Do Instagram stories still help with engagement ?

In my opinion stories remain essential.the advantage of reels is that they expose you to new people and generate greater reach whereas the benifit of stories is that they keep your existing followers engaged with you.when you use features like polls questions are links in your stories people interact by clicking are responding this signals to instagram that your account is active helping to keep your profile at the top of the feed.stories are excellent for maintaining a connection with your current audience while reels are more effective for reaching new viewers.in my experince usiing both together yields the best reasults i personally post three to four stories this ensures my followers do not forget me and keep the conversation going in my dm.

At this point, attaching the link to your Story is the optimal solution, as placing the URL in your profile carries a very high risk of getting your account locked.

Yes they do play a vital role but ofcourse if you have a healthy amount of followers

Stories still work well for existing followers, but Reels usually get more reach and bring in new people. I’d use Reels for discovery and Stories for engagement.

In my opinion, Reels are served to a large audience, and watching Reels is a great way to discover new content creators. On the other hand, Stories are only shown to the creator’s followers or friends.

I think reels will help bring in more engagement and attract new people. Stories only help maintain interaction with people who have already followed.