Tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories

Table of Contents

Tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories

With the rise of Instagram Stories, which now has 300 million daily users, you have an incredible opportunity to engage with your followers by sharing stories with them on their feeds.

The catch? Most businesses are using this feature incorrectly, and they’re not seeing the results they should be getting from their Stories.

Social media platforms are evolving so quickly that it’s hard to keep up with everything new and exciting they have to offer—like Instagram Stories, which has been gaining popularity among social media influencers in recent months.

These stories are generated by posting images or videos to your follower’s feed, which disappear after 24 hours unless reposted, making them different from posts that remain on the platform permanently unless deleted manually.

A lot of brands and social media influencers have turned to Instagram Stories as an additional way to reach their followers, and it’s easy to see why.

Instagram Stories has become one of the most popular apps on all of social media, so if you’re not already using it, now is the time to start!

Here are seven tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories that will help you create stunning Instagram Stories that will engage your followers and take your business to the next level.

1. Fill in your profile info

With Instagram stories, anyone can share a photo or video for only 24 hours.

Unlike regular Instagram posts, users can add text and other creative touches to their stories.

To get started with Instagram stories, click on your profile picture in any post you’ve shared and select Create a Story.

To engage followers and boost your follower count on Instagram stories, here are some tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories.

Start your Instagram story by filling out your profile info.

Use an interesting name that is easily recognizable by others.

Include a short bio about yourself, as well as links to where people can find more information about you online.

People who take the time to fill out their profiles attract more followers than those who don’t.

If people have an idea of who they are following, they will be more likely to return and follow future updates from that account!

Once you have filled out all of these fields, make sure to double-check them so there aren’t any mistakes before posting your first Instagram story!

This is especially important if English isn’t your first language; spell-check is invaluable when writing in another language!

2. Update often

Instagram stories are an incredibly powerful way to engage your followers daily.

For example, if you’re at a conference with hundreds of other attendees, your stories will act as a first-person perspective from that event.

More importantly, if you update often enough, you can give followers who can’t attend a personal account of what is happening behind the scenes.

Tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories, Try using fun little Instagram story templates so that all of your content isn’t just text: let us show our personality and creativity through illustrations!

You should try to find ways to make videos and pictures more interesting by incorporating things like doodles or emojis as well!

3. Post visually appealing photos

In 2016, Instagram doubled its character limit to 2,200 characters—and it’s expected to rise again to 10,000 by 2019.

Businesses can’t expect their customers to read for days on end.

So instead of inundating users with dense blocks of text, post visually appealing photos that people will want to spend time looking at and absorbing.

Make sure you’re also including calls-to-action on your posts;

Instagram story video has nearly limitless potential for grabbing attention—if you know how to use them properly.

While it may seem tempting to dump a bunch of hashtags on your posts and cross your fingers, that strategy won’t get you very far.

Even worse, it’s easy for users to spot disingenuous attempts at gaining engagement.

Instead, focus on posting photos that people want to look at. If you can make someone laugh or smile in just one second, you’ve done your job.

Posting high-quality photos is a great start; if you have some videography skills, using Instagram story videos can be an excellent way to engage followers and encourage them to buy whatever products or services you offer.

To learn more about what types of videos work best on Instagram story videos, check out our top four tips below:

Keep it short- You don’t need to cram every detail into a single Instagram story video—you can easily post multiple videos throughout the day instead.
Use emojis wisely- Using emojis in your Instagram stories will help keep things interesting, but don’t go overboard with them—too many will take away from your message rather than enhance it.
Be authentic!- The most effective Instagram stories are ones that are as genuine as possible—if you try too hard to create something fake, viewers will be able to tell right away and lose interest quickly.
Use call-to-action phrases sparingly but effectively!

4. Decide what kind of content supports your strategy

An important aspect of Instagram Stories is to post content that supports your business goals.

Whether it’s to acquire new leads, drive traffic to your website or just get people talking about your brand, take some time to think about how you can create engaging stories that support your business strategy.

At a basic level, every Instagram Story should contain one of these key elements: a call-to-action button (CTA), a link in the bio, and/or a unique hashtag.

Posting a CTA means you are actively asking users to do something when they view your story such as reposting or downloading an app for example.

Using a unique hashtag means that you can track Instagram Story impressions, as long as you also use them in your post descriptions.

By using a CTA or link in the bio section of your Instagram Story, you are directly asking users to do something such as purchase a product or check out another page on social media.

You should make it easy for viewers to respond by including these details in your Instagram Story templates for 2018.

If people see an offer that interests them or an event they want to attend, they will easily be able to find more information if you provide a link and/or shortcode.

Also remember that engaging content is more likely to be shared, driving traffic back to your business site which may help with SEO rankings and ultimately increase sales.

5. Have fun with stickers and emojis

Instagram stories are great for making small quips, playing games with friends, or sharing pictures and videos.

Make your stories more engaging by using fun Instagram story ideas like stickers and emojis.

Play around with how you can enhance your personal Instagram story with these things in an interesting way.

If you want to add a little bit of pizazz to your next Instagram story idea, consider placing an emoji at the beginning of each sentence that appears on your Instagram story.

It’s a simple tip but it can make a huge difference!

It’s also a good idea to think about where your followers are when they see your Instagram story.

During an event?

Then perhaps add in additional hashtags that might be relevant to what you’re posting about and use location tags so that people who aren’t at the event can still follow along.

Maybe your Instagram story idea is an important announcement or project update that needs to reach as many of your followers as possible.

Make sure you add a call-to-action at some point in your Instagram story so people will take action afterward. Have fun with it!

6. Repost old content from other platforms

Instagram is so new that many people haven’t heard of it, or don’t quite understand how to use it.

There are also tons of social media managers out there—and I mean TONS —who haven’t gotten up to speed on how to use Instagram stories properly yet.

If you want your Instagram stories to be seen by as many people as possible and give them a reason for coming back over and over again, repost old content from other platforms.

By re-posting your Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest content on Instagram, you’ll grow a bigger audience and find new customers who haven’t connected with you yet on any other platform.

7. Schedule your stories ahead of time

You’re not alone if you struggle to make Instagram stories quickly and easily, or if you feel like your story is boring compared to others.

Fortunately, there are plenty of tools that can help you with both of these problems.

Luckily, there are tons of apps out there that will help you craft interesting Instagram stories every time—without all of that extra effort on your part.

Here are a few great options: Later: This app syncs with your Instagram account and allows you to post stories ahead of time.

You can create several types of posts (including photo collages and Boomerangs) and select when they’ll be published.

Later is free to download and allows you to schedule as many Instagram stories as you’d like.

Later also works with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and WordPress for cross-posting of your Instagram stories.

On Instagram, you can easily add a caption to your story, but it doesn’t automatically save that caption when you create your scheduled post.

You’ll need to write your story ahead of time so that it will be ready by publication time.

Canva: Canva offers advanced photo editing features right on your phone, including tools that let you adjust exposure, temperature, and saturation levels in real time.

Conclusion

Remember, Instagram is not just about getting as many followers as possible; it’s about engaging them.

When you create stunning Instagram stories that resonate with your target audience, then you can build a brand for yourself and build a loyal following in no time at all.

The bonus? An engaged audience is ready to buy what you have to offer. So, let’s get to work on some killer stories!

Instagram is a powerful platform for brands and businesses, but only if you can build a following. Most people know that to grow your following, you need to put out content that resonates with your target audience.

But how do you do that?

Well, there are different ways to go about creating Instagram stories, so let’s explore some best practices for creating stunning Instagram stories.

The key here is to understand what resonates with your target audience and base your story around those things. Is it art? Technology? Food? Lifestyle tips?

Whatever it may be, find out where your followers hang out online and use these places as inspiration for what to post on Instagram stories.

Press ESC to close

Tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories

Tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories

With the rise of Instagram Stories, which now has 300 million daily users, you have an incredible opportunity to engage with your followers by sharing stories with them on their feeds.

The catch? Most businesses are using this feature incorrectly, and they’re not seeing the results they should be getting from their Stories.

Social media platforms are evolving so quickly that it’s hard to keep up with everything new and exciting they have to offer—like Instagram Stories, which has been gaining popularity among social media influencers in recent months.

These stories are generated by posting images or videos to your follower’s feed, which disappear after 24 hours unless reposted, making them different from posts that remain on the platform permanently unless deleted manually.

A lot of brands and social media influencers have turned to Instagram Stories as an additional way to reach their followers, and it’s easy to see why.

Instagram Stories has become one of the most popular apps on all of social media, so if you’re not already using it, now is the time to start!

Here are seven tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories that will help you create stunning Instagram Stories that will engage your followers and take your business to the next level.

1. Fill in your profile info

With Instagram stories, anyone can share a photo or video for only 24 hours.

Unlike regular Instagram posts, users can add text and other creative touches to their stories.

To get started with Instagram stories, click on your profile picture in any post you’ve shared and select Create a Story.

To engage followers and boost your follower count on Instagram stories, here are some tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories.

Start your Instagram story by filling out your profile info.

Use an interesting name that is easily recognizable by others.

Include a short bio about yourself, as well as links to where people can find more information about you online.

People who take the time to fill out their profiles attract more followers than those who don’t.

If people have an idea of who they are following, they will be more likely to return and follow future updates from that account!

Once you have filled out all of these fields, make sure to double-check them so there aren’t any mistakes before posting your first Instagram story!

This is especially important if English isn’t your first language; spell-check is invaluable when writing in another language!

2. Update often

Instagram stories are an incredibly powerful way to engage your followers daily.

For example, if you’re at a conference with hundreds of other attendees, your stories will act as a first-person perspective from that event.

More importantly, if you update often enough, you can give followers who can’t attend a personal account of what is happening behind the scenes.

Tips for Creating Stunning Instagram Stories, Try using fun little Instagram story templates so that all of your content isn’t just text: let us show our personality and creativity through illustrations!

You should try to find ways to make videos and pictures more interesting by incorporating things like doodles or emojis as well!

3. Post visually appealing photos

In 2016, Instagram doubled its character limit to 2,200 characters—and it’s expected to rise again to 10,000 by 2019.

Businesses can’t expect their customers to read for days on end.

So instead of inundating users with dense blocks of text, post visually appealing photos that people will want to spend time looking at and absorbing.

Make sure you’re also including calls-to-action on your posts;

Instagram story video has nearly limitless potential for grabbing attention—if you know how to use them properly.

While it may seem tempting to dump a bunch of hashtags on your posts and cross your fingers, that strategy won’t get you very far.

Even worse, it’s easy for users to spot disingenuous attempts at gaining engagement.

Instead, focus on posting photos that people want to look at. If you can make someone laugh or smile in just one second, you’ve done your job.

Posting high-quality photos is a great start; if you have some videography skills, using Instagram story videos can be an excellent way to engage followers and encourage them to buy whatever products or services you offer.

To learn more about what types of videos work best on Instagram story videos, check out our top four tips below:

Keep it short- You don’t need to cram every detail into a single Instagram story video—you can easily post multiple videos throughout the day instead.

Use emojis wisely- Using emojis in your Instagram stories will help keep things interesting, but don’t go overboard with them—too many will take away from your message rather than enhance it.

Be authentic!- The most effective Instagram stories are ones that are as genuine as possible—if you try too hard to create something fake, viewers will be able to tell right away and lose interest quickly.

Use call-to-action phrases sparingly but effectively!

4. Decide what kind of content supports your strategy

An important aspect of Instagram Stories is to post content that supports your business goals.

Whether it’s to acquire new leads, drive traffic to your website or just get people talking about your brand, take some time to think about how you can create engaging stories that support your business strategy.

At a basic level, every Instagram Story should contain one of these key elements: a call-to-action button (CTA), a link in the bio, and/or a unique hashtag.

Posting a CTA means you are actively asking users to do something when they view your story such as reposting or downloading an app for example.

Using a unique hashtag means that you can track Instagram Story impressions, as long as you also use them in your post descriptions.

By using a CTA or link in the bio section of your Instagram Story, you are directly asking users to do something such as purchase a product or check out another page on social media.

You should make it easy for viewers to respond by including these details in your Instagram Story templates for 2018.

If people see an offer that interests them or an event they want to attend, they will easily be able to find more information if you provide a link and/or shortcode.

Also remember that engaging content is more likely to be shared, driving traffic back to your business site which may help with SEO rankings and ultimately increase sales.

5. Have fun with stickers and emojis

Instagram stories are great for making small quips, playing games with friends, or sharing pictures and videos.

Make your stories more engaging by using fun Instagram story ideas like stickers and emojis.

Play around with how you can enhance your personal Instagram story with these things in an interesting way.

If you want to add a little bit of pizazz to your next Instagram story idea, consider placing an emoji at the beginning of each sentence that appears on your Instagram story.

It’s a simple tip but it can make a huge difference!

It’s also a good idea to think about where your followers are when they see your Instagram story.

During an event?

Then perhaps add in additional hashtags that might be relevant to what you’re posting about and use location tags so that people who aren’t at the event can still follow along.

Maybe your Instagram story idea is an important announcement or project update that needs to reach as many of your followers as possible.

Make sure you add a call-to-action at some point in your Instagram story so people will take action afterward. Have fun with it!

6. Repost old content from other platforms

Instagram is so new that many people haven’t heard of it, or don’t quite understand how to use it.

There are also tons of social media managers out there—and I mean TONS —who haven’t gotten up to speed on how to use Instagram stories properly yet.

If you want your Instagram stories to be seen by as many people as possible and give them a reason for coming back over and over again, repost old content from other platforms.

By re-posting your Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest content on Instagram, you’ll grow a bigger audience and find new customers who haven’t connected with you yet on any other platform.

7. Schedule your stories ahead of time

You’re not alone if you struggle to make Instagram stories quickly and easily, or if you feel like your story is boring compared to others.

Fortunately, there are plenty of tools that can help you with both of these problems.

Luckily, there are tons of apps out there that will help you craft interesting Instagram stories every time—without all of that extra effort on your part.

Here are a few great options: Later: This app syncs with your Instagram account and allows you to post stories ahead of time.

You can create several types of posts (including photo collages and Boomerangs) and select when they’ll be published.

Later is free to download and allows you to schedule as many Instagram stories as you’d like.

Later also works with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and WordPress for cross-posting of your Instagram stories.

On Instagram, you can easily add a caption to your story, but it doesn’t automatically save that caption when you create your scheduled post.

You’ll need to write your story ahead of time so that it will be ready by publication time.

Canva: Canva offers advanced photo editing features right on your phone, including tools that let you adjust exposure, temperature, and saturation levels in real time.