Launched in August 2016, Instagram Stories today has more than 500 million everyday users. This figure is almost equal to the combined population of the European Union, the association of 28 European countries. Suffice to say that’s a lot of people and businesses vying for attention on the social media platform. So, if you want to attract attention and grow your following through Instagram Stories, you will have to come up with impressive content.
But creating Instagram Stories that stand out can be a challenge in itself. With so many tools, tactics, and tips out there to design Instagram Stories, it can get very confusing. This is especially true if you don’t know how to go about the task. Fret not, for we have your back! In this article, we shall guide you through some of the most effective Instagram Story design ideas and tips to help increase your following and expand your reach. Let’s get on with them.
Begin With a Storyboard
Instagram Stories gives you a free hand as far as content creation is concerned. You can use Stories to announce upcoming events, promote blog posts, show behind-the-scenes footage, share photos and live videos, and so much more. The best part is that you can utilize Stories for sharing any type of content without having to worry whether they match your polished feed or not.
But one thing that you need to pay attention to is your Instagram Story graphics. You will want them to have visually appealing designs that can draw the attention of your audience and engage them. One way to do so is to plan out your story with the help of a storyboard and then start making the designs.
For this, you can apply the design elements provided by Instagram. You can also take the help of an online video editor, such as InVideo, to put together a template that can be utilized for your Stories. Filters, font choices, GIF types, stickers, etc. are some of the design elements you can consider to create your style guide. It is easy to develop a Story-specific style guide in various formats. Once you create it, you can easily apply it to create Stories for enhancing brand recognition.
Come Up With a Style Guide for Stories
Custom graphics and short video clips are among the most popular content used for creating Instagram Stories. But it’s not enough to publish such content in its original form. If you want to add an edge to your content, you will have to consider using design elements that can embellish them.
When it comes to creating storyboards, you can go about it in several ways. For instance, you can provide viewers a snapshot of your upcoming events or a sneak peek into a new product launch. Storyboards can help to make your design process faster and easier.
Pay Attention to Photography
While custom graphic designs serve well for the purpose of Instagram Stories, you must not miss out on incorporating photography at regular intervals. When it’s a question of content production using photographs, the field can be very vast. You can use professionally created photographs for your stories. The option of capturing behind-the-scenes photographs using just your smartphone is also there. Finally, you can select photographs from the treasure of free stock images easily available online. The only thing to keep in mind is that the photos must be engaging enough to attract the attention of the audience.
Maintain the Dimensions
When creating your design elements for Instagram Stories, you need to pay special attention to certain lines and parameters. The dimensions for Instagram Stories are 1080 x 1920 pixels. But it is best to keep your design elements within a pixel range of 1080 x 1420. The aim is to keep 250 pixels clear at the top and bottom. These areas are where Instagram allows your username and ways to interact appear respectively on your story graphics. If you include any vital information in these areas, they may get overlapped.
Spice up With Symbols
Are you aware that Instagram Stories offers you five different font options to select from? These include Typewriter, Neon, Modern, Strong, and Classic. They provide you the chance to come up with symbols and letters in five unique styles.
When it comes to design elements, this feature of Instagram Stories can come in handy. You can select a few of these symbols or letters or both and then blow them up or simply rotate them and add them as design elements in your Stories. You can even use them to create the backdrop for your texts. Something as simple as a hyphen or a period can be blown up and used as an exciting design element. By using your creative instinct and these symbols and letters, you can lend your Stories dashboard an interesting touch.
Add Some Fun With Boomerangs
A boomerang may not be the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Instagram Stories. But it can be a very effective way of generating interesting content. Boomerang refers to a very short video clip of 1 or 2 seconds. It is meant to loop back and forth. Due to this feature, you can incorporate boomerangs into your IG Stories for some fun. You can easily use this app to capture various moments and then turn them into exciting mini videos.
The best part is that Boomerang has been directly incorporated into Instagram Stories. To access this app, you can simply click on the Stories camera and then select the right option to launch it. Now, the app also allows you to post to Instagram from a desktop browser.
Play Around With a Wide Range of Colors
Instagram provides automatic access to 27 colors when you use the drawing or text features. The cool thing is that the spectrum of colors available to you is way beyond this number. Yes, that’s true. All you need to do is hold down any of these 27 colors, and you will have access to a riot of colors to select and apply.
The color picker feature allows you to select any shade depending on your choice and then add the color to enhance the final look of your photographs. If you want, you can even pick your brand color and apply it to your photograph for a more harmonious look as far as branding is concerned.
In Conclusion
Now that you have an idea about how to create impressive content using Instagram Stories, why wait any longer? Start learning spectacular Instagram Stories and win over your audience. Remember that you don’t have to always follow what everyone else is doing and you can also learn about how to post on social media. Try to create fresh designs that will take your Stories to the next level and ensure that your audience remains hooked to your content.
