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October 31, 2019

A Step-by-Step Guide: Create Playful and Interactive Instagram Stories

BY: Instagram Business Team

San Francisco, CA

(Update on November 14, 2021 at 9:00AM PT: This blog post was published in 2019. For up-to-date information, please visit our Instagram Stories page.)

Read this for creative tips to share playful and interactive stories with your community and delight your audience.

Step 1: Start using stories throughout your day at these 5 moments

Instagram Stories are a playful and attention-grabbing way for people to learn about your business. One-third of the most viewed stories come from businesses1.

If you have never shared photos or videos to your story, learn how to do it here.

Here are 5 ways you can use stories:

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Show unfiltered moments of your day.

Give your community an insider’s view of your business with unpolished, behind-the-scenes photos and videos as it happens in real-time. In a study commissioned by Facebook, people across Brazil, Indonesia, the UK and the US were more likely to say they visit stories to see live, unfiltered content.2

Share customer testimonials.

Ask your customers for their reviews for your products and services, and share them in your stories.

Tell your business story.

You can share the story about how your business got started, your mission, challenges you’ve had to overcome or an anecdote that shows your business personality. Use video or even just text on a plain background.

Feature your products and services.

Take advantage of stories’ full-screen format to show your products, launch new products and announce sales. If you have a service-based business, give people a glimpse of your services. In a study commissioned by Facebook, half of the respondents said they have looked for the product/service on websites where they could buy it after seeing a product/service in a story.3

Share tutorials.

Show people how they can use your products. You can educate people who are considering their purchase while also establishing your expertise in your industry.

Step 2: Add text to your stories with these 5 tips

Stories offer a variety of tools for people to express themselves and explore their creativity.

Here are 5 creative tips about adding text to your stories:

Mix the colors of your text.
Mix the colors of your text.

If you are looking for a lighter or darker shade of a color for your text and brush, tap and hold on that color to get more variations of that color at the bottom of your screen.

Match your colors.
Match your colors.

Use the eyedrop tool to match the color of your brush or text with your background. Maybe you have a photo of your product and would like the color of your caption to match. To find the eyedrop tool, tap the tool on the left of your color palette and drag it to the color you want to match with your text or brush.

Make your text stand out when color blocking.
Make your text stand out when color blocking.

Color blocking is when you include a colored background with your text overlaid on top in a contrasting color. To add a colored background to your text, tap
at the top left of your screen. Change the color of your text by selecting it all, while keeping the color of the background the same.

Stack your text.
Stack your text.

Type out one word, then type out the exact word and just change the color for that word. Then stack it onto one another to give it the word a shadow effect.

Use Create to make gradient backgrounds.

If you want to make a text-based story rather than a photo or video-based story, pick a colorful gradient background for your text with Create, which is at the bottom of your screen.

Use Create to make gradient backgrounds.
Use Create to make gradient backgrounds.
Step 3: Add playful stickers to your stories with these 3 tips

Add stickers to make your stories more playful. Here are 3 ways you can use stickers in your stories.

Learn more about stickers here.

Express how you feel.
Express how you feel.

Use mood or emoji stickers to display how you’re feeling. You can even add a selfie sticker if you want to include your real-time feelings by tapping and taking a photo of yourself for a sticker.

Tell people where you are.

Use the location sticker to tag the location of your business, whether that be your city or actual business location. Remember that adding a location sticker will also add your story to that location’s page, which allows people to discover your business. Learn more about location pages here.

To set up a location for your business address, your Instagram account must be connected to a Facebook Page that you manage. Learn how to do that here. The Facebook Page you manage must have a physical location associated with it. After linking accounts, the location will populate on Instagram.

Have fun with GIFs.
Have fun with GIFs.

Search through the GIPHY library to add an animated GIF sticker to your photo or video. From bouncing letters and twirling hearts to dancing cats and pizza in space, these animated stickers help you make any photo or video funny, interesting or creative.

Step 4: Make your stories more interactive with these 6 tips

Stories’ interactive features allow your community to directly engage with your business. Here are 6 ways you can create interactive stories:

Go live.
Go live.

Use stories’ Live feature to interact with your customers in real-time. For instance, show a glimpse of what goes on behind-the-scenes at your business or host live tutorials. Don’t forget to announce it ahead of time so your community can tune in.

Create buzz using the countdown sticker.

If you have a product launch or an event coming up, use the countdown sticker in your stories to let your followers count down to the special moment. Your followers can also choose to be reminded when the countdown is over, and join in the celebration.

Host a Q&A session.

Use the question sticker to open it up to your community. Share your responses in following stories for the rest of your community to read. You can also go live to answer questions in real-time.

Poll your community.
Poll your community.

Use the poll sticker so you can learn specifically about likes and dislikes in your community. You can even use this sticker in your promoted stories.

Encourage your customers to directly respond to you.

1 in 3 Instagram Stories results in a message on Direct,1 so remind your community that they can easily connect with your business by responding to your stories.

Make quizzes for your community.

Use the quiz sticker to create multiple-choice questions for your followers. You can test your community on industry trivia, or even create questions about your products or services.

Step 5: Take your stories to the next level with 3 advanced tips

Use these creative tools to create stories that surprise and delight your audience – these may take more practice to master. Here are 3 advanced tips you can try to trick people’s minds:

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Add a gradient.

Create a rainbow gradient effect across your text with this hack. This takes two hands and some practice.

1. Tap to select all the text.

2. Finger one: Tap and hold any color

3. Finger two: Tap and hold end of text selector

4. Now move both fingers at the same speed. You’re going to simultaneously deselect all the text while also moving your finger through the gradient.

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Pin floating words and stickers to your stories.

Take a video with movement then add a sticker or text. Tap and hold the object (sticker or text) to pin the object – the video will keep playing, but the objects will stay in place. More contrast between the object and the background is better.

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Record your screen to create animated stories.

Try this trick to really boggle people’s minds. Play around with GIFs and stickers and record your screen while doing it. This trick is only possible with iPhones with iOS 11.

1. Turn Screen Recording on by following this path: Settings > Control Centre > Customize Controls + Screen Recording

2. Tap to record and shoot your screen motion.

3. Edit your story to create the animation you want.

4. Upload the edited clip from your tray and add to your story.

BY: Instagram Business Team

San Francisco, CA