It’s time to talk about an area that confuses a lot of people – Instagram Story Ideas. Most people I talk to aren’t exactly sure what to do with Stories. They seem like a place to document random moments of your day at will, and no one really has a “strategy” for them – including me, sometimes. I often hear that people are shy or don’t feel comfortable talking on stories or simply don’t know what to talk about. Today, I’ll help you with one of those things – not knowing what to talk about.

Feeling comfortable on Instagram Stories

The #ToughLove on that one is that practice is the only cure, and you just gotta DO IT to feel more comfortable. Hopefully it’ll feel less scary when I remind you that you have 100% control over what gets sent out there – if you don’t like how your video turned out? Just delete it and try again! Plus, there are a lot of ways to interact, from still photos of your work all the way up to those *scary* talking head videos, so start where it’s most comfortable for you.

What should you say on Instagram Stories?

If you’re stumped on Instagram Stories, let me make that a little easier, with our handy list of 11 Instagram Story Ideas for When You’re Stumped ! This list is geared toward creatives, as all of our Business Resources are, including the Instagram Guide for Creatives, that delves into how we grew our Instagram Community to a point where over 65% of our income each year comes from Instagram alone! 

1. What are you doing today? 

   Wow that sounds super simple, but it’s really as easy as that. People love to see how businesses (and celebrities, and really just anyone) are spending their time. Share your to-do list, share your current project load, show photos of what you’re working on today, or heck, even if you’re just walking your dog – people love to see all of it!

2. What are your favorite things about what you do?

3. What are your favorite supplies to work with? Share them!

4. What is the process of working with you like?

   Tell this in such a way that clients can really picture themselves in the story, working with you on *their* project! 

5. What services do you offer?

   Again, seems simple, but people forget, or don’t know. I very often get asked “do you do things like…?” because it’s not as obvious to everyone as it is to you! 

6. What questions would you like your clients to STOP ASKING or to know before they hire you? Answer those questions on Stories! 

7. How did you get to where you are today? What jobs did you hold previously, what led you down this path? People are fascinated by these stories! 

8. Run a poll on something you’re working on – asking for help gets people feeling involved, and is free market research for you! Plus those interactive story features are good for your engagement. 

9. Re-visit resources you offer – blog posts, videos, helpful guides, downloads, etc. Your Instagram following is changing daily, and those who watch your stories varies too, so someone may not have seen it last time you posted!

10. Things you’ve been loving lately. We’ve all got trends in our lives, so share what you’ve been up to – is it a certain new recipe, face cream, exercise class? People love to hear about new things that are benefiting your life! 

11. Share other people’s content. Don’t do this 100% of the time, but if you’re not sure what to share on Instagram Stories today, check out what those accounts you’re following are doing. It could be something inspirational, beautiful, fun, etc. As a bonus, if you tag the creator, they’ll likely share you back and you could get more people seeing your profile that way! 

Did these Instagram story ideas get your creative juices flowing? Tag us @designbylaney so we can share your new content! As a bonus – liven up your stories with these 5 Hacks for Instagram Stories (including RAINBOW TEXT OMG). 

And make sure you grab the Instagram Guide for Creatives for all the strategies to make your Instagram a stress-free Algorithm-beating machine.