Instagram Stories: A Quick-Start Guide

Instagram Stories: A Getting Started Guide | BloggingBistro.com

By Natalia Raben
Guest Contributor

Instagram is one of the most important social media outlets. With almost 1 billion monthly active users and 500 million daily active users, it definitely needs to be included in every company’s or brand’s online marketing strategy.

Until recently, Instagram posts were the heart of the platform. But Instagram has become overloaded with posts, and with the new algorithm, 70% of the posts don’t get seen.

So the focus has switched from feed posts to Stories. Stories have become popular due to their functionality. Stories display at the top of the screen, so they are easily accessible. They’re so enticing, in fact, that 80 percent of the 500 million active users watch Instagram Stories on a daily basis!

Since they aren’t available after 24 hours (unless the user adds a Story to their Stories Highlights), they attract users who don’t want to miss out on something interesting.

What are Instagram Stories?

If you have used Snapchat and uploaded My Story, you’ll quickly understand Instagram Stories. The two are very similar.

Instagram Stories appear on the very top of your feed. In the top left corner, you can see your own profile picture, and to the right of that, profile pictures of people you follow who have posted Stories during the past 24 hours.

Around their photos, you will notice various colored circles.

Rainbow means that someone has created or added to their Story.
Purple means that you have viewed the Story.

Tap the user’s profile picture to view their Story.

How to upload your own Story

Tap your profile picture, located on the far left of the Stories pane. The app will show you a little introduction on how to proceed.

Upload a vertical image and/or video. It will be available to watch for all your followers (and other users who search for your profile) for 24 hours. Afterwards, Instagram automatically deletes it.

4 ways to make your Stories stand out

Upload high-quality photos or videos. Using low-quality images is unprofessional and bores the viewer. If you consistently post ugly images and videos, users will likely unfollow you.
Use vertical images. These display best on phones.
Experiment with filters. Instagram gives you an option to use a filter on your not-yet-published Story. Right before pressing the ‘Add Story’ button, swipe to the right or left and different filters (with city names like Tokyo or Oslo), will adjust the colors and contrast of your image.
When you swipe up on your not-yet-published Story, the app will show you a variety of stickers, gifs, emojis and features to layer on top of your image or video.

The features currently include:

Mentioning someone else’s account. This allows the other user to repost your Story on their own Story. The benefit is a higher potential exposure.
Adding a location. The app then adds your Story to the pool of Stories, created by other users, from the same location uploaded that day. Again, the benefit is a higher potential exposure.
Live Video. Instead of uploading a video you took a few minutes ago, you can broadcast live. Your followers will get a notification on their devices.
Story Highlights. After you publish a Story, when you view it, at the bottom of your screen you will see a “highlight” button with a heart icon above it. When you highlight it, the Story will be available indefinitely on your profile. (It will still be deleted after 24 hours from the normal Stories channel, but on your profile, it will stay visible as long as you want it to.)