Instagram Stories 101: A Quick Guide for Your Business

You KNOW you should be using Instagram Stories for your business.

But every time you try, your brain starts whirring with questions…

How should I set up the camera? What if my dog starts barking in the background? Do I need to edit that out? What should I be talking about? Do I just post graphics or do I have to be on video? Should stories be all business or some personal stuff? Where the heck do I begin?? 😩

Next thing you know, you’ve been staring at your phone for 10 minutes and haven’t posted a damn thing.

The possibilities feel endless, which is actually CRAZY stressful. The pressure to be perfect kicks in and boom – you’re frozen like a deer caught in headlights.

So your Stories stay empty.

Been there? 

If you can relate, I’ve put together this quick guide on how to use  Instagram Stories for your business, filled with practical tips and do’s and don’ts for you to follow.

Let’s get into it!

Nurturing Your Audience Through Instagram Stories

Have you ever noticed that the first Stories you see at the top of your Instagram feed are from your besties?  

It’s not random people or casual scrollers. It’s the stories from people you’re most interested in.

The same thing goes for your business Instagram.

As a business owner, 99% of the time, the people watching your Instagram stories already follow you – and they’re loyal followers. They’re the ones who WANT to know what’s going on in your life.

AKA your biggest fans. 🤩

The people who interact with your account most – liking posts, leaving comments, DMing you – are the ones Instagram shows your stories to first.

Which is exactly why stories are the PERFECT place to nurture the hecking heck out of your followers!

They’re already tuned in and loving what you’re saying. Now they want to see the REAL YOU. The next step is to add a little marketing psychology into the mix! 

(Side note: Want to see exactly where nurture content fits into your whole Instagram marketing funnel? Read more about the 3 content types you need to be creating – including nurture! – and how they all work together to turn followers into clients.)

When people feel like they know you – like REALLY know you – they’re waaaay more likely to buy from you. They see you as someone they’re already invested in and already believe in. 

Instagram stories aren’t the place for the glam version of you that you create for the camera. They’re the place to show the human behind it – messy hair, unfiltered thoughts, behind the scenes chaos, and all. 

It’s that realness that builds trust faster than any perfectly polished post could.

So, if you’re not using Instagram stories to nurture your warmest audience, you’re just leaving money on the table. 

Now that you know WHY stories matter so much, let’s take a look at how to structure them so they actually convert.

How to Structure Your Instagram Stories

The Instagram stories you post for your business should, in fact, tell a story. 

And what does every story have in common? They all have a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

If you want to get fancy with it, they all have:

1. Exposition, 
2. Rising action, 
3. Falling action, 
4. Denouement (or resolution) 

This is the classic storytelling arc that we all learned about in elementary school. You set the scene, build the tension, hit the climax, let things settle, and then wrap it all up with a neat, tiny bow. 🎀

If you’re thinking that this feels a little academic or difficult to follow, don’t worry. You’re probably already doing it naturally without even realizing it!

Every time you call a friend to spill the tea about work drama, you’re doing this exact thing. You set up what happened, drop the juicy details, and wrap it up.

Once you notice this pattern, all you need to do is bring that same structure to your business’s Instagram Stories.

For example:

Let’s say you’re going to a business or networking event. This would be a perfect opportunity to bring your followers along on that journey from beginning to end. 

The Beginning, aka Setting the Scene 

Instead of starting your Instagram story when you’re at the event, give your followers the preamble – the exposition. 

Get on camera and say, “This is the outfit that I’m wearing to the event!” and do a quick get ready with me. Talk about the event or what you’re looking forward to while doing your makeup.

The Middle, aka the Action

The next clips will be of the event itself. Share pieces of the action throughout the day as you move from presentation to presentation.  

Pan the room. Show the snack table or the free coffee and cookies they gave you. 

Share a picture of you and your friend while you’re waiting for the presentation to start. Then, show little clips of the speaker themselves. 

The End, aka Wrapping It Up

This is the part that people usually forget. The end is the cherry on top of a long day of following you around. 

Share a story of you going home and reflecting on your day. If you didn’t go right home, show yourself clinking champagne with your colleagues. 

This lets your followers know you’re wrapping up and the curtains are about to close. 

Even though your inbox won’t be flooded with DMs saying, “I loved how your stories today had a beginning, middle, and end!” your followers are going to FEEL it. 

As humans, we’re hardwired to recognize a good story arc. When you give your Instagram stories a beginning, a middle, and an end, you’re giving your followers something inherently familiar and satisfying – even if they don’t know why.

Instagram Stories Do’s and Don’ts

Now that you have the basics of how to structure your Instagram stories, let’s talk execution. 

Here are a few habits that will make your business’s Instagram stories more effective at building trust and nurturing your followers… and a few that may push them away. 

❌ DON’T rely on pristine Canva graphics.

A lot of entrepreneurs create their Instagram stories in Canva. They’ll put together a shiny, on-brand graphic and include some text about their offer.

Some days, if that’s all you can manage, that’s totally fine.

BUT the reality is, photos and graphics are easy to click past.  

And if a slide looks too dense, overly designed, or too much like an ad, it often gets skipped without a second thought.

✅ DO show your face. Let your viewers see YOU.

So, if you’re not posting Canva graphics to your Instagram stories, what are you posting?

The answer? YOU!

Your followers are watching your stories to see you and hear your voice. Watching your stories should make them feel like they’re chatting with a friend on FaceTime. 

That connection – the one where they actually see your face and hear you talk – is what builds trust. And trust is what leads to sales.

❌ DON’T put too much effort into your stories.

This might sound counterintuitive, but don’t try too hard in your Instagram stories. 

Instagram stories were modeled after Snapchat – just quick, casual moments shared between friends throughout the day. They were meant to be fun and capture real life in real time.

So you don’t actually need to create an aesthetically pleasing background or to clean up the kitchen before filming. (Unless you were already planning to clean, in which case, go for it! But don’t go out of your way just so you film an Instagram story!)

When it comes to Instagram stories, raw and off-the-cuff beats perfectly polished and planned every single time.

Think about it this way…

Would you rather watch someone stand at a podium and read off a teleprompter? 

Or listen to someone talk freely about something they’re passionate about while meal prepping school lunches?

You’d choose the latter, right? 

When you start scripting your Instagram stories, they may start to come off like mini commercials. You lose the fun, casual energy stories are supposed to bring and replace it with stiffness and distance. 

So, if you curse like a sailor, do it! If you talk with your hands, let them fly! If your kid walks in mid-sentence, let ’em! Answer their question, hand them a snack, keep going.

Your stories aren’t the place to make everything perfect. Let your personality shine. Showing up as your confident, natural, REAL self in your own environment is what earns people’s trust.

✅ DO make your stories feel one-on-one.

The people watching your Instagram stories want to feel like you’re friends. 

Approach each story like you’re talking directly to the viewer. And I don’t mean ALL your viewers. I mean just the one watching you right now. 

Your stories should make each viewer feel like they’re having a conversation just with you. 

So, when you’re recording Instagram stories for your business, think about speaking to one person, not the masses. This means using you-centered language instead of generalized language like ‘you guys.’

It also means looking directly into the camera and not shying away from it.

As soon as you overcome the fear of being on camera and recognize that the people watching you already love you, it becomes easier to create content they can connect with that moves them one step closer to working with you. 

❌ DON’T forget to optimize your Instagram stories. 

When you make a reel or create a post, you already know you need to optimize it for engagement. You add keywords and trending audio – all these things to try to get them views and interaction. 

Same thing goes for your Instagram stories. 

You want views? OPTIMIZE. 

For Instagram stories, optimization really comes down to viewer retention.

The Instagram algorithm LOVES viewer retention. It wants to see people watching your stories and they’re playing them all the way to the end. When they do, the algorithm knows to show your stories to even more people. 

By using a story arc (you know that beginning, middle, and end that we talked about?), people will continue watching because they want to see the story through. They become invested and want to see how everything plays out, so they’ll keep watching. 

You can also optimize your Instagram stories through the content itself. 

Photo stories are easy to click through. Viewers can choose to skip pictures shared in your stories instead of letting it play for the full 5-6 seconds. Skipping tells the algorithm that no one’s interested in watching, and it won’t push your stories to new viewers. Videos, on the other hand, grab their attention and hold it. 

That being said, nobody wants to watch a 15-part video series, either. It’s best to mix up the format so people stay engaged. Maybe you start with a pic or two, then hop on video and post a few Stories, and then end with a funny GIF or something relatable to your audience. Variety is the spice of life! 

✅ DO make it easy for viewers to respond. 

Every interaction with your Instagram stories opens a door. 

Whenever someone reacts to your story, that little ❤️ goes straight to your inbox. It gives you a direct line to that person – a real chance to connect and maybe, just maybe, start a sales conversation. 

Your Instagram stories need to make it SUPER easy for viewers to respond. 

Give people easy ways to engage – especially when you’re posting just a single photo! 

Think voting stickers, polls, emoji sliders, question boxes, or any other kind of interactive sticker. All of these remove the friction from responding, so viewers won’t have to overthink it. They just tap a response and move on. 

But on your end, a brand-new conversation has just started. 

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Now that you have a guide for using Instagram stories for your business, you know who’s watching your stories and how to structure your content. You even know the basics of what to do and what not to do.

But you might still be wondering…

“Okay, but what *exactly* do I post to get the ball rolling??”

That’s where my Strategic Stories that Sell 5-Day Challenge comes in to help. 

This highly affordable mini course gives you 5 days of strategic story prompts. Each day, I’ll tell you exactly what to share with prompts that boost engagement and improve viewer retention. 

All the things you need to trigger the algorithm into showing your stories to more people! 

In it, you’ll also learn a bit about psychology, strategic marketing, and engagement tactics. And once the 5 days are up, you’ll be able to confidently hop on camera and make engaging content long after the challenge has ended. 

Ready to start making Instagram stories work for your business?

➡️ Click here to join the Strategic Stories: The 5-Day Challenge!