because you can use those to create content, products, and services that will SOLVE those problems.

3️⃣ You can make your content visible that may be hidden by the algorithm.

I know, I know. You’re beyond frustrated with Instagram’s algorithm. I get it. Did you consider using Instagram stories to reach your full audience when your photo gets pushed way down the feed?

Your photo may not reach all of your followers, but your Instagram stories WILL. If you want to share great content with your audience that you don’t want to get lost in the feed, add it to your story.

How are you using Instagram stories? Some of my favorite methods involve…

?Showing the type of work that I do with my clients

?Sharing some of my favorite emails that I get from The Universe daily

?Giving a peek into my personal life and how I spend my free time