I Tried The 48-hour Instagram Stories Hack.

 

I know, I know… I’m not normally one to recommend hacks. So before you shake your head in disappointment, don’t worry. I haven’t changed my stance that hacks are short term solutions and do not make sustainable social media strategies. With that said, I kept hearing about this “48 hour Instagram stories hack” where you wait 48 hours between IG stories, then post only one story. I had a few other creator friends tell me it worked for them, so I had to test it out (you know… for science).

 

I will say that waiting 48 hours to post on my stories wasn’t easy for me. IG stories are one of my favorite ways to connect with you. 

 

Thankfully, my birthday was coming up (woohoo), and I knew I would be taking the whole weekend off of IG anyway, so I decided to use that time to test it out.

 

Here is what I posted:

 

Since I was waiting for 48 hours to post, I made sure to make the most of it with a few key things that generally increase engagement on Instagram stories.

 

An eye-catching hook. 

I’ve talked about only having 3 seconds to grab your audience’s attention before, and it absolutely applies here. Having a solid hook allowed me to grab attention right away, give a peak into my life (my birthday and love of strawberries- like I’m actually in a strawberry craze and can’t stop buying strawberry items—please send help), and tap into my audience’s curiosity (what is this party favor she speaks of?).

 

A picture of my face to create more connection 

Maybe you’ve noticed that when you see the face of a person you follow on social media, you’re more likely to feel a connection with them. That’s because personal details are important, and in general, people are more likely to engage with someone they can see. Humans like human faces, so think of it as clicking that little “I am not a robot” tab when trying to log into something online. It reminds your audience that you are real. (Hi, I’m Tina, a real human girl behind the screen).

 

Longer text block so people have to hold the screen to read. 

When your audience spends a longer amount of time looking at your stories, it sends a signal to the algorithm to push it to more people. (You know I’m all about getting the algorithm odds ever in your favor)

 

DM automation

This served two purposes. One, to offer you something of value (in this case, a list of low effort bookish content ideas), and two, to invite you deeper into my community by giving you an opportunity to join my email list. Don’t you just love a good multitask? (Also, if that was you- hiiiiii!! So glad you’re here.)

 

Since 48 hours is a long time to wait to post a story, and one post can only contain so much, I recommend being very intentional about posting something with a lot of potential for engagement. (think DM automation, questions, polls…) This can also work well for big announcements like book launches.

 

Ready to see my results?

 

 

Wild right? I was shocked at how well this story did. 12,965 views, 319 people engaged with it. As in- my inbox had 300 dms from this story. 

 

The following weekend I went camping, so I used it as an opportunity to test this out- again. I did the 48 hour Instagram stories “hack” a second time, applying the same principles, and the results were even better! 14k views (highest views in my ig story history to date), with 369 people engaging.

 

This is a huge increase in my overall Instagram stories views (4x my usual views) and DMs. On top of that, the number of my email list subscribers jumped up by almost 200 each of those days. If you’ve been here for a while, you know how important an email list is.

 

So, it’s safe to say that this experiment was a big win.

 

And while I still believe it is not a sustainable long-term strategy, I can confidently recommend the 48-hour Instagram stories hack for a piece of content you are hoping to increase reach and engagement on. (think building your ARC team, sharing a lead magnet or opt in form, launching a book or offer, promoting a presale…)

 

Try these Instagram story ideas if you are feeling stuck

 

Behind the scenes (people always love a peek behind the curtain!)

• How you create your content 
• Share your thoughts on a book you are currently reading
• How you got into reading or writing

 

Ask a Question or use a Poll

• Ask me anything
• Do you annotate your books?
• Have you read this book yet?

 

Play “This or That?” 

• Show two popular books and have your audience pick which one they like more 
• Show genres next to each other and have your audience pick the one they gravitate towards more
• Show different reading scenarios (reading indoors vs. outdoors, binge reader vs. slow reader, series vs. standalone) and have your audience pick one

 

Don’t Overlook IG Stories

At the end of the day, there are a million things you can share on your stories, and that makes them a powerful tool to increase your connection to your audience, sell your offers, and build your brand. If you want to learn more, Bookstagram 101 dives even further into Instagram stories and how to organically boost your views and engagement within the bookish niche.

 

If you try this Instagram stories hack, I’d love to hear how it goes for you. Send me an email to let me know!