Follow These Tips to Tell Engaging Stories on Instagram

Part of making engaging content on Instagram is telling stories. Whether you do so in Instagram Stories, via posts, on Reels, or in another form, you want to make content your followers connect with.

But how do you tell stories on Instagram, and why should you bother with storytelling?

Why Use Storytelling?

Before we get into how to tell engaging stories on Instagram, you may want to know why storytelling is such a useful strategy. Simply put, it helps bring your brand to life. It also helps you connect with users.

When telling a story as your marketing strategy, whether on Instagram or anywhere else, you want to connect with the viewer. You want them to see themselves within your story. This makes your brand more relatable and drives engagement and brand loyalty.

Storytelling also humanizes your content and makes it more memorable. That memorability helps your brand stand out from the crowd.

As a bonus, storytelling makes complex topics easier to understand. As such, it is a great way to share information with your Instagram audience. You can simultaneously educate them and position your brand as an industry authority.

Now that you know why you should tell stories, how do you do so while making them engaging?

Know Your Audience

Before you can start telling engaging stories, you need to make sure you understand your target audience’s needs and desires. This will help you tell stories about your brand or products they are interested in.

After all, you can’t make your stories on Instagram relatable if you don’t know who you are trying to relate to.

Have the End in Mind When You Start

Whether you are writing an Instagram caption or planning an Instagram video or story, start by having the end in mind.

In other words, think about why you are sharing this particular story or message on Instagram. You can even start working on your caption or Instagram video script by writing your CTA.

Starting with the end in mind lets you ensure that you work toward the right goal as you craft your caption or write a video script.

You don’t have to plan out every single detail, but you should have a general idea of where the story is going and know more details about the endpoint.

Capture Tension

In the case of Instagram captions, try to tell stories by starting in the middle of the story, as that is where the tension and excitement are. This will grab your followers’ attention and encourage them to read the entire caption.

It also lets you take your followers on a journey through the story where they come out on top. You start with the challenge, and by the end of the caption, they have overcome it and solved their paint point.

A popular way to capture tension in your Instagram posts is to address a common “enemy.” Good examples include busy schedules, people-pleasing, perfectionism, and corporate culture. It will be much easier to find a common enemy once you know your audience.

Remember that if you start in the middle or at a point of tension, you will have to go back and reveal the backstory in some way. So, have a plan to do this as well.

Make It Descriptive

The key to telling engaging stories is to make them descriptive. This will help ensure that your followers can envision themselves in the story. Of course, the image that you are writing a caption for or the visuals in your video also help with this.

But even if there are visuals, you can enhance the descriptiveness by appealing to your followers’ senses. You want them to smell, taste, and touch the story in addition to seeing and hearing it.

Use the Three Modes of Persuasion

Aristotle wrote about the three modes of persuasion that he said were in every story. Together, they stir emotions, build credibility, and encourage reaction. You will want to incorporate them into your stories when possible.

Ethos (Character)

This shows the credibility of the storyteller. A common way to show this on Instagram is by highlighting your skill, sharing your knowledge, or showcasing your connections.

Pathos (Emotion)

Pathos is how storytellers appeal to the emotions of their audience. This lets them build a shared identity and common bond. You can use this type of persuasion by including any type of emotion in your story, whether it is anger, happiness, sadness, or something else.

Logos (Logic and Reason)

This mode of persuasion refers to your evidence-backed logical arguments. You can take advantage of logos by including reliable data, case studies, or true stories in your campaigns.

Hint at the Future

You want to encourage your followers to keep looking at your content, so consider dropping hints of what’s to come. That will give them something to look forward to and the motivation they need to check your content the next day.

This type of linking can be especially helpful in formats like Stories. Remember that your Stories stick around for 24 hours, and viewers may not watch them until you’ve already posted the next one.

By hinting at what happens next at the end of your first sequence of Stories, you seamlessly connect it to the next one you post, even if it is the next day.

Bonus: Content Types to Tell Your Brand Story

Telling your brand story – or a story in general – isn’t just limited to the Instagram Stories feature. In fact, you may want to use another method as Stories disappear after 24 hours. At the very least, if you do use Stories, be sure to save it as a Highlight.

But you can also tell your brand story via high-quality photos, such as a carousel post. Include behind-the-scenes images and videos. You should also use Instagram Live to your advantage.

Conclusion

Storytelling will help you engage your audience better. This is especially true if you take the time to understand your audience and use strategies such as starting with the end in mind and beginning the story at a point of tension.