Many reasons make Instagram one of the most popular social networks globally, but the Story feature is probably the key to the platform’s success. Instagram currently hosts more than a billion unique accounts, whereas 500 million people use stories every day.

According to the report, 25% of Millennials and members of Generation Z look for stories of the products and services they want to buy. This basically means that a good-looking Instagram story can help you to impress prospects and grow conversion rates.

But how do you craft a perfect instagram story? It’s not just one activity, but rather a process with several steps that you need to take in order to make things work for your Instagram account. Let’s check them out here!

Beware of dimensions

The first tip is a true no-brainer, but we must remind you that Instagram takes stories very seriously. In such circumstances, you should not forget to use the right dimensions for your stories: 1080 pixels width by 1920 pixels height. The aspect ratio of 9:16 makes your content perfectly suitable for Instagram stories.

Add a location

If you are running a brick and mortar store or simply organizing a live event, you can promote it through Instagram stories using the location feature. It’s a very convenient way to approach potential customers beyond the primary follower base. Here’s how location stickers work:

• Click the sticker icon
• Choose a location-related sticker
• Pick a location that aligns with your business activities – a town, a shop, a street, etc.
• Customize the selected sticker in a way that suits your branding style
• If needed, you can also adjust the look of the location tag.

Schedule a story

Ideal timing can give a major boost to your Instagram story, so you might as well plan it well in advance. But third-party Instagram apps allow you to take the extra step and schedule a story.

For example, Later designed a tool that sends you a notification minutes before the selected posting time. All you need to do is click a few buttons and share the story when it matters the most.

Use your brand’s typography

Every aspect of your branding strategy is critical, so we suggest adding the official typography to your stories on Instagram. The app called Over can help you with that as you only need to upload the font file and then use this tool to create customized Instagram stories.

Use your brand’s color scheme

Brand colors are even more important than typography because people form first impressions visually. If you are struggling to find the exact match, go to Instagram’s brush tool and long-hold default colors in this palette. It will launch a new color slider with every color you may need.

Align text

Although Instagram users prefer visual content, sometimes it’s necessary to include a brief line of text to add context to the story. Jake Gardner, a digital marketer at the essay writer service, says you should align text left or right to make the post more compelling: “If the central position interferes with your story, don’t hesitate to move it around.”

Hide hashtags

Hashtags are so vital for Instagram that it needs no further explaining, but sometimes they can spoil the fun if your story image is simply too beautiful. The trick is to click a hashtag, pinch it, and make it much smaller. After that, you can cover the small hashtag with an image sticker or color that perfectly fits into the story.

Use pins to add versatility

Another way to make Instagram stories more versatile is through pins. The platform allows you to pin elements such as emojis, stickers, and GIFs. You can play and experiment with your pins, move them around, and look for the best position. The right pin at the right moment will surprise the audience and make your story much more appealing.

Share GIFs to Instagram stories directly

Do you know you can share GIFs to your Instagram stories directly? This is possible if you use the GIPHY App – and you definitely should!

You only need to select the most relevant GIF from the app, click the Instagram icon below it, and choose whether to share it as a post or story. GIFs are incredibly interesting these days and this hack guarantees to skyrocket the popularity of your account.

Play with the glow effect

If you feel like your brand needs the extra layer of glow, you might as well play with this feature in your stories. Our favorite option is to add glow to emojis because it makes the visual element of an Instagram story even more attractive.

You can do this through Neon font as it automatically adds a new layer of glow to inserted emojis.

Check re-shares of your story

Every marketer is eager to figure out the sheer number of re-shares earned, but Instagram Insights do not show it directly. The solution is to tap the circled arrow in the upper right corner of the story to see a menu with multiple options. One option is called “View Story Re-shares” and it will display a full list of the current Instagram story re-shares.

Create Instagram story opinion polls

In case you haven’t noticed yet, Instagram also allows users to perform opinion polls through stories. That way, you are free to learn and study your audience or even check the individual preferences of any given follower. It’s a relatively new feature, but we definitely encourage every marketer to use story polls for additional market research.

Adding CTA links

If you have a business account with more than 10 thousand fans, then you can add calls to action (CTA) with clickable links to the story. Given the fact that Instagram is not exactly thrilled about URLs, this is the one feature you have to utilize in order to promote your brand, products, or services.

The Bottom Line

Instagram stories are incredibly popular among social media users all over the globe, which makes it fundamental to learn how to design appealing stories. Apart from making a story relevant to the account you’re running, there is a whole list of things you can do to design an eye-pleasing story.

We showed you a step-by-step strategy on how to create a perfect Instagram story, but which ones are you really going to use?