The great debate:
Is it better to post a single story or a series of updates? Which of these tactics really allows a brand to achieve greater reach?
While there is no one correct answer, we set out to conduct an experiment to find out what our audience prefers. To do this, we formulated a hypothesis, implemented a methodology, and obtained interesting results!s.
Hypothesis
Posting more Instagram stories per day will improve your reach.
For the experiment, the theory of the major social media consultant, Rachel Karten, was the starting point. She suggests: you can hurt your reach by 'posting only 1 or 2 IG stories within a 24-hour period (I feel that the reach is better when you post 5 to 10 story slides rather than an unconventional story post).' This makes a lot of sense, as Instagram tends to reward active users with greater reach and engagement.
Methodology
We took a business account and divided the experiment into two weeks. Here’s what we did:
Week 1: Post 1 or 2 Instagram stories per day
Week 2: Post between 5 and 10 Instagram stories per day
Results
At the end of the experiment, Instagram analytics were reviewed to assess the reach, engagement, and impressions of each story.
Here are the results:
(*)To calculate these averages, the total number of reach/engagement/impressions was divided by the number of stories posted that week (for example, 1985 impressions/15 stories = an average of 132.3 impressions per story).
(**)Average interaction is represented as a percentage. Most social media marketing experts agree that a good engagement rate falls between 1% and 5%.
As an additional experiment, the numbers were reviewed to see which type of story post had the best reach and engagement:
Week 1: 1-2 Instagram stories per day
In Week 1, static posts easily outperformed republished carousels, reels, or any interactive posts.
Week 2: 5-10 Instagram stories per day
In Week 2, the results were the same: static photos continued to outperform other types of content.
In summary, stories featuring static photos performed better regardless of how many stories were posted overall.
Let's analyze the results
According to the statistics, we can say that reach, engagement, and average impressions were better when 1 or 2 stories were posted per day. Another important point is that when we analyzed the drop in audience during Week 2 (referring to the Hootsuite Social Media Trends Report 2024), we found that followers likely perceived the stories as too self-promotional.
Based on this experiment, we can modify Karten's hypothesis as follows: Posting more Instagram stories per day will improve your reach, as long as you post the right type of stories.
Based on the results obtained, we can say that it is important to refine your brand strategy by:
Being consistent
Sharing exclusive content
Giving your audience what they want
Being realistic
Source: https://blog.hootsuite.com/
