Best Instagram Story Ideas to Boost Your Brand’s Visibility

Are you tired of posting the same old content on your Instagram Stories? Do you want to boost engagement and keep your followers coming back for more?

Look no further!

My list of 39 creative Instagram Story ideas has got you covered.

From fashion to food, travel to fitness, I’ve got fresh and engaging content for every category. Whether you’re a business owner, blogger, influencer, or just someone looking to spice up your personal account, these Story ideas will help you stand out from the crowd.

So why wait? Start exploring my list of creative content ideas and take your Instagram Stories engagement and reach to the next level!

Why Should You Leverage Instagram Stories?

Instagram Stories are a great way to engage your audience and attract new followers who are interested in your niche and content.

With the right Instagram Stories, you can:

• Reach a wider audience: Instagram Stories are discoverable, meaning that even non-followers can see your content, which is a great way to reach potential followers.
  
  Moreover, 500 million Instagram users access Stories every day.
• Increase engagement: The interactive features of Stories such as polls, questions, and quizzes, encourage engagement and help you connect with your audience.
• Showcase your personality: Sharing a behind-the-scenes look at your life is easy with short Stories and can help you build a stronger connection with your audience.
• Drive traffic: You can use Instagram Stories to drive traffic to your website or blog by including swipe-up links.
• Promote products or services: You can use Stories to showcase new products, share customer reviews, or offer exclusive discounts to your followers.

Having said all of this, there is a constant need for fresh and creative content on your IG Stories to unlock their true engagement potential.

So, in this article, I’ll help you figure out what to post on your Instagram Stories for more views and engagement.

The Top 39 Instagram Story Ideas for This Year 

I’ve put together this list of the best 39 Instagram Story ideas to post on your account and divided them into six broad categories, which include:

• Creative Instagram Story ideas
• Cute Instagram Story ideas (cool IG Story ideas)
• Funny Instagram Story ideas
• Instagram Story Engagement ideas (and interactive ideas)
• Instagram Story ideas for brands and businesses
• Instagram Story ideas by designs and layouts

Check them out now and start growing your account’s reach and engagement with the ones that best suit your brand values and personality.

Creative Instagram Story Ideas

Whether you're a business selling a product or an individual or influencer creating fun content for Instagram, here are 10 creative IG Story ideas that your audience will love.

1. Share Your Adventure Stories on Instagram Stories

Whether it's about business, travel, food, conference, products, a new documentary or film, or outfits, share your adventure stories with your followers and target audience.

This will help you inspire others to explore new things in life. Such Stories are likely to get more views and increase engagement.

2. Share Your Mood on Instagram Stories

Sharing your mood is one of the top Instagram Story ideas.

Whether you're launching a new product, staying at home, vacationing, or having a happy Monday, share your mood for the day with your audience.

Let them know how you feel about the day and life.

You can take to Instagram Stories to express your highs and lows, likes and dislikes, and let your followers get to know you in person.

For example, let your followers know what music is on your mind recently or which place is on the top of your current bucket list.

The key is to keep your Story real and conversational because people appreciate authenticity.

3. Promote an Instagram Post From Your Feed

If you want to make sure your followers don't miss a new post on your Instagram feed, you can promote it by reposting it as an Instagram Story. By doing so, your followers will be able to easily see your latest update.

To promote the post, you can simply add a short caption such as “New post!Don't miss it 😉” to grab their attention.

4. Use Swipe-Up Links to Promote a Blog Post or Product Review

One of the best Insta Stories ideas is to promote recently published blog posts, Reels, podcasts, tweets, product launches, etc., using swipe-up links.

This is a great way to drive traffic to your website, other social media platforms, or online store. Plus, it gives your already-published content increased visibility and exposure.

5. Display a Countdown Teaser for Your Event, Book Launch, or Contest

Share a teaser of your upcoming post, event, video, book launch, podcast episode, etc., to create hype and anticipation.

Giving in a sneak peek into your upcoming content or product will help generate excitement around it and keep your Insta followers tuned in to what's coming next. 

However, give away only a few details. You can use the countdown Sticker to let your followers anticipate the new post, podcast episode, or Live session with an expert.

6. Go Live on Your Insta Story

Insta Live feature is a powerful tool for marketers and influencers to engage their target audiences. It allows you to chat with your audience in real time, increasing views and engagement.

You can shout out to your followers by addressing their names as they join your Live stream, giving them a sense of acknowledgment and belonging. You can also reply to comments and questions in real time.

Once you go Live, you can share the Live feed link on your Stories.

You can also invite speakers and niche experts to go Live with you, creating an engaging and educational experience for your audience. You can either discuss a topic or have the expert answer your audience’s questions.

7. Host a Q&A Session on Insta Stories

If you’re a marketer, influencer, celebrity, or professional with knowledge about a specific niche, you can host a Q&A session on Instagram. And promote it a day or two in advance on your Instagram Stories.

Use the questions Sticker on your Insta Story to ask your followers to submit questions for a Q&A session. Post their questions and your answers on your Insta Stories to show your followers you listen to them and value them.

You can either reply to their questions using the questions Story Sticker directly or host a Live stream answering all of them together.

8. Participate in an Instagram Story Trend

Is there a topic or content trend that everyone's participating in lately? 

For example, it could be a trending hashtag campaign or people and brands sharing their old pictures for a “how it started vs. how it's going” trend.

Participate in a Story trend you’ve good content to share for.

Leveraging trending Story ideas is a great way to stay relevant to the present times and build a stronger connection with your audience.

For example, the “Add Yours” Sticker is a new trend, which lets users create a thread with their friends, encouraging them to share their latest creations or life updates.

9. Share Memes on Instagram Stories

Individuals, brands, and influencers use memes to create an opportunity to go viral and attract new followers. People who appreciate your meme content and kooky humor will follow you. 

Memes have the potential for high organic reach and engagement with almost zero ad spend, making it worth the effort. They help you:

• Create fun and relatable content.
• Humanize your brand and make it relevant.
• Jump onto trends and ride on a viral wave.
• Boost your content’s reach and engagement through shares, likes, comments, and saves.

You just need to find funny memes to post on Insta Stories and transform them to ensure they are relevant to your brand. You would have created meme-worthy content in no time.

This Bugles meme nailed it:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bugles (@buglesmemes)

10. Celebrate Your Wins on Instagram Stories

One way to engage your audience is to celebrate your wins through Instagram Stories.

Why?

Because everyone loves to hear success stories.

Sharing your success stories with your audience will make them feel a part of your progress.

You could share a simple video of customer testimonials, a milestone like “5 years in business,” a new business partnership, or a before-and-after photo of a customer benefitting from your product/service.

Cute Instagram Story Ideas (or Cool IG Story Ideas)

Cute and cool Instagram Story ideas go together because they position you as part of your followers' community and help you connect with them on a personal level. 

Here are some cool (and cute) IG Story ideas for you:

11. Share Throwback Photos or Videos on Your Instagram Story

Share a throwback photo of yourself as a child, from your business launch, of your first customer, or of a memorable moment from your past.

This allows your followers to get to know you better and is a fun way to reminisce about pre-lived days.

You can use a hashtag like “#tbt” for such a throwback or add the dates of those events.

12. Share Random Acts of Kindness on Your Insta Story

Your Insta Story is a platform to share anything you do.

Sharing a random act of kindness that you or someone did can help you spread positivity and kindness.

You can share a picture, a message, an acclamation, or anything that shows an act of kindness. However, don't share the other person's name or video without their permission.

As a brand, you can connect with your audience and show them you're part of the community.  It's also a great way to inspire your audience to do good deeds.

13. Share UGC (User-Generated Content) on Your Instagram Story

You don't always have to create new content to post a cute Instagram Story.

You can repurpose user-generated content to create rich, engaging content for your audience and also show off your fans.

For example, if a fashion blogger takes photos of cool shoes and tags the shoe company, that's a UGC for the shoe company. As a company, you can share it on your IG Story and give your audience a break from brand-generated content.

It's also a form of a product review or social proof to affirm to your audience that other users love the product. Plus, it's a fun and genuine way to engage your followers and customers.

Here's an example of IKEA Canada's UGC Story with a funny Sticker:

14. Thank Your Followers

You should use Instagram Stories to thank your followers, especially after achieving a milestone or goal.

Without your followers, you may not be able to fulfill your social media marketing or engagement goals. So, show your followers some gratitude and love by thanking them through your Instagram Story.

It will make them feel honored and encourage them to continue engaging with your brand and content.

Here’s an example:

15. Share What Inspires You on Your Instagram Stories

Instagram Story inspiration is an in-thing now.

Whether you're an influencer or a business, you find your inspiration from somewhere, such as a pop song or by spending an evening by the ocean.

Share photos and videos of things that inspire you or your brand. It's an effective way to show your audience your personal side and it can also motivate them.

16. Share Your “Out-of-Office” Message on Your Instagram Story

Sharing your “out-of-office” message is a cool Insta Story idea.

Tell your followers when you're going on vacation. This will help add a personal touch to your brand’s IG account. You can also share (show off) some cool vacation photos and adventure stories.

17. Give Shoutouts to Some Customers on Your Instagram Story

What more can a customer want than to be featured on their favorite brand’s official account? It's a massive honor to be recognized.

Give shoutouts to your followers and customers and share their content to show your appreciation. You can create a deep connection with your audience through this.

But, before you feature a customer, it's good to ask them for permission. Some people might not want to be tagged publicly.

Funny Instagram Story Ideas

Humor is a great way to connect with your followers and make them laugh. So, here are some funny Instagram Story ideas for your account:

18. Share Jokes on Your Instagram Story

Like memes, you can share a joke to make your audience laugh.

Many brands use humor in advertising. And when personalized, relatable jokes and memes can help bring your customers or audience closer to your brand.

You’ll improve your chances of being remembered by your followers. For example, the funny 2010 Super Bowl ad, “You're not you when hungry” caught many people's attention.

19. Share Behind-the-Scenes on Your IG Story

Share some behind-the-scenes shots from your content creation or business days on your Insta Story. Showing off your silly side or blunders can be funny and engaging.

Bloopers can be videos or sneak-peek photos.

Trust that your audience wants to know your content-creation or product-making process because everyone likes to understand how things happen.

So, show your audience some silly things that happen when you're creating content or producing a product just for engagement.

But be careful not to share too much.

20. Try New Things and Share Your Experiences on Your Insta Story

Trying new things and sharing your feelings, thoughts, and opinions with your audience is a fun Insta Story idea.

It could be about:

• You assembling a new computer or phone in record time
• Showing off your craft skills such as painting
• Or, preparing a cocktail for your house party!

Instagram Story Engagement Ideas

Engaging with your followers is important to building a strong relationship with them. Here are some Story ideas for increased Instagram engagement:

21. Create Polls on Your Insta Stories

Use polls to ask your followers questions about their preferences or opinions on your brand or product. This is a great way to engage your audience and seek feedback.

And, if your poll references a particular product, you can link to that product in the same Insta Story. It might help you drive some extra orders.

22. Host a Quiz on Your Instagram Story

Create a quiz about your brand or content.

Test your followers’ knowledge and generate valuable engagement by using a Quiz Sticker on your IG Story.

Ask them questions about your product or brand. It will give your audience a chance to interact with your brand and help you increase awareness about your product or service.

Here’s an example:

23. Announce Your Contest or Challenge Winner

Create a challenge, encourage your followers to participate, share the results, and then announce the contest's winner.

Hosting a challenge, contest, or giveaway on Instagram is a great way to engage your audience and gain followers. 

Posting the names of your challenge/contest winners on your Insta Story is good for two reasons:

1. You'll notify the contest's winner that they've won and should receive their reward (if there is one).
2. It will prove the legitimacy of your contest and brand to your followers.

This way, more people will enter future contests to get a reward or mention from your brand.

24. Offer a Sale or Access to an Event Through Your Instagram Story

Everyone wants to feel like an insider, so providing your audience with pre-event content will help them feel connected.

Tell your audience about the ongoing preparation for an event or a sale. Add a timer to add more curiosity.

24. Ask Your Followers for Suggestions Through an Instagram Story

Use your follower's wealth of knowledge, connections, and experience by asking them for suggestions about your product, events, brand, etc.

For example, if you're an interior designer, ask your audience what they like the most about a bathroom or a living room. You can also ask them about “Hairdresser recommendations in Boston” or “Best seafood restaurant in the New York City.”

On top of gathering valuable insights, this Story idea will help make your followers feel like you value their inputs (which you do).

25. Share a Positive Customer Review or Testimonial on Your Insta Story

You can advertise your brand or product in many different ways but a happy customer is your best marketing asset. If you get a positive review from a customer, share it on your Instagram Story to show how your product or service adds value to the lives of people..

Reviews and testimonials act as social proof — the best way to spread the word about the customer's feelings about your brand. It also gives a glimpse into how happy your customers are with your products or services.

26. Attend Events (Physical or Virtual) and Share Your Experiences on IG Story

Attend events (physical or virtual) and share your experiences or lessons learned with your followers.

If you met somepne from your followers at the event, feature them on your IG Story and share how great it was to meet them (with their consent).

Attending events and creating Stories from there can help increase your engagement rate and bring you closer to your audience.

27. Share Personal Insta Stories

Share personal stories that your followers can relate to and connect with. These can be throwbacks (as mentioned earlier), good outcomes, experiences, etc. 

Stories are powerful because they evoke compassion among strangers. They also create opportunities to understand others better and cultivate empathy towards them.

If your customers can relate to your IG Stories, they'll feel closer to you and your brand.

Instagram Story Ideas for Brands and Businesses

Many businesses today use Insta Stories to build brand awareness and create engagement. Here are examples of Insta Storiy ideas for brands and businesses:

28. Promote Discounts on Your Products with Fun Stickers

Brands and entrepreneurs can use Instagram Stories to share deals, discounts, giveaways, and promotions. Learn more about Instagram giveaway ideas here.

While your brand might be doing this already, you can get creative by including fun Stickers to make the offer pop. You can highlight the discount better with animated Stickers that stand out.

29. Introduce Your Team to Your Audience

Every brand has team members.

Get your team members to the spotlight by introducing each of them, their role, and their value to your team on your Instagram Stories. This will help your audience build a  stronger sense of solidarity.

30. Share Instagram Stories That Mention You or Your Brand

What's nicer than a shoutout?

When another brand or individual mentions you, share it with your followers on your Instagram Story. Your brand being featured somewhere else is always a positive thing to share.

31. Showcase Your Work on Your Instagram Story

Show your audience your work through your Instagram Story.

Remember to keep it simple — show off what you're doing and let your work do the talking part.

Showcasing your work usually works best for artists, freelance designers, photographers, filmmakers, and video editors. If you're starting out in your trade, introduce yourself while sharing the Story and ask your followers to help spread the word.

If you're lucky to get good followers, they can give you shoutouts to help increase your reach.

32. Share a Buying Guide on Your Instagram Story

Stories are often used to promote products but you can get more creative by offering your audience a buying guide. This will help you gently nudge your audience to buy the product without being too pushy or salesy.

Rather than asking them to “buy x,” you can show them “how to buy x,” if they're interested.

33. Promote a Guest Appearance on Your Instagram Story

If you're hosting a podcast on Instagram Live and expecting a guest, spread the word out through an Instagram Story.

You can also tag the brand hosting the event and hope that they repost it, which can help increase your reach.

Instagram Story Ideas by Designs and Layouts

Not every Insta Story has an actionable component.

Adding too many Stories with quizzes, polls, Stickers, and links can be exhausting. So, I’ve put together some Instagram Story ideas that will stand out based on their designs or layouts.

34. Share an Aesthetic Photo Collage on Your IG Story

Break the monotony of your Insta Stories by posting a beautiful photo collage. This can be lifestyle photos of your brand, a few pretty pictures from an event, the cat(s) in your office, or pictures of your office staff.

35. Create a Cool Layout on Your Instagram Story

You can use a photo editing app to design a Story image specifically for Instagram. Many apps offer pre-designed templates of cool and aesthetic layouts that are perfect for promoting your product, service, or experience you offer.

Here is an example of a backpack and accessories brand promoting their products subtly while talking about the “Road Trip Season”:

36. Gather Old Posts and Create a Theme-Based Instagram Story 

You can share your past content under a new Instagram Story theme for fun. This will help engage your audience by repurposing your old posts.

For example, Canada's Drag Race (TV show page) used theme elements to share past photos of drag queens.

37. Layer Photos on Your Instagram Story

Use a pretty background photo and layer another picture on the top of it for a great two-in-one look. You can do this using the Camera Roll Sticker.

This is a great way to share LinkedIn posts, Facebook posts, or tweets via Instagram, and it is more interesting than the screenshot alone.

Here’s an example:

38. Share an Infographic

You can combine photos and text into beautiful infographics that communicate valuable information to your followers.

For example, you can create an infographic displaying a tempting breakfast menu like this:

39. Share A Series of IG Stories Under a Single Theme

If you have many photo ideas, you can share them as separate Stories under a single theme rather than making a collage.

Your audience can view it like flipping through a book or turning the pages (when they tap the screen) to find out what's next.

For example, this fashion company taught users how to cut jeans into shorts using a 5-step Story series.

Which of These Instagram Story Ideas Will You Try First?

Instagram Stories are a powerful tool for connecting and engaging with your followers and attracting new audiences.

Whether you're a marketer, content creator, or influencer, Instagram Stories are a great way to keep your audience engaged. I’m sure you’ll be able to reach new accounts using the creative Instagram Story ideas I’ve shared above.

Experiment with different types of content in your IG Stories and see which ones resonate with your followers the most.

Have fun and happy Story-ing! Be sure to share your experience and views in the comments section below.