Content MarketingSocial Media & Influencer Marketing

How To Create Stunning Visuals For Instagram Stories

Instagram has more than 500 million active users every single day, which means at least half of the overall user base of Instagram view or creates stories every day. Instagram Stories is among the best ways you can use to connect with your target audience due to its incredible features that are ever-changing. According to statistics, 68 percent of millennials say that they watch Instagram Stories.

With the high number of users following friends, celebrities, and business, we can assume many users are consuming a lot of business content and everything else that the platform offers. To connect and attract your audience, you need to create captivating Instagram Stories that stand out visually. Here are eight design tips that can help you create more enchanting, visually stunning, and engaging Instagram Stories.

Use Animated Graphics

According to statistics, video posts usually get 38 percent more engagement compared to image posts. Therefore, if you fail to captivate your audience in the first four seconds of the viewing, you might completely lose their interest. Adding animation to your pictures is one of the best ways to include movement and keep your viewers engaged. 

However, if you don’t have video content, you can add animation to your images or create a separate animation. Instagram includes some inbuilt tools that you can use, such as the unlimited GIF gallery or animated lyrics. Furthermore, you can also utilize third-party Instagram tools for best results on social media.

Instagram Animated GIF

Create A Storyboard

You can use Instagram Stories in many different ways. From sharing new features to promoting your new blog posts, these stories provide you with an incredible way to engage with your target market without polishing it like your feed. That means that you can take behind-the-scenes footage, smartphone photographs, and live videos without worrying whether it complements the other content you have. Nonetheless, when it comes to the graphics of your Instagram Stories, you need to ensure you are creating visually attractive designs that allure your viewers to tune in. One of the best ways to achieve that is by utilizing a storyboard to plan your stories before embarking on the design.

A storyboard helps you plan the appropriate content to post and organize the content the way you would like it to be displayed. That helps in ensuring that your Instagram story flows smoothly and keeps your viewers engaged. A storyboard is also essential if you usually place text overlay on your stories because it ensures your stories remain cohesive.

Instagram Stories - Storyboard

Include Photography

Your Instagram story does not have to comprise custom graphic designs only. You can switch them up and include photography at times. The best thing about Instagram stories is that everything you publish doesn’t have to be professionally created or high-quality. Instead, you can use the camera of your smartphone to capture some behind-the-scenes photography in the application. Furthermore, there are millions of free photography options available for use too. You only need to select the photos that match the content you are sharing and are relevant to your company or brand.

Instagram Stories - Use Photography

Use Your Brand Colors And Fonts

When marketing your company or products, you need to keep everything you develop on brand, including your Instagram stories. Therefore, you need to have a complete brand kit ready at all times to go with your logo, fonts, and hex codes, among other things. Including your brand colors and fonts assists a lot with brand recognition, especially when your audience scrolls through the stories. Sticking to a specific color palette in all your Instagram stories is vital to growing brand memorability. Regardless of whether you are building a personal brand, or having a business, keeping your color scheme consistent is key. Use the color palette wisely and professionally to enhance the appearance of your Instagram stories graphics. Once your viewers see your graphics, they can automatically know it belongs to your organization without even seeing your username.

Instagram Stories - Branding and Fonts

Add Text Shadows

You need to get creative with the in-app design assets provided by Instagram to create captivating visuals for all your Instagram stories. You can include text shadows in the story creation dashboard by including two layers of different colors to the same text. You can achieve that by typing your text in a darker or lighter shade and then place it overtop the shadow using a slight angle. This tip is an exciting way to add text on top of a video or photo that you capture in the application, making it easy and quick to create your Instagram story before publishing it.

Instagram Stories - Text Shadows

Create Overlays And Backgrounds

The drawing tool provided by the Instagram app can do more than highlighting and coloring the text in your story. This unique tool can also assist you in creating color overlays and backgrounds that enhance the appearance of your stories. If you plan to share some important announcements on your Instagram story without finding a photo to use, you can open the pen tool, locate the background color you want and then press and hold it until the whole screen turns that color.

Furthermore, you can create a glowing color overlay by utilizing the highlighting tool for the same process. You can also create some sneak peeks by including a background color on top of your images and moving the eraser tool over to eliminate some of the colors and enhance your images. If you need professional-made backgrounds and overlays you can consult website builders who can do it for you. You can find more info about them here, if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself.

Instagram Stories - Overlays and Backgrounds

Use GIFs And Stickers

Instagram stories provide you with many different stickers and GIF options to bring a sense of style and humor to your designs. You can search for something specific or scroll through the various options to add to your Instagram stories. There is an array of icon styles, and you can also include hashtag stickers, Q&As, quizzes, and polls to enhance the appearance of your visuals and keep your audience engaged. You can also create and submit your GIFs and stickers for viewers to add to their stories or provide easy access to your brand.

Instagram Stories - GIFs and Stickers

Creating creative and visually appealing Instagram stories is an integral part of your business or personal brand. Whether you are an illustrator, videographer, photographer, or a small business entrepreneur, creating beautiful and outstanding Instagram stories can help you spread the message on your impeccable skills and demonstrate your work to a bigger audience. The tips discussed above can help you create high-quality graphics that will captivate your viewers in all your Instagram stories.

Hardik Oza

Hardik Oza is an SEO consultant with more than 9 years of experience. He helps companies to grow their businesses. He shares his thoughts on additional publications like SEMrush, Search Engine People, and Social Media Today. Follow him on Twitter @Ozaemotion.

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