You know how sometimes you find a “quick and easy” recipe online, but then it calls for crazy things that you don’t have, or advanced skills you’ve never learned?
Yeah, this isn’t one of those recipes. ? When we say that creating a flawless Insta story is simple, we really mean it! Here’s our secret 15-minute recipe that you can re-use again and again.
Step One: Find Your “Thing”
What product or aspect of your brand do you want to showcase? For best results, try to drill it down to one specific item and feature. While it’s tempting to talk about everything wonderful about your product, keep in mind that an Instagram story is quick. You only have about 30 seconds to inform your viewers, and their attention span is already limited. So find that one thing you want to talk about, then keep simplifying that idea until you have it down to a single sentence or phrase.
Step Two: Get Your Copy Down
Now that you’ve got your idea, what are you going to say about it? Every slide in your Insta story should tell the audience a little something about your product. Don’t forget that your viewer will be reading this on a mobile device, so it’s important to keep your copy short and to the point. Try thinking in terms of headlines. How are you going to make your audience stop, pause, and read what you have to say?
Pro-tip: Make sure that your last slide includes a call to action! It can be as simple as “click the link in our bio,” or more specific like, “call our Sales Team at xxx-xxxx.”
Step Three: Add Images and Graphics
The wonderful thing about Instagram is that it’s primary focus is the visual. Pair your copy with images of your product that exemplify what you’re trying to showcase. For example, if you’re talking about how your homes include office spaces, provide different pictures of the model homes showcasing just that. Be sure to put your most compelling image first so your followers don’t just skip through your amazing story and miss the good parts! If you don’t have any images available, you should still make your copy visually appealing. Use fun colors, backgrounds, or even stickers. Check out this video for fun ideas to incorporate into your own Stories.
Step Four: Combine and Post
Once you have your images and copy, all you have to do is put them together! Keep in mind that the recommended image size for a story is 1080 x 1920 pixels. If you’re adding in your copy through a program like Photoshop or Canva, make sure that your image size is correct, or you’ll cut off your content! If you don’t want to use another software program, that’s fine too. Just use the text feature that Instagram already provides in the app.
Once you’re done, you’re ready to post and share!
Bonus Step: Add to Your Highlights
You took the time to create this content, why not save it? Instagram allows you to save Stories to the top of your page as highlights. You can save them as single Stories, or group them together as a category. Do you have a past story you were proud of, but didn’t save? Don’t worry, when you select “add highlights” Instagram actually has an archive of your past Stories that you can add to your highlight section!
While Instagram Stories should be an integral part of your digital strategy, they also don’t need to be complicated. Most times, you already have the ingredients to make some amazing content, you just need to mix them all together. We hope you enjoy making Stories as much as we do!