How to Use Instagram Stories to Boost Your Engagement & Make Money

Since 2016 when Instagram released Stories, it has been a great tool to help boost engagement and make money. It’s become one of the most powerful weapons on Instagram to help promote your business, website, blog, YouTube channel, etc.

Let’s Begin with Some Statistics

When and What to Post

Be consistent with posting to your Story. The more people see you posting, the more chances you have of them deciding to engage with your content. The typical business should post about 1-3 times per week for optimization. Do not, however, get in the mindset of quantity over quality. Users only choose to engage with content that they find appealing. You have to keep in mind that your Story is most likely one of dozens that a user is flipping through. In order to capture the attention of a user, your content has to catch their eye and stand out.

One of the most important things to consider is also WHEN to post your content. You want to make sure that your Story is receiving the highest number of impressions as possible. This is done by knowing the days of the week and times with the highest traffic so that you can post when the MOST people are on the app.

Using Instagram to Make Money

Any individual person with an Instagram account has the ability to make money using the app. The best way that I have found to market my skills on IG is by posting to my Story. Most people that I personally know have told me that they more heavily look at Stories because it is quicker than scrolling through their feed. I myself have been guilty of doing that. By showcasing your skills or products on your Instagram Story, you can see who is viewing your content. If you post quality content to your Story and do so frequently, people will even begin reaching out directly to you. Just to use a personal example, I decided to start using my Story feature to showcase some of my home decorating projects, as that is the content I find myself most attracted to. I then instantly began to receive so many messages from people offering to pay me money to help them redecorate their living spaces! It was by far one of the easiest ways I’ve ever made money, and all I had to do was post on my Story about things I was already doing. So what are some ways to make money using IG Stories?

Selling Your Own Products/Services

• Promote items that you make yourself and sell them using IG Stories to promote them.
  • Include related hashtags in the Story to have even more people find the post.
  • Include locations, which will also help more people to find your post.
• Put your own website (if you have one) in your Instagram bio for people to find it more easily.
• Post Stories of things in your daily life that you would consider your “niche” and encourage people to reach out to you for your expertise/services.
• You can pretty much get paid however you choose and charge whatever you want without losing any percentage through a third party.

For Stories, you cannot see all of the analytics until you make your account a “Business Account.” You will then be able to see what actions people took after viewing your Story. These actions can include things like visiting your profile or even clicking on your links.

Sponsored Posts, Affiliate Links, and Brand Partnerships

There are numerous companies that are looking to work with Instagram influencers. You can become an affiliate, which usually involves promoting items including links to buy them (which you then receive a commission from people using the link to make a purchase). These are what are known as “Affiliate Links”. Influencers can partner with brands to post Stories promoting products (which you typically receive a flat fee for). These are what are known as “Sponsored Posts”. Triberr is one of the best places to help increase your reach and find work as an influencer.

Promoting Your Other Personal Sites

• You can use your Instagram bio to include a link to your own personal website, blog, YouTube Channel, etc.
• Using Stories works very well to drive traffic to your external site.
• Once you upload a new blog post, YouTube video, or anything else, you can post a Story promoting your new content by encouraging users to check it out.
  • Make sure if you are going to do this that you include a way for people to get to your work by either including a link in your bio or using a “Swipe-up” post (which you cannot do until your account reaches 10,000 followers and is switched to a Business Account).

What is the Big Takeaway Here?

When it comes to growing your following on Instagram or making money from it, Stories can be a HUGE help. Stories are a quick and easy way to help new people find your Instagram account. Make sure to post your quality content during the busiest traffic times on the site, and try to engage with your audience as much as possible. Keep in mind that you need to have realistic expectations for your IG account growth. It is unrealistic to expect a few changes to boost your follower account to millions overnight. However, if you take these tools and begin to use them when creating and publishing content, you will begin to see changes in your account’s engagement.