Anyone who has any interest in Instagram will understand that gaining followers is essential. To flourish on Instagram you need to build an engaged audience.

Influencers, bloggers, and brands, all work hard to gain audiences organically. However, this can take lots of work, and time.

There are a number of ways that followers and views can be increased, but not all of them are recommended. Indeed, some methods could see your account being suspended, or banned outright.

When you want to improve your self-promotion on Instagram, what are the best methods? In particular, how do you get more views for your Insta stories?

What are Instagram stories?

Back in 2016, the social media behemoth launched Instagram Stories.

At first, many people decried this new feature as being a copy of Snapchat. In some ways, this was true.

Just as stories on Snapchat are deleted after 24 hours, so do the ones on Instagram. But, there are many more features to Instagram Stories.

Over the last few years, the developers have added more innovations to Instagram Stories to keep people interested.

An Instagram Story allows the account holder to add photos and videos to create an engaging, rich story. Hashtags and location tags can be added, and so can polls to get your audience interacting.

Why do you need Instagram stories?

Many businesses use Instagram to increase brand awareness, and it is part of most company’s digital marketing strategy.

Recently, the average person's attention span has been reported to be merely 8 seconds. This means that influencers and brands need to grab a user’s attention quickly and decisively.

Insta Stories only last a maximum of 15 seconds. This makes them perfect for holding the attention of the average user.

Brands can grow their audience by using Stories, as anyone can view them, not just followers. Location tags can help catch the eye of certain demographics. These tags can be set to a whole country, or be more specific, like a city or business location.

Instagram Stories allow the audience to interact with the brand too. For example, one of the later additions to Stories is the ‘Ask me anything’ feature. This means you can get your audience involved, and be more engaged.

How can you improve your viewing figures?

There are a number of ways that audience figures can be improved. Invisible hashtags are one way to make Stories more visible. As previously mentioned, the geolocation tag can also help define a particular audience.

To make Instagram Stories that are successful takes some thought. This feature allows much richer content than just simply posting photos, so you can get more creative.

Stickers can be added to Stories. These can be used to liven up photos and videos and come in different forms.

You can add hashtag stickers, poll stickers, location stickers, and simply fun, graphical stickers.

If you really want to improve your Instagram story views, then there are several paid-for services available.

Is it legal to buy views for your stories?

There are some myths surrounding buying story views for your account. Firstly, it is not illegal to buy Instagram views.

The reason that this myth has been perpetuated, is due to the terms of service that Instagram has laid out.

Buying followers and views can lead to accounts being shadowbanned.

This term refers to the possibility of your posts no longer being visible. Many users who have violated the terms of service have found themselves shadowbanned without realizing it.

What is shadowbanning?

Officially, this form of restriction doesn’t exist. Nevertheless, numerous Instagram users have reported that their accounts no longer appear in searches, and posts don’t show up in followers’ feeds.

Instagram can suspend an account, or outright ban it if they find violations to their policies. When this happens it will be clear that there is a problem. Shadowbanning, however, is a little more subtle.

Many users do not realize at first that they have been shadowbanned. It is only after people complain that they cannot find a particular account that the problem becomes noticeable.

One way to tell if you have been shadowbanned is to look at your Insights, and see if there has been a sudden drop in followers.

What gets you shadowbanned?

Generally, this occurs when the terms of service are violated. This can mean posting offensive subject matter, using too many hashtags, or buying followers.

This platform is the 6th most popular website according to The Small Business Blog. This should make it clear that there is a lot of competition.

Buying views and followers are commonplace, and not illegal, but needs to be done carefully.

How do you buy story views effectively?

To improve your self-promotion on Instagram requires constant attention. Interesting stories will keep audiences coming back.

But how do you get more views today?

There are many services now that promise to increase views, and if you choose the right one, they can be very effective.

Getafollower for instance is one service that promises to increase story views. They do this by seeking out individuals who will actually be interested in your Stories.

Other services include these:

  • Thunderclap
  • UseViral
  • FollowersUp
  • Mr. Insta
  • Viralyft
  • Getviral

The problem some people have found when buying views is that some services only use bots. If you want to buy story views then you should use a service that seeks out genuinely interested followers.

What are the best practices to grow your audience?

Organic growth is always best, but this can take a lot of work.

By following relevant account holders you will be more likely to be followed in return.

Avoid using any service that uses bots as these could get you shadowbanned. Even if you get away with using bots, they will not help your brand in any way.

Bots cannot interact or engage with your content. Therefore they are meaningless unless you simply want your viewing figures increased.

Using Instagram’s features to target a specific audience will help gain followers who will view your Stories.

Make sure your Instagram Stories are consistent and conform to your brand. Complete your bio and optimize it. Use hashtags, and keywords to make your account more visible.

According to Statista, the biggest groups of users are between 18 and 34. If you are having problems with your views and gaining followers, you may not be using the right platform.

Define exactly who your audience is from the outset. If it doesn’t fall into the general user base of Instagram, you might find your content is better suited to a different social media site.

Summary

Gaining story views is becoming more important as brands and influencers see how useful this feature can be.

Instagram Stories let a brand advertise its products or an influencer’s lifestyle. When relevant and interesting content is posted it can garner more views, and ultimately, more followers.

To make this form of promotion successful needs engagement though. Buying story views from services using bots is a recipe for disaster. It won’t create any engagement, and it could lead to a suspension or ban. It could even mean your following dropping instead of increasing.

If you need more views in a timely fashion, then seek out a reputable service that will find genuinely interested followers.