Instagram Stories can be an incredible way to build close relationships with your audience online and build your business. But … you might be stumped on what to say! (I used to feel that way, too!)

After committing to IG Stories for more than 8 months now, I’m no longer stumped on what to say, and sharing something daily feels really easy!  

Keep reading (or press play on the podcast player below!) to learn 7 things to share when you have no idea what to say. (And these don’t involve long episodes of teaching or getting on video! These are truly easy-peasy things you can say in a jiffy!)

It’s time to find the fun in IG Stories and use them to build your business!

Press Play on the Podcast Player below to listen to this podcast episode.

Let's Talk Instagram Story Ideas!

Hey, my friend! I'm so excited to be back in your ears today. We are talking about 7 things to share on Instagram Stories when you're stumped on what to say.

The Stories struggle is real, I get it! It feels exhausting to think of something to say every single 24 hours.

However, I've got ideas for you that are going to make Instagram Stories a lot easier and hopefully help you find the joy, fun, and connection there that I have found.

1. Share Other People's Posts

Do you know that when you're just scrolling through your Instagram feed and you see someone else's post that you want to share with your audience, you can post it on your Stories with just a couple taps?

All you have to do is hit that little paper airplane symbol, choose to share that post, and add it to your Stories.

Before you share it, you can tag that account in your caption just to make double sure that they see it.

My audience loves this, because they're getting exposed to new funny things or new pieces of encouragement. I don't have to have a corner on all of the funny quotes or wise thoughts or business tips and tricks. I can share from other people. There’s room for everyone!

This is great because I didn't have to come up with new content myself, but I'm still adding value to my audience.

You can still add your own interesting thoughts to the top of the Stories post, and if the person you shared likes your thoughts, maybe they'll share your post on their account! It's a win-win because you're both getting exposure!

Now you might be saying, “OK, but I have such a busy day. I'm exhausted and overwhelmed and I don't have an hour to scroll through my Instagram feed looking for something interesting to share.”

If this is your situation, I get it! So what you want to do is when you DO have time to scroll through your feed, hit that little save button on the bottom right of any Instagram post that you think your audience will love (it looks like a little ribbon). 

In my last podcast episode, we talked about the three different content buckets that you should have as your Instagram Stories focus. You can create different collections in your saved posts for those three different content buckets.

For example, if one day is a “mom moment” kind of day, you can go to that collection of posts and share one of those to your Stories.

In a matter of a couple of days, you could save up posts for an entire month! You're sharing encouragement, you're sharing funny things, and you're probably going to get extra exposure for your own account because people love that you're sharing about them.

2. Ask Your Audience a Question

I love to ask my audience questions because they’re my friends! I get to know more about them and their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

This one might feel tricky at first, so go back to those three big content buckets and think about one little area in one of the buckets. For example, I could go into my “Mom Moments” bucket, and then narrow it down a little further to house cleaning.

Then I might ask a general question like, “Any tips for cleaning your house with a toddler around?” or “What's the funniest thing that your kids have ever done while attempting to clean the house?” and see what my audience writes back in that little question box.

When I get a response to my question, I like to share it individually on my Stories and use a cute on-brand stock photo as the background. I also MAKE SURE to tag the person I'm responding to (Instagram won't do this automatically when you share a response)!

My audience really loves when I give them a shout out! They're getting acknowledged for what they had to say and for their thoughtful advice, funny comments, encouragement, or wisdom. 

Plus, if they answer one of my questions, they'll be checking back in with my Stories throughout the day to see if I posted their response!

If your question is more personal, you may want to make a point of saying you won't publicly share your answers. If someone does share something that just seems way too personal, I just make a judgment call to not share it publicly or to not tag the person who shared.

But overall, this approach is really fun because you get to acknowledge your audience members individually! They get their own panel on my Stories and it makes them the star. I'm sharing their wisdom instead of only sharing my own thoughts and opinions.

Posting responses makes it super easy to have content to share all day. People really don't want to view 10 responses all in a row, that's a little much. 

But if I share two or three responses at a time, and then I wait several hours before posting a couple more, it makes it super easy for me to be consistent and present on IG Stories all day!

3. Do a Poll

Polling your audience is very similar to a question, but it's a little less personal. It's a great way to get people's preferences!

I have seen brands use this as market research, but it's also really fun to use it to build community and help people feel less alone. It's really fun to see what people have to say!

4. Shout Out Another Business You Love

This is similar to sharing someone else's post, but in this case it's a way to be able to share someone who takes gorgeous photos or creates an amazing product, and applaud them for doing a great job. 

You can point your audience to another account and say, “Hey, this is someone that you should go check out because she has products that I just absolutely love.”

It's just a way to be another business's cheerleader (“Who can I encourage? Who can I give the spotlight today instead of making it about me?”). 

A lot of brands do this on Fridays for #followfriday, and they might feature 3-5 different business owners that they love.

When I get shared that way, I reshare it on my own feed. Someone else saying they love me is great social proof! (I also return the favor and tell them thank you.)

This goes back to using social media the way I think it should be used, which is for building relationships! When you focus more on what you give versus what you can get, things go so much better.

5. Share a Quote From One of Your Own Posts or Pieces of Content

All you need for this approach is a blank colored panel. I create mine on PicMonkey and then save it to my phone. Then I upload that panel and add any quote that I want (from my most recent podcast episode, blog post, or just a funny anecdote).

If you've been doing this for a while, it doesn't have to be a recent piece of content. You can pull quotes from anywhere and everywhere! Your quote could be a really helpful tip or something new that you're teaching.

You could take two hours once a month and have 15 quote panels ready to go for all the days when you don't feel like making a video.

6. Share a Previous Video From You or Your Life

I take videos of the kids in our life all the time that I don't post Instagram Stories! 

Sometimes I don't post them because it's just not meant for Instagram Stories. 

But sometimes I don't post them just because I was focusing on teaching a ton of stuff that day, so there wasn't any space for a personal video.

So, if I'm stumped on what to say and feeling extra busy a couple weeks later, then I can share that cute video or funny little kid moment video! And that's totally fine. Share what you have the margin to share today.

7. Giveaways!

Who doesn't love a giveaway?!

Now, of course, you've got to keep your budget in mind, but I have to tell you what my friend Crystal Paine of Money Saving Mom did on her Instagram Stories.

Crystal did an exclusive giveaway just for her Instagram Stories viewers (it's over now, but she's having another one soon!), challenging them to like all of her posts from June and then DM her to be entered into a gift card drawing. Super easy!

She did face-to-camera videos talking about the giveaway, but you don't have to do that! You can do a static image post or a couple of panels where you explain what your giveaway is going to be. You could pair up with a friend and do a joint giveaway. There are so many options!

And again, because it's Instagram Stories, you don't necessarily need to have the same level of gorgeous, polished, perfect graphics for your giveaway that you would curate for your feed.

With These 7 Instagram Stories Tips, You Have No More Excuses!

OK, friends, you can now no longer use the excuse that you're not using Instagram Stories because you have no idea what to say!

I'd love to hear back from you if you start using Instagram Stories more regularly! Send me a DM @brilliantbizmom on Instagram and tell me all about it. And if you tag me in your stories and tell me about it, I might even share you on my own Stories! I would love to cheer you on!

Still Stumped? My Social Media Course is on Sale! 

If you're still stumped on how to structure all that other content you want to share on social media, and you want to build relationships and a loyal tribe, then you need to go grab my course, How to Be Brilliant on Social Media.

It's on sale for $27 for a limited time. You can grab it at brilliantbusinessmoms.com/social.

Seriously, My Students LOVE This Course!

A few more of my customers gave me feedback that I'd love to share with you!

“Since taking the course, I feel I've been able to stop obsessing over the perfect thing to say and allow myself to have more fun with it. This has allowed my audience to enjoy my presence so much more and also inspired them to do the same. I started to get a lot more DMs on Instagram and make solid connections, which often turn to sales just through being who I am and talking about what lights me up. There is nothing that makes me glow more than when I get a comment like, ‘OMG, how are you in my head right now?' or ‘I needed to hear this today so much.'” – Amber R.

“The biggest success and win I've had in my social media accounts since going through Beth Anne's course is confidence in creating content that is ME and is FUN. I'm just starting to build a following and I'm confident that my content is improving and I'm communicating better to my audience. I'm communicating my story, my products, and my ‘why' much better.” – Christina S.

“I love your authentic self! Thanks for the very valuable content for an affordable price. As a startup, this was so helpful.”

That is something I love, as well! I try to keep my products as affordable as possible. Of course, it's a business, but I love having products that fit within the budgets of so many brilliant moms who are just like me and don't have unlimited cash to spend. I totally get that.

So even though this is a $47 product (regular price), it's really meaty and helpful no matter what stage of business you're at.

I also have a 30-day, no questions asked, money back guarantee, because I'm confident that it will be helpful and that you're going to love it.

So make sure you head to brilliantbusinessmoms.com/social to grab your copy of How to Be Brilliant on Social Media.

And, of course, now it's your turn to head out there and Be Brilliant!