influence

How to Use Stories for Quick Wins

Stories on platforms like Instagram and Facebook are one of the easiest, lowest-pressure ways to stay visible and connect with your audience. They disappear after 24 hours, which means people don't expect them to be polished or perfect. You can be casual, spontaneous, and real in a way that feels harder to do with permanent posts.

A lot of creators skip Stories because they seem too fast-paced or informal, or because they're not sure what to post there. But Stories are actually one of the best tools you have for building connection without spending a ton of time or energy. You can film something in 30 seconds, post it, and move on with your day.

As Stories disappear, there's less pressure to make them look perfect. You're not building a permanent portfolio. You're just showing up and staying top of mind with the people who follow you.

Use Stories to Share Quick Tips

If you've got a short tip or idea that doesn't need a full post or video, share it in a Story. It can be a single slide with text, a quick video where you explain something in 15 seconds, or even just a photo with a caption that offers a piece of advice.

These videos don't need to be groundbreaking. Simple, actionable tips work great. Something like "Batch your captions on Sunday so you're not scrambling during the week" or "Turn off notifications while you're filming so you don't get interrupted" is useful and easy to consume.

Stories are perfect for this because they're quick to create and quick to watch. Your audience can swipe through, grab the tip, and apply it immediately without committing to a longer piece of content.

Creators can use Stories to share the small things you've learned that don't warrant a full video but are still worth mentioning. These little nuggets of advice add up and keep you visible without requiring hours of work.

Show Behind-the-Scenes Moments

People love seeing what's happening behind the content you create. Stories are the perfect place to show your workspace, your filming setup, or what you're working on that day. It doesn't need to be fancy or staged. Just hold up your phone and show people what's going on.

Maybe you're about to film a video and you show your setup. Or you're planning your content for the week and you share a quick shot of your planner. Or you're editing a video and you give a quick update on how it's going.

These behind-the-scenes moments make you more relatable and give people a sense of what goes into creating your content. And they're easy to capture because you're just documenting what you're already doing.

Creators who feel awkward being on camera all the time can use Stories to show more of their process and less of their face. You're still connecting with your audience, but you're doing it in a way that feels less performative.

Ask Questions and Get Feedback

Stories have features like polls, question stickers, and sliders that make it easy to ask your audience for input. Use these to get feedback, spark conversation, or just learn more about what your audience is dealing with.

You can ask simple questions like "Do you batch your content or create it daily?" and use the poll feature to let people vote. Or you can use the question sticker to ask "What's your biggest challenge with staying consistent?" and let people type their answers.

This does two things. First, it boosts engagement because people like sharing their opinions. Second, it gives you insight into what your audience needs, which helps you create better content for them.

When people respond, reply to them as these one-on-one interactions build stronger connections than anything else you can do on social media.

Promote Your Latest Content

When you post a new video or piece of content, share it in your Stories so your followers know it's there. Social media algorithms don't show your posts to everyone who follows you, so Stories give you a second chance to reach people who might have missed it.

You can share a clip from your video, a screenshot of your post, or just a quick slide that says "New video is up—link in bio." Keep it simple and direct. You're just making sure people know you've posted something new.

You can reshare the same piece of content in Stories a couple times over the next day or two if you want. Stories disappear quickly, so people who didn't see it the first time might catch it the second or third time you post it.

Creators shouldn't feel weird about promoting their own content. You put effort into creating it, and you're just making sure the people who want to see it actually know it's there.

Share Quick Wins or Updates

If something good happens during your day—a milestone, a small win, or even just a moment you're proud of—share it in a Story. People like seeing progress and success, and it reminds them that you're actively working toward your goals.

Maybe you just hit 100 email subscribers, or you finally figured out how to use a tool that's been frustrating you, or you filmed three videos in one sitting. These updates don't need their own full post, but they're perfect for Stories.

Sharing wins makes you more relatable because people see that you're on a journey just like they are. You're not pretending everything's perfect. You're celebrating progress, and that's motivating for people who are trying to do the same thing.

Repurpose Content Into Story Slides

If you've already created a post or video, you can pull pieces of it and turn them into Story slides. Take a key tip from your video, add it to a text slide, and post it. Or screenshot a caption from a post and share it in Stories.

This gives your content more mileage without requiring you to create something brand new then it reaches people who might not have seen the original post or video.
You're not spamming people by resharing pieces of your content. You're just making sure your ideas reach as many people as possible in the formats they prefer.

Keep Your Stories Casual and Real

The biggest advantage of Stories is they don't need to be polished. You can film them in bad lighting, without makeup, in your regular clothes, and nobody cares. In fact, people often prefer that because it feels more authentic and less staged.

Don't overthink Stories. Just grab your phone, say what you want to say or show what you want to show, and post it. The casualness is part of what makes them effective. You're giving people a glimpse of your real life and your real process, and that builds connection better than any perfectly edited video ever could.

Creators who feel pressure to look perfect or have everything together can relax with Stories. They're meant to be quick, casual, and human. And that's exactly why they work so well for building a loyal audience that feels connected to you.

For easy ways to do video check out "7 Steps to Produce Your First Show."