The success of TikTok has led to Instagram taking cue and having its own version called Instagram Stories.
Stories have become incredibly popular as a way for influencers, coaches, vloggers, marketers, and everyday people as a way to share less polished content that disappears within 24 hours.
If you are wondering how to post a story on Instagram, you are going to want to keep reading.
What Are Instagram Stories
Before we get into how to post stories you should be familiar with what is an Instagram story.
Basically, they are photos or videos you can share up to 15 seconds in length. If you share longer videos, they will be split into segments. Also, as mentioned before, they disappear within 24 hours unless you add them to your Highlights section on your profile page (more on that later).
To view a Story, you tap on a person’s profile image on your feed page at the top of your screen. Images and videos in Stories will play automatically and consecutively.
How to Create an Instagram Story
Creating and posting a story on Instagram is quite simple and easy. As long as you have a photo or video you would like to share, you can get started using this method of content distribution.
Here are the steps to take for creating an Instagram story:
- Open the Instagram app
- Tap on the + icon at the bottom of your feed page
- Tap on Story out of the content type menu
- Tap on an image or video to begin uploading to your Story
Don’t have any existing photos or videos you want to share? You can also use the in-app Camera option to create engaging content.
Additionally, you can also select Story filters that can jazz up your shared Story content. You could also include interactive filters that increase engagement with your Stories. Simply use the Search function to view the plethora of filters Instagram offers.
Taking a photo or video using the Camera option is as simple as tapping the white button for a photo or tapping and holding the button to record a video.
How to Edit a Story
So, you’ve got your content for your Story and are ready to share it with your audience. Part of knowing how to post a story on Instagram like a pro is understanding how to edit it.
You can edit it to add text, stickers, or filters, as well as brand it.
If your content is a video, you could adjust the volume, as well as other options.
Adding Stickers to Stories
Stickers add extra elements to your stories to make them more attention-grabbing, as well as helping increase engagement.
A Sticker would be an animated image, link, quiz, or one of the many other elements Instagram offers.
You could even tag locations and other IG accounts, and even the temperature and time of where you are.
Would you like to have music in your Story? Instagram makes it easy to add songs from its extensive library. Alternatively, you can share your own music, especially if you’re a music artist.
GIFs have been a staple of internet culture for a long time, and now they are also available within Instagram’s library of elements you can include in your Stories. Find ones that are relevant to you to get more eyes on your Stories!
How to Add a Story to your Highlights
Now that you know how to post a Story to Instagram, you may want to have it viewable after the 24 hour window closes. The way to do this is to add it to your Highlights section at the top of your profile page. Stories saved to your Highlights will stay on your profile page indefinitely.
To add Stories to this section, do the following:
- Open up the image or video you want to save to your Highlights
- Tap on Highlights from your profile page
- Tap on one of your Highlights collections
That’s it! However, if you do not have any Highlights collections, you will need to create one.
You can do the following:
- Tap the + icon under Story highlights on your public-facing profile page
- Select the Story you already posted that you would like to add
- Give the Highlights collection a name
- Get the collection’s cover perfect by tapping Edit cover to adjust it
There you have it! You now know how to post a Story on Instagram like a pro.
