The Must-Know Details

We all know Instagram Stories, but do we really know how to maximize them for social media marketing? Let’s dive into the essentials of creating killer Stories on Instagram.

How to Create Stories

  1. Tap the + icon in the Instagram app (right next to the heart).

  2. Select "Story" from the menu.

  3. For a new photo or video, tap the camera. Hold the white circle for video, tap once for a photo. Flip the camera for a selfie.

  4. Or, choose a photo/video from your camera roll.

  5. Add stickers, hashtags, and other fun features—more on these below.

Dimensions

Your Instagram Stories should be 1080px by 1920px (that’s 1080 pixels wide and 1920 pixels tall). Anything outside these dimensions might get cropped or look low-quality.

Length

As of 2024, Stories videos can be up to 60 seconds long. Longer videos will be split into multiple Stories automatically. We don’t, however, generally recommend posting stories longer than 15 seconds as it is much more difficult to retain viewers for longer!

Stickers

Stickers make your Stories pop and give lots of opportunities for engagement! After uploading your content, tap the square smiley icon at the top to start adding stickers.

Sticker options include:

  • Product

  • Location

  • Mention

  • Add Yours

  • Frames

  • Avatar

  • Add Yours templates

  • Hashtags

  • Captions

  • Questions

  • Quiz

  • Food Orders

  • Reveal

  • GIFs

  • Music

  • Links

  • Photos

  • Polls

  • Emoji

  • Slider

  • Quizzes

  • Donations

  • Countdowns

  • Notify

Hashtags

Hashtags are a big deal for Instagram marketing - but they are pretty much useless in stories! Leave them for your posts and reels!