Instagram Stories Strategy for 2025

Struggling to get consistent engagement from your Instagram Stories? Unsure how Stories fit into your broader content strategy as we head into 2025?

In this article, you'll discover how to plan and execute an Instagram Stories strategy designed to grow your audience, deepen connections, and drive meaningful business results throughout the year.

Why Instagram Stories Matter for Marketers in 2025

Instagram Stories remain one of the most powerful places to connect with your audience and convert followers into customers. While other platforms have tried to duplicate its success, none have achieved the same level of engagement and conversion potential.

According to Michelle Gifford, founder of Michelle Gifford Creative, “Stories is the best place to convert because real people and real relationships happen in stories.” Unlike other areas of Instagram that focus on attracting new followers, Stories allows you to nurture existing relationships with people who already follow you.

These people have actively chosen to click on your profile circle to see what you're sharing – without needing any hook or preview of your content. This level of interest makes them significantly more likely to engage with your offers and take action. So why wouldn't you market to them?

7 Reasons Marketers Struggle With Instagram Stories for Marketing

If you've tried Instagram Stories in the past but didn't see results, you're not alone. Let's identify some common mistakes that marketers are making with Instagram Stories in 2025:

Misunderstanding the Instagram Stories Algorithm: While Instagram actively pushes feed posts, Reels, and carousel posts to non-followers, Stories are primarily shown to your existing followers. This fundamental difference means your Stories strategy should focus on deepening relationships with your followers rather than attracting new prospects.

Inconsistent Posting Cadence: Showing up randomly whenever you feel like it might have worked in Instagram's early days, but a strategic approach is necessary for 2025's crowded space. Without consistency, you're missing opportunities to build meaningful connections.

Posting Too Many Stories: When viewers see a long series of small dots at the top of your story, indicating dozens of slides to click-through, many will simply skip your content entirely. Quality matters more than quantity.

Creating Stories That Are Too Long: Instagram allows minute-long Story videos, but maintaining someone's attention for a full minute is challenging. Breaking content into shorter segments (20-30 seconds) typically performs better.

Treating Stories Like a Vlog: Unless you're famous, simply documenting your day without providing value or context won't engage your audience.

Overusing Links: While link stickers are valuable, they send people off the platform, reducing your Story view and hurting your overall Story performance with the algorithm.

Not Understanding Instagram Stories Place in the Funnel: Many marketers consider Instagram Stories a repurposing channel rather than a strategic one. If you simply repost your reels or feed content without adding story-centric elements or additional value, you're training your audience not to care about your Stories, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy where viewership declines, and you feel even less motivated to invest in this space.

How to Use Instagram Stories for Marketing

To develop an effective strategy, you need to understand that the Instagram Stories algorithm values engagement. It's constantly evaluating how people interact with your Stories by tracking:

• What percentage of people watch your Stories all the way through
• How many people engage with your content
• What types of engagement you receive

The higher your engagement signals, the more Instagram shows your Stories to more of your followers.

What's the most prized engagement signal? Instagram DMs. When a follower DMs you via your content, that engagement action indicates their strong interest in and the relevance of your content, which helps your Stories gain even more prominence.

Now that you understand what the algorithm wants from your Stories, you can start fresh.

#1: Apply the 50-30-20 Instagram Stories Content Pillar Framework to Your Content Mix

For a balanced approach to Stories, Gifford recommends this content breakdown:

50% Value Content

Value content can take many forms but should always provide useful information related to your expertise: examples, step-by-step instructions, demonstrations, etc. 

For example, Gifford often shares Instagram tips broken down into easy-to-read text slides.

Instead of creating minute-long videos that many people won't watch with the sound on, consider using image posts with concise text points. Users will hold the screen to read your content, providing an additional positive engagement signal to Instagram.

When creating these slides, use an image or b-roll as the background and include enough text to be valuable but not overwhelming. A good rule of thumb is to give three main points with 1-2 sentences under each.

30% Engagement Content

Engagement content invites your audience to actively participate in whatever your story prompts viewers to do. Activations include emoji sliders, direct calls to DM you, question boxes, and poll stickers. 

When used weekly, question boxes can generate engagement while providing valuable insight into what your audience wants or needs from you. For example,” What Instagram questions do you have?”

A valuable tip for increasing the engagement you get on your polls is to always use your fourth option to give viewers who are reluctant to vote a way to engage. For example, if your poll asks viewers about their Instagram Stories posting cadence, your response options would be:

• Once per day, every day
• 3 times per day, every other day
• No set schedule
• I'm not telling; show me the answers

20% Connection Content

Connection content humanizes your brand by sharing glimpses of your personal life or business behind the scenes. This doesn't mean revealing your deepest secrets—just strategically chosen elements that align with your brand and mission.

For example, if you're a marketer serving primarily women business owners, sharing moments from your life as a working parent might create relatable connection points.

Gifford, an agency owner and a mom of five, also coaches two of her daughters' sports teams, so she shares posts about the games or practices and other relatable parts of her busy days. “I want women to know they can do it too, even if they have kids or even if they feel busy. I'm going to build elements of that in my stories that show people what I'm doing and share that if I can do it, they can do it.”

#2: Create a Strategic Stories Content Calendar

The next step in your strategy is creating a weekly Stories calendar that maps the 50-30-20 framework to your business goals. Consider:

• What content are you creating on other platforms that Stories can support?
• What products or services are you currently promoting?
• What email opt-ins or lead magnets are you offering?

Then, schedule the right number of Value, Engagement, and Connection stories for specific days each week. For example:

• Sunday (Engagement): Post a question box
• Monday (Value/Engagement): Answer questions from Sunday
• Tuesday (Value): Share value content related to your podcast or blog
• Wednesday (Value): Highlight a product or service with a special offer for Story viewers
• Thursday (Connection): Share connection content

Posting Frequency and Timing

How often should you post to Stories? While Gifford posts Stories six days a week, she recommends finding your baseline frequency and pushing yourself about 10% beyond that comfort zone.

Boost Engagement for Instagram Stories

For optimal engagement, keep your daily story count reasonable; 5 to 7 Stories is ideal. If you have related stories, post them together rather than spreading them throughout the day. Finally, be consistent with when you post.

#3: Create Your Instagram Stories Content

You can either batch your Stories content in advance or create it daily.

If you batch, you'll create multiple Stories at once and save them to a dedicated folder on your phone for easy access. Alternatively, you can save unpublished Stories to your drafts directly within Instagram.

If batching feels overwhelming or inauthentic, schedule 15-20 minutes daily to create your Stories. 

Neither approach is inherently better. Choose whichever approach works for you. Just be sure to schedule weekly or daily time for Story creation so that it actually happens.

Keep Your Stories Simple

Don't feel pressured to create elaborately designed Stories. Instead, focus on these simple production tips:

• Focus on clear, valuable content rather than fancy effects
• Remember that 85% of Instagram users view content with the sound off, so text-based Stories can actually outperform video in terms of retention and comprehension.
• For video content, always turn on captions (remember, most viewers watch with sound off)
• Add a headline-style text overlay to videos so viewers immediately understand what they'll get by watching

#4: Reset Your Instagram Story Feed

At least once a week, let all your current Stories expire by not posting for a full 24 hours. Your first post following the reset should be an image (not a video) with a simple call to action that encourages people to DM you. For example:

• Post a simple giveaway in which viewers DM you to enter
• Post a question with multiple response options tied to specific emojis, then ask people to respond by sending you a message with their emoji

When you implement this reset strategy, your first story typically receives substantially higher views—often double your normal engagement. This happens because Instagram recognizes the high engagement signals and begins showing your Stories to more of your followers.

#5: Convert Your Stories Audience into Customers

Once you've built engagement with your Stories, you can strategically convert viewers into customers by guiding them from value to action in a natural, non-pushy way. Here's how to structure a three-slide sequence based on Michelle Gifford's approach:

Slide 1: Value Content Addressing a Pain Point

Start with an image post (not a video; Gifford has tested this extensively) that identifies a specific challenge your audience faces.

“Struggling with stories? On average, only 1-8% of your followers are watching your Stories. That can feel really discouraging.”

This message will immediately resonate with viewers experiencing low Story views.

Slide 2: Detailed Solution or Strategic Insight

The second slide should build on the pain point identified in slide one and hold enough stand-alone value that the viewer feels they've learned something useful, even if they don't continue to slide 3. The information should be clear, concise, and immediately applicable.

“Here's a simple Stories strategy that works: Post 5-7 stories at once instead of 20+ scattered throughout the day. Make them a mix of 50% value, 30% engagement, and 20% connection content. This balanced approach keeps viewers engaged without overwhelming them.”

Slide 3: Conversion Opportunity

The final slide transitions to a simple call to action that offers even more value in exchange for direct engagement:

“Want my complete story strategy broken down? DM me the phrase ‘million dollar stories,' and I'll send you my free guide that shows exactly how I tripled my story views in six months.”

This approach works because:

1. You've already provided genuine value in slides 1-2
2. The action required (DMing a simple phrase) is low-effort
3. The offer is directly related to the value you've already demonstrated
4. Using DM automation (through tools like ManyChat) makes fulfillment instant and frictionless

This sequence helps you convert viewers while maintaining those all-important engagement metrics. Rather than sending people off-platform with link stickers (which can hurt your viewership), you're encouraging direct messages—the highest form of engagement according to Instagram's algorithm.

Other Notes From This Episode

• Connect with Michael Stelzner @Stelzner on Instagram and @Mike_Stelzner on X.
• Watch this interview and other exclusive content from Social Media Examiner on YouTube.

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✋🏽 If you enjoyed this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast, please head over to Apple Podcasts, leave a rating, write a review, and subscribe.

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