These days, social media is all about documentation.

Where you go, what you eat and drink, who you run into, and what'southward nigh memorable: These are the typical forage of Instagram Stories — seconds-long glimpses of people'due south lives, shared on Instagram for just 24 hours.

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Beneath, we've created a guide for you lot to learn what Instagram Stories are, how to share them with your followers, and how to make sure those Stories are exactly what your audience wants to see.

We'll cover the following:

  • What are Instagram Stories?
  • How do Instagram Stories work?
  • How long are Instagram Stories?
  • How to View Instagram Stories
  • How to Make an Instagram Story
  • How to Utilise Instagram Stories for Business
  • Instagram Stories Tricks and Hacks

Let's become started.

Your Instagram Story is published separately from the photos and videos establish in the tiled gallery of your Instagram profile. And although you might know the basics of sharing them, at that place are subconscious tools inside the app that can make the photos and videos yous add to your Story more artistic and engaging.

How do Instagram Stories piece of work?

Instagram Stories allow you to share short videos and images to a temporary "Story." You can add stickers, time stamps, and doodles to each Story and utilize sure filters and effects. If your account is public, your Story is visible to anyone, but if your account is private, your Story is only visible to those who follow yous.

Viewers accept the option of directly responding to your Story via straight message (DM), but you tin too disable replies in your app's settings.

You can too see who's viewed it past opening up your Story and swiping upwards on your screen.

Why should you lot apply Instagram Stories?

Instagram Stories can drive a ton of date and value — whether you're sharing a Story from a brand account or your ain personal profile.

A full of 500 million Instagram users have started sharing disappearing content on Instagram Stories, increasing the amount of time spent in-app every day to an boilerplate of xxx minutes.

What'south more, a lot of brands have already seen success publishing content to this platform. Instagram Stories have fueled the growth of brands like Bombas, Chameleon Cold Brew, and Doritos. Whether publishers are trying to grow brand sensation, grow traffic to videos or newsletters exterior of Instagram, or share sponsored posts, Instagram Stories allows them to publish fun disappearing content that infuses make voice and personality without taking upwards also much of the average user's dwindling attention span.

That's why Instagram Stories are so short and why they only last a short while on the platform.

Merely every bit Instagram Stories only final 24 hours before disappearing, the photos and videos themselves take a time limit when users view and play them.

As a blanket rule, the individual videos yous add to your Instagram Story each have a maximum roll time of 15 seconds. If you add a video to your Instagram Story, for instance, it'll play for upward to xv seconds, regardless of how long the original video was, and and so end.

Despite Instagram Stories' 15-second runtime limit, there are ways to play longer videos in your Story. Specifically, yous tin can split up a video that's longer than 15 seconds into 15-second segments and add each segment to your Instagram Story so they play one later on another. Hither are some mobile apps that can help y'all make it happen:

  • Continual (iOS merely): Continual is an iOS app that automatically splits your videos into 15-second segments so that y'all can upload them to your Story. You lot also have the option to trim videos for Facebook Stories (twenty seconds). Pricing: $7.99
  • Storeo (iOS just): Similar Continual, Storeo splits up your long videos into 15-second snippets for uploading into your Story. It as well allows yous to create Facebook Stories. The free version will automatically put a watermark on your Story; we recommend paying the one-time fee to upgrade. Pricing: $9.99
  • Story Cutter (iOS): Story Cutter will trim your Story into HD and 4K 15-second snippets. There are no limits to the length of your video, and clips are exported in chronological order so it's easy to upload them. Pricing: $0.99
  • Story Cutter (Android): Like the similarly-named iOS version, the Story Cutter Android app will let y'all split videos into smaller segments to upload to your Instagram Story. You tin record videos using the app or upload an existing video from your gallery. Pricing: Free with in-app purchases
  • CutStory (iOS only): CutStory is a trimmer for Instagram Stories, as well every bit an editor. Add effects, templates, and text to your Story prior to uploading. In that location's a gratis version, but your Story will be watermarked. We recommend upgrading. Pricing: $3.99

How to View Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories appear at the top of your screen when yous're on the Instagram mobile app. Because they're often the first pieces of content users see when they open Instagram, these Stories can get a ton of engagement and assistance y'all advertise your regular Instagram photo gallery to more users.

Let's get over how you can view Instagram Stories.

1. Open Instagram and navigate to the home screen.

To get-go viewing Instagram Stories, open your Instagram mobile app and tap the home icon on the bottom-lefthand corner of your screen. Instagram Stories are not available for viewing on the desktop site.

One time you've navigated to Instagram's home screen, you'll see a serial of circular icons along the top, each of which represents the active Stories posted by the users you follow. These icons are highlighted inside a cherry-red square in the screenshot below. Equally you can meet, your own Story is available for viewing (and adding to) on the far left of the Stories you follow.

Instagram Stories carousel in the Instagram app's home page

2. Tap on a circular icon to view that user's Story.

Each circular icon yous run into at the height of your home screen will have a gradient circle around it, cogent that the user has recently posted a Story. Tap on information technology to expand the user's Story — information technology'll either be a photograph or a video, and the latter volition play automatically one time you tap on the Story.

3. Tap to navigate between a Story'south photos and videos.

A unmarried Instagram Story can contain numerous individual photos and videos strung together in lodge of when the user posted them. The first slice of content you'll see will exist the most recent 1. Tap your mobile device's screen to cut to the next photo or video that the user has posted to their Story.

4. Swipe to navigate from one Instagram Story to some other.

Swiping left and right while viewing an Instagram Story will allow you to shuffle between Stories from different users. When you open an Instagram Story after becoming an Instagram user for the outset time, you'll encounter the following carte:

Black menu of finger motions for watching Instagram Stories on a mobile device

Use the to a higher place screenshot as a reference for viewing the Instagram Stories of the accounts you follow.

5. Apply an Instagram Story viewer to view Stories privately.

Did you know that you tin can use a third-political party tool to view Stories without the user knowing? An Instagram Story viewer allows you to scout Stories anonymously. Y'all might desire to practise this if you're scouting freelancers and don't want them to encounter you first. Some Story viewers allow you to autosave copies of the Stories, while others will offer a paid selection so you can automatically relieve copies of new Stories.

Instagram Story viewers are available on the spider web; y'all don't need to download an app. You tin search for any username, and copies of the Stories posted from that username will pop up. Here'south what that looks similar in Ingramer's Instagram Story viewer:

Instagram Story viewer example

Boosted tools you can employ include:

  • Instafollowers.co
  • Stories IG
  • Insta-Stories.online
  • StoriesDown
  • Dumpor

Ready to outset posting? Let's go over how you lot tin can create Instagram Stories stride-by-step.

Yous can make successful Instagram Stories too — but it requires a few more hacks and tips to brand them look like the Stories large brands and influencers share. (Some of my favorite Instagram Stories are shared by chef Chloe Coscarelli, actress Decorated Phillips, mattress brand Casper, and interior design app Hutch — and don't forget to cheque out HubSpot's Stories also.)

But first, let's review the nuts of how to share an Instagram Story.

ane. Open up the Instagram app and tap your profile pic near the upper left-mitt corner.

To start posting a Story, open the Instagram app and click on your profile prototype in the top left corner. You can also swipe correct or click the plus sign almost the summit right.

Options to open up the Instagram Story creator on the Instagram feed page

If y'all click the plus sign, you'll automatically be prompted to create a mail service instead of a Story. To go to the Story creator, choose Story at the bottom right.

story-creator-instagram-1

2. Choose a filter and paradigm capture style.

In one case yous start creating your Story, you can choose a filter by swiping right and left on the filter carousel at the bottom of the screen.

Filter options within Instagram StoriesAside from a filter, you lot can cull a capture mode when taking a photo or filming straight from the app. The options announced on the left-hand side of the screen.

Image and video capture options in Instagram StoriesYous have a few options to choose from:

Normal

Normal means choosing no option. It means what information technology says: Tapping in one case on the camera button will capture a photograph, and belongings down will record a video. Instagram Stories can be fifteen seconds in length, so if you want to share a video that's longer, picture show in 15-2d stints, or apply a tool to split your longer clip into 15-second installments.

Create

Create fashion will take you to a screen where you can create a Story from scratch. In this screen, you lot can choose stickers, place gifs, and write text.

Boomerang

Boomerang way films looping GIFs up to three seconds in length.

Layout

Layout fashion will accept y'all to a screen with 4 quadrants, in which you can capture four different photos. You tin can change the manner of the grid.

Multi-Capture

Multi-capture mode allows you lot to capture photos and videos consecutively without needing to upload them separately to your Story.

Photobooth

Photobooth mode allows yous to accept four photos that so appear in consecutive gild in your Story. There's a wink in between, giving the outcome of photos taken in an actual photobooth.

Hands-Free

Use hands-free mode if you want to fix upwardly your camera to movie a video for you. Make sure you prop it somewhere stable before you offset recording. We'll talk more about this characteristic in a infinitesimal.

Level

The level selection volition overlay a grid over your photographic camera then that you can accurately align objects so that they're straight. Yous tin can combine this option with other image capture modes such equally multi-capture and photobooth.

3. Capture a photograph or video using the camera.

Now that you lot've called your filter and prototype capture mode, it's time to really get-go filming and creating content. Hold down on the button to film a video, and tap once to capture an prototype.

If yous don't like the filter, you can change it. You tin can too add stickers, text, and drawings.

four. Once you lot've edited your photo or video, tap "Your Story."

You lot tin besides save your edited photo or video to your gallery past tapping the "Download" icon up top.

Finished Instagram Story

Knowing how to post to your Instagram Story is one thing, but knowing what to mail is a dissimilar ... well, story. For businesses looking to tell their story on Instagram, it's important to know who your ideal followers are and what they'd exist interested in seeing on Instagram. Remember, Instagram is a visual platform, but that doesn't mean you tin can't teach or promote something in the process.

Below, we comprehend a few ideas for using Instagram Stories to attract followers and build a customer base.

one. Post footage of an office effect.

Sometimes, the best thing a business can do on Instagram is be as human as possible. One way to practise this is to post a brief video of a visitor role. Whether it's an function holiday party or an award feast, posting footage of it to your Story is easy and in-the-moment entertainment for your followers. This content also shows people you're a relevant and friendly vocalism in your market.

two. Post breaking news most your industry.

Just as you might on your company blog, you can utilize your Instagram Story to report on the latest happenings in your industry. With the correct design work, you can turn small news breaks — that don't merit an unabridged article — into a Story on your Instagram account.

This keeps users coming back to yous to stay abreast with market trends. You tin even ask users what they think, every bit shown in the Instagram Story past HubSpot below. We'll explain how Instagram "stickers" can help you do this in just a minute.

Instagram Story example sharing news

three. Demonstrate your product.

Your production might non be the simplest or sexiest production in the eyes of the layperson. Well, your Instagram Story is the perfect format for showing potential customers how that product is used. Mail service a long video, segmented into 15-second clips that prove users what your product or service does and how it helps your customers.

If you lot sell software, for example, you might tape a video of your calculator screen, using a recording tool like Loom, that shows people how to log in, apply the software'southward dashboard, and navigate to the various functions included in the product.

Just remember to modify your video's dimensions before uploading information technology to your Instagram Story. Think, Instagram Stories' image dimensions are 1920px high and 1080px wide, with an attribute ratio of 9:16.

4. Promote a company consequence.

Does your organisation host a trade briefing or attend a big 1 every yr? Use your Instagram Story to promote the event and tell your followers to expect for you in that location. Work with a graphic designer, or do some artwork yourself, to illustrate an event flyer with all the information one would need to find y'all.

Nigh of this you tin can practice direct in Instagram. For example, use the native text options in your Story to add:

  • The outcome's name.
  • Where the event is located.
  • Dates y'all'll be attending.
  • Your booth number.
  • The event'southward official hashtag.

5. Preview ane of your company'southward web log posts or videos.

Your blog posts and YouTube videos need all the exposure they can get. Even if social media isn't your blog'south main source of traffic, your Instagram Story tin can aid readers discover that mail service or video for the first time and find it later.

In the screenshot below, Google Pixel used its Instagram Story to preview a video it published about a customer who used the device. When you tap all the way to the end of the Story, Google prompts you to swipe upward with your finger, where information technology then links you to the total video on YouTube.

Instagram Story example sharing a new YouTube video

6. Mention other companies who follow or work with you lot.

Equally your Instagram following grows, you'll eventually pick up other business concern accounts who want to follow yous as well. Whether those accounts are your business partners or only fans of yours, consider giving them shout-outs on your Instagram Story. This is a passive only effective mode to nurture your relationships with the users that thing most to your business concern's growth. We'll explain how to link to other accounts in an Instagram Story in the tips below.

At present that you know the nuts, let's run through tips and hacks for producing high-quality, clickable Instagram Stories.

Instagram Story Tricks and Hacks

1. Use stickers.

One time you've captured a neat photo or video, it's time to jazz it up with some fun stickers. Yous tin can access these by clicking "Create," then tapping the smiling sticker icon in the upper right-hand corner of your screen in one case you've captured a photograph or video.

Here are some best practices afterward you choose a sticker.

Change the size of your stickers.

You tin pinch the sticker once you've added it to your Story to increase or decrease its size. Yous tin can also tap and drag it around the frame to change its position.

Resized sticker in Instagram Story

Check stickers every day for new and unique ones.

Instagram releases unique Story stickers often — whether it's for a weekday, a vacation, or a season. Check this department every day for new and timely stickers to add to your Story.

Seasonal sticker in Instagram Stories

Add location, hashtag, poll, and selfie stickers.

Heave engagement on your Instagram Story by opening it upward to other people doing the same things you are. Open up the stickers department, and tap whatsoever of these buttons to customize your Story:

Sticker options in Instagram Stories

Location Stickers

Outset typing in your location, and you'll be able to pull in a geographically-specific sticker to bear witness where you are. When people view your Story, they'll be able to tap the location sticker and meet other photos and Stories happening effectually the aforementioned place.

Instagram Stories posted with the location Atlanta Botanical Garden

Hashtag Stickers

Same concept here: If you add this sticker and blazon in a hashtag, your Story volition appear in searches for that hashtag, and viewers will exist able to click information technology and come across who else is using it.

Hashtag sticker in Instagram Stories

Poll Stickers

You can add together a two-selection poll to your Instagram Story, and y'all can even customize the possible answers then they're more than unique than "Yes" or "No." Utilize a poll sticker to estimate if people are really engaging with your content.

Poll stickers in Instagram Stories

Selfie Stickers

Open up the Stickers carte du jour, and tap on the camera icon.

Selfie sticker in Instagram StoriesThen, accept a selfie — or take a moving picture of anyone else's confront (that will work too). And so, you can apply that face to decorate your Instagram Story. Somewhat creepy, just very memorable and funny, too.

2. Record a hands-gratuitous Instagram video.

If you're a frequent video-recorder on Instagram, you know yous need to hold your thumb against the tape button for as long every bit you're recording. This can get in tedious when attempting dynamic and interesting videos that crave more hand mobility.

But did you know you can tape these videos "hands-free"?

Hands-free mode in Instagram StoriesThe hands-free video feature can exist plant in the list of image capture options, as shown above. Merely tap the record push once to showtime the video, and again to finish it subsequently you've gotten the footage yous want.

3. Let viewers share your Stories.

Increase engagement and views of your Instagram Story by letting viewers share them with their friends — as direct messages (DMs).

To do and then, navigate to your app's settings, and then to Privacy, and so tap Story.

Instagram Story settings inside the Instagram appToggle on "Permit Sharing equally Message" so viewers can DM your Story to friends to increase your audience reach. Voila!

Instagram Story sharing settings

4. Apply the pen.

Use the pen to add together embellishment, symbols, or more text to your Story. If you tap the pen icon in the upper right-manus corner of your screen once you've captured a photo or video, you'll open up your options.

From at that place, y'all can adjust the thickness of your pen stroke or change the color y'all're writing with.

I like using the highlighter pen to add accent to words — or fifty-fifty to highlight my photo or video.

Highlighter tool inside Instagram Stories

five. Add a background color.

If y'all want to share a Story with a background color — like the images I've shared to a higher place — yous tin can actually select it from the color palette.

Accept a motion picture (it doesn't have to be a moving-picture show of anything in particular), then tap the pen icon to open up up the color palette.

Instagram Stories pen tool with a color menu at the bottomYou tin choose ane of the colors from the three bachelor menus, or if you want a specific shade of one of those colors, you tin can open up up the total color spectrum by pressing and property one of the colors.

Choosing a color using the Instagram Story color pickerThen, scribble anywhere on the screen, and concur your finger downwardly until yous get the background color yous want to appear.

Adding a background color to an Instagram story - scribbling first

Adding a background color to an Instagram story - pressing down until it fillsIf you want to get actually crazy, yous could use the eraser tool (the fourth pick) to create new words or shapes from the background, too.

Green background added to Instagram Story of a plant

half dozen. Mention another Instagram account in your Story.

Sometimes, information technology's just not enough to send an Instagram Story to a particular person — you need to give them a shoutout in the photo or video itself. In these cases, Instagram allows yous to tag up to 10 specific handles directly in your Story'southward photo or video.

To mention an Instagram account in your Story, shoot a photograph or video and and then tap the foursquare "A" icon in the upper righthand corner of the screen. Enter the account you'd like to tag, starting with the "@" symbol and the business relationship's first alphabetic character. Scroll through the suggested accounts that appear below your cursor until yous detect the business relationship you have in listen, and tap it. Encounter what these options look like beneath.

Tagging another account in Instagram StoriesIn one case you post this Story, the person or account y'all've tagged in the photo or video will receive a notification of your shoutout, regardless of whether or not you lot send the Story to them.

seven. Make your text funkier.

The text on Instagram Stories is pretty basic — jazz it upward with these tricks.

Customize your colors.

If y'all're unsatisfied with the color palette Instagram offers, create your ain from one of the colors in the photograph or video you've captured.

Open upward the text icon, and tap the eyedropper icon in the lower left-hand corner of your screen.

Use the dropper to sample a colour from somewhere in the image you've captured, and apply information technology when typing out text or using the pen tool.

Using the color picker tool inside Instagram Stories

Add a drop shadow to your Story's text.

If you desire to add some extra drama to your text, add together highlighting or shadowing past retyping or rewriting your text in a unlike colour. I recommend choosing black or white to add together emphasis to a bright color you've picked. Then, motion the text above or underneath the brighter text to add some drama to your words.

Plough your text into a rainbow.

This ane'due south tricky, but you can really turn your text into a gradient rainbow.

Tap the text icon, and blazon out your message to add to your Story. Then, highlight your text.

This is where it gets catchy: Turn your phone to the side and so yous tin hold one finger downwardly on the right side of your text, and with some other finger, tap on a color and hold until the color wheel pops upwards.

And then, slowly drag both fingers across both the text and the color wheel from right to left to create rainbow text. Go slowly, letter by letter until you've created a rainbow. (This one took me several tries earlier I nailed information technology, and I succeeded using both thumbs to highlight the text and the color wheel.)

Gradually add text to a Story.

Sometimes, y'all might want to add text or stickers to an image to build on information technology — perhaps to promote a content offer or event, or to encourage viewers to swipe up to read a link you've shared (this is only available to verified accounts).

Start editing the photo you want to share, post it, and save it to your camera roll. And so, swipe up on your screen to add together the screenshot to the side by side installment of your Story — calculation new text or stickers on top of the first photograph. Keep doing this for as long every bit you want the Story to last. Just make sure to keep taking screenshots of your latest photo and so y'all tin can add to it.

viii. See who has viewed your Instagram Story.

Snapchat users have always been able to see which of their friends have viewed their snapped Stories over the 24-hr period that the Story is visible. Well, Instagram Stories can do the same affair — in exactly the same style.

To see who has viewed your Instagram Story, navigate to the homepage of Instagram on your phone and click on the round icon denoting your Story. Run into what this looks similar in the screenshot below.

Click on your Profile icon to view your own Instagram Story

Click on "Your Story" from the Instagram abode screen and swipe up from the bottom of your open Story. This will pull upwards a list of all the accounts that have viewed this content.

Seeing who's viewed your Story might be an ego heave to personal Instagrammers, only business concern users can learn a lot nearly what their followers are interested in this way. Past looking at which users view which Stories, yous can figure out which types of photos and videos you should go along posting.

9. Center your text and stickers.

When you're moving around text and stickers on your Story, you'll see blue lines appear vertically or horizontally in the frame. These are guiding lines you can use to make sure you're keeping everything centered.

Aligning elements in Instagram Stories

Don't put your text likewise high or also low on the screen.

That said, make sure you don't add anything to your Story likewise high or too low in the frame — or it will be cut off when viewers scroll through your Story, when Instagram adds things like your name and how long ago your Story was posted that could cake out your carefully-crafted text.

x. Add music to a Story (or mute information technology).

This one's easy: Plow on music using your phone'due south native streaming app, and record a video Story. Once you get prepare to edit and share, make sure the audio icon isn't muted so your viewers can jam with you.

Alternatively, if y'all'd rather your video be muted, tap the sound icon so a slash appears over it.

Muting sound in Instagram Stories

11. Upload Instagram Stories from your telephone's photographic camera roll.

Neat Instagram Stories aren't just created through the Instagram app. Y'all can also upload photos and videos from your mobile device's native camera roll.

To upload a photograph or video for utilise as an Instagram Story, open your Instagram Story's camera lens and tap the lilliputian foursquare icon on the lesser lefthand corner. See what this looks similar beneath.

Opening up your phone gallery from Instagram StoriesTapping the icon shown above will recollect your telephone'south native media gallery, where you can select whatever photo or video to publish as an Instagram Story. Information technology's that easy.

Post Instagram Stories to Grow Your Adience

We promise these tips help y'all post killer Instagram Stories your audience won't be able to end following. There are lots of subconscious ways to have your Stories to the side by side level — some we may not even take covered here. Our best communication? Keep clicking around and see what you tin exercise with the latest updates from the app. Happy 'gramming!

Editor's note: This mail service was originally published in November 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Originally published Jul 1, 2021 7:00:00 AM, updated October 07 2021