Stories are a great place to gain followers and build your influence.

Ever since the launch of Snapchat, other social media sites have started to incorporate a “story” feature.

Instagram stories have been on the rise, but as it grows, it’s also becoming increasingly difficult to gain more views. So how do you rise about the noise and get noticed?

BTW, if you’re looking to use social media to grow a business or become an influencer, check out these courses. Or this FREE 3-day email course on how to become an influencer.

14 Ways To Increase Video Views On Your Instagram Stories

1. Post Regularly

This is perhaps the most important point – this is how you get the algorithm to favor you. Posting regularly is crucial for keeping and gaining views.

WARNING! Be mindful not to go overboard and post too much in one day! After so many posts, viewers will stop clicking through and just swipe on. Get to know the right balance for your particular audience by experimenting.

2. Tag Brands

Whether you’re wearing something from a brand or holding something from them, make sure to tag the brand! Who knows, they may potentially share your story which will give you access to their audience as well.

Additionally, when you tag a brand, especially a well-known one that is commonly searched, people who are loyal to that brand may follow you and start engaging with your stories.

Here is a good example from Elaine Rau‘s Instagram @elainerau.

3. Share Behind The Scenes

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE to watch behind the scenes footage of my favorite influencers. It lets me know what kind of projects are coming up, and the delight of guessing what they haven’t shown keeps me hyped and coming back for more content.

Also, seeing the behind the scenes makes your audience feel like they are part of the process. This establishes more of a relationship and makes them feel included.

4. Tag Locations

When you tag your location, people who are searching that location for inspiration will be able to find you.

Don’t just do this when you’re traveling, do this around your local neighborhood as well – you never know when a local connection is waiting to meet you!

Example from Elaine Rau’s Instagram @elainerau on her trip to Bali – she obtained several additional partnerships from brands in the area simply from tagging her location.

5. Keep Text Minimal

Text can be a GREAT addition for your videos. Information such as where a follower can see more of your content or the dates of a sale are perfect for text.

WARNING! It’s difficult to listen, watch, and read a lot of text in a short time frame. So try to aim for no more than two or three short lines of text. Otherwise, the text can take over the video!

6. Add Hashtags

You increase the likelihood of getting found by talking about trending hashtags. Some hashtags are more popular than others as you will find.

For example, the hashtag #BabyFilter was a LOT more popular than #TirePopped and got @elainerau a ton more views, but having a hashtag is better than not having one.

7. Use A Higher Quality Camera

Nothing is worse than going to an Instagram story and finding out that what you are trying to watch is blurry. It totally distracts from what you’re saying or showcasing.

Quality doesn’t always have to mean expensive, there are plenty of more affordable cameras out there, but if you’re not ready to invest in camera equipment, start with affordable lighting from Wyze Influencer Studios.

Elaine just posted about their super cheap selfie ring that has three lighting settings. Use promo code VIPLADYBOSS for 5% off.

8. Ask For Engagement

A great way to keep your audience involved with your stories is by asking them questions via a poll! This is also great when you’re doing influencer campaigns with brands.

Check out Tink US below and use ELAINERAU20 for $20 off.

9. Share Audience Responses

Reward your followers for their engagement by sharing their answers on your story!

@elainerau thought she was pretty hot as a man (new Snapchat filter)… not everyone agreed! Hahaha!

10. Get Personal

Your audience wants to get to know you, they want to feel a connection. The more personal you are, the more invested in the relationship they feel, and therefore the more likely they will be to come back and tell their friends to as well.

This is the perfect place to build that connection. Your followers can hear your voice, see your accomplishments, and, if something not so great is happening, they can relate.

Only share what you are comfortable with, and don’t feel pressure to share everything all at once either. For example, if you want to share some highlights from your relationships, you don’t need to name your friends, family, or significant other, you can simply mention their relationship to you and continue sharing your story.

11. Add Emotion Creating Emojis

An emoji should complement what you already have going on in your story. The desired effect of an emoji is to bring out more emotion to a story. An emoji can be either an animated text or a graphic.

12. Diversify Your Story

Having only one type of video post over and over can be repetitive not only for you but for your viewers as well.

Change things up with different types of videos such as promotions, behind the scenes, and static text posts, to keep both you and your audience engaged with your content.

Not knowing what you will post next keeps viewers coming back to your story. Different types of posts also bring in different types and more viewers.

13. Keep Them Short

Nowadays with busy, fast-paced schedules, longer videos are harder for viewers to watch. Instagram stories are a GREAT place for quick, bite-sized messages to your audience (which is probably why they have a 15-second limit for each story).

If you REALLY have a lot to say in your story, consider linking to a blog post, a YouTube video in your story or create an IGTV video instead.

Check out Elaine Rau’s YouTube Channel here.

14. Collaborate With Others

Have an appearance on another influencer’s story (and have them appear on yours).

Nothing draws more excitement than watching two of your favorite influencers or businesses working together on a project. This is also great for the influencers because collaborations share the workload on creating new content.

Collaborations increase views to your story because your social media handles will be tagged on the other influencer’s posts, and theirs on yours. Therefore, it is easier for the followers of the business you are collaborating with to find you.

Learning how to master the Instagram story can feel intimidating at first, but with these tips in mind, you are sure to increase your views!

Amanda Korz is a blogging intern at LadyBossBlogger. When she is not working, she enjoys writing poetry, reading, and playing video games.