I love Instagram stories.  Unlike the feed post, which must be carefully written and planned for maximum effect, Instagram stories are so much more low maintenance. Each slide need only be 15 seconds long and they last only 24 hours, so you can experiment more with tone and imagery than you can with a feed post.

Additionally, statistics show that 500 million people watch stories every day and 62% of people say they've become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in stories; which is why I find it so baffling when I see brands not taking full advantage of this awesome feature!

Use stickers in your story as much as possible:  Polls, quizzes, the question box, and gifs will all encourage engagement, which will then push you to the front of your audience’s story bar.

If you are feeling stuck or are short on time, here are a few low-hanging fruit stories ideas that take less than a minute to create:

1. Share a post you’ve been tagged in to your stories (make sure you comment on the post and like it first!). This will increase engagement and will encourage more of your audience to tag you in their posts as well.
2. Share one of your own posts.  If you’ve made a post recently, share that one or reshare an older post as a “throwback.”
3. Share the post of a neighbor or of a business or organization you support (and make sure you @ tag them in the story so they are sure to see it).  Often, the person whose post you’ve shared will reciprocate, thus increasing your reach to their audience as well.

I recommend posting to your stories every single day so that you remain top of mind for your audience.