Instagram stories are a great way to show a quick unfiltered snapshot of your business and it’s a great way to show off your brands personality. Similar to Snapchat it’s all about post quick, transient moments, without the worry of over posting. Stories live at the top of your feed and stay there for 24 hours.

Here’s how to get the most out of Instagram stories.

Get Creative

Try capturing a day in the life or behind the scenes view of your business. This helps to humanise your brand and allows the viewer to connect with your business more. Tutorials and tips also work well.

Create a Solid Background

This is the best way to show drawings and text without the need for a photo or video. When you open your story select any photo (it doesn’t matter what as you’ll be filling it with the colour you choose) Tap the pen icon and select a colour.

Tap and hold anywhere on your screen and the screen will fill with the solid colour.

Add Text and Drawings

Tap on the “Aa” icon to add text as typed text. If you want to freehand tap on the pen icon and start writing on the screen. You can also change the size of the writing by tapping the “aA” icon on the bottom left next to the colour options.

Build Consecutive Stories

Build intrigue by building on text on consecutive stories. After you create your first image make sure you save it.

Then use the saved image for your next story and add any additional text. Save the image and keep repeating the process until you’re done.

Try A Live Story

Once you’ve done your live video at the end of the broadcast select “share” and the live video will be added to your stories.

Quick Tips

• Don’t post any more than 5 – 7 stories in a 24-hour period. People lose interest if they keep going and going.
• Instagram stories only let you upload photos taken in the last 24 hours
• When selecting colours scroll left as there are 2 more pages of options
• Tag someone in your story by using the @ symbol and then start typing their name. The options will appear below.

Remember to Check How Your Instagram Stories Are Performing! To do this, open your story and swipe up. You will then see the number and the names of people who have viewed each of your stories.

These are just some of the features of Instagram stories…you’re now ready to jump on in and try them!