How To Use Instagram Stories: Tips and Examples for 2026

Instagram Stories—short content highlights that appear at the top of Instagram user feeds—are a great way to deepen your relationship with your current followers. In fact, Stories can encourage these users to keep following you. “Creators who post to Stories often see less unfollows than creators who don’t,” explains Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri in a 2024 Reel.

Ahead, dive deeper into what Instagram Stories are and how you can use them to engage your audience. You’ll also read guides on how to upload Stories, edit them, make them interactive, and more.

What is an Instagram Story?

An Instagram Story is a photo or video post that stays on your profile for 24 hours and appears to followers in the Stories bar at the top of their feeds and as a ring around your profile picture. Stories are different from regular posts to your Instagram feed, which are permanently displayed on your grid. 

You can make your Stories permanent, too, by saving them to your Instagram Highlights, which appear as tappable circles below your bio. You’ll learn how to do this later in the guide. 

You’ll know if someone has a Story posted when you see their profile picture in your Stories bar, or when you see a bright circle around their profile photo, like in this example from olive oil brand Wonder Valley:

To view an Instagram Story, tap on the profile photo. If someone has posted multiple Stories, tap to view the next one. Once you click a Story, you can see how long it’s been up by looking at the number of hours next to the profile name.

Why use Instagram Stories for business?

• Test new ideas
• Drive traffic to your ecommerce site
• Engage your followers
• Publish less-polished content
• Get location-specific views

There are a number of reasons to use Instagram Stories for your business. Posting Stories can help you do the following:

Test new ideas

Stories aren’t displayed to nonfollowers in Explore or Reels tabs. Instead, they’re shown only to your followers and in location searches (if you tagged a location in your Story). If your profile is public, nonfollowers can only see Stories that other users have shared or if they go directly to your profile. You can take advantage of this smaller audience by experimenting with a new style of content to see whether it’s well received, then consider reposting it as a permanent post or adapting it for another marketing channel, like TikTok.

Drive traffic to your ecommerce site

Advertise your products, then link them in your Stories with Instagram Shopping. This feature directs users to your ecommerce site to complete their checkout. You can also use the simple linking feature to link other pages on your ecommerce site.

Engage your followers

Instagram tools like polls and prompts let you interact directly with Story viewers. You might ask followers to answer a question in a poll, or you might even solicit audience questions to answer yourself in subsequent stories. These types of interactive features are available natively as Instagram stickers.

Publish less-polished content

Stories’ disappearing nature means you can post content that might not be as polished as or fit the aesthetic of the Instagram posts on your main grid or might not be edited to perfection.

Get location-specific views

You can geotag your Stories for the chance to wind up in location-specific Story collections decided by the Instagram algorithm. This can amplify your reach with consumers looking for content from a specific place.

How to post an Instagram Story

1. Select the plus sign on the upper right of your profile page, or the plus sign in the center bottom of the app.

2. Scroll to select Story.

3. To capture a photo, press the circle in the center of the screen. If you hold down the circle, you can record video.

4. If you want to post an existing photo or video, tap the square on the bottom left of the screen that shows a photo thumbnail.

5. Select a photo or video from your media library.

6. Edit your Story with the options at the top of the screen.

7. Add a caption by tapping “Add a caption” near the bottom of the screen.

8. At the bottom of the page, select who you want to share your post with. If you click “Your story,” your post will be shown to all of your followers. If you select “Close friends,” your post will only be visible to followers you’ve selected as Close Friends.

9. If you aren’t ready to post your Story, you can save it as a draft and post it later. You’ll be prompted to save your post as a draft when you exit the editor.

How to edit your Instagram Story

• Make it a Boomerang
• Add text, mentions, and location
• Restyle with AI
• Add stickers

During the upload process, you’ll have the option to edit your Instagram Story and add special effects and additional information. Note that you can’t edit your Story once you push it live.

Keep in mind that if you want to add design elements that aren’t available inside the app, you can create title cards and other graphics in Canva or other free design tools that you can then upload as the call to action or entire slides within your Story.

Here are a few ways to edit your Story:

Make it a Boomerang

If you upload a video file or live photo, you can decide whether you want your Story to be a still photo, a live photo, or a Boomerang. The Boomerang feature plays your clip forward and backwards. There are a few different boomerang effects to choose from:

• Classic. This plays your Boomerang at a regular speed.

• Slow motion. This plays your Boomerang at a slower speed.

• Echo. This adds a double vision effect to your Boomerang.

• Duo. This speeds up your Boomerang.

Add text, mentions, and location

When you add text to your Instagram Story, you’ll be able to adjust the texts’ color, font, thickness, and more. You can also add special effects like sparkles, or have Instagram spell out your words one letter at a time. Try using these effects to draw attention to your call to action (CTA).

You’ll also have the chance to tag other Instagram users by selecting @ Mention. This lets the users you tag reshare your Story on their profile, which can widen your reach.

Clicking Location will let you tag a location—you can either search for one or choose a suggested location based on where you are. Lastly, if you click Rewrite, Meta’s AI can fix your grammar and offer text suggestions. 

Restyle with AI

Instagram’s Restyle feature, launched in October 2025, lets you edit your Stories with AI. You can direct the AI to add, remove, or change specific elements of your image with a prompt. You can also edit your image to appear in a specific style by choosing an option like 8-bit (this makes your image highly pixelated) or mural (which makes your photo look painted).

Here’s an example of removing an element of an image. After entering a prompt, the AI removes the tree branches from the top of the image.

Add stickers

A number of design-forward stickers help you create visually interesting stories, plus stickers like polls and question prompts let you make your story interactive. We’ll delve into all the stickers you can use next. 

How to make your Story more engaging with Stickers

• Use design stickers
• Add links
• Publish a poll
• Ask a question
• Post a countdown
• Make it shoppable
• Gauge reactions
• Ask viewers for their own photos
• Obscure images with frames
• Sort content with hashtags

Add stickers to your Instagram Story to encourage different types of engagement. Look for the smiley face in the top right of your screen to pull up the menu. 

Use stickers to add Instagram hashtags, mentions, locations, and visually interesting graphic elements to your content. These features can help your Stories make more of an impact, even if you don’t have a massive following on Instagram.

Use design stickers

Instagram provides a number of colorful stickers to make your Stories more playful. These include everything from hearts to words like “Oomf.” You can also search for specific images and browse GIF stickers that move.

Add links

Direct viewers to your website or a specific page on your website with a link sticker. This makes it easy to link to a new blog post, product page, or any other page on your website that you want to mention in your Story. 

You’ll add the URL, then the sticker text. The sticker text is what your Instagram Story viewer will see (rather than seeing the full URL). You might consider adding your CTA as the sticker text. 

Publish a poll

Poll stickers let you ask your audience for their opinion, which can help you collect customer feedback. You can inquire about potential new products, ask your followers for information on how they use your products, or more. To post a poll, write a question, then write multiple choice responses (or keep the preset Yes or No).

Ask a question 

Question stickers let you solicit questions from your followers. This can be a great way to integrate brand storytelling into your Instagram Story strategy. Once you receive a question, you can answer it in a new Story by recording yourself speaking or overlaying a written response on an image.

Post a countdown

Count down to a product launch, Instagram Live video, or other exciting event with a countdown sticker. This type of sticker can ramp up anticipation, and it even lets your audience set a reminder for when the countdown ends.

Make it shoppable

If you’ve already set up an Instagram Shop, you can sell on Instagram by linking products with stickers. Just choose a product sticker from the sticker menu, then choose the individual product or collection you want to feature.

If viewers see something they like, they can tap the product sticker to see the product page in your Instagram Shop. When the custom is ready to purchase, they’ll be directed to your ecommerce website’s checkout page.

Gauge reactions

The emoji slider sticker allows viewers to respond to comments or announcements by moving an emoji of your choice. You can use the emoji slider to ask how much followers love a certain product or gauge their excitement about an upcoming event or product launch. The farther right viewers slide the emoji, the bigger it gets, symbolizing more excitement. 

Ask viewers for their own photos

“Add Yours” stickers encourage interaction by directly asking your audience to share a photo. A great way to utilize this feature is by asking viewers to share photos of themselves using your product. Your audience’s responses post to their own Stories. You can then repost these as a form of user-generated content (UGC). 

Obscure images with frames

With a frame sticker, your followers “develop” an image by shaking their phone or tapping “Shake to reveal” to see the framed photo. This lets you add an element of interactivity to an otherwise stagnant image. You can write a caption, and the date and time the picture was taken will automatically be added.

Sort content with hashtags

Instagram hashtags in Stories are a great way to promote a contest or encourage customers to submit photos of themselves using your product. If you use a branded hashtag in a Story and viewers tap on it, they’ll see all the posts with that hashtag. If your hashtag is unique enough, this means they’ll see a collection of posts related to your brand. You can then sift through this collection and repost users’ content as UGC.

How to add Stories to Highlights

Instagram Highlights, which appear below your Instagram bio, let your Stories live on for longer than 24 hours. Since Highlights let you group and categorize Stories, users can browse your Highlights Stories to see content on specific topics.

To add Highlights, follow these steps:

1. Head to your Instagram profile and click the + button under the empty “Story Highlights” section to create your first highlight category.

2. Select the past Stories you want to add to your new Highlight category, then tap Next.

3. Edit the Highlight cover by uploading a graphic from your camera roll that represents the theme of the category (such as products, FAQ, or behind-the-scenes content).

4. Name the Highlight, keeping in mind that titles get cut off after 10 characters, then tap Add.

How to see who viewed your story

Once you’ve posted an Instagram story, you can see exactly who’s viewed it. If you have a personal account, you won’t be able to see your Instagram Story views after the Story’s 24 hours are up. If you have a Creator or Business account, you’ll be able to see for two years. 

Note that you don’t need to be verified on Instagram to upgrade to a Creator or Business account, although earning the blue check mark can help with your credibility. 

Here’s how to check your viewers:

1. Click on your own Story by tapping your profile picture.

2. In the bottom right corner, click on the eye symbol.

3. Your viewers will appear in a list. Viewers who liked your Story will have a heart next to their names.

Instagram Stories Best Practices

• Engage followers
• Broadcast accolades
• Share behind-the-scenes content
• Reward your followers
• Organize your content
• Direct users to your website
• Increase reach with Instagram Story ads
• Analyze your Stories’ performance

Here are a few ideas for how to use Stories as part of your Instagram marketing strategy. As you start posting, experiment with the best times to post on Instagram to optimize your reach and engagement. 

1. Engage followers

Instagram Stories present a perfect opportunity to engage your followers by asking them questions. This can show users that you value what they have to say. 

You can add polls and prompts to your Stories to solicit specific responses, or you can even respond to followers in direct messages (DMs). When users view your Story, they’ll have the opportunity to like your post or comment on it. Likes and comments result in a DM thread where you can respond directly with the user. 

Instagram DMs have a 41% response rate, according to Dash Social. Surpassing this percentage in your own DMs can help your brand stand out.

2. Broadcast accolades

If you’ve earned a press mention, won an award, or earned a glowing review, consider sharing the news in your Instagram Story. The more informal nature of Stories means you can get the news up quickly, without having to edit for perfection. Plus, the Highlight feature makes it easy to round up all the press mentions you add to your story into a single place. 

Here’s an example of a press mention in an Instagram Story from Canyon Coffee:

If a customer or content creator compliments your brand, you can share that in your Instagram Story, too. In this Story, for example, Piecework Puzzles shares a glowing testimonial from a popular creator:

3. Share behind-the-scenes content

According to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, behind-the-scenes and day-in-the-life content perform best on Stories. If you’re attending a business-related event like a trade show, consider using these Instagram Story ideas to post about your day in real time. You can share content to your Story to generate hype and make fans who can’t be there in person feel like they’re part of the fun. 

“Everything we do on social is to try to create FOMO [fear of missing out] to some degree,” says Jeff Eyser, the creative director and co-owner of comics, collectibles, and pinball shop Revenge Of, on an episode of Shopify Masters. “Even if an event isn’t necessarily successful in terms of attendance, at least I can get some good photos to put up online to then help build the brand."

If other brands are involved in the event, consider tagging them. This can help you build relationships with other companies for potential brand partnerships in the future. The brands you tag might also repost your content, which can place your Story in front of their audience.

Here are a few examples from Revenge Of’s LotZilla festival, a comics and pinball festival featuring food and art vendors:

4. Reward your followers

The Instagram algorithm doesn’t recommend Stories to nonfollowers, so your primary Stories audience will be existing followers. Take advantage of this by rewarding followers with exclusive information like discount codes and early event or product drop sign-ups. This can show your followers you appreciate them while incentivizing them to continue watching your Stories in the future.

Here’s an example from the athleticwear brand Gymshark. The company uses its Instagram Story to share details about an upcoming product drop.

5. Organize your content

Regular Instagram posts all show up in your grid in the order you posted them (unless you add featured posts at the top of your grid). This means that if someone is looking for a post on a specific topic, they’ll need to sift through all of your recent posts to find it. Story Highlights can help you circumvent this by creating post categories similar to a navigation bar on a website.

After you post a Story, you can save it to your Highlights, which are accessible below your Instagram bio. As a reminder, you can do this at any time—just look in your archived posts to find your expired Stories. 

You can create Highlights for particular product collections, brand collaborations, events, and more. The shoe brand Larroudé uses Highlights to sort Stories into three categories: press mentions, factory operations, and celebrities wearing Larroudé products.

6. Direct users to your website

You can use Instagram Stories to make money on Instagram by directing traffic back to your ecommerce website with links. You can either link to your website generally or link to specific products with Instagram Shopping. 

You can quickly set up Instagram Shopping by installing the Facebook & Instagram app on Shopify. This app lets you sync product and sales information across both Instagram and your ecommerce site. You’ll then use an Instagram Story sticker to tag a certain product and direct users who click on it to your ecommerce site.

When you add links, make sure you have a clear CTA—a clear instruction for what you’d like your audience to do. Without an explicit CTA, your audience’s default action will likely be to continue swiping to the next post. Your CTA might be as simple as “Shop now” or “Buy now.”

7. Increase reach with Instagram Story ads

If you’re looking to bring even more attention to your Instagram account, consider creating Story Instagram ads. Users see these types of ads as they tap to see the next Story. Story ads can be photos, videos, or graphics, and you can add links to direct viewers to your ecommerce site.

You’ll set up Instagram ads with Meta Ads Manager, which lets you choose the demographic profile of the users who will see your ads. You can choose features like online shopping habits, interests, age, and gender.

8. Analyze your Stories’ performance 

With a Personal Instagram account, you can see who’s viewed and liked your Story. A Creator or Business account can afford you more data: You’ll also be able to see your Stories’ reach and impressions. Use these analytics to figure out when you’re getting the most engagement and when you’re losing attention. If certain types of content are performing better than others, you might decide to replicate those content types and leave others behind.

You’ll also receive detailed Story analytics about who engaged with your Stories, with gender and age breakdowns. You can use this demographic information to tailor your content to the audiences who watch your content most.