Most Instagram marketers post their content through the feed; however, it is not the only method they can use to engage with their target audience. Instagram Stories has proven to be extremely popular with over 500 million daily active users, as per Edition.cnn.com. This means that the feature is being used by around half of Instagrams’s total monthly active users. What this effectively means is that Instagram marketers have another very attractive channel available on the wildly-popular photo-sharing app. Some Instagram Stories design tips from expert Instagram marketers for creating high-impact visuals that will lock in your target audience.
Expert Tips for Creating Visually Stunning Instagram Stories
Plan It Out with a Storyboard
There are plenty of ways to use Instagram Stories to stir the interest of your followers and increase your follower base. Instagram Stories are a very good method of engaging with the target audience without needing to achieve the level of finesse demanded by content published in the feed. This means is that you can easily use live video, footage of behind-the-scenes action, and candid smartphone photography without needing to think whether there is any match with the content published earlier.
However, you still need to put together visuals that have a very high level of appeal. The best way of not getting lost is to create a storyboard so that you can plan out how you would like to present the story even before you start on the design aspect.
Use the Same Color Scheme and Fonts That Are Used in the Brand
Even though Instagram Stories are a more informal way of brand promotion, you should never do anything that dilutes the brand image. This means that you need to remain true to the color palette used to represent the brand and the company logo and even the fonts that have been standardized on for the text. When you use the same logo, color scheme, fonts, etc. it helps the viewers to recognize your brand better and this can often be critical in a situation when a user is scrolling through multiple stories all vying for his attention.
Even just a passing glimpse of one of your graphics should be enough to identify the brand without having to see your company name and logo. Without brand recognition, it is unlikely you will get real comments on Instagram.
Focus on Leveraging Boomerangs
Boomerang is an Instagram-owned application that is seamlessly integrated with Instagram Stories. Users have easy access to Boomerang once they open the Instagram Stories camera. They simply need to directly navigate to the Boomerang option to the right. In this context, you must know that a Boomerang is a superfast clip lasting for a second or two. You could opt for Boomerang instead of focusing on images as it could be instrumental in adding a distinct personality to your Instagram Stories.
Incorporate a Text Shadow
You can demonstrate your creativity by using the in-app design assets of Instagram. You could consider incorporating a text-shadow into the creation dashboard of Instagram Stories simply by adding a couple of layers in different colors in the same text. You should focus on typing out the text in a darker or lighter tone and strategically place it precisely where you desire it on your Story. You could do the same thing while using the primary tone. This is an amazing way of incorporating text overtop an image or video in the app itself thus making it easy and quick to design your unique Instagram Story before getting it published.
Stick to the Lines
One of the elementary lessons when it comes to coloring and design is that you must stay within the lines. This isn’t just to make things easy for kids – it is one of the fundamental tenets of graphic design that allows people to use space optimally. For instance, in your Instagram Stories, the top and bottom areas are already covered by your username and ways to interact with the post. It is, therefore, good practice to avoid putting any important information or design elements in those places.
Instagram already has a warning system in place if you are placing elements too far down or up, but all designs made outside of the app must also adhere to these standards. The typical dimensions are 1080×1920 pixels, but Instagram’s recommendation is to keep all key elements within the center space spanning 1080×1420 pixels, leaving 250 pixels on both top and bottom.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that Instagram Stories has emerged as one of the main attractions of using Instagram. Users love the way they get to see high-quality visuals in a format that is more informal and less polished representing a more authentic and spontaneous brand experience. Instagram content designers need to go all out to deliver engaging yet more loosely structured content so that users will look out for them even when competing content is trying to catch their attention.
See also: Facebook and Instagram Shops – New Business Tool for Marketers
