You’ve probably already pored over our Must-Try Instagram Hacks. (It’s a fun beach read, I totally get it!) Now, it’s time to master the fine art of the Instagram Story.
- Turn your Story into a shopping spree for Instagram Hacks
If you’ve got an Instagram Shop, you can tag your one product in each Instagram Story with a product sticker.
When shoppers want to learn more about that cool hamster-print vest, they’ll just click on the sticker and head to your Shop to begin their digital shopping spree.
How to do it:
- Build your Instagram story and tap the sticker icon
- Select Product
- Choose the item from your product catalog
- Customize the product sticker to suit your brand
- Change the color of a question sticker
To color coordinate or not to color coordinate? This is the question… or rather, a question about what to do with your question sticker.
How to do it:
- Tap the sticker icon and select Question
- Type out your question and then tap the rainbow wheel at the top of the screen
- Continue to tap until the question sticker is the color of your choosing
- Access more gifs than ever
If there’s such a thing as too many gifs, we don’t want to hear it.
While Insta’s search allows you to peruse Giphy’s library, using the Giphy app itself allows you to create albums of your favorites for easy access—and you can share right from Giphy.
How to do it:
- Open the Giphy app and find the gif you want
- Click on the paper-airplane share icon (or the heart icon if you’d like to favorite and post later)
- Select the Instagram icon and then choose “Share to Stories”
- OR select “Copy GIF” and then paste into your Story
- Answer questions on a Live Story
Answering your followers’ questions on an Instagram Live Story is like a fun interrogation you’re doing to yourself. (Need some help getting started with Instagram Live?
How to do it:
- Prompt your audience for questions in advance of your Q&A with a Questions sticker
- Once you’ve gone live, tap the question-mark icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the question you’d like to answer, and it will appear on your Live screen as you broadcast
- Questions will be greyed out once its been selected so that you don’t pick it again
5. Make your own Instagram filter for Instagram Hacks
You don’t need to be a programmer to create your own custom filter to use or share with the world. Spark AR Studio has a ton of tutorials and simple step-by-step tools to help you put your stamp on the world (and, more specifically, your followers’ faces).
- Save your fave filters
You want to have your Elf Ears filter at your fingertips, we get it. Thankfully, there’s a way to build an easy access library of your favorite effects.
How to do it:
- Open up your Instagram Stories camera
- Swipe through the filters at the bottom of the screen until you get to the end
- Tap the icon of a magnifying glass that says “Browse Effects”
- Find an effect you like and click the download icon (a downward arrow)
- Next time you open your camera, that effect will be available to select
- If you see an effect on someone else’s story, click on the name of the effect (near the top of the screen) to save it from there
7. Become a master of the Instagram Reel
Instagram’s new Reels feature may be a bit of a TikTok copycat, but it’s fun all the same. Create a 15-second multi-clip video with music, special effects, and stickers and wow your followers with your dance moves. You can share on your Stories, but they’ll appear on the Explore page, too, so you can impress even more ‘Grammers with your Celine Dion lip synchs.
8. Use templates and design tools to make your stories pop for Instagram Hacks
Sure, a great chef can prepare a delicious meal with just a knife and a pan… but a kitchen full of tools will make creating a gourmet experience that much easier.
Likewise, branching out from the basic elements of Instagram Stories and incorporating external design and editing apps into your creative process will open up a whole new world of possibilities.
Is this a good metaphor, or am I just hungry? Download some apps and we’ll check in after lunch.
How to do it:
- Try some of these fun Instagram Story Apps to take your images and videos to the next level
- Download free Instagram Stories templates and make ‘em your own.
Of course, no amount of hacks (or tips, or tricks, or gadgets or gizmos aplenty) can compare with good ol’ fashioned quality content.