Why Your Instagram Stories Views Are Down and How to Fix It

Are your Instagram Stories views down? Not sure what happened or how to get your viewership back?

Fear not!

Through my expertise in social media marketing, including Instagram, I have encountered dips in viewership before, and have developed plenty of strategies to get back those views and more.

This post will not only find the reasons why your Instagram views are down but offer tips on how to get more viewers to watch your Stories.

Why Are Your Instagram Story Views Down?

So you might have noticed that your Instagram Stories are getting fewer views by the day. It can be discouraging seeing your views drop, especially if the drop was quite steep and/or sudden.

It might not be as serious for some, but if you are an influencer, aspiring influencer, or a business/brand, then declining views are a serious cause for concern.

But don’t worry, that’s why I’m here to help.

The first thing to do is to figure out why your views are down. Let’s take a look at some reasons your Instagram Story Views might be down.

1. Bot-Generated Views

This might be difficult to hear, but there is a chance that a large number of views you got before were all bot generated. This is especially true if you had a sharp and sudden drop in views.

If your previous few Stories had over a thousand views, and now your next Story couldn’t even get 100, there’s a high chance those views were bot generated.

Now, usually, bot-generated views from fake accounts come from the user themselves, but if you didn’t use a bot, it might be that a certain hashtag attached to the Story triggered bot engagement.

What can you do?

Identify the hashtags that generated the spike and remove them from all your content, as well as avoid them for future posts to avoid an inauthentic spike in views. 

It’s important to avoid bots so that you can gauge your account growth realistically, and identify habits and content that does increase growth.

2. Boring, Overused Content

Creating new, engaging content is difficult and requires a lot of time and planning. That’s why it can be easy to fall into a rut, especially if you’ve been creating content for a long period of time.

Thing is, creating boring, overused content could be the reason your Instagram Story views are down.

Posting the same content, especially if it’s old, not trending, or already flooded the content space, then you can forget about getting a high view count.

Content creators that get a lot of views and engagement are the trendsetters. 

What can you do?

The best way to know what is trending and currently getting views is by going  to the explore page of Instagram and looking at the posts that are trending. 

Make note of the hashtags used, the number of likes, comments, and views.

3. Not Using Hashtags Correctly

Hashtags are used by social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to help their search engines discover related or similar posts.

If you’ve been taking hashtags for granted, or maybe haven’t even included any, it might be time to start.

Hashtags don’t have any set rules, but there are some things to take note of, namely:

• Don’t overdo it with hashtags. 3-5 is more than enough
• Always start with a #, and make sure not to add any spaces in between words
• Make sure your account is public if you're trying to use hashtags to gain a larger following
• Go to the trending page to find hashtags that are trending
• You can use hashtag generators to find hashtags relevant to your topic if you’re not sure which to use

If you’re not sure which hashtags to use, here’s my guide to using hashtags on Instagram.

Here’s an example of a free hashtag generator tool. I typed in #foodie, and found 30 relevant hashtags I could add to my post.

The post below has 3.2 million views, over 200K likes, and over 1K comments. Sure, it uses a lot of hashtags, but some of the hashtags here are very popular.

Take a look at the top five hashtags that come up when typing in #cat. Notice that the above post has them as well. Researching your topic and hashtag is important. Make sure to pick hashtags that are popular.

4. Posting Stories at the Wrong Times

Posting content at the wrong times means it might not end up on people’s feeds.

If your content is posted when everyone is sleeping, or busy at work, it might be that other creators who post at the right times get their content bumped up in the recommended feed. 

It’s all about engagement. Posting your content when people are online, means there’s more engagement with your post sooner, rather than later. This tells the search engines to bump your post up on the recommendation list.

If your post has been sitting there for 6 hours without any engagement, because you posted it at midnight, once morning comes, it has less chance of ending up on recommendation feeds.

This happens because users who posted at 5-6am will most likely end up on their followers' feeds before yours, boosting their engagement, thus boosting them on the recommended page.

For more about this topic, check out when is the best time to post on Instagram.

5. Not Actively Engaging with Your Followers

Engaging with your followers is important. People follow others on social media because they are interested in their opinions, lives, and general content. 

A great way to engage with your followers is to create the content they like, and the only way to find out is by being actively engaged with them.

This means you should reply to comments and do Q&As. Even live streaming is an option when seeking ways to engage your followers.

If your Instagram Stories views are down, try to find creative ways to actively engage with followers and watch their interest grow, as well as your views.

Now that we have a sense of what could be wrong, and how to fix it. Here are some more tips to help you increase your Instagram Stories views.

Tips to Increase Instagram Stories Views

Here are some tips for growing the views of your Instagram Stories.

1. Review Your Analytics to Increase Instagram Stories Views

Instagram Stories are a terrific way for your business to connect with audiences, increase engagement, and boost sales. However, you cannot grow if you don’t know which of your tactics are working, and which aren’t.

To create a stellar strategy, you need to measure your current Instagram Stories performance. It’s also a great way to figure out why your Instagram Stories views are down.

Your Instagram analytics will allow you to check the performance of various Stories.

The analytics will give you a full list of important metrics and allow you to check if your Instagram Stories views are down. Rank the Stories by Story impressions to see which ones performed better. Check for the content type, days of the week, and editing styles.

Some of the Instagram insights to check include:

• The number of replies to an Instagram Story
• Number of clicks on a link shared in a Story
• Number of Story impressions
• Reach or how many unique accounts viewed your Story
• Backward taps or how many people tapped to see the Story previously posted
• Forwards or how many people tapped to see your next Story
• Number of taps made to exit the Story

The Instagram analytics on the app may not rank them by reach, but you can manually check it. It’s also important to keep in mind that the Instagram app only keeps the Stories analytics for two weeks.

It’s, therefore, wise to invest in a good Instagram analytics platform. With these tools, you can track your data over a longer period of time which will help you identify key trends and improve your Instagram Stories strategy.

Use the data to understand which Instagram Story content performs best, and the best posting times and days. You can also figure out which content brought the most views and the ideal posting times and days. These insights will help you plan, update, and fine-tune your Instagram marketing strategy.

2. Use Creative and Varying Content

Have a content plan for your Instagram Stories to ensure that you always post quality Instagram Story content. Think about the kind of message you want to post, your target audience, and how you can communicate with them effectively.

Consumers expect brands to provide them with meaningful content. You need to create Instagram Story content that cuts through the clutter and engages your audience. Meaningful Brands found that 58% of content by the world’s leading brands is irrelevant, poor, and does not deliver.

You can ensure that your Instagram audience receives meaningful content by leveraging content marketing platforms. These platforms help you organize your content marketing efforts. These tools can help you strategize, produce, distribute, measure, and optimize your content.

Try different types of Instagram Story formats for variety. For instance, if every post is an inspirational quote, your audience will get bored. It’s thus important to vary your content to increase views and meet the needs of different followers.

Some of the content types you can use include videos, photos, and boomerangs. You can even combine them for variety or alternate between them. Additionally, you can share your Instagram posts in your Stories as well. However, make sure they are the best videos or photos before posting them to Stories.

You can use design tools like Adobe Express, Pixlr, Renderforest, and Animaker to help you create professional images and videos.

National Geographic is one of the brands crushing it with their Stories on Instagram. They use photos and storytelling to share award-winning images and ecological studies. Their Instagram Stories educate viewers and promote conservation efforts happening around the world.

You can increase your Instagram Stories views by:

• Sharing special events, announcements, or developments
• Highlighting customer testimonials or stories
• Sharing activities that happen in your office
• Including behind-the-scenes photos or videos from events or trips
• Showcasing outreach activities your brand is involved in
• Sharing brand values
• Using Instagram Stories features to add hashtags, poll stickers, etc.

3. Post Consistently

Posting once a day or when convenient undercuts your ability to reach your audience with your Stories. It could be the reason why your Story views are down. The more you post, the better. But make sure whatever you post is of top quality.

On Instagram, you can see the Stories of people you follow at the top. The most recent ones appear close to your profile logo, but only four Stories appear there at once on the app. So, you need to post constantly to stay in front of your audience.

Using an editorial calendar for your Instagram Stories would be wise. You can then upload your Stories at the times when they can make the most impact. When you post consistently, your audience will always expect new creative Stories from you, which can improve your engagement.

Knowing when to post is also important, and you can get this information from Instagram Stories analytics. Insights you get from the data can help you maximize your efforts. Posting at peak times also maximizes your reach, as more people may be able to see your Stories.

4. Use Stickers

You can increase viewership by leveraging Instagram Stories stickers. They will help you capture your audience's attention and increase engagement, too.

Some of the popular Instagram Stories stickers include:

Create a Poll

Polls are fun and easy to set up. They are also a great way to collect information and feedback from viewers.

Polls not only increase views but also facilitate open communication with your audience. You can use poll stickers to learn more about their preferences regarding your products or services.

Ask a Question

You can also use Instagram Stories to ask your audience questions related to your brand. Once you post the question, your audience can respond to it. You can tap on their responses and respond to them through Stories as well.

This is one of the best Instagram stories features and it can help boost your engagement and views.

Add a Countdown or Text Story

Use a countdown to announce a major sale, new product, or service launch. This can help you remind the audience how much time they have left until a sale or launch.

Text Stories stickers allow you to write on photos or videos on Instagram Stories. You can also use them to supply additional information.

Use Hashtags

Adding hashtags stickers can help you increase Instagram Stories views by helping you reach more people. 

Use them as a sticker or place them over an image. Choose hashtags that are relevant to your brand and add them to your Stories. You can also use branded hashtags.

Add Games to Your Story

Another element you can use to increase Instagram Stories views is games. 

Games are addictive and entertaining. Pablo Rochat is one of the guys taking advantage of games to keep his followers entertained on Instagram Stories. He posts a new game on his Instagram Stories every day.

Bacardi and Swizz Beatz also use Instagram Stories to give their audience a DJ experience. The audience can enjoy scratching and looping simulations with different beats and sounds.

Find a way to make interesting games for your brand. Make them intuitive without too many instructions. This will ensure that your audience will have a fun time engaging with them.

Announce Limited Offers

Use Instagram Stories to give your audience discounts, promotions, prizes, and offers. Integrate this with a shoppable catalog so that your audience can tap on the post to view descriptions, see prices, or shop.

Once you have launched a limited offer for your brand, use Instagram Stories to promote it. This can help you promote your best products, and increase referral visits to your website.

5. Location Tagging

When you tag a location in your Story, users who search for the location you tag will have a higher chance of seeing your post. This is an excellent way of getting more views and engagement with your Story.

It’s even better if the place is trending with a specific hashtag.

A great example is Starbucks. As you can see, #starbucks has over 39M posts. If you scroll through the posts, you’ll most of them have a decent number of likes and comments.

If someone searches for Starbucks, your Story could end up on this feed as well.

To tag a location, simply use the location sticker and enter the location you’d like to tag.

6. Use the Highlights Feature

Instagram's Highlights feature was introduced in 2017, and your Instagram Stories can also be Highlighted.

This Highlights section will appear underneath your profile.

Using the Highlight feature, you can pin important Stories you would like people who visit your page to engage with.

Are Your Instagram Stories Views Down?

Do not panic if your Instagram Stories views are down. There are many ways to update your Instagram Stories strategy to increase your views and engagement. 

The methods mentioned above will help you get genuine Story views since you will be giving your audience engaging content.

You can also announce sales and offers through Stories to generate engagement and views.

What methods do you use to increase your Instagram Stories views? Let me know in the comments.