1. STORY: Screenshot your latest testimonial, review, or kind DM (with permission) and save it to your camera roll. Open your Stories, take a selfie, and write a cheeky message like, “Just did [X] for someone & wait till you see what they said.” Save the photo with the text to your camera roll and then publish. Pull back up your Stories, add the photo you just saved, and then add the screenshot of the testimonial/review using the “add photo” option. Save this new post again and publish. Pull up the final photo you just saved (with your cheeky message & the screenshot) and share either an additional thought/message and/or a link to the product or service they were talking about. Doing it this way increases the likelihood they’ll continue to click through your Stories & view it all AND is a fun, engaging way to share a win.
2. STORY: Share a “flowchart” or “choose your own adventure” series of your offers, free resources, services, and products. Each post should share what the offer is, who it’s for, a short blurb, and a link to buy or inquire. Here’s a super simple example (these got SO MANY CLICKS). Bonus points if you save as a highlight.
3. STORY: This isn’t one post — it’s a series, but it’s something I’ve seen a lot of success with. Run a Close Friends Story “challenge” for a week or two. It can be about anything related to your industry, personal brand, or services/products. It should be engaging (encourage them to share/post & respond) and help “move the needle” in some way. A few examples: a daily journal prompt, photos of things bringing you/them daily joy, or a daily “sales” post. If you’re a product-based brand (like a jewelry maker), you could challenge your followers to share a daily photo of their “stack” or what they’re wearing. If you’re a food blogger, you could challenge them to share their nightly meals. To make it even more enticing, offer an incentive for the person who either posts the most or tags you the most. The goal of this is to increase engagement & reach while truly engaging with your followers (in an exclusive way via Close Friends).
4. STORY: Go back through all of your feedback, testimonials, and reviews and challenge yourself to post 3/week for the entire month (make sure you have permission). Instead of simply sharing them to your Story, make a post talking about how lucky & honored you feel to work with your clients/have the customers you do & follow it up with a slide sharing what they said (and of course, add a link to book/buy the same offer).
5. STORY: Time to get your people to engage with you while also sharing a snippet of your personality (yay!) & gathering helpful feedback. You’re going to create a poll related to you/your brand & something in pop culture or current events. For example, I did this with Bridgerton! I asked my IG which female character they felt represented my personality the most & why. Not only does this encourage engagement & conversation, it helps you learn what your audience thinks about you. The key is choosing a topic most people will be aware of or understand (so not an obscure show, movie, or event). I’ve seen this tastefully done with Met Gala outfits, fast food chains, and locations/vacays!
6. STORY: Time for a week-long series (yay!). Write out all of your offers, from free resources to services to products & beyond. If you’re a product-based business with tons of products, then write out your categories. Then each day of the week, make a 3-5 Story series that starts with, “If I was an [X], who wanted/needed [Y], I would [xxx].” The “xxx” is 1-2 pieces of advice followed by a link to the offer you would suggest. For example, “If I was a service pro looking to create my first digital product, I would start by running some market research into my competitors.” Then you might share a few places to conduct market research along with a link to your research freebie. Do this each day of the week — not only will it get you more comfortable speaking and selling on Stories, it will increase awareness around your brand and offers (yay!) and hopefully make sales.
7. Story: Time to play into loss aversion a little bit (yay!). Next time you’re selling a specific offer, instead of using a CTA like “Get [X]” or “Have [X],” try something like, “Don’t miss out on your [X]” or “Your [X] awaits—don’t miss it.” Obviously, the Story content (and everything that came before it) matters, but this small tweak subtly drives home the message that they have something to lose—and loss aversion tells us that humans HATE losing (in this case, the only way to “win” or “avoid losing” is by choosing your offer). So people are more likely to click your button and at least check out the “deal.”
8. Story: Create a "This or That" series related to your industry. For example, if you're a web designer, you might do "Minimalist or Maximalist Design," "Bold & Funky or Crisp & Clean," and "Dark Mode or Light Mode." Use the poll feature to get people to vote. This not only increases engagement but also gives you insights into your audience's preferences, which can inform your future content and offers.