16 Interactive Instagram story Ideas for Business to Boost Engagement

The digital landscape for businesses is becoming competitive, and standing out on Instagram is necessary. 

Instagram has become the prime place to make a strong presence, as the platform has over 500 million daily users. However, keeping the Instagram feed active will no longer make your business stand out from the competitive noise. It’s time for your mind to be creative with Instagram stories that spark curiosity among the audience and build brand personality. 

If you are looking for Instagram story ideas for business, you have landed in the right place. 

We have shared some excellent Instagram story ideas for small businesses to keep their profiles active and interesting. Let’s understand why brands need to use Instagram stories.

Why Use Instagram Stories for Business?

Instagram stories have multiple advantages for businesses, from connecting with the audience to building loyal relationships. The time sensitivity of Instagram stories makes it appealing for the audience to tap into them quickly, making it an excellent tactic for reaching your target audience.

According to Instagram’s recent statistics, 50% of Instagram users (potential customers) were redirected to the website from stories and made purchases.

We have listed some key reasons for brands to prioritize Instagram stories and strengthen their marketing game.

1. Increased Visibility and Followers 

Keep posting engaging Instagram stories to be at the top of your followers’ feeds. The stories are visible above your followers’ home screens, so they can bump into yours while watching other stories. This way, you can attract more followers to your story, and Instagram stories are highly sharable. 

When your followers find your story interesting, they can share it further with others, increasing its visibility and the chances that they will start following your account. You should add a location to your Instagram stories, which is a good factor in boosting the visibility of your stories and allowing you to reach more potential followers. 

2. Boost engagement rates and grow business 

Instagram stories are packed with interactive features that allow you to engage better with your audience. When you make your stories attractive by adding elements, your audience will be more interested in interacting with them. You can utilize different features, like polls, quizzes, hashtags, location, etc., to boost the engagement rate of your Instagram stories. 

To build positive connections and encourage your audience to communicate with you, add polls and run quick quizzes on your Instagram stories. You can also add a link to your website on the stories to redirect your Instagram engagement there. It is best to mention the location of stories for better engagement by attracting a broader audience. 

3. Behind-the-scenes Content Humanizes Your Brand

The specialty of Instagram stories is that you can showcase the most informal site of your brand in real-time and take a break from salesy posts. Businesses should start utilizing Instagram stories to make authentic connections with their audiences. Behind the scenes, quick videos are good content to post on the stories to show a more human side of your brand. 

You can upload mini-interviews of your employees to give quick insight into your culture that will voice the brand’s personality to the audience. Showcasing the production process of your brand can also be a good idea to picture your brand authentically. 

4. Direct link sharing (for e-commerce businesses)

Social media marketing is an excellent space for eCommerce businesses today to channel growth and attract their targeted audiences. In this, the social media platform Instagram plays a vital role with its various interactive features like stories. Instagram stories can allow you to drive traffic to the business website by sharing clickable links. 

Promote your website by sharing a direct link to your product page on the story and encouraging your Instagram audience to check out your products. Promote your newest drop on your Instagram story and add a clear call to action with the direct link to encourage your followers to check it out. 

Amazing Instagram Story Ideas for Business

Your stories can either be your audience’s priority to watch, or they can be pushed back behind the line. The aim is definitely to avoid the latter. In that case, you need to sharpen your mind to be more creative in crafting excellent Instagram stories. 

To do so, you can brainstorm ideas or explore interactive story ideas on Instagram by looking at other stories. Both tactics are time-consuming and may affect your productivity. So, we have the solution to help you craft compelling Instagram stories and save time. Here is a list of some excellent Instagram story ideas for business.

1. “Select your style” polls

Source : influencermarketinghub.com

If you want to engage your audience with your business, establishing a positive conversation with them is one of the best Instagram story ideas for business. Post your product pictures and ask your audience to vote for their preferred style. This type of story includes stickers where you can ask your audience to “Select your style,” and they can select one option.

You can post the result at the end of such a poll, and the audience can look into other people’s preferred styles. In addition to engaging the audience, polls can help brands understand the style preferences of their valuable customers. Other than this, polls can be utilized in many different ways for Instagram stories.

2. Promote discounts and sales on the story

Source : hubspot.com

Audiences are automatically attracted to discounts and sales, an effective tactic to boost brand engagement. You can keep promoting branded discounts on your Instagram stories to stay in their minds and attract their attention. 

Select the best picture of the product you want to promote, then add a discount sticker and clear CTA with the direct link of the product. Adding a link to the discounted product will make it easy for the audience to check and purchase it directly from the story. Another way to promote discounts through stories is to add instagram stories to your website. With tools like Tagbox you can embed Instagram hashtag feeds, stories and posts to engage your followers as well.

3. A countdown for product drop

Create hype to attract your audience by posting a countdown to your upcoming product launch on your Instagram story. The countdown feature lets you set a reminder for your audience and let them know when the product is ready to shop. 

It is an excellent Instagram story idea for businesses to drive better user engagement with their brand. Moreover, launching an exclusive collection with limited stock is one of the best ways to clean your stock fast. 

4. Show off your product

Instagram stories are the best way to grab your audience’s attention about the newest launch or the highest-selling product. Create high-quality interactive content for your product, like videos and photos, and post it on the story. 

You can craft dramatic sneak peek videos of your product with limited-time discounts and post them on stories. As the stories exist for 24 hours, this kind of content can create urgency for the audience to take a quick view. 

5. Repost customer Stories

To drive positive engagement to your business on Instagram, resharing the posts and stories of your valuable customers is among the best Instagram story ideas for business. Today, people review products on Instagram, posting product pictures and videos mentioning the brand in the story.

It is an excellent way to show social proof to the target audience and encourage them to check out your brand. Moreover, customers sometimes post pictures and videos of products on Instagram feeds, tagging brands. You can also share them in your stories to boost engagement. 

Cool Instagram Story Ideas for Business

We have curated a list of cool Instagram story examples you must look at.

1. Give a glimpse into how products are made

As we explained, behind-the-scenes content is similar; it just gives your audience a clearer picture of your product’s manufacture. Therefore, you can attract your audience’s attention on Instagram through authenticity posting such content on Instagram stories. 

2. Share meme

Today, memes are among the most shared types of content on social media, including Instagram. Memes make any conversation more interesting and fun on Instagram. Thus, create and share trending memes to engage with your audience in a fun way. 

3. Show the transformation

Show the transformation your product can bring into your customer’s life via Instagram stories. Make a creative collage with a picture of your audience before using your product and a picture after using your product. 

Cute Instagram Story Ideas For Business

Here are a few cute Instagram story ideas that can boost engagement.

1. Post games on stories

Interactions in your story can signal to the Instagram algorithm about its popularity. If you want to attract more people to interact with your story, create a fun game. It’s a cute and fun way to engage with your audience and keep them coming back to interact. 

Source: contentstudio.io

2. Show gratitude to followers

Showing gratitude and appreciation to your followers via story is a cute instagram story idea for businesses. Post a thank you story for your followers on Instagram for achieving new milestones of good follower count. This will impress your potential followers and show them you care about your audience. 

3. Feature a furry companion

Share cute videos with your furry friend at work on your story; it will help the business signify to the audience that you have a friendly work environment. Moreover, cute animals always grab attention quickly. This cute Instagram story idea can help attract potential followers and inspire them to engage with your business. 

Engaging Instagram Story Ideas 

Make your stories engaging with these excellent Instagram story ideas.

1. Make your stories inspiring 

It is common practice to share inspiring quotes on stories, but businesses can take this practice to a more engaging level by sharing inspiring stories. Share the journey of your valuable clients with pictures and highlighted captions through a series of stories. This good storytelling idea can keep your followers engaged and inspire them. 

2. Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday has always been the trend. It can be an excellent way to upload stories every week and give a glimpse of the old days. You can show how your business has changed over the years and clever ways to attract your audience’s attention. 

3. Share audience FAQs

Your business receives many questions from the audience; answering them is an excellent way to establish a healthy connection. So, you can post a series of audience FAQs in your Instagram story and add them to your profile highlight. Adding it on, the highlight can also let your new followers check them. 

Birthday/Anniversary Story Ideas for Instagram

Instagram story ideas to showcase the special days of your business.

1. Company anniversary

Post a special video on your Instagram story on your company’s anniversary. Showcase important anniversaries and the milestones your organization has achieved over time on your video. This story will define your audience, the company’s work culture, and the brand value. 

2. Employee’s birthday

Share your employees’ birthdates on the Instagram story to make it memorable. Sharing such a video not only makes your employees happy but also showcases to your audience that you value them. 

Now that we’ve explored some amazing story ideas for Instagram, it’s time to understand how we can make the most out of them.

How to Embed Instagram Stories on a Website

Instagram Stories can be visually appealing, and leveraging them to drive traffic on your website is a smart move you must make. Here’s how you can do it seamlessly with Tagbox.

1. Create a Story Feed

• Login To Tagbox or Create a New Account
• From the given network options, choose “Instagram.”
• You’ll see various options like Mentions, handles, hashtags, stories, etc. Select “Stories”
• Now connect your Instagram account with Tagbox.
• Once the account is connected, Tagbox will fetch your stories and save them.
• You’ll now see your story feed.

2. Moderate and Customize your Feed

• Tagbox enables users to moderate the feed and select the most relevant content to be displayed on the website. Use the “Moderate” option on the left to make any story private or public as per its relevance. 
• You can also customize the way the Instagram story feeds with the customization option on the left.

3. Embed on Your Website

• Once you are satisfied with the feed, click on the “Publish” button at the bottom left.
• Now choose the “Embed on Website” option
• Choose the CMS platform where your website is created and adjust the dimensions of your Instagram widget.
• Now, copy the embed code and paste it to the backend of your website.
• That’s it. You’ve successfully embedded Instagram stories on your website.

Conclusion

Instagram stories have become a crucial marketing tool for businesses. A good Instagram story must turn passive viewers into active participants. By now, you know why Instagram stories are a crucial marketing tool for modern businesses and about some Instagram story ideas. It’s time to apply the best Instagram story ideas for business and strengthen your business’s Instagram strategy.