Staying active on social media is the best way to expand your professional practice, and Instagram is one of the most popular social platforms globally. Your interesting posts and business info are on your Instagram page, but stories are where you can be more spontaneous and creative. IG stories enable you to showcase your day-to-day life, promote new services, go behind the scenes, and issue a call to action for 24 hours. It allows your audience a chance to follow along and gain insight to learn more about your professional and personal life. This blog post will highlight all the essential tips that help create more stand-out Instagram stories for more people to discover your content.
How to Use Instagram Stories?
Instagram stories consist of full-screen vertical photos or videos with a length of a maximum of 15 seconds. Rather than being integrated into the main feed, stories are displayed as clickable circles positioned at the top of the home screen, distinguished by pink and orange outlines for new stories. By tapping on a user’s story, viewers can watch all their active stories chronologically, from the oldest to the newest. To navigate swiftly between stories, users can tap the right or left edge of the screen. The key disparity between an Instagram story and a regular post lies in its duration, as stories vanish after 24 hours, adding an extra allure to their viewing. Unlike regular posts, stories do not feature likes or public comments; instead, reactions are conveyed through private messages. Instagram launched Stories in August 2016, introducing live stories in November of the same year.
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Steps to Create Standout IG Stories
Instagram Stories remain immensely popular among IG users, with over 500 million people engaging with them daily. However, they’re also easily swiped past. You must grab your viewers’ attention with the initial Story to avoid them breezing past the rest. The most effective method to halt their scrolling or swiping is by crafting engaging and visually stunning Stories, utilizing all available tools. To assist you in captivating your audience on Instagram, we’ve compiled a list of tips for Instagram Stories, enabling you to create standout content that will compel your followers to pause and revisit time and again:
- Use Story Stickers
- Use Music
- Use Hashtags
- IG Stories Analytics
- Add a Background Image
1- Use Story Stickers
Instagram Story Stickers are delightful graphics, animated gifs, or text elements that can be placed atop your Stories to enhance their interactivity. Utilize stickers to imbue your videos with narrative text, conduct polls, or showcase new products, prompting followers to express their anticipation. Adding stickers to your story is a breeze: capture or upload a photo/video, then access the Stickers button to explore many customizable options like weather updates, location tags, current time, and more. Easily maneuver stickers across your screen by dragging them and adjusting their size with a simple pinch or expansion gesture using two fingers. Here are some stickers that help to standout IG stories:
- Stories Caption Sticker
- Shopping Sticker
- Donation Sticker
- Quiz Sticker
- Question Sticker
- Countdown Sticker
2- Add Music
Adding music to your Instagram stories is an excellent way to enhance your content’s entertainment value. According to Likeable, 60% of Instagram story video posts are played with sound, and the increasing popularity of TikTok demonstrates that people enjoy watching videos with sound on. Therefore, it’s advisable to experiment with a blend of videos with and without sound when creating video stories. Incorporating music can enhance the engagement and enjoyment of your stories. Here’s a guide on how to add a musical touch to your Stories:
- Once you’ve prepared your story content, tap the music note icon at the top of the screen.
- Scroll through and select your desired song.
- Choose a specific section of the song to highlight during your Story clip.
- Opt to display lyrics, the album cover, or simply the title and artist of the selected song.
- Adjust the colour or size of the song icon to make it less noticeable or completely hide it from your Story.
3- Use Hashtags
Using hashtags in your story informs your audience of the hashtags they can use to engage in the conversation, consequently stimulating more user-generated content (more on that later). Like a regular Instagram post, hashtags can be integrated into your Instagram stories. By incorporating hashtags into your stories, users can effortlessly navigate to view other content associated with that hashtag. This presents an excellent method to incorporate stories into your hashtag marketing strategy. Integrating hashtags and mentions into your Stories amplifies your visibility across Instagram. However, if you prefer to place them out of sight discreetly, follow these steps:
- Click on the letter icon at the top of your Stories to introduce a text box.
- Input your hashtags and mentions.
- Proceed to click on the rainbow wheel at the screen’s top.
- Tap the eyedropper icon underneath.
- Select a spot on the photo to alter the text to the same colour, blending it seamlessly.
- Pinch the text to shrink it, rendering it virtually invisible.
4- IG Stories Analytics
If you have a professional or business account on Instagram, you can access Instagram analytics. Both your profile analytics and Stories analytics offer valuable insights that can assist you in crafting content that resonates with your followers. Instagram’s Story analytics can reveal which content pieces are the most engaging. To access your IG Stories analytics, simply tap the seen by the icon located in the lower-left corner of your story post. From your analytics, you’ll discover:
- The number of Instagrammers your story has reached.
- How did the audience interact with your story (tapping next, finishing the story, going back, tapping a sticker, or exiting).
- The total number of Instagram Story views you’ve received.
- The number of people who followed you after viewing that Story.
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5- Add a Background Image
When you post to your Instagram Stories from your feed, you can alter the background colour or insert an image from your camera roll. Your Stories don’t need to rely solely on custom graphic designs; integrating photography occasionally can add freshness. If you wish to incorporate an image into your Instagram Stories background, here’s how you can do it:
- Choose the post you want to share with your Story and tap “Add post to your story”.
- Open the sticker tray and select the “Add from Camera Roll” sticker.
- Browse through your images and select the one you want as your background.
- Position the feed post to one side of your Story screen and expand the added photo using two fingers (pinch motion). While doing so, tap and hold the original feed post with your thumb to bring it to the front of the screen.
Final Verdicts
Stories have become an improbable essential part of the brand and must be included in your Instagram marketing approach. Creating standout Instagram Stories requires combining creativity, engagement strategies, and effectively utilizing the platform’s features. Incorporating hashtags, stickers, music, and background images lets you capture your audience’s attention and encourage interaction with your content. With these tips, you can elevate your IG Stories and increase your presence on the platform, ultimately connecting more deeply with your audience and achieving your goals.