Instagram Stories offer all sorts of innovative – and interactive – ways to build connections.

The main appeal of Instagram Stories is that they don't last for long – 24 hours, to be exact. Miss them, and they're gone! They're a great way to connect with audiences through ephemeral, engaging content. 

Over 500 million people use Instagram Stories daily, making it a great way for brands to boost visibility and interaction. Positioned right at the top of the Instagram app, Stories are often the first thing users see – a huge opportunity for marketers to grab attention. 

Even better, Instagram continues to expand Story features to help businesses humanize their brand, drive engagement, and start direct conversions.

In this article, we’ll explain how Instagram Stories work and highlight the key features available to anyone with a business account. We'll also look at how you can boost engagement via Stories.

Think of this as your handy field guide to mastering Instagram Stories as part of your social media strategy.

How Instagram Stories work

By now, most of us are familiar with Instagram Stories – the vertical photos or videos that disappear 24 hours after posting. They appear in a separate feed at the top of the Instagram home screen, indicated by a colorful row of circles, and it can be especially hard to resist tapping on them.

Unlike regular Instagram posts, Stories are meant to be quick, unfiltered glimpses into real-time moments.

This creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity around your Instagram account – viewers know content will vanish, which encourages them to check in frequently so they don’t miss out. 

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, says Stories are ideal for reaching your most engaged, loyal audience, while feed posts cast a wider net. Instagram Stories are a great spot for nurturing connections and driving high engagement from followers who already care about your brand. 

Using Stories can increase brand interest, too – giving you another touchpoint where users regularly encounter your business.

How to post an Instagram Story

Just swipe left from the Instagram home feed (or tap the + icon and select “Story”) to open the Stories camera. 

You can record a video or take a photo on the spot, or share photos and videos from your camera roll. Once you have your content, you can enhance it with creative tools – add stickers, apply filters, overlay text, draw doodles, and more. When ready, post it to your Story for followers to view. 

Each photo Story displays for up to seven seconds (videos up to 15 seconds per segment), and you can post multiple Story segments per day to string together a narrative.

Instagram Stories features and tools

Instagram offers many built-in features and creative tools to make your Stories more interactive and compelling. Mastering these can help your content stand out and encourage viewers to engage. 

Instagram Story stickers

Stickers are tappable elements you can place on your Stories to add information or encourage interaction.

After capturing or uploading a Story, tap the sticker icon (a smiley face) to open the sticker tray – you’ll find options for polls, questions, quizzes, countdowns, GIFs, music, and more.

In fact, using Instagram story stickers is one of the best ways to boost audience engagement, as they invite followers to participate directly in your content.

Marketers use all sorts of stickers to get people to interact.

For example, the Poll Sticker is great if you want to ask a multiple-choice question and get quick feedback from viewers. A restaurant might poll followers on which new menu item to feature.

On the other hand, the Questions Sticker can prompt followers to submit questions or suggestions. This is great for hosting Q&As or gathering customer insights.

After that, you've got the Quiz Sticker. This will help you create a trivia question with multiple-choice answers. It’s a fun way to educate your audience about your brand or industry.

There's also the Countdown Sticker. This can build anticipation for an event, product launch, or sale by adding a countdown that followers can subscribe to for reminders.

One that you've probably seen a lot is the Emoji Slider. This lets viewers react along a spectrum (via an emoji on a slider) to gauge sentiment on a topic or how much they like something.

Finally, another popular one is the Add Yours Sticker. This starts a user-generated content chain by inviting others to add their own Story on a given theme or prompt. This can increase your brand’s visibility as more users participate.

Instagram is always introducing new stickers and retiring old ones. For example, the Link Sticker replaced the old “swipe-up” link feature. Now, any account can add a sticker that opens a URL. This is a game-changer for marketers – you can drive traffic to your website, blog, or product pages directly from Stories by prompting viewers to “Tap for more.”

When using stickers, make sure to place them where they won’t be covered by the interface (like the edges or near the reply box), and always remember to keep it simple. A well-placed sticker is great for Story engagement, but too many might overwhelm viewers.

Instagram Story filters and effects

Visual effects like filters, augmented reality (AR) lenses, and text styles help give your Stories a distinctive look. 

By now, we're all used to filters – especially those that instantly change the tone and color of your photo/video (for example, making colors warmer or adding a vintage haze). AR effects go further – they can add virtual objects or animations to your Story (think face-distorting lenses, virtual makeup, or 3D objects in your environment).

Many brands create custom AR filters to promote new products or encourage fans to share unique content featuring the brand’s theme. For instance, an eyewear brand could allow viewers to “try on” their latest frames.

Instagram Story Highlights

Normally, Stories disappear after 24 hours – but Instagram Story Highlights allow you to preserve and showcase select interesting Stories for as long as you want. Highlights are the curated collections of past Stories that live on your Instagram profile, appearing as tappable circles (like permanent Story albums) just below your bio. 

This feature is extremely useful for marketers because it lets you create evergreen content from your best Stories.

Even better, Highlights are a way to give new profile visitors important info and let existing followers revisit useful or favorite content. You might have Highlights for customer testimonials, how-to tutorials, product categories, behind-the-scenes peeks, or event recaps. For example, a travel brand could maintain Highlights for different destinations, while an e-commerce brand might have Highlights for seasonal collections or sale announcements.

To create a Highlight, you first need to have the content in your Story archive (Instagram automatically archives your expired Stories for your eyes only). On your profile, tap the “+” new Highlight circle, choose one or more past Story posts, give the Highlight a name, and pick a cover image. Once added, that Highlight will stay on your profile until you edit or remove it. You can update Highlights anytime by adding new relevant Stories or deleting outdated ones.

Making the most of Highlights means your great Stories don’t have to vanish completely after a day. It’s a chance to extend the life of high-value content and provide a more complete brand story on your profile. The secret to success is keeping your Highlights organized and refreshed over time so they remain relevant.

Close friends list

While the close friends list (which only shows your post to a specific and select group of followers) is probably most commonly used by individuals, it could be utilized by brands, too – perhaps for sharing information with an inner circle of devoted followers or signed-up members/subscribers.

Instagram Story analytics

To refine your Instagram Stories strategy, you’ll want to keep an eye on your Story analytics. Instagram provides built-in insights for business and creator accounts that show how your Stories are performing. 

Accessing your Story analytics is straightforward: visit your Instagram profile, tap Insights, then navigate to the Content You Shared section and filter by Stories. You can also tap on an active Story and swipe up (or tap the small analytics icon) to view metrics for that specific Story while it’s live.

Key metrics to track

By analyzing a few different metrics, you can learn what content resonates best. 

For instance, you might discover that Stories featuring behind-the-scenes content get more replies or that your audience always taps through slideshows about certain topics but sticks around for others. Use these insights to adjust your tactics – double down on the Story formats and topics that perform well and reconsider those that underperform.

  • Reach: How many unique accounts saw your Story.
  • Impressions: Total views, including repeat views from the same account.
  • Engagements: Actions taken on your Story, like replies or sticker taps (e.g., how many people voted in your poll or slid your emoji scale).
  • Tap-Forward/Tap-Back: How many users tapped to skip to the next Story or go back to view the previous one again? Lots of tap-forwards might indicate your content isn’t holding attention, while tap-backs can mean viewers found it interesting enough to re-watch.
  • Exits: How many people left your Story before finishing it? A high exit rate on a particular frame could signal that the frame wasn’t engaging or relevant.
  • Replies and Shares: Direct messages sent by replying to your Story, or shares of your Story to someone else. These indicate strong engagement or interest.

Instagram also shows completion rates (the percentage of viewers who watched your Story from the first frame all the way to the last). Many brands aim to keep this number high by posting a reasonable amount of Story frames – not so many that viewers drop off, but enough to keep them interested.

A deeper analysis across multiple campaigns or profiles can help with a dedicated social media management tool. Platforms like Brandwatch Social Media Management can aggregate your Instagram Story data and combine it with other social metrics, giving you a holistic view of performance. With customizable dashboards and cross-channel reporting, you can more easily demonstrate the ROI of your Instagram Stories and get granular insights to fine-tune your strategy.

Best practices for marketing on Instagram Stories

Now that we’ve covered the basics and features let’s dive into some tips on using Instagram Stories for marketing.

1. Showcase authenticity and personality

One of the biggest appeals of Stories is that they feel more candid and less polished than traditional posts. 

Use that to your advantage by sharing behind-the-scenes moments, day-in-the-life snippets, or quick updates that humanize your brand. 

Authentic content builds trust – for example, show your team at work, give a sneak peek of a product in development, or share a piece of advice from an expert on the team. This makes your audience feel like insiders and fosters a closer connection.

2. Use Stories to drive engagement

Treat Instagram Stories as a conversation, not a one-way broadcast. 

Prompt followers to interact with you through the interactive stickers and features we discussed. Run a poll asking for feedback on a new idea, encourage questions that you can answer in subsequent Stories, or host a mini-contest where viewers DM you a response. 

The more you get people tapping, swiping, and replying, the more the Instagram algorithm will favor your Stories, potentially boosting their reach. Plus, these interactions provide valuable qualitative feedback and user-generated content opportunities.

As a marketer, you likely have goals beyond Instagram – like driving traffic to your website, blog, or online store. Instagram Stories can feed that funnel. 

With the Link Sticker now available to everyone, you should strategically use it to direct viewers to related content. For example, tease a blog post or new product in your Story and invite people to “tap to learn more.” Or promote a flash sale with a Story series and link to the product page, coupled with a sense of urgency (“Only 24 hours left!” mirrors the fleeting nature of Stories).

Always make the next step clear – if you want people to take action, include a visible call-to-action in your Story text or graphics (e.g., “Tap to shop,” “Sign up now via the link!”).

4. Make the most of storytelling and sequence

The fleeting format of Stories – each clip only about fifteen seconds long – actually opens a door for creative storytelling by chaining multiple clips together. 

Instead of thinking of Stories as isolated posts, plan out a narrative or theme for a series of Stories. For example, the same Story might have five parts: an intro, three key points, and a conclusion or final thought with a call to action (CTA). 

Each Story should flow to the next – you can even use text or graphics like “Tip 1 of 3” to encourage people to keep watching. By the end, you’ve delivered a cohesive message in an engaging way. 

Storytelling keeps viewers hooked and coming back for more installments, especially if you make it a recurring series (like a weekly “quick tip” or a serialized teaser for an upcoming product).

5. Collaborate and cross-promote

Instagram Stories are also a great place to collaborate with others and expand your reach. 

Consider doing an account “takeover” where a team member, partner, or influencer temporarily runs your Stories for a day. Their fresh perspective and audience can bring new attention to your brand. 

You can also cross-promote by mentioning or tagging other accounts – for instance, partner with another brand in your niche for a joint Story campaign or simply share user-generated content from your followers (with permission and credit) in your Stories. 

When people see their own content featured or know a familiar face is on your Story, they’re more likely to stay engaged and share it, which works wonders for boosting your message.

Instagram Stories: Tips and tricks to boost engagement

To wrap up our guide, here’s a checklist to make sure you're making the most of Instagram Stories.

Post Stories consistently (but avoid overload)

Active accounts tend to see better results, so aim to share Stories regularly to stay on followers’ radar. The way that stories are ordered is also subject to an algorithm – so posting regularly can help you remain at the top of your followers' feeds.

A good cadence for many brands is daily or a few times per week. That said, don’t post dozens of segments in one go – viewers might drop off. 

Try to keep each day’s Story series concise and impactful (for instance, under 10 frames for most cases). Quality and consistency matter more than sheer quantity.

Consider timing for more Instagram Story views

Post your Stories when your audience is most likely online and active on Instagram. This increases the chances your Story will appear towards the front of their Story feed. 

Check your Instagram Insights to see peak activity times or days for your followers. Many brands find success posting in the early afternoon on weekdays, but your specific audience might differ. Experiment and monitor the view counts.

Maintain your brand style (but stay casual)

Stories can be more informal, yet they should still feel aligned with your brand. 

Use your brand’s color palette, fonts, or graphic style in Story designs so that viewers recognize it as yours. At the same time, don’t be afraid to use a more casual, personable tone in the captions or voiceovers – this isn’t a formal presentation; it’s Instagram. 

Striking the right balance will make your brand approachable and memorable.

Add captions and make it accessible

A significant portion of people watch Stories with the sound off, so if you post a talking video, use the Captions sticker or manually add text subtitles so nobody misses the message.

Ensure text is large and high-contrast enough to read on a small screen. Also, consider accessibility features like descriptive text for important visuals to make your Stories inclusive of all viewers.

Use hashtags and location tags when relevant

Public Instagram Stories (from open profiles) can be discovered via hashtags and location pages. 

If it makes sense for your content, tag a relevant hashtag or your location (e.g., an event venue, city, or store). 

This can expose your Story to users who don’t follow you yet. Just use this sparingly – one hashtag or location tag per Story is usually enough.

Engage back with your audience

If you’re inviting followers to interact, be ready to respond. 

Monitor your Story replies and react promptly – even a quick “Thanks for voting!” or sharing the results of a poll in a later Story shows that you value their input. Similarly, if someone mentions your brand in their Story, consider re-sharing it (this can be done via the paper airplane “share” button on their Story mention). 

Engaging with viewers will strengthen the community around your Stories.

Track performance and make changes

Finally, routinely review your Story analytics (reach, engagement, etc., as discussed above) to learn what works best. 

Maybe you’ll find that behind-the-scenes content consistently outperforms product photos or that your audience prefers polls over quizzes. 

Use these insights to refine your content strategy. Over time, this improve-as-you-go approach will help you hone in on the Story tactics that resonate most with your followers and achieve your marketing objectives.

Time to create your Instagram Stories strategy

Instagram Stories are an essential tool for marketers in 2025, offering a versatile platform to connect with customers in a genuine and interactive way.

By understanding how Stories work, utilizing creative features like stickers and Story Highlights, and following all the tricks for content and timing, you can easily boost your brand’s presence on Instagram. 

The secret is to keep an eye on your analytics so you can continually improve and adapt your strategy.

And with Brandwatch’s Social Media Management platform supporting your efforts – from scheduling Instagram Stories in advance to analyzing their performance – you can streamline the process and focus on crafting great content. 

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to start sharing your brand’s story, 24 hours at a time, and watch the results roll in.