Instagram is great for users, as this is a place where you can look inside the life of celebrities, learn new recipes, follow the fashion, get inspired by the ideas of home decor, and in general, here you can find out almost everything. That is why this social network is also relevant for advertisers, because there is a large audience.
The possibilities in Instagram for business and ordinary users are endless. You can advertise, showcase products or features to your subscribers, and inspire you to purchase your products or services directly from the app. This platform also has several built-in ways for users to interact with your company directly through comments and direct messages. But one of the most powerful features for sharing information on Instagram is Stories.
Since Instagram added the Stories format in 2016, there have been many add-ons and releases that allow users to be more creative in attracting users.
Here are 6 tips you should follow while working on Instagram Story:
- spend some time editing each story;
- optimize your image to the desired size;
- adjust the color;
- experiment with fonts;
- try additional features;
- repost the post in stories.
Let's take it in order.
1. Get to know the editing features.
There will be no discovery, but still: if you publish stories on Instagram, you should also take the time to make changes that will make your publication more interesting to the audience. There are many ways to highlight your images, text and color in stories.
The Instagram interface has six icons for editing.
Now let's go over them.
So, if you look from left to right, then we see the following icons:
Save - allows you to save the image you are working on, regardless of whether it is just an image or contains your changes. If you added a gif or music, they will be automatically saved as a video.
Filter - allows you to use various filters that are applied not during the shooting of an image or video, but after. It’s convenient if you don’t know which filter will look better.
Linking - allows you to bind a link in stories. For example, if you’re talking about a specific topic and want people to be able to go directly from your account to a third-party resource that was linked to in stories. Unfortunately, Instagram does not allow users with less than 10,000 subscribers to use this feature if you are not linking to your own IGTV.
Accessories - allows you to add additional features and stickers.
Drawing - allows you to add handwritten text or drawings using multiple brushes and an eraser. Here you can choose a color.
Text - allows you to add text, the function is available when you click anywhere on the screen.
2. Optimize the image to the desired size - 1080 x 1920 pixels.
You have two options for creating an image: either take a picture directly in the stories editor and edit it, or take a picture through the phone’s camera and import it.
And here are a few important points to pay attention to.
If you edit your photo directly in the stories editor, you will be limited by the settings of Instagram and the image editor, although the image will exactly correspond to the size required for stories (1080 by 1920 pixels). On the other hand, if you take a photo through your phone’s camera, you’ll have more options for editing in other applications or those built into your phone. However, when importing the edited image into the stories editor, you need to increase it a bit so that there is no free space at the edges. And yes, the photo should be of high enough quality so that when it is downloaded and enlarged, it does not look worse.
And now the solution: select a photo in the stories editor, then save it to your photo stream by clicking on the download button, and edit it in an external application that you are used to using. Thus, when you re-import, the image size will be correct, and you can freely use any editing applications that you like. Here are some photo editing apps that many use: Tezza, Snapseed, VSCO, Lightroom, ColorStory, and Afterlight.
If you want to edit immediately on Instagram, take a photo to get started. Be aware of lighting and focal points to optimize the look of your image. After taking a photo, swipe left or right to display 12 Instagram filters, and select the one you like best.
If you have an image that you want to add, but at the same time it does not meet the established parameters of 1080px by 1920 pixels, this is easy to fix. Swipe up from the bottom in the stories editor and select an image from your photo stream. Then you can compress and stretch the image to the size you need.
Another option to add photos to your stories is to insert them. In Instagram, take a photo of something and touch the text icon (“Aa”). Then go to your photo gallery, click the “Share” icon and, choosing the photo you want, “Copy photo”. Next, you just need to click "Insert" and change the background color to any other. This method is suitable for creating collages and adding multiple images to the same frame. Want to know how to make the background solid solid color? Take a photo, click on the drawing icon, select a color, then press and hold the image. The entire screen will be filled with this color.
3. Color setting.
Colors can be used for different things in stories: text color, brush color, background color, accent colors, and more. Just select the text and select a color at the bottom of the text editor. Tired of 27 colors you can choose on the screen? Click the eyedropper icon to select a color that matches the colors on the screen. This will allow you to achieve some color matching between what you add to the photo and the image itself.
Tip: if you want to choose a different color option, press and hold the color, and then swipe up / down gently. This will allow you to choose the color from the entire palette that you like best.
One more tip. It creates a very interesting effect. You can make your text a gradient of several colors or choose a suitable set of colors.
To get started, write your text in a font that you like. Then select all the text, touch one of the pre-selected colors and swipe your finger slightly across the color palette. In this case, it is necessary to simultaneously remove the selection of text with the finger of one hand, while with the other finger - move along the color palette. It is important to remember that the last letter of the selected text must be left selected, otherwise everything will return to a solid color.
4. Experiment with different fonts and text formats.
When adding text to stories, there are several ways to change it as you need.
First of all, start with an image or video. Tap anywhere on the screen to start typing. You can add as many text fields as you want by simply tapping the screen again.
Instagram has five fonts to choose from: classic, modern, neon, typewriter, and bold. You can also add a colored background to your text to highlight it. To do this, click on the icon with the letter "A". After that, you can choose any color for the background, using the tips for choosing the color described above. Please note that this feature is only available for classic, typewriter, and bold fonts.
For fonts such as classics and typewriters, you can choose to align the text to the left and right, or to the center using the corresponding icon. The remaining three fonts are not subject to alignment and are set to center by default. But at the same time, it is possible to move the text in any direction to the desired place.
In addition, you can change the number of words displayed on one line for a better perception of the text. To do this, slide the slider on the strip on the left side of the screen to increase or decrease the font size, and then squeeze the text itself to change its scale.
Want to add emoticons? You can also make them neon by simply selecting a neon font.
5. Try interesting features on Instagram
After you select an image, color and adjust the text, a number of additional functions will appear on Instagram to creatively design your stories. Click the square emoticon at the top of the editing screen to display additional options, including geodata, mention, hashtag, gif, date / time, polls, questions, countdown, tests, like / dislike slider, stickers, weather and much more another.
You also have the option of adding mentions and hashtags without using these features. Just add mentions and hashtags the same way you add text, and format them accordingly if you wish.
Questions, polls, and tests can be valuable tools to draw attention to your stories and a great way to interact directly with your subscribers. Try each of these formats to see what gives you the best feedback.
You also have the opportunity to overlay any music on top of your stories. To do this, you need to play the desired music on your phone, and then record the video on Instagram, or add a photo on top of this video.
6. Post repost in stories
You can easily add a publication to your stories from other accounts to which you are subscribed, if they are not closed. To do this, under the post you want to share, click the send icon (airplane) and select "Add publication to your story" at the top of the list. This will transfer this post to the stories editor, where you can edit, add text or graphics, draw images, insert a hashtag, share location and much more.
In addition, if you click on the editor’s screen, this will allow you to choose the type of display for this post: with text (with the account name and profile picture of the author of the publication at the top and signature below) or without any text at all.
This can also be used to attract the attention of users who pay more attention to stories. You can also share your posts to drive traffic to your post.
You can attract attention to your post using repost, so that people go to your post in the feed. Alternatively, you can close the image in a story with a sticker or gif to arouse interest among users and, as a result, go to publication. Remember that you can share a post in stories only if the account that posted the original post is publicly available!
With these simple Instagram features, you can create your own unique stories unlike others. Get creative and try combining different effects. And do not forget to contact your audience as often as possible!
