- [Instructor] The stories feature in Instagram
has become increasingly popular
and marketers should definitely make use of this feature
as best as they can.
I say as best as they can,
because although seemingly simple,
the subtleties of Instagram stories
can be a bit complicated, easy to learn,
but difficult to master.
Let's start by discussing some of the basics.
Instagram stories are different from regular posts
because first of all,
they don't show up in your regular Instagram feed.
Additionally, they're only available to view for 24 hours.
Stories can, however, be a good way to add personality
to your brand on Instagram.
Stories show up at the top of your home screen on Instagram.
So you can see we're on the home screen right now
and we actually have a story from Instagram.
We can see it at the top.
It's got the moving circle around it and it says New.
And if we tap on that,
we'll be able to view this Instagram Story.
So you can see here as an official Instagram,
Instagram story.
We're going to close that out for now.
So let's take a look
at how we can create our own Instagram stories.
We start the same way that we create anything on Instagram
by tapping the plus button towards the top.
Now from here at the bottom of the screen,
you'll notice that we have the option
to select the post type and the second one is story.
So let's tap on that.
Now, a lot of times people record new videos and stories
so when we first are brought to the story section,
you see the black screen that's because the device is
on the desk in front of me right now.
But if I had an out and about in the world,
we would see through our camera.
But we don't have to use new photos and videos for stories.
We can use photos we've already taken.
So let's tap on the bottom left
and let's choose one of our photos.
So when we start creating a story,
this would be the same if we had just taken a video,
now we'd be able to edit that video,
but we just added a photo.
So we can edit this photo.
You'll notice that we have a number of options
up at the top.
The first one with the downward pointing arrow
just allows us to download the story.
I mentioned that stories are only available for 24 hours
for people to view.
But if you want to see it for longer,
you can download it so that you have access to it.
But your followers won't be able to see it after 24 hours.
The second button allows us to add music to our story.
So when we tap on it,
we're brought to the screen where we can choose some
of the Instagram music options.
So you can scroll through this on your own,
and you could add it in if you'd like.
The third option allows us to add some effects.
So let's tap on that.
A lot of these effects deal with people.
So you might need to have a story that has a person in it,
but there are some other ones in here as well.
Let's see if we can find a good one for our image here.
And there was one in particular I wanted to use.
That one's kind of cool.
You can see how it can take a regular photo
and it can make it look alive and moving.
So, you know, it's a great way to add some flare
and make things a little more interesting.
So you can look through those on your own.
I'm sure you've seen some of them
if you've been using Instagram
and then when you've selected the filter
that you'd like to use, you can just tap on Done.
Now, the fourth option is the stickers option.
It's the smiley face.
If we tap on that, we can add a number of different elements
to our Instagram story.
So we could add our location.
We can at mention people, hashtags.
You can actually ask questions here in Instagram stories
and run polls.
And we're going to talk about polls
a little bit more in depth later on in the course,
but we run those polls through stories.
So if we were to add a poll here,
we could customize the question, customize the answers,
and we could actually get some feedback from our viewers.
And notice we can even take donations here
through Instagram stories.
There are a number of different options.
So you can look through this on your own
and select some that might be good for you.
For now, I'll just add a hashtag.
Once we've added the hashtag,
we can tap on done and now we can actually tap
and we can move this element where we'd like on the screen.
So all of those stickers can be moved however you'd like.
Now the next option over is the drawing option.
It looks like the squiggly mark.
So if we tap on that, we're brought up with some colors
and we could actually draw on this story.
Now creativity is not my strong suit,
so I'm not going to try and do anything in particular here.
And I'll just undo that.
Just wanted just show you an example.
There are some other options at the top to change the type
of tool that we're using to draw.
So you can play around with that
and get as creative as you'd like.
And then the final option allows us to just add some text.
So you'll notice that when we tap on it,
we could add text to this story if we wanted to.
I'm just going to hit Done for now, however.
So once we're ready,
if we wanted to share this story immediately,
we could just tap on the Your Story button.
Alternatively, we could send this only to our close friends
on Instagram,
or if you want it to send it to a particular person,
we could tap on the arrow button at the bottom right
and then let Instagram know who we'd like to send it to.
But because we're a business, you know,
oftentimes we're going to be just sending these publicly.
Again, I think Instagram stories are a great way
to show behind the scenes, daily activities,
just add more personality to your Instagram profile
so that users can see there are real people
behind the organization.
You don't want to spend too much time on stories
because they don't last that long, right?
So it's kind of a balancing act.
The more you practice, the quicker you'll get
at being able to create stories,
but it's definitely a great creative feature to have.
So let's just tap on your story and it sends it off.
Now, if you look up the top of the screen,
it says we have our story.
So we could tap on that and we could view our story.
Now we just created one story
and what we could do
is we could actually create a second story
and then when people go to view our story,
they will see them in order.
So when you're creating a story,
you can only add one video or one image
and it can only be a max of 15 seconds,
but then you can add another story right after it
and another one and another one
and you could add 10 of them if you wanted
and then when users view your story,
they will see all of those 10 clips in the order
that you recorded them.
And that's a rolling timer.
So after 24 hours, the oldest one,
the one that's 24 hours old will drop off,
but the ones haven't quite hit that timeline yet will still
be on there.
So your story can always be going continuously.
And I think that is one of the attractions
of Instagram story.
It's kind of like a story.
So if you wanted to, you can get as creative as you want
and you can add as many stories as you'd like
to keep that story rolling.
But definitely don't forget about the stories option.
It's a great way to add a personal touch
to your Instagram profile.