Instagram Stories: What They Are and How to Make One like a Pro
Ranked Number Four among most popular social media globally, Instagram offers immense opportunities both for business and personal use. And it has much more to offer to its users than simply sharing photos. In fact, Instagram comprises a number of great tools and features so that everyone could find the right thing for themselves. Stories are one of such features which allow the user to share special moments and events with the help of photographs, texts, music and stickers in just 15 seconds. You may try an anonymous Instagram story viewer to see how people are using this feature to get people’s attention. So, if you have never tried it before it’s high time you finally did! No worries if you don’t know where to start from – we’ve collected the best practical bits of information on Instagram story and what’s in it for you.
Why Bother at All?
Just like any other story in the world, Instagram Stories have a beginning and an end, and are rather short-lived, meaning that they disappear without any trace 24 hours after one has posted them. That’s one of the key reasons many users think they are not worth the effort put into their creation. However, if you look at this situation from a different angle, the advantages the Stories feature entails become obvious. Indeed, taking a high-quality photo with a most suitable layout, light and color scheme takes a lot of time and editing skills. On the other hand, the time and efforts spent are compensated by the fact that photos can be posted in the profile for an unlimited period of time and accessed anytime. However, the idea behind the Stories feature is quite different – it allows you to add life and vividness to the overall stillness of the Instagram account. A story doesn’t last long? True, and that’s the beauty of it! No need for you to make several variants, edit them and choose the best one – just make a brief video of a moment you want to share with the rest of the world, be as natural as possible and post it on your Instagram profile, that’s it!
Where do I Start?
Obviously, you should focus on your initial idea why you decided to make a story in the first place and which exact message you would like to get through to your audience. And then comes the design part. Though Instagram stories are short and brief, it would be wrong to completely turn a blind eye to such a crucial factor as their form and composition. The good news here is that professional free graphic design software, like VistaCreate, can do all the hard work for you absolutely free of charge.
What’s Next?
Since Instagram is a space where creativity and imagination has no boundaries, emotions are of paramount importance. If your followers wanted to watch news, most likely they would stick to something like CNN, not Instagram Stories. So rather than concentrating on boring facts, better showcase your feelings and emotions about those special moments you share with the audience. Make sure you spice up your stories with smileys, Emojis, hashtags, locations, stickers and other things like that offered by Instagram and let other users walk your path together with you! Don’t be shy and go ahead!
Engage Your Followers
Unlike ordinary photos, Stories is a perfect interaction tool that will help engage other users and boost up their interest in you and your profile. Use various poll stickers to allow your followers to express their opinion on a certain issue by voting. Moreover, if they want to see the poll results, they need to come back and watch your story all over again. And something tells us they for sure will! A countdown and chat stickers are another two cool features to get bigger engagement from the Instagram community in who you are and what you do.
Consistency Matters
First stories in all likelihood will be a far cry from what one would like them to be in terms of both their quality and followers’ engagement and response. It might be disappointing if not disheartening, but don’t let it discourage you from trying further. The key to success here is consistency. Instagram Stories are quick to disappear, so make sure you post them systematically, preferably on a daily basis. If you are going to post one story, say, a week, then you’d better not even try it at all. With time and regularly updated Stories content, you’ll find your audience more and more engaged every week.
Try It and See for Yourself
Starting something new is almost always a challenge, and this equally applies to Instagram Stories experience if you are more of a ‘photo’ personality and making videos is not exactly your cup of tea. Stories option offered by Instagram is definitely worth your attention; however, it’s up to you to decide on the right way to approach it. Start with small steps, for example by adjusting your privacy settings and showing your first stories to the close friends only and after receiving their feedback and getting some first-hand practical experience, you can choose what to do next.
