Take A Journey with Instagram Stories

Whenever I am talking to someone about social media, I always talk about showing everyone your company’s journey. Whether you’re releasing a new product, going to a tradeshow, or even showing what’s going on behind the scenes. Your audience wants to see that process and have an inside look at what they normally don’t have the chance to see.

An easy way to show your journey without spamming someone’s feed is Instagram Stories. Instagram Stories is a feature of Instagram that allows you to post your images and video to a slideshow format.

To help add some personality to your videos or images, Instagram has filters, stickers, and a drawing tool you can use to include in your stories.

Filters
Think your picture or video is bland? Add a filter. Instagram has filters to include after you take a picture (Paris, Oslo, Jakarta, New York) and face filters you can take when you’re taking the photo/video (Dog face, sunglasses, fireworks). Instagram is always updating these filters so you’re never being repetitive. With this selection of filters, it will be easy to find one that works well with the image/video that you captured.

Stickers
Instagram has an assortment of stickers you can use in your stories. Some of the stickers include location, tagging an account, hashtags, music, and polls. Don’t just use these stickers to include them, use them to enhance your story. If you have an event coming up, use the countdown sticker. If you have a question for your followers, use the poll sticker. These can be informational for not only your followers but also your company.

Drawing Tool
The drawing tool might not seem as exciting as the filters or stickers, but it’s still great to use to make something stand out in your video/image or even to show off your drawing skills. Maybe you have a huge sale going on and you really want that to be the main point in your story. You can highlight or circle where you want people to look with a bright color.

Now that you know what Instagram Stories is and its different features, you probably want to know how to use it.

1. Open up the Instagram app
2. Tap the camera icon at the top-left corner
3. Choose the format of you’re your story (Type, Music, Live, Normal, Boomerang, Superzoom, Focus, Rewind, or Hands-Free)
4. Tap the white circle to take a picture. Press and hold the white circle to take a video.
5. Tap “Your Story” in the bottom-left corner

Now grab your phone and take your audience on a journey. Comment below and let us know how you have used Instagram Stories or other ways you have showed your audience your company’s journey.