Dear Michaela,

I love the sound of your business and do see artists using this platform to promote their online businesses, so I definitely think you are in the right place. As for the Instagram stories, this is a great question, are Instagram stories worth the bother? The truth is I do think they are worth it and believe it’s a great way to attract potential customers to visit your Instagram page. After doing some research I’ve found a few key steps to make Instagram stories work for you. You ready? Let’s get started.

1. Set a goal – Don’t just post for content sake. Have a reason why you are posting an Instagram story. Is it to increase page visits, followers, engagement, drive people to your website or sell a product/service? You might say yes to all the above but pick one specific goal and focus on that before moving on to the next.
2. Building your story – Create a consistent look, this will avoid viewers from getting distracted and lost by the stories you are posting. You need them to recognise you. Create stories that match your brand - what are your brand colours, fonts etc? Also, set a call to action, what do you want to gain from the story? Depending on your CTA might have different looks for theses but do not make your stories widely different so that viewers will not recognise it is you. There are some great apps you can use to create stories for example Canva is a fantastic and easy app to use to build some amazing looking stories.
3. Consistency - By posting on your IG story, gives your followers a tap on the shoulder to let them know you are there on a regular basis. This is one of the most essential things to do to when creating a successful social media strategy. Even if you followers don't view, comment or share simply by showing up presents a consistent brand.

All the best with your Instagram stories Michaela, I hope these tips helped and you will feel more confident creating and posting some amazing stories going forward.