10 Insta Story Content Ideas
Day to Day Content
One of the most valuable aspects of Social Media is that it is personal. Allowing your followers to see what your church is up to on a regular basis creates a connection and builds a relationship outside of the hour on Sunday.
Bible Verses Related to Your Weekend Teaching
Sharing Bible verses from your weekend content not only allows you to bring your followers back to the Bible throughout the week, but also gives you consistent content.
Create shareable graphics or use “create” mode in the story to post a simple black and white text story. The message is more important than the fancy design.
Church of the Highlands use a super simple, high-contrast stories template to share scriptures.
TIP: Create drag and drop templates in Canva or Unfold to maintain a consistent look and feel to your stories without the hassle of starting from scratch.
Highlight Ministries of Your Church
Whether you do this every weekend, once a month, or once a quarter, you can use Insta Stories to highlight not just the ministry itself, but the volunteers that comprise it. Share what they do on the weekends or throughout the week, interview key volunteers, share stories of the ministry that has happened because of that ministry.
Use the show don’t tell approach. The goal of this might be to get more volunteers, but you’re simply showing people the benefit of being one.
Staff Highlights
Going back to one of the most valuable aspects of social media being that it is personal, sharing stories and moments with your staff can take an ambiguous church feel known. We watch insta stories of people playing with their kids, or hanging out with friends. Take a similar approach with your staff. Highlight a specific staff member with funny questions.
Vogue took this approach with their Youtube Video Series 73 Questions
Polling Stickers
Use the polling sticker to ask what sermon topics people want to hear about. When we are asked our opinions, it helps us feel heard and that our input matters. This is also a valuable touch point when planning upcoming sermon series.
Interviews + Guest Takeovers
Having a guest takeover is a fun way to switch up your content and share a different side of your church.
TIP: Make sure that your guest takeover is someone who is either comfortable on camera or someone who is willing / able to be coached. Being a great storyteller is key to getting people to listen to your story.
Highlight Recently Published Blog Posts
If you’re publishing blogs, give your followers a heads up. This is beneficial to both drive traffic and re-purpose content. Win / win!
Life.Church has a highlight dedicated to blog posts shared in their Insta Stories.
You may not have the swipe up feature, but you can share the URL or even better, ask them to DM you for the link. DM’s are one of the most underutilized ways to connect with and grow your audience.
TIP: Check out this video from Jasmine Star on how to use DM’s to engage and connect with people. Think of how you can take her advice and apply it to your context.
15 -30 Second Sermon Clips
Take each weekend message, and trim a 15-30 second clip that will capture people’s attention. The average person attends church 1.25 times a month, so sharing online content creates connection and meets them wherever they are. Send them to the full sermon at the end of your story (post the URL) or ask them to DM you for hyperlink.
Testimony videos
Stories are one of the best ways to connect people to the person of Jesus. Re-purpose your testimony videos outside of the weekends to remind people throughout the week. Church wasn’t meant to be experienced in an hour on Sunday.
Live Videos
Instagram Live allows users to ask questions, comment on your live video, and provide real-time engagement. Most users will even be notified with a push notification when you start broadcasting live. This is great for boosting engagement and connecting with your audience.