Everything about Instagram Stories (Ultimate Guide)

More than 500 million users get to interact with Instagram Stories every day – 73% of Instagram influencers assume stories very influential in their jobs – More than 70% of Instagram users watch stories daily – 98% of the marketers said they have used or have planned to use stories on Instagram – 50% of businesses claimed that they had posted at least one story on Instagram during the last year

All these numbers and statistics are enough to convince us to dedicate a full blog to her majesty! “Instagram Story”

What is an Instagram story?

If you are an Instagram user, you have already come across those colorful rings around the profile picture of Instagram users, the so-called Instagram stories.

Instagram stories are photos and videos that disappear 24 hours after getting published, and they are fun and exciting because you have only 24 hours to watch them or will miss forever.

Yes, the Instagram stories are unique in that they are not there permanently, unlike other web-based contents that remain on the web for the rest of the life of the universe. Now let’s see where the “story” began.

As we already know, it was SnapChat that invented stories in the first place, back in 2013. The feature became very popular that in 2016, Instagram decided to copy stories to the platform, for the sake of competition.

Although not originally Instagram’s, it was Instagram that made the stories become a trending feature of social media. On no other social media platform are stories used as widely and popularly as on Instagram.

Although Snapchat is respected as the inventor, the real credit is Instagram’s for where the stories are now.

How do Instagram Stories Work?

To watch or use IG stories:
In the Instagram home, at the top of page, you will see DP’s (profile pictures) with colorful rings moving around them. Tap on one of these ringed DP’s, so the story of that person will be displayed:

On top of the story screen, there are some bars. They indicate the number of active stories of that person.
When a story begins to display, each bar starts to fill until that story ends. Tap on either side of Instagram stories, so the previous or the next story (of the same user or the next one) will show up.

Each story might include some interactive buttons, such as stickers and CTA’s (which makes them an interactive story). Tap on them and take action according to what they are targeted for.or.

You also can comment on stories Instagram displays. Just click on “send message” at the bottom of the page and start to type.
Use emoji and other shapes to send more fun replies. The comment will be sent to the DM inbox of the Story owner. Note that some users prefer to disable Instagram story comments.

Another thing is that you can share a story with Instagram friends.

At the right bottom of Instagram stories, there is an icon resembling a paper plane. Choose it and pick the desired people to send that story to. The story will show up in their Direct Message inbox. However, users with private accounts won’t let their stories display for people who are not a follower of them. Also, some people prefer their stories un-shared with others, so they disable the “Instagram stories sharing” or limit it only to their followers or close friends.

How to make an Instagram story

People usually post stories with Instagram to narrate a very recent event or happening, which they assume exciting and worth to note. However, some Instagram users capture every second of their lives and post them all to Instagram to get attention. That’s why sometimes tens of those bars appear on top of their story screen.

To create and upload an Instagram story, the first thing is to prepare a good content. After making sure what content to post to Instagram stories, tap on your profile picture to be directed to stories screen. Instagram stories have three modes, which are Live mode, Camera mode, and Create mode.

1- Instagram Stories Live Mode

What is an Instagram live story? Live Instagram mode is for publishing a real-time story. Your followers will be able to watch the Live story while capturing it, and you can interact with the followers via comments, emoji, and reading their real-time comments and reactions.
To create a live Instagram story tap on LIVE and a screen appears.

• Before you go live you can:

1. adjust the setting of your Live story;
2. cancel the live story;
3. share live responses to a question asked in one of your stories;
4. switch to front or back camera;
5. choose filters
6. finally; tap the button to GO LIVE.

• During going live:

1. you will be shown in the first place in story feed with a “live” icon on it;
2. followers are notified about it and will join and interact with the story;
3. interact with followers and see their comments;
4. view the number of viewers;
5. go live with another user;
6. tap the “LIVE” button on the top left of the screen to see the duration of the post, so far;
7. choose face filters;
8. switch between front and back camera;
9. accept or ignore the requests to go Live with you;
10. share the Instagram Live stream with others;
11. end Instagram live video; and
12. ask a question in real-time mode.

• After the session is over:

1. choose your live Instagram stories to remain there for the next 24 hours or to disappear immediately; and
2. save and share it, so your Instagram live will show up in Instagram story feed of the followers with a “play” icon.

2- Instagram Stories Camera Mode

What is Instagram camera mode story? Camera mode is used to create the most typical Instagram stories.

Photos and videos made in this mode will remain on stories feed for 24 hours, and the followers will be able to watch them while the story is still there. Camera mode is somehow like Live mode, with little differences.

• During the camera mode:

1. You can customize the settings;
2. Turn the flashlight on and off;
3. Cancel creating Story;
4. Switch between front and back cameras;
5. Choose videos and photos from the phone gallery;
6. Select camera modes;
7. Pick filters; and
8. Finally, tap to take a picture or hold to capture a video for the Instagram story.

• After you capture the story:

1. You can cancel and go a step back;
2. Apply face filters in the Instagram Story;
3. Save the story to your Instagram;
4. Use Instagram stickers and emoji;
5. Draw things on your photo or video;
6. Type something;
7. Post your story to all your followers; and or
8. Send the story only to close friends.

• In “send to”:

1. Post the Story to all your followers;
2. Send the Story only to close friends; and
3. Send it to specific users.

Just like Instagram live, with Instagram camera mode, followers can comment, share, and react to stories.

3- Instagram Stories Create Mode

What are Instagram stories Create mode? Unlike the live and camera modes, the create mode does not aim to take photos or videos. It is to create text-based stories. However, you are able to upload videos and images from the phone’s gallery.

In this mode, it is possible to:

1. Configure setting;
2. Cancel the story;
3. Change the background color;
4. Use stickers,
5. Upload videos and photos from the gallery;
6. Tap to type;
7. Ask a question;
8. Start a poll;
9. Let Instagram choose a random thread for your Story;
10. Set up a guessing game; and
11. Start a countdown.

After you tap to type, the next page is just like the second page of camera mode, with all its features and options available.

What are Instagram story Stickers?

Instagram stories have an exciting feature called stickers. The stickers make the followers interact more efficiently with your stories, make it possible to add actions to Stories and add a fun side to them.

Here, we will introduce all stickers of Instagram stories:

Interactive Stickers:

• Location Sticker: lets you add a location in Instagram story.

• Mention Sticker: mention other users in your story using this sticker.

• Hashtag Sticker: Instagram stories now can include hashtags.

• Clock Sticker: it displays the time of creating the Instagram story. The time displayed cannot be changed. Tap on it to change it to a digital clock to a classic one and tap again to convert back.

• Poll Sticker: start a poll.

• Music Sticker: add music to your stories.

• GIF Sticker: this sticker directs you to GIPHY to pick a GIF from there to post on an Instagram story.

• Question Sticker: ask your followers a question using this sticker. Once the followers tap on it, they can answer that question.

• Countdown Sticker: set the date and time of an event in the future and start counting down.

• Sliding Emoji Voting Sticker: It is another poll where you ask a question or mention a statement and the followers will slide the emoji (which is determined by you) to left and right to express their vote for or against the question (or statement).

• Quiz Sticker: run a small quiz with quiz sticker on an Instagram story.

• Join Chat Sticker: creates a chat space. You should name this chat space, and once the followers tap on it through the Instagram story, they will be directed to the chat. Decide to accept them or not.

• Temperature Sticker: Add the temperature of your surrounding in Fahrenheit or Centigrade to the Instagram story.

• Camera sticker: take a photo by this sticker in a small space. The frame of this space is changeable.

4- Other None-Interactive Stickers

There are some Instagram story stickers that are not interactive, such as emoji’s, mood stickers, day stickers, etc. it lets you change the color and size of each sticker.

Instagram story updates timeline

Instagram has made a lot of changes to stories, and since 2016, there have a lot of updates and features added been to them.

Here is a list of all-time updates of Instagram stories.

2019

• July: Stories cameras save content for 7 full days, now. Join Chat Sticker is also rolled out.
• May: Instagram adds quiz and donation to stories.
• April: sponsored stories are available now.
• March: users can add a title to their live Instagram stories.
• February: Black history month creative stickers added, Netflix becomes available for Instagram stories.
• January: question sticker can be used on Instagram live; countdown and clock stickers rolled out.

2018

• December: send stories to close friends, only.
• November: IGTV preview added to stories; Stories’ ads expanded to Facebook; business pages allow stories promotion.
• October: longer story durations allowed.
• September: Instagram stories integrated with shopping features; new superzoom effects added to stories.
• July: Music sticker introduced; question sticker becomes available.
• June: now people can re-share someone else’s story using the “mention sharing sticker” in their story.
• May: Sliding emoji voting sticker added.
• April: New focus feature for portrait camera added.
• February: taking screenshots from Instagram stories now sends a notification to the owner; adding images and videos of any size becomes possible; type mode introduced; GIF sticker added to stories.

2017

• December: Instagram stories highlights are available; stories can be archived; users can request to join Instagram lives.
• November: users can now add older content to stories; superzoom feature available; stories become available on desktop Instagram; live split-screen rolled out.
• October: Poll sticker added to Instagram stories.
• July: Instagram Live can be added to stories feed; users can reply to live stories; location sticker available now.
• May: Hashtag stickers are rolled out; use filters for selfies in Instagram stories; rewind tool is available; save Instagram live now.
• April: Instagram stories include ads.

2016

• December: Instagram stories now have Instagram stickers.
• November: Boomerang feature, live stories, the possibility to add links, and the possibility to mention someone are available now.
• September: save your stories.
• August: Instagram launches Instagram story feature.

Instagram stories have been around for two years now and have at least up to 500 million daily users. We have seen how Instagram stories can increase engagement on the platform and give people and brands the opportunity to get in front of their target audience.

Think about it. When you open your Instagram, do you find yourself drifting more towards the story circles as opposed to the feed posts themselves?

How to use Instagram stories to get more engagement?

Your Instagram feed posts are still essential, but Instagram stories can be great for driving engagement to your brand account. Here are some tips that help you use Instagram to drive more engagement:

Polls, question, and countdown stickers

Instagram has rolled out many awesome features for Instagram stories that you should make use of, such as polls, countdowns,s and question stickers. You can survey your followers and ask them for feedback using the polls feature. “question stickers” offer an “ask me anything” type format that you can easily share with your audience. All of this helps your followers interact with you and can provide you with some excellent ideas for future content.

Swipe up feature

Have you noticed swipe-ups on Instagram stories? This feature is one of the ways Instagram rewards people for growing followers on the platform. Right now it’s only available to users that have 10k or more followers; this feature can be a good reason for you to start growing your Instagram followers.

Hashtags

You can make use of hashtags on your Instagram stories to increase your story exposure. You should use relevant hashtags instead of using the popular and trendy ones. Stories are different from regular posts in this case. You can easily double your number of viewers by using your community hashtags. Just give it a try and enjoy the results.

Sharing posts on stories

If you post a new picture or video to your Instagram feed, you can share It on your story to drive more traffic to your new post. You will see an option under your post that says “add the post to your story.” Tap on it and add your hashtags, polls, and gifs to it. And include a call to action that tells people to check your new post.

Username mentions

If you are talking about another brand or person or they are in the picture, mention them! You can tag people and brands on your story, but remember they will receive a notification. You can direct your followers to your another account by mentioning its username on your story.

Shopping feature

If you have an e-commerce or online store, you can use Instagram shopping for your feed and stories. You can do this by connecting your shop catalog with Instagram and apply for approval. It can be a huge game-changer for your business.

Post on a daily basis

Try to be consistent about posting stories on your Instagram account. You can share 1 to 3 stories per day so that your followers won’t forget about you, on the other hand, don’t overdo it because it may overwhelm your audience.

Get creative

Instagram is constantly rolling out new features; like font types and shadows, background music, pinning text, gifs and more for Instagram stories. Just try to have fun and get creative with the new features. Keep your Instagram updates so you can be among the first to try the new features.

How to use Instagram stories to get more followers?

You should be surprised how you can have the most followers on Instagram! you surely care about Instagram’s stories and how you can use them to communicate more with your audiences and followers. As you know, the videos on Instagram’s stories are one of the best runners to have fun and gain experience in an informal program.

So if you want to use more videos, connect with your followers, buy real Instagram followers and share more at the moment and behind the scenes, then follow these tips.

1. Do not ignore it

Instagram stories are great for out-of-the-box events, so your audience and followers can learn more about you. Think about the things you like in others’ stories, and then they’ll come to terms with what’s happening in your life, business, tips and tricks that might be appealing. By showing your personality, you’re attracting your fans. The followers that love you and the process of your business, at the end of the day, find that you are working as they are, which means common sense.

2. Add the ability to access promotional messages into your stories

If it’s hard for you to have marketing, Instagram Story is the best way to do this automatically. Share as exciting news about new customers, projects and showcasing your products and services. All that we know about the right stories is that you can bring people on the journey with you. Think about what’s going on in your business and what you do, and who can share it and what benefits people can make. I’m doing a lot of general stories, and then there’s a message saying, “make sure you book in for X” it’s quite clear that what I want people to do.

3. Show and tell

One of the people who succeeded in doing this was taking photos of all the packages they were supposed to send to customers and sending them their orders for them. It is very exciting for a customer to see the photo before ordering it.

Do not hesitate to give your customers the opportunity to showcase their products and services. People like to see what they have ordered.

4. Use POLLS to contact your followers:

By using things like surveying your story (see Sticker for accessing this feature), you can ask the opinions of your audience and also communicate directly with them.

In fact, when you challenge people to answer a question, it will interact with you.

Asking people’s opinions about products, colors, services, fun stuff – and so on – is always worthwhile for them.

5. Think of other stories:

Do not know what to do about it? Use the “30-day challenge” method to increase self-confidence and share stories.

Examples include:

• How will the future of your business be?
• What are you doing right now?
• What are your plans for 2018?
• How do you feel about it all?
• What was the reaction of some of the customers?
• What is your plan for next year and what is important to you?
• Re-introduce yourself to people who do not know you.
• Think about what you specialize in and what you can share with them.
• Share your thoughts and insights
• Share where you are, events, parties, shops, and things you’ve bought.

6. Instagram highlights

Instagram’s highlight feature has recently been added and is the best way to introduce yourself and your brand to the people. With this feature, you can do some kind of things below.

1. Make a brief introduction about yourself.
2. You can leave the news of the day.
3. Mention how to use and access your product.

You do not need to be serious about promoting your brand. People like it and help you build your brand and attract more customers!

Instagram stories are a good way for others to know you and participate in what you share. You can make them more interactive and create a game from them. So if you want to create fun, interactive Instagram stories, say hello to Instagram story templates!

Story templates are a growing trend on Instagram these days. Businesses and influencers use them to create their own brand stories with a uniform tone, color, style, and format.

So how can I use Instagram stories templates? This blog has everything you want to know about using Instagram story templates for your business, and how to create them on your own.

What are Instagram story templates?

Instagram story templates are pre-made layouts with text, graphics or animations that you can edit to create a new story. So basically they are a starting point for creating your stories.

If you use the same templates for all of your Instagram stories, you can create on-brand, cohesive stories that align with your brand as a whole.

Instagram stories templates for brands

Instagram stories disappear after 24h, but its essential to integrate your brand when designing stories on Instagram. This is as simple as using the same font all the time or using the color of your brand on the story.

So as Instagram stories continue to grow among users, brands are taking stories more severe, and they are trying to create highly designed stories to stop people from swiping past or exiting their story.

If your Instagram stories style and design don’t match the theme and niche of your profile page, you are missing the opportunity to introduce your brand to new people, build brand recognition and leave a good first impression.

So if you want people to pause on your story and remember your brand, I would recommend using Instagram stories template to you.

Benefits of using Instagram stories templates

There are a lot of unique Instagram story template styles and designs, but all of them have two things in common:

1. They build brand awareness for your business
2. They boost engagement

Also, using templates can save you some time, because you can quickly create the stories ahead of time and when you want to post, you can just add in texts or tags and upload a photo and done!

Types of Instagram stories templates

• You can use the design and style of your website (font, logo, color palette and tone) on your templates to build brand awareness for your business.

• Try to keep it simple by using a set of matching backgrounds and editable white fonts. You can use these types to promote new content, free download, resources,

By using simple templates, you can focus on using the same brand color as the background or the accent color in each of your Instagram stories.

• Sometimes the ‘’swipe up’’ link in Instagram stories can be missed so you can include an additional call to action in your story design to drive more traffic to your link and grab your audience’s attention.

• You can use your stories templates as series, this way you can build a loyal following and make them come back for more. Your followers will know what to expect next so they will tap forward for more! Also these ‘’fill in the blank’’ templates are great for posting on-the-go.

How to create Instagram story templates ?

Now that you find out about the benefits of using Instagram templates for your brand, its time to create your own.

These are the ways that you can start designing and crafting your own Instagram stories templates:

1- Create your story template with a strong style guide

You don’t have to use any fancy software to create a good Instagram stories template for your brand. All you need is Instagram and a strict style guide.

Your story template should be simple, beautiful and reflect your brand’s tone and style.

The good thing about creating a template on the Instagram app is that you can continue posting your stories spontaneously without editing them on your laptop or the other app.

2- Use an app to design your Instagram stories template

This is an excellent way to create stories on-the-go.Photoshop is an excellent app for this course. You can create your templates manually on your computer, and type on it with an app on our phone every time you want to post.

Grow your Instagram business with Instagram automation 

After all, you should have a certain audience base before trying to build up your brand through Instagram stories templates.

So if you are just starting a business account on Instagram and don’t have the time ( or don’t know how) to promote your account and gain followers on Instagram, I can recommend using Instagram automation tools to you.

You can automate all of your activities on Instagram as likes, comments, follows/unfollows and save a lot of time for your self. Instagram bots are your way to go. So you can search for the best Instagram bot online, find the right one for your course and start growing your account.

If you want to craft a killer story as no one can, you have come to the right place. It has been a couple of years since Instagram launched stories feature, and it has taken off, adding different tools and options over time to let you get creative with your storytelling on Instagram.

So, I have assembled the top tricks and hacks to help you master the Instagram stories.

What are Instagram stories?

Snapchat was the first one to roll out stories, But now almost every social media platform has copied it, including Instagram and Facebook.

It basically allows you to upload videos and photos and then share them with people who follow you and lasts for 24 hours. After that time, they will disappear. There is no limit, you can share as many as you want, and there are a lot of ways to spice them up.

To view someone’s story on Instagram, just tap on the red circle around their profile photo at the top of your home screen. To exit stories, swipe down.

Tips and tricks to help you create effective Instagram stories

Now that you know more about Instagram stories, how can you design stories that are effective for your audience? Here are some extra tips to help you create better Instagram stories.
1- Make your story visually appealing

Instagram is a visual-based social media. So if you are going to use Instagram stories, you should create pictures and videos that are visually appealing to your followers.

There are a lot of brands that use Instagram for their social media marketing, so if you want to gain more customers, you should make your Instagram stories stand out.

The best way to make sure your Instagram stories are effective is by making them visually attractive to your audience.

Instagram has provided many tools for you to craft creative content such as polls, stickers, question polls, filters and other features which you might find extremely helpful.

By using these tools, you can edit your pictures and make them visually engaging for your followers, but remember using them in the right amount.

2- Don’t overdo it!

When using Instagram stories features, be careful that you don’t overdo it. If your story goes overboard, you may end up pushing people away.

Your pictures shouldn’t be too flashy. If you have too much going on your stories, your followers will swipe past your stories without engaging. You want to increase engagement, so it is better to keep your stories exciting but not too over the top.

As for your videos, make sure they aren’t too loud. If you share a video that has loud sounds, users will skip over them instantly. So you should make sure that your video has a suitable sound level and doesn’t overwhelm your followers.

3- Include a call to action on your stories

If you want your Instagram stories to be perfect and engaging, you need to include a call to action or a CTA.

A call to action gives your audience directions and tells them where to go next. When you use Instagram stories, you want your followers to check out your profile, make a purchase or complete some other action. You should tell your audience how to take the next step. By adding a CTA, you direct them to the next level.

You need to make sure that you are straight about your CTA. Use them in all of your stories to ensure that your audience won’t miss it.

At the end

Instagram stories are very useful, and there are a lot of tools that can take your Instagram marketing to the next level.

Something to keep in mind is that Instagram is always changing which means as a marketer you should always keep an eye on the updates and changes and how you can include them in your marketing strategy.

We hope that you find this article helpful.

if you have anything to add to this article, we will be happy to receive a comment from you.

If you are not using Instagram to generate leads, you are missing out on getting the best and easiest leads on social media, notably, if your audiences are 35 or under the age of 35.

Here is the reason social media users are switching to Instagram with this mind-blowing speed!:

• There are many fewer trolls on Instagram.
• There are a lot less political posts and stories.
• The algorithm is user-friendly.
• It’s a fun platform based on human interactions.

Now we want to talk about lead generation on Instagram.

Instagram is one of the most accessible places to get leads. Why? Because competition is on Facebook and Google, Which leads Instagram for the pillaging of qualified leads.

Remember, when no one is contesting it is easier to win!

What is a lead?

First, you should know what a lead is. A lead is an interested individual who matches a specific criterion who may need a particular product or service that you contribute. Leads can be collected in many ways, but typically they get attracted to the exposure of your brand. Whether with Instagram Ads, Content or Gifts, a person who is interested in what you offer is considered a lead.

How can I Perform Lead Generations on Instagram?

You can merely search for leads on Instagram (lead generation). All big businesses, brands, and corporations have some lead generations. They want to communicate with leads in order to convert them into customers. But to interact with them, you should have the proper tools.

Incentive

If you want to attract leads on Instagram, you should give them reasons to communicate with you. Whether through free gifts or a contest, etc. You must provide value to them before they even start the communication process with you.

Landing Pages

This is where you gather information about your leads, including their email and name. You should collect this information to communicate competently with leads. Without a landing page, you may just submit the incentive out to everyone in hopes of nothing in return.

How to generate high-quality leads on Instagram?

1- Linking like a professional

Misusing links is like sending a possible lead to an unrelated page or a page with no direction. This will reduce your conversions and cause many customers to evade clicking your links in the future. That is a double-edged sword which is hard to come back from, losing lead trust is a tremendous opportunity lost!

Instead, use your bio and bio links at the start of the sales funnel. Create an excellent bio to drive traffic to click on the bio link and, to lead them to the relevant site. This is what linking as a professional means. As an Instagram marketer, you should do all the job for the lead.

2- Use videos on your Instagram

Images have more engagement compare to them with videos on average. Videos achieve a lot more social influence and have a higher opportunity of going viral on Instagram. The video is becoming the way that users prefer to intake content. Not only it is easier to gain attention, but also a good storytelling is much more straightforward to get across than a picture.

Include video into your Instagram marketing strategy and be productive. There are so many ways to tell a story on Instagram and to apprehend it in Live stories that create the emotional bond which turns viewers into leads.

3- Produce creative Instagram stories

Instagram stories are one of the best ways of generating leads on Instagram. It allows accounts to continuously draw out content which drives traffic off the Instagram without cutting out of the feed.

Story Links are inherently useful here. They allow you to drive viewers of a story right to a landing page with only a swipe. Another way that you can use Instagram stories is the same way as you perform email automation. You can produce two engaging posts which promote the offer that is about to come. So for your stories, you should break it down to provide two posts with content followed by an action. The goal is to make them curious without giving away the full details.

4- Produce Value for your Instagram account every day!

Whether through a contest or posts. Providing your audience with a consistent value is essential. Because when you give benefit to someone, they feel the necessity to get back to you. When you consistently provide value to your Instagram followers, you will gain more engagement, lead generations and followings. It all depends on how much value you provide for them. The more value you give them, the better.

That’s all

We hope you enjoyed this article, if you have any other questions about your Instagram marketing, don’t hesitate and just ask us in the comments below.

With over 500 million users every day, Instagram stories have become the most impactful part of the platform. With the significant changes made about Instagram during the recent year, it is well obvious that stories of Instagram will engage more and more businesses and users in the not-so-far future.