[Oct 29, 3:00 PM] Xristianna Papalexopoulou: So excited for this one! [Oct 29, 3:03 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Hiii everyone! Hanging out here if you have any questions about the presentation :) [Oct 29, 3:03 PM] Anna Hettick: So excited this one!! I never story because I don't have the swipe up. [Oct 29, 3:03 PM] graceandvine: Sooo excited for this! Hi Hafsa :) [Oct 29, 3:04 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Anna- stories are sooooo powerful, even when you don't have swipe up. They can help you build a super engaged audience who is so invested in your content [Oct 29, 3:04 PM] Anna Hettick: I am excited to try your suggestions! [Oct 29, 3:05 PM] Skye H: Looking forward to this one! [Oct 29, 3:07 PM] Flour de Liz: I do a good morning post every day too! It started by accident, but they usually have my highest analytics! [Oct 29, 3:08 PM] VictoriaKabakian: I guess one of the toughest things for me about IG is that I always hope it will generic traffic and it never does, and I know a lot of bloggers agree that it's a low traffic platform, so while it can build brand authority but not really traffic, how does that really give you a payoff? I mean, I know brand is super important obviously, but my bottom line (and many bloggers) is traffic to their site. [Oct 29, 3:08 PM] Hafsa Hasan: YES- my morning posts definitely get the highest views [Oct 29, 3:08 PM] Flour de Liz: not post, story* [Oct 29, 3:08 PM] graceandvine: WOAH!!! [Oct 29, 3:11 PM] Gunjan: does stories can be static image or does it always have to be video style. [Oct 29, 3:11 PM] Hafsa Hasan: you can do a mix of both! I have about a 50% photo and 50% video balance [Oct 29, 3:12 PM] Skye H: Hafsa your website says launching this fall, when will you be launching? [Oct 29, 3:12 PM] Gunjan: thank you Hafsa. I just followed you on insta. [Oct 29, 3:12 PM] Hafsa Hasan: It's up end of this week!!! [Oct 29, 3:12 PM] Skye H: Great, I'll make a note to check back [Oct 29, 3:12 PM] Gunjan: can we sue hashtags in stories also? [Oct 29, 3:13 PM] Skye H: I think you can only use 1 in stories [Oct 29, 3:13 PM] Hafsa Hasan: YES! you can definitely use hashtags and you can use multiple hashtags just by typing them out rather than using the hashtag sticker. [Oct 29, 3:13 PM] Gunjan: can you share few examples Hafsa? [Oct 29, 3:13 PM] Hafsa Hasan: i'd encourage limiting them to 2-3 because anymore can lead the story to looking spammy [Oct 29, 3:14 PM] Gunjan: how does the story look after using hashtags? [Oct 29, 3:16 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Gujan, if you go to my stories right now- you can see an example of how the stories look when you use a hashtag [Oct 29, 3:16 PM] Michelle: Love your morning story graphics @hafsa! Do you have recommendations of other people who are doing it well? [Oct 29, 3:16 PM] Gunjan: I was just going through your stories Hafsa but could not find any hashtags. Is there a way to hide them? [Oct 29, 3:17 PM] Hafsa Hasan: I just make the text the same color as the background so they don't pop up as being too obvious- but I did share one just a minute ago with blue hydranges that has hashtags [Oct 29, 3:18 PM] Flour de Liz: For process stories, you say there is greater potential for people to share your stories, but if people aren't tagged, how are they shared? [Oct 29, 3:18 PM] Skye H: what other one has one in the background like the happy Thursday? [Oct 29, 3:18 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Michelle- there are lots of people who do it differently. @tylerjmccall does a good morning post just sharing his plan for the day. @alexbeadon does 3 things for the day. I've seen food bloggers who do a morning tea or coffee pour which is really nice [Oct 29, 3:18 PM] Michelle: Thanks so much Hafsa! [Oct 29, 3:19 PM] Gunjan: got it. Matching the hashtag color with the background is an amazing idea. Thanks for that. [Oct 29, 3:19 PM] Skye H: I never thought to make the background and text match [Oct 29, 3:19 PM] Mireille Roc: i also shrink hashtag behind larger text so it cant be seen [Oct 29, 3:21 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Flour de Liz- there is a setting on Instagram that allows people to share your stories. If your setting is set the correct way, theres an arrow at the bottom right beside the send message bar and people can share the story by clicking on that [Oct 29, 3:21 PM] Flour de Liz: oh good to know, thank you!! [Oct 29, 3:21 PM] Samantha Garner: Just jumping in now, excited to see how to grow with stories [Oct 29, 3:22 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Mireille- thats a great idea too!! [Oct 29, 3:22 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Yay Samantha!! [Oct 29, 3:22 PM] Skye H: Can you prerecord(videos) stories and just upload them to stories [Oct 29, 3:22 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Absolutely. You can record stories and just go into your camera roll and pick the image/video and post that [Oct 29, 3:23 PM] Skye H: Are there any recommendations on when you pre record for upload such as the time? [Oct 29, 3:24 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Skye- it really depends on your audience. I'd take a look at your Instagram analytics to see when your audience is the most active and pick an anchor that works for you [Oct 29, 3:24 PM] Samantha Garner: 4000 people is so many! [Oct 29, 3:25 PM] Skye H: not time of day time of video [Oct 29, 3:25 PM] Samantha Garner: Seriously impressive Hafsa [Oct 29, 3:25 PM] Skye H: like should it be <a minute [Oct 29, 3:25 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Thanks Samantha. The best thing is that it has stayed consistent at the number since then. and that means my swipe ups and DM's have gone up. All good things [Oct 29, 3:26 PM] Samantha Garner: I'm definitely super frustrated with IG so I'm excited to try some new things [Oct 29, 3:26 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Stories are broken up into 15 second segments. I'd keep any chunk of stories down to 4 max unless it's a process story [Oct 29, 3:28 PM] Skye H: are you able to schedule stories? [Oct 29, 3:28 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Not at this time [Oct 29, 3:28 PM] Skye H: bummer.... that would help the repeatable category for me [Oct 29, 3:28 PM] Flour de Liz: Thank you so much, Hafsa! This was great, and really really helpful! [Oct 29, 3:28 PM] Mireille Roc: i can schedule stories via later app - but not directly I get notification but at least I can schedule the pics via the app [Oct 29, 3:28 PM] VictoriaKabakian: That's good to know about Later! I use that to schedule my posts on my feed but will have to check it out for stories too [Oct 29, 3:29 PM] staceybrugeman: What is your opinion in the suggestion that Reels are better right now because that is IGs hot new product and so the skew the algorithm in favor of their newer stuff? [Oct 29, 3:29 PM] Hafsa Hasan: The app won't autopost for you which unfortunately is the most frustrating thing :( [Oct 29, 3:30 PM] Mireille Roc: true! [Oct 29, 3:30 PM] Guest730: Please, share the links of tripods! :) Thanks [Oct 29, 3:31 PM] Hafsa Hasan: I'd definitely encourage people to hop on Reels and test them out. However- that shouldn't mean you stop showing up on stories. Plus- lots of people don't have Reels yet so focusing on Stories is just good strategy [Oct 29, 3:31 PM] staceybrugeman: Thank you. [Oct 29, 3:32 PM] Skye H: what is the biggest difference between reels and stories [Oct 29, 3:34 PM] Kara Myers: Should we save the process stories to its own highlight each time? [Oct 29, 3:35 PM] VictoriaKabakian: I've never heard of story hops but this is so fascinating! Will have to try this. [Oct 29, 3:35 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Link to my favorite tripod for food videos: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I4N1SW8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 [Oct 29, 3:36 PM] Hafsa Hasan: (not an affiliate link) [Oct 29, 3:37 PM] Guest730: Thanks :) [Oct 29, 3:38 PM] VictoriaKabakian: How can you see another account's engagement. Just ask them? [Oct 29, 3:38 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Stories are more social- you share the behind the scenes of your life. Reels are more entertainment which is something Instagram is definitely focusing more on [Oct 29, 3:40 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Victoria- you can ask them. You also get a sense based on what kind of likes/comments they get on their posts [Oct 29, 3:40 PM] Mireille Roc: I love that idea of a story hop. [Oct 29, 3:40 PM] Hafsa Hasan: They can be so much fun!!! [Oct 29, 3:40 PM] VictoriaKabakian: I feel like my audience and engagement is considerably low and I try to post to my feed regularly and stories too and I guess I am just feeling frustrated :( I feel like other people wouldn't see me as an ideal candidate for a story hop, etc [Oct 29, 3:41 PM] Mireille Roc: I've also wanted to do an IG takeover but haven't been invited. Is that something you can pitch and ask - I have been hesitant to do that [Oct 29, 3:41 PM] VictoriaKabakian: I use IG because I enjoy it and it's fun but I feel like I'm just not "getting it" to the point that others who really have more successful accounts do [Oct 29, 3:42 PM] Hafsa Hasan: I'm sorry- it can be super frustrating. I'd start with maybe accounts that have similar levels of engagement or even smaller accounts than yours just to dip your toes into this [Oct 29, 3:43 PM] Samantha Garner: I love the anchor story idea, I also need to remember it's a slow burn [Oct 29, 3:44 PM] Samantha Garner: so the first time you do it, you might not get a ton of emngagement and that also makes me lose interest [Oct 29, 3:44 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Instagram Stories is definitely a long game!! [Oct 29, 3:44 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Consistency is your best friend [Oct 29, 3:44 PM] Samantha Garner: The other day I asked someone and got one reply and I was like welp never doing that again [Oct 29, 3:44 PM] Samantha Garner: Not the best attitude [Oct 29, 3:44 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Samantha- the first time I posted a question sticker- I got 0 replies [Oct 29, 3:45 PM] Hafsa Hasan: lol. It was very deflating [Oct 29, 3:45 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Now I get at least 150-200 replies on a question sticker [Oct 29, 3:45 PM] Hafsa Hasan: its nuts [Oct 29, 3:45 PM] Samantha Garner: Thank you for sharing that! I often compare myself (at the beginning) to someone's long term experiences, so it's nice ot hear [Oct 29, 3:45 PM] Samantha Garner: that's so great! [Oct 29, 3:45 PM] Skye H: Someone told me instagram is all about your "friends" [Oct 29, 3:45 PM] Mireille Roc: the majority of what I get with questions are just hi or engagement bots [Oct 29, 3:46 PM] Samantha Garner: or my friends trolling me haha [Oct 29, 3:46 PM] Skye H: There is a local person I know and they always to contests on their instagram and they are harsh are like you follow me I will follow you, you unfollow me I block you. I was like dang [Oct 29, 3:46 PM] Mireille Roc: the only people who answer my questions are my family and friends and few blogger friends [Oct 29, 3:46 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Thats ok. That was me. In the beginning. My husband would be the only one trolling me. And now it's become a part of my Insta identity. My community LOVES to see him troll me [Oct 29, 3:47 PM] Mireille Roc: i have found I get more replies with polls [Oct 29, 3:47 PM] Samantha Garner: hahah thats SO CUTE [Oct 29, 3:47 PM] Samantha Garner: I think polls are easier to engage with [Oct 29, 3:47 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Polls definitely get more responses because its easier. [Oct 29, 3:47 PM] Samantha Garner: I dont think a lot of people realize we WANT THEM TO TALK TO US [Oct 29, 3:47 PM] Skye H: I'll ask questions in a post and it's crickets [Oct 29, 3:48 PM] Skye H: so apparently polls will be better [Oct 29, 3:48 PM] Hafsa Hasan: Responding to question stickers is building habits. I also found that when I started sharing my responses to question stickers- my community realized this was a really great way to access me. [Oct 29, 3:48 PM] Hafsa Hasan: And so they were incentivized to engage more with the question stickers [Oct 29, 3:48 PM] Anna Hettick: Thank you so so much!!! So much great info! [Oct 29, 3:49 PM] Samantha Garner: that's a great point too, I do try to respond to them directly in a message for engagement but sharing the sticker is goodtoo [Oct 29, 3:49 PM] Dana McKenney Zucker: Just joined in and already so much awesome stuff. Thank you [Oct 29, 3:49 PM] Hafsa Hasan: I'll be live in the facebook right after this ends so you can come find me there for the next 30 minutes if you'd like to chat any more [Oct 29, 3:50 PM] Samantha Garner: Hafsa, can you send the link again for phone tripods? [Oct 29, 3:50 PM] Hafsa Hasan: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I4N1SW8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 [Oct 29, 3:50 PM] Samantha Garner: ty! [Oct 29, 3:50 PM] Amy Shen: Such great information, thank you so much! [Oct 29, 3:50 PM] Hafsa Hasan: So glad you found it useful Amy! [Oct 29, 3:51 PM] Hafsa Hasan: see you all in the Facebook group! [Oct 29, 3:51 PM] Skye H: DO you have issues with the base of this tripod? [Oct 29, 3:51 PM] Skye H: I think this is one I was looking at a while back and they said the base wobbled