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Why Have Instagram Story Views Suddenly Dropped?

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We all know that heart-sinking feeling when your Instagram story engagement is at an all-time low. Then, you start questioning your abilities. You can’t seem to understand what you are doing wrong and where all the viewers have gone. Don’t stress. Most of the time, the decline in Instagram story engagement is not down to you. We take a look at why Instagram story views have dropped and what you can do to improve them!

Why Have Instagram Story Views Suddenly Dropped?

As an influencer, have you ever noticed the most random spam accounts watching your stories? Well, Instagram announced in 2019 that they were trying to crack down on fake bot accounts. These fake bot accounts were bought by people to increase their views.

As Instagram has taken this very seriously, many accounts are now seeing a decline in their story engagement. In addition, it was found that Instagram story’s reach rate is lower than Instagram post reach at between 1.2%- 5.4%. While these affect your analytics in the short run, they could actually help your Instagram ranking algorithm in the future. 

However, there could also be other reasons for your low Instagram story engagement, for example:

  • Neglecting story hashtags- This has been a massive culprit for the decline of a lot of influencer’s engagement.
  • Stale content- Switching up your creative strategy and engaging with new brands can help to boost your story views.
  • Timing strategy– consistency with timing is key. Posting frequently and at similar times of day helps to keep story engagement high.

Why The Decline Of Instagram Story Engagement Is A Good Thing?

Hear us out. It could be better than you think.

The way Instagram works is that you find the best, most engaging and most relevant stories for your followers. Then, it will show this content on your followers’ feeds. As an influencer, this is exactly what you want. 

Therefore, if Instagram has got rid of all the spam fake viewer accounts, it means the people viewing your stories are genuine followers. They are genuinely interested in your content and are more likely to be influenced by what you promote. 

This makes all the difference to your business and your brand. Fake views will only jeopardise your engagement rate as the viewers won’t interact or share your story. 

Top Tips To Increase Your Instagram Story Views

So, now we understand why your Instagram story engagement might be slacking. Let’s look at some of the ways you can help increase it. 

  • Be Creative: This kind of goes without saying, but you need to be original. We are not saying to recreate the wheel, but you need to keep your audience engaged. Think about what you are promoting, who you want to attract, and what message you want to get across!

Create eye-catching and leading stories to help decrease the click-through rate. This raises engagement and will make it more likely for your page to appear near the top of their suggestions. 

  • Use your analytics: While this might seem tedious, it is helpful when looking to grow. 

You need to understand the trends; the number of clicks on a shared link, the number of story impressions, and the number of replies. All of these stats will determine what content your followers like, what time of day does best and what to keep doing more of!

  • Add Hashtags and Stickers: If you want to increase your organic reach (which you should, as this boosts engagement!), then using hashtags is a great way to do that.

People will look through hashtags they are interested in. So if you consistently post with that hashtag, you should rank high on that page. This helps draw the exact audience you want to your page and boost your Instagram story engagement. 

As for stickers, 83% of cases found that using stickers in their stories enhanced their performance

Stuck in a social media rut? Get in touch today and our team will put together a bespoke strategy!