Instagram has been a game-changer for my business.

This social media site brings me 90% of my sales and booking inquiries for business. How? Well, after months of testing and observation, I noticed the bulk of traffic isn’t coming from posts on my grid. Instead, it’s coming from my Instagram Stories.

Today, I want to share my top 5 IG Story hacks with you to help you grow your exposure on this platform ASAP too. Here they are:

1. You’re allowed up to 10 hashtags in your stories - USE THEM. I have story hashtag sets saved to my Planoly account so, when I post to a story, I simply copy and paste the appropriate set into my story and that instantly bumps up my views.

2. Hide your hashtags in stories. This keeps your images looking clean. I made a little video showing you how to do this below. This isn’t as easy using video in IG stories but, it’s possible if you get creative.

3. Every time you share a post to your grid, share it to your stories to let your audience know you have new content available for them. You can even use a “New Post” or “Tap Here” gif in the drop down to encourage them to click through - this works wonders for me. **BONUS TIP** You can also change the background color with the dropper tool when you share your post to stories. I’m a branding freak so that weird auto-populated multi-color background that matches colors in your post tends to look…cluttery and weird. I prefer solids so, if you do too, go for the dropper.

4. Gamify your IG stories by sharing polls, asking questions, quizzes and chats. Most users on IG are now using stories to leverage their exposure and, at the rate they tap forward in stories, what is bound to catch their eye is a chance to participate in providing feedback. If you can, offer up atleast one call to action in your IG stories.

5. Link to your IGTV videos in your IG stories. If you haven’t already taken advantage of this amazing tool to create up to 30 minute videos for your profile, you MUST. Instagram just rolled out this feature within the last 6-9 months and they’re rewarding people who use it.

There they are, my top 5 hacks for leveraging Instagram Stories. Remember, social media platforms are meant to be SOCIAL, which means anything you do to ENGAGE with your audience will benefit you. Using Instagram Stories to their fullest will attract new followers organically and help you grow your following but, remember, you have to keep going out of your way to like, follow, and comment on other content if you really want this platform to benefit you.

Are you using Instagram Stories? If so, what’s your favorite feature? Share in the comments below!

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