Understanding Instagram Stories and Creating Them Like a Pro

by Pavel B. SEO and Marketing expert

Instagram Stories offer quick peeks into your daily life, capturing where you are, what you're eating, who you're with, and memorable moments. These short visuals last on Instagram Social Media for just 24 hours before disappearing.

Your Instagram Story appears separately from the posts you share on your main feed. While posting Stories might seem straightforward, Instagram hides several creative tools that can enhance the photos and videos you share, making them more engaging.

How Instagram Stories Function

Instagram Stories allow you to layer stickers, timestamps, and doodles, and use filters and effects to jazz up each post. If you have a public profile, anyone can see your Story, but a private account means only your followers can see it.

Your audience can interact with your Stories by sending direct messages (DMs), liking them, or sharing them with their followers. You can control whether to allow replies through your settings.

To see who has viewed your Story, simply open it and swipe up on the screen.

Instagram Stories and Highlights: A Comparative Look

Instagram Stories lets you share fleeting moments that disappear after 24 hours, while Instagram Story Highlights are curated collections of past Stories that stay on your profile permanently. Highlights are used by brands and content creators to breathe new life into their content and offer a curated aspect to their profiles. This feature is perfect for showcasing user-generated content, customer testimonials, and FAQs, providing valuable content that doesn't fit in the main feed but is still important for your audience.

Why Opt for Instagram Stories?

Instagram Stories can significantly boost engagement and add value, whether it's through a brand account or a personal profile. Stories have helped brands like Anima Iris and Glamnetic expand their presence. Publishers use Stories to increase brand visibility, direct traffic to external content like videos or newsletters, or promote sponsored posts. Instagram Stories offer a platform for sharing ephemeral, engaging content that captures brand personality without overwhelming users’ limited attention spans, which is precisely why Stories are brief and transient.

Duration of Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories vanish from your profile after 24 hours, but a video within your Story can last up to 15 seconds before transitioning to the next piece of content. For longer videos, third-party apps can break the video into 15-second chunks for your Story.

Similarly, the individual photos and videos in your Instagram Story are designed to be brief when viewed. Generally, each video clip in your Story can play for up to 15 seconds. If you upload a minute-long video, it will be divided into four 15-second segments.

Navigating Instagram Stories: A Beginner's Guide

Instagram Stories appear at the top of your feed in the Instagram mobile app, often being the first content users encounter. These Stories can significantly boost engagement and bring more attention to your regular Instagram posts.

How to View Instagram Stories

1. Starting Up: Launch the Instagram app and hit the home icon at the bottom left. At the top, you'll notice circular icons representing active Stories from people you follow, with your Story on the far left.

2. Viewing Stories: Tap any circular icon with a gradient outline to watch that user's Story, which plays automatically and transitions to the next user's Story upon completion.

3. Navigating Through Stories: Tap on the left to rewind or on the right to fast-forward through the Stories, which are arranged from oldest to newest.

4. Viewing Stories Anonymously: Utilize third-party tools like Inflact to view Stories without the user's knowledge. This can be particularly useful for discreetly checking on profiles. Other tools include Instafollowers.co, Stories IG, Insta-Stories.online, StoriesDown, and Dumpor.

Creating Your Instagram Story

1. Launch the App: Open Instagram and tap on your profile picture in the top left corner, or swipe right to access the camera directly.

2. Select a Filter: Swipe through the filters at the bottom and preview them live.

3. Capture Content: Take a photo or video with the camera.

4. Use Existing Media: Alternatively, swipe up to choose from your gallery.

5. Add Enhancements: Spruce up your Story with stickers, time stamps, or GIFs.

6. Share Your Story: Once edited to your liking, tap "Your Story" to share it with your followers.

By incorporating these steps and tips, you can start posting engaging Instagram Stories that mirror the quality and creativity of top brands and influencers.

Sharing Your Instagram Story: A Simple Guide

1. Getting Started with Your Story: Open the Instagram app and tap your profile picture at the top left corner. Alternatively, you can swipe right or tap the plus sign at the top right. If you tap the plus sign, it might prompt you to create a post; select "Story" from the bottom right to switch to the Story Creator.

2. Choosing Your Style: Upon entering the Story Creator, swipe through the filters at the bottom to change the look. You can also pick a capture mode for taking photos or videos directly in the app, found on the screen's left side. Here's a breakdown of your choices:

- Normal: The default setting for taking single photos or holding down to record a video.

- Create: This lets you craft a Story from scratch, complete with stickers, GIFs, and text.

- Boomerang: Creates a looped GIF.

- Layout: Offers a four-quadrant screen for capturing different photos.

- Multi-Capture: Capture multiple photos/videos in a row.

- Photobooth: Takes four consecutive photos with a flashing effect.

- Hands-Free: For filming a video without holding down the record button.

- Level: Adds a grid overlay for aligning shots accurately. It can be used with other modes like multi-capture and photobooth.

3. Capturing Your Content: Now, with your chosen filter and mode, tap once to take a photo or hold down to record a video. If you're filming a video longer than 15 seconds, remember to break it into 15-second segments or use the multi-capture mode for easier handling.

4. Editing and Sharing: After capturing your content, you can add extra flair with stickers, text, or drawings. When satisfied with your creation, tap "Your Story" to share it with your followers. If you wish to keep a copy, tap the "Download" icon to save it to your device.

Content Ideas for Your Instagram Story

Understanding how to share on Instagram Stories is the first step; figuring out what to share forms the core of engaging your audience. Here's where knowing your audience and what they enjoy comes into play. Instagram Stories offer a great way to visually share tips, promote your business, or simply give a peek into your daily operations. But you can try Facebook too. Whether it’s showcasing new products, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses, or educating your followers, remember that Stories are an extension of your brand’s narrative. Keep it interesting, relevant, and true to your brand identity.