Instagram Story Ideas for Small Businesses

Stories are where small businesses on Instagram get closest to their customers. A feed post is a finished product; a story is the workshop behind it. People who watch your stories every day are the ones who buy when you launch something, and they want to see how things get made more than they want another polished photo.

The trouble is coming up with something every day. These ideas work for makers, shops and studios, and each one has a simple structure you can reuse.

Ten story ideas that work for small businesses

• The first step of something you are making, with one line about what it will become.
• A before and after, two frames, with no explanation needed.
• Packing a real order, with the customer's city if they are happy to share it.
• A question a customer asked this week and your answer.
• A poll between two options for something you are about to make.
• A mistake: something that broke, cracked or came out wrong, and what you changed.
• Your tools, one per frame, with why you chose each.
• A countdown to a launch or a restock.
• A thank-you to a customer who tagged you, shared with their permission.
• The end of the day: what got done, in one photo.

Three frames is the right length

Most stories that hold attention have three frames: a hook, the thing itself, and what happens next. The hook is one short line over a strong photo, such as 'Out of the kiln this morning.' The middle frame shows it. The last one tells people where to go, which might be the link in your bio, a reply or tomorrow's story.

Keep the text short enough to read in two seconds and away from the top and bottom of the frame, where Instagram puts your name and the reply box.

Make them look like they belong together

Pick one font and one or two colors for the text and use them every time. Over a few weeks people start recognising your stories before they see your name, which matters more than any single story looking perfect.

A weekly plan you can repeat

Give each day a theme so you never start from nothing: Monday for the work in progress, Wednesday for a customer question, Friday for the finished piece or a launch. The rest of the week can be whatever happens.

Planboard plans stories alongside the rest of your posts. It writes the text for each frame, makes a photo for it when you need one, and lets you adjust the crop and the text size before you share the frames to Instagram from your phone.