Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, with ~1.08 billion monthly active users. And on the platform, Instagram Stories stickers have become extremely popular.
But why?
While Instagram itself has become a go-to marketing platform, Stories have quickly become the way ahead for most marketers.
However, with numerous brands vying for the attention of their followers, it’s become necessary to do things differently. And that’s where Instagram Stories stickers come into the picture.
Instagram Stories stickers are one of the best Instagram marketing tools out there. They let you add more fun and personality to your content to make your Stories more engaging for your followers. And they can help you improve your Instagram engagement rate and grow your Instagram account.
So, how can you leverage Instagram Stories stickers to your advantage?
Let’s find out.
Disclosure: This content has a few affiliate links, which means if you click on them, I will get a commission (without any extra cost to you).
Where Can You Find and Add Instagram Stories Stickers?
With Instagram Stories stickers, you can make your content more visually appealing. These stickers on Instagram can show your followers that your brand is fun. If you have never used Instagram Stories stickers, it’s time to try them out.
But before that, you need to ensure that your Story’s primary image or video is impressive. Remember, stickers can only enhance the visual appeal of your Stories, using them won’t help if your content itself is not beautiful.
You can use image editors such as PixTeller to beautify your photos using pre-designed graphic templates. Such tools can also help you create photo collages and add quotes to your images.
Once you add an enticing photo or video to your Instagram Story, it’s time to use stickers.
But where can you find Instagram Stories stickers and use them effectively?
Here’s a quick guide:
You can add stickers on Instagram by clicking on the square smiley icon at the top of the screen.
Once you open the Instagram Stories stickers tab, you will see a list of several options for adding stickers. Select the type of sticker that you want to add and make your creative Instagram Story.
Image via Instagram
While most Instagram Stories stickers are in the form of fonts, emojis, or icons that are ready to use, some require an additional step.
For Instagram Stories stickers like location, mention, hashtag, and questions, you need to fill in additional information.
For example, if you want to use polls Instagram Stories sticker, you need to add a question and some options for answers. Or if you want to use the mention sticker, you need to add the Instagram profile link for the person or brand that you want to mention.
Once you have added a sticker, you can simply drag and drop it to place it anywhere in your Instagram Story. You can also reshape and resize your stickers, simply by pinching and zooming.
What if you want to delete a sticker you added mistakenly?
You can delete the Instagram Stories sticker by dragging and dropping it on the delete bin icon, as shown below:
Image via Instagram
Instagram Stories stickers are easy to use and self-explanatory, so the best way to master the art of using this feature is to pick up your phone and start experimenting.
While Instagram Stories stickers are a great feature to improve your content, make sure you don’t overdo it as you might end up losing Story views in that case.
Using too many emojis or text stickers in one Story may make it look cluttered and may turn out to be counter-productive. So, use your judgment and add the Instagram Stories stickers that work best for you.
After you have finalized your content, post it on Instagram using “Your Stories” icon at the bottom of the screen.
Pro Tip: Your followers can also interact with the stickers when they access Instagram from their browsers. So make sure you design the Stories accordingly.
Different Types of Instagram Stories Stickers and How to Leverage Them
Instagram provides a plethora of options when it comes to Instagram Stories stickers. Some of these can be used as effective marketing tools, while others simply add more fun and personality to your Instagram Stories.
Instagram Stories stickers are a good feature if you want to make your content more influential and increase audience engagement.
What are some of the most popular types of Instagram Stories stickers?
Let’s check them out and see how to use them effectively.
1. Questions
One of the key goals for any social media marketer is to drive audience engagement by posting influential content. What better way to drive engagement than giving them the choice to ask questions on your content? This sticker also works as a great quiz sticker.
Using the questions sticker feature on your Instagram Stories, you can invite questions from your followers. Anyone who wants to ask you a question can just tap on the questions sticker and type their question.
You can check the audience’s questions by swiping up on your Story. You can tap on the question, write a response, and post Stories with the answers to these questions. This can help you have engaging conversations with your followers.
Who can benefit from this sticker feature?
The main beneficiaries of this feature are Instagram influencers and celebrities who often use this sticker feature to host Q&A sessions with their fans.
Companies can use this feature to invite celebrity guests to answer questions about a particular topic. They can also invite their own executives to answer questions about themselves or the brand and its products.
Are you looking for an example?
Check this out:
Josh Zad, the Founder of Alfred Drinking Coffee, used the questions sticker feature to answer their customers’ questions. The questions ranged from new store openings to the brand’s marketing strategy to personal questions about the founder.
Image via Instagram
Since this Instagram Stories sticker allows the flexibility of asking open-ended questions, there is no limitation on the range of questions that can be asked.
If you want your followers to start a conversation with your brand and get more engaged with your Instagram content, using a question sticker is a great means to achieve that.
So, get creative and use this Instagram Stories sticker to make your Instagram Stories more influential and engaging.
2. Polls
Polls are types of Instagram Stories stickers that allow you to write a question and customize your answers. People can answer your question by tapping on one of the customized answer options that you have provided.
Poll stickers are a great way to check your audience’s pulse and figure out what they have in mind. Using the, you can know what type of content they want from you. This sticker enables companies to conduct consumer research and find out audience motivations without making it tedious like a long survey.
Need some ideas to create polls on Instagram?
A poll sticker can be used to gather audience preferences on a variety of topics. Accordingly, you can make changes to your content and improve their experiences.
You can ask your audience what kind of content they like more. You can also conduct a poll on their favorite products from your brand or the products/services they would want in the future.
Image via Instagram
You can also use the polls sticker to gather feedback on your existing content, products, or services. Or you can simply ask a research question to get to know your customers better.
Image via Instagram
Image via Instagram
To make polls more fun, you can use Instagram’s recently launched “emoji slider” feature. It allows people to answer questions by the magnitude of preference on a slider scale, instead of tapping on preset answers.
With the emoji slider, you can ask your followers questions that are more nuanced. Instead of an answer, you give them an emoji to rate their answers with. Not only is this more fun, but it adds an added layer of emotional context to your Stories. It can also help your followers gauge the tone of your questions.
To answer using an emoji slider, followers simply have to drag the emoji on the bar either to the left or the right. In a nutshell, emoji sliders animate each response. With the emoji slider, your followers can also see how others have reacted to the poll.
Check out the example of the emoji slider below:
Image via Instagram
What’s the best part about using polls?
They’re extremely easy to respond to. At the same time, it shows people the percentage of others who are on the same side as them. This can prompt them to engage with your polls even further.
3. Text
You can use the text Instagram Stories sticker to write directly on the photo or video on your Instagram Story. You can use this feature to describe the content of your Story or provide some additional information.
While this sticker is pretty simple compared to the others, it can add some style to your Stories. This is because you’ve got a variety of font options that you can choose from.
For example, in the below Instagram Story, the influencer has posted a photo of food and used the text sticker to describe the food items in the photo.
Image via Instagram
4. GIFs
Instagram also provides the option to add GIF stickers to Instagram Stories. These are usually used to add a fun element to the Stories, making them more engaging.
How can you add GIF stickers to your Story?
You can either search for trending GIFs, using Instagram’s in-built search feature or you can create and add your own GIF stickers.
There are tools such as PixTeller that can help you create animated GIFs with pre-designed templates. They can give wings to your ideas and help you engage your audience better.
GIFs can also add some level of activity to your Stories, especially if the Story consists of an image or some text. The motion in the GIF can catch the attention of people who’re viewing Stories. This can help generate more engagement.
Additionally, you can leverage them to nudge your audience to swipe up and visit your website, thus increasing website traffic. You can direct them to your articles with ease using this feature. Also, you can add GIFs to your ads as well.
In the below example, entrepreneur, Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk, has used this Instagram Stories sticker. He has posted a GIF on his Instagram featuring himself, asking people to swipe up to read more. This is a much more fun and engaging alternative to simply writing “swipe up.”
Image via Instagram
5. Hashtags
You can add a hashtag to your Story using the hashtag Instagram Stories sticker. This will allow the audience to go directly to the page related to that hashtag, simply by tapping on it in your Story.
Adding a hashtag sticker to Instagram Stories is a popular marketing tool used by influencers and brands to direct traffic to their brand, event, or product-specific hashtag page.
You can look for the best hashtags in your niche using Instagram hashtag generator tools such as Hashtagify, HashtagsForLikes, and Hashatit.
Image via Instagram
6. Mention
Mention is an Instagram Stories sticker that can be used to give a shout-out to someone that you want to recognize for their efforts. You can tag the influencers that you have worked with or brands that you like. This is a good way to build relationships with influencers and other brands on social media.
When you mention someone in your Story, it sends them a notification. This might prompt them to share your Story with their followers. As a result, you might be able to increase the overall reach of your Story.
Image via Instagram
7. Time and Weather
You can also choose to show the current time and weather with your photos on your Instagram Story, based on your phone’s current location. Using these Instagram Stories stickers will simply add the time and weather details on your Instagram Story.
You can drag and drop the Story stickers and choose where you want to place them. While they don’t do much in terms of engagement, they can help you level up your storytelling game.
What options do these Story stickers provide?
For time and weather Story stickers, Instagram provides a variety of styles. You can check out how they would appear by tapping on them before you save your Story. This feature adds value to Stories that announce an event or the ones that attendees post.
Are you looking for an example?
Here it is:
Wimbeldon’s Instagram page often uses this feature. They add these Story stickers to their photos to keep their fans informed about the local weather. It also gives them a chance to offer their fans a sneak peek into all of the activities that take place on each day of the tournament.
Image via Instagram
8. Location
This sticker is used to tag the location of the place mentioned in your Story. The viewers can just tap on the Instagram Stories sticker and see the exact location of the place.
In the below example, the founder of Alfred strategically placed a location sticker in his Story, while answering a question about store interiors.
Image via Instagram
How does this help?
The location sticker has a direct link for the exact store in the picture, making it easier for potential customers to check the location of the store.
9. Emojis, Fonts, and Other Stickers
Apart from the Instagram Stories stickers mentioned above, the Instagram app offers numerous ready-to-use Story stickers in the form of colorful fonts, commonly-used slangs, emojis, and icons. All you need to do is search for them and add them to your Story.
Following are some of the Instagram Stories stickers options available:
You can use these as standalone Instagram stickers or in conjunction with other Story stickers, on any type of Instagram Story. No matter what your content is, these Story stickers can be used to add color to your Story and make it more fun and engaging. See an example of a sticker in use below:
Image via Instagram
If you want to take a step further, you can even use search for the Countdown stickers and to create some anticipation about an event. With this Instagram Stories sticker, you can create buzz about product launches, conferences, or any important announcements.
Matt Crump, an Instagram lifestyle influencer, used the countdown sticker to announce the launch of his product line. He blurred the background to add an element of mystery to his Story.
Image via Instagram
Is it a Good Idea to Mix Different Types of Stickers?
Now that you know about various types of Instagram Stories stickers and how to use them, you can also get creative and start mixing two or more types of Story stickers. Using more than one sticker can help you add more interactive elements to Instagram Stories.
However, don’t overdo it with the Story stickers. You must take a look at the aesthetic aspect as well.
There are no set guidelines or rules on how you can mix and match various stickers to create unique Instagram Stories. You can experiment with them and draw inspiration from others.
Following are some examples of Instagram Stories using a mix of different stickers:
This Story by Benefit Cosmetics UK uses a combination of countdown, text, and other funky stickers to liven up their Story. Using all of these elements, they managed to create an appealing graphic
Image via Instagram
Here’s the bottom line:
You can use unique Instagram Stories stickers for occasions like birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, New Year, and others to get your followers into a celebration mood.
Image via Instagram
Instagram Stories stickers are also a great asset to showcase the values that your brand stands for.
As you can see in the screenshot below, Starbucks has used a sticker with a sustainability symbol. It’s a great way to highlight what your brand stands for. Along with it, they used other relevant stickers to emphasize their belief in sustainability.
Image via Instagram
Prada uses Instagram Stories stickers in an innovative way to present their interviews. They feature questions using a text sticker and tag the interviewee using mention feature. In addition to this, they also use the hashtag sticker to highlight their upcoming collection.
Image via Instagram
These are just some of the numerous ways in which you can use a combination of different Instagram Stories stickers and customize your Story to make it more influential.
FAQs
Q1. What are Instagram Story Stickers?
A. Instagram Story Stickers are interactive little elements that can be added to Stories to make them more engaging. They are also a great tool to showcase your personality and promote your products creatively.
Q2. How do you get Stickers on Instagram Stories?
A. Follow these steps to access Stickers on Instagram Stories:
- Click on the Stickers icon in the top-right side of your story.
- Select the available GIF stickers or search for the ones you want from GIPHY.
- Repeat these steps to add multiple sticker layers to your stories
Q3. What Instagram Stickers should I look for?
A. There are different types of stickers on Instagram that brands can use for different purposes, such as for:
- Donations
- Countdowns
- Quizzes
- Polls
- Locations
- Questions
- Hashtags
- Time
- Weather, and more
Q4. Can you remove Stickers from Instagram Stories?
A. Yes, you can delete Stickers from your Instagram Stories by tapping on the concerned sticker and selecting “Delete” from the options that appear.
Q5. How to pin moving Stickers in Instagram Stories?
A. Place your sticker in your Story and press down on the sticker till the option “Pin” appears at the bottom of the screen. Now, move the sticker to the desired location and click on Pin when you’re ready.
Q6. How to download Instagram Stories without Stickers?
A. You will have to use a robust photo-editor tool to remove stickers from Instagram Stores before downloading them. Some great software you can use are Adobe Photoshop and Pixlr Editor.
Q7. How to make custom Stickers for Instagram Stories?
A. To create custom stickers on Instagram, you need to create a GIPHY channel. Then, create your custom GIF stickers in GIPHY. Once that’s done, open the Instagram Story to which the stickers are to be added. Select the sticker to add in GIPHY and tap and hold it down till it’s copied to your camera roll.
Head back to your Story and the Sticker you just created will be visible in one corner of the story, ready to be added. Click on the “Add Sticker” option displaying below it. The Sticker will be added to your Story.
Q8. How to make Stickers move on Instagram Stories?
A. When you tap on the Stickers icon in the Stories section, you will see a gallery of moving GIF stickers powered by GIPHY. You can add them to your Stories or create custom moving stickers using the GIPHY tool.
Q9. How do you put music in your Instagram Stories without using Stickers?
A. If you are an Apple music lover, follow these steps to add music to your Stories:
- Open Apple Music.
- Go to the song you want to add to your Story.
- Click on the three vertical dots in the center of the screen.
- Click on “Share” from the menu that appears.
- A list of apps will display below. Swipe till you find Instagram and click on it.
- When Instagram opens, click on “Your Story” at the bottom-left of the screen. The song will be added to your Story.
Spotify and SoundCloud users can follow the same steps as above.
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Ready to Leverage Instagram Stories Stickers?
Given the level of competition and the sheer amount of content being uploaded on Instagram, marketers need to make their content stand out from the crowd.
Instagram Stories stickers are probably the best tools in your arsenal to make your Instagram Stories more and engaging.
So, start using these Instagram Stories stickers and watch your Instagram engagement rate increase dramatically.
If you have any other creative examples of how to use Instagram Stories stickers to design engaging Instagram Stories, let us know in the comments below.
Disclosure: This content has a few affiliate links, which means if you click on them, I will get a commission (without any extra cost to you).
