Instagram is one of the most popular social media networks, and this is largely due to its wide range of posting options for users. People who use Instagram feel like they have the freedom to post however they want to, thanks to the options of photo or video posts which remain on your account, sending pictures directly to other users which can either be seen instantly and lost or kept for a certain amount of time or the massively popular ‘stories’ which last for twenty four hours and can be edited extensively to make them look just like a user wants them to, with filters, stickers and links galore. But, if you are trying to make as many relevant people become exposed to your stories as possible, how often should you post?

How Many?

The simplest question is how many stories should you post every day? Ten. Ten is the simple answer to this question, since it is neither too many nor too little stories to post. If a user taps onto your stories and sees that there are so many that the small white markers which appear at the top of the story and indicate how many stories there are within your profile for that day have become pinpricks, they’re going to swipe away or tap through your stories without bothering to check the content. To make sure that you’re not boring your followers, but also giving them enough content at the same time, keep your stories at a consistent ten everyday.

Consistent

Speaking of being consistent, that is a major part of whether your followers will be looking out for your stories or not. If a follower knows that they can see good quality, relevant content everyday from your Instagram account, then they’ll be more likely to search through their stories notifications for your account, and not immediately tap through your story when they’re going through all of their notifications. Developing trust and something of a relationship between you and your followers is vital, and consistency can help this a lot.

Spreading Out

While ten might be the magic number, that doesn’t mean you can just spam your story feed with same-ish posts in an hour and call it a day. This is likely to encourage followers to tap through all your stories, making them pointless and removing any chance of information being communicated through them. If you post at different times throughout the day, then not only will followers see different types of content and pay attention to every single post, but they can also check back at different times throughout the day and relive the day of your account, if you post in a ‘documentary’ style.

Don’t Repeat

“Sure, giving links to your accounts on other social media networks can always work to give your different accounts little boosts, especially if one is noticeably more popular than another, but don’t just get lazy and start re-posting your Snapchat stories on Instagram constantly, for example, or vice versa,” Leslie Conlan, a social media manager at Last Minute Writing and Writinity, says, “since your fans will most probably follow you on many different social media networks - in this day and age, no one just has one social media account - and seeing the same content on many of your stories will just make them bored, and create a lazy feeling and atmosphere around your account. Avoid boring your followers, and create unique content for your Instagram stories!”

Video Or Photo?

Videos grab peoples’ attention. Photos are still, and, generally speaking, don’t grab anyone’s attention in the way that a video can. “Statistics show that Instagram users are less likely to swipe away from videos, and the chance of them exiting the story decreases with every passing frame.” Brandon Gibbs, a brand marketer at DraftBeyond and Research Papers UK, states. “Videos can show users more content in a single post, putting across more information and making both the user’s and your time and effort more worthwhile - and if it’ll keep a viewer’s attention for longer, then why wouldn’t you try video?” In short, videos are Instagram story gold, and they’ll make sure that your stories grab attention, keep it and put across a lot of crucial information to your followers at once.

About the Author

Angela J. Bryant writes and edits successfully at Lucky Assignments as well as Gum Essays, due to an intense passion for literature and written texts which she has harbored since she was young. Specializing in the highly varied topics of everything from social media and business to job seeking, she has been able to help hundreds of people with her articles, and reach an incredibly wide audience with her many intelligent and experienced messages. Quite rightly, her motto is “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, which are words which she has lived her life by.