Tech

Instagram: how to make your stories successful?

It’s been years since you discovered Instagram and so far you’ve been content to take pretty pictures of your food, add the right filter and post it, with a slew of hashtags, like #Instafood, # Instagood, or even #Yummy. What if today, you go up a gear? How about trying Instagram stories?

instagram stories

What is a instagram stories ? It is quite simply an image, a video, or a set of ephemeral photos (after 24 hours, these will disappear from the social network) that you share with your network, or with some of your contacts. Copied to stories from SnapchatInstagram’s big competitor, Instagram stories have met with dazzling success, and now total up to 250 million daily users.

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What makes stories different from regular photos posted on Instagram? First, stories will disappear after only 24 hours. The day after you post your story, you’ll be free to start over and tell a whole new story. In addition, unlike the usual photos, the stories are not displayed on your page but in a box provided for this purpose, just at the top of your interface. This is where you can discover your friends’ stories. So, ready to start?

How to create a story?

To create a story on Instagram, it’s very simple. Assuming that you have already installed the application on your smartphone and that you have an account on the social network, all you have to do is press the icon which represents a small camera at the top in the left corner of the app. You will then land in the interface for creating your stories.

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Once you are in the interface, you will first have to choose in which format your story will be born. Thanks to the drop-down menu at the bottom of the app, you will have the choice between 5 options:

  • The mode “Live” , which, as its name suggests, allows you to broadcast your story live, much like on Periscope. As soon as you press this button, you are visible to your network! Live videos can also be streamed up to 24 hours later.
  • The mode standard, which allows you to take pictures. By long pressing the button, you can switch to video mode. The recording lasts as long as you keep your finger on the “trigger”.
  • The mode “boomerang“: very fashionable, it will allow you to shoot short sequences that will loop, a bit like the famous gifs.
  • With fashion rewindthe videos you shoot will play backwards.
  • With fashion hand free, just press the button and your smartphone shoots a video, without you having to keep your thumb on it. Practice !

Regarding the “Live” mode, note that it will soon be possible to launch a live Instagram from your desktop PC, via dedicated third-party software such as OBS or Streamlabs. Indeed, Instagram presented in July 2022 the functionality Instagram Live Producer, which will allow this little madness. For now, this “feature” is being deployed.

Just above, you can also select the dynamic filters (we will come back to this later) to apply to your face, the flash or the front or rear photo sensor. In short, the essential functionalities of any photo-based application. To the left of the flash icon, you are also free to select a previous photo, as long as it is no more than 24 hours old. It is obviously possible to circumvent this system thanks to editing software on smartphones. A little editing and your photo is backdated!

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Personalize your Story

Once you have selected the photo or video that will make up your story, you can obviously personalize it, and that’s where it’s funniest. Instagram offers many ways to style your image or footage. The only limitation of the application? Your imagination!

Filters

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First decision to make when you start editing your images: what filter will I use? As with classic Instagram photos, you will have the choice between several filters. To access it, simply swipe the screen to the right or left. Filters will scroll with each swipe. Choose well. This is the essential first step to personalizing your story.

Emojis

emoji

In my opinion, this is the best Instagram customization tool. Modeled on Snapchat, it allows you to add emojis, hashtags or polls to your story. Just click on the square smiley at the top right. Once it’s done, all you have to do is choose between different indicators: the time, the current weather, your position (you are obviously geolocated) or a selfie, directly incorporated into the image. Do not overdo it, however, the overflow of information generally pushes your contacts to “unplug” from your story.

The drawings

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If you have an artistic soul, this tool should please you. It allows you to let your imagination run wild, both in your photos and in your videos. All you have to do is choose the brush you want, its color and its thickness and you’re done. Several options are available to you: a classic brush, a thick and beveled marker, a luminous laser brush effect and a powdery effect. As you will soon realize, there is no limit to what you can accomplish. In the event of a problem, the “cancel” button allows you to easily go back. And if you don’t want an image in your story after all, just paint everything in the color of your choice!

The text

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Quite practical if you want to leave no doubt about the substance of your message. Thanks to the text tool, at the top right edge, you can write what you want on your stories, in the size and color you want. You can also rotate your message, surround it with a color of your choice, add an emoticon… Thanks to the pipette icon, to the left of the color choice, you can even retrieve the color of an element of your image to add it to your message.

Once you’ve added all the effects you want, just select the “your story” icon at the bottom right to add it to your story. You will then be asked to choose which contact you want to send it to if this is your first time sending a story. Just to its left, you will also have the choice to save your creation to keep it private, or to post it later.

The tricks of a success story

To create quality stories, you will first need practice. There are so many ways to personalize a story that it will take time to learn all the intricacies, especially since Instagram rolls out new features on a regular basis. As you learn, you will realize that certain formats, certain ways of doing things, work better than others. Don’t worry, we have some homemade tips for you!

Selfies

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First of all, you will quickly realize that selfies are popular. In addition, there are new ways to customize them: dynamic filters. Thanks to augmented reality, these will adapt perfectly to your pretty face. You can use the result, both in a video story and in a photo story. The functionality is the same as on Facebook Messenger or Snapchat.

Punch it up!

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By keeping the same background image, or almost, and adding them to your story, you will end up creating a rhythm. Thanks to the rhythm, you will more easily retain the attention of your subscribers. Do not hesitate to invent scenarios, follow-up stories, to ask questions and then answer them. Use no more than two colors and no more than 3 elements. As mentioned earlier, the excess is bad for the attention of your friends. Another tip, alternate the large-sized elements with those of medium and small sizes, this way each element will be more prominent.

The art of composing

Recognizing the importance of composition, Instagram added magnetic alignment bars. Photoshop or Illustrator users are familiar with these types of tools. These bars allow you to frame your photo so that the most important elements of your story line up best. These normally appear as soon as an element is in the center of your image when you take a photo. Likewise, remember that the composition will give your story its full cachet.

The settings

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Once you have shared your story, it will therefore be visible to the people you have selected. To change this, simply click on the settings icon, located at the top left. You will then access the settings of your stories. You can hide your stories from specific people (a curious ex-girlfriend or your dear mom, who is also too curious) and you can also decide who can answer them. In order not to lose anything of your creations, you can also choose to save each story (video or photo) that you publish.

Who has seen my story?

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To find out which contact viewed your story, just go to it and swipe up and down. You will then access the complete list of people who have seen your story. As often, it is the same operation as on Snapchat.

Ready to get started?

If you’re already familiar with how Snapchat works, Instagram Stories shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you. We hope this guide has been very useful for you to take your first steps in the world of Instagram stories. If you have any other tips or advice for successful quality stories, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments!

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