Nothing makes your posts more fun and engaging than adding some stickers and GIFs to them. Thing is, you might not be sure how to stickers on Instagram and use them in your posts.
Fear not!
In this easy-to-follow guide, I’ll not only show you where to find Instagram stickers but all the different types and how to use them.
What Are Instagram Stickers?
Instagram stickers can be found when adding videos or images to your Stories and Reels.
Instagram stickers are dynamic graphic elements that can be added to both image and video Stories.
Some are animated, some are clickable, and others even allow users to interact directly with the Story. Simply put, they make your Stories more interesting, which makes users more likely to engage with them.
Why Use Instagram Stickers?
While Instagram itself has established itself as a go-to social media marketing channel, Instagram Stories has emerged as the preferred option for the majority of advertisers and influencers.
However, it's become important to stand out from the crowd, with brands battling it out for your attention on social media. This is where stickers can help out a lot.
Instagram 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 Instagram Story more engaging for your followers.And they can help you improve your Instagram engagement rate and grow your Instagram account.
How to Find Stickers on Instagram and Add Them to Your Stories
You can use Instagram stickers to make your social media content more visually appealing. These stickers can demonstrate to your followers that your brand is enjoyable.
But first, make sure that your Instagram Story's main image or video is impressive.
Remember that Instagram stickers can only improve the visual appeal of your Story; using them won't help if your content isn't visually appealing.
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 Instagram stickers.
But where can you find Instagram stickers and use them effectively?
Here’s a quick guide:
You can add Instagram stickers by clicking on the square smiley icon at the top of the screen.
Once you open the Instagram 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.
While most Instagram stickers are in the form of fonts, emojis, or icons that are ready to use, some require an additional step.
For Instagram stickers like location, mention, hashtag, and questions, you need to fill in additional information.
For example, if you want to use an Instagram poll 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 an Instagram sticker, you can simply drag and drop it to place it anywhere in your Instagram Story.
You can also reshape and resize your Instagram stickers, simply by pinching and zooming.
What if you want to delete a sticker you added mistakenly?
You can delete the Instagram sticker by dragging and dropping it on the delete bin icon, as shown below:
Instagram 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 stickers are a great feature to improve your content, make sure you don’t overdo it as you might end up losing Instagram Story views in that case.
Using too many emojis or text stickers in one Instagram Story may make it look cluttered and may turn out to be counter-productive. So, use your judgment and add the Instagram 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 Instagram stickers when they access Instagram from their browsers. So make sure you design the Instagram Story accordingly.
Types of Instagram Stories Stickers and How to Use Them
When it comes to Story stickers, Instagram has a plethora of options. Some of these can be used as effective marketing tools, while others simply add more personality and fun to your Instagram Story posts.
Instagram 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 stickers?
Let’s check them out and see how to use them effectively.
1. Ask a Question with the Question Sticker
One of the primary goals of any social media marketer is to increase audience engagement through posting influential content.
What better way to increase engagement than to give them the option to ask questions about your content?
This sticker is also useful as a quiz sticker.
You can invite questions from your followers by using the questions sticker feature on your Instagram Story.
Anyone who wishes to ask you a question can do so by tapping on the questions sticker and typing their query.
Swiping up on your Instagram Story will allow you to see the audience's questions. You can tap on the question, write a response, and share your answers in Stories.
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.
Looking for an example?
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.
Since this Instagram 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 Story sticker to make your Instagram Stories more influential and engaging.
2. Create a Poll
Polls are types of Instagram 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 an excellent way to gauge your audience's interest and determine what they are thinking. You can find out what kind of content they want from you by using polls.
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.
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.
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 Instagram Story. 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:
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. Add Text to Your Story
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 Instagram 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.
4. Add GIFs with GIPHY
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 a GIF sticker to your Instagram 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 Instagram Story consists of an image or some text.
The motion in the GIF sticker 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 a GIF sticker 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 sticker on his Instagram featuring himself, asking people to swipe up to read more.
This is a more engaging alternative to simply writing “swipe up.”
5. Add a Hashtag
You can add a hashtag to your Instagram 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 Instagram 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.
6. Mention a Friend
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 Instagram Story, it sends them a notification. This might prompt them to share your Instagram Story with their followers.
As a result, you might be able to increase the overall reach of your Instagram Story.
7. Time and Weather Stickers
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 stickers will simply add the time and weather details on your Instagram Story.
You can drag and drop the Instagram 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 Instagram stickers provide?
For time and weather stickers, Instagram provides a variety of styles. You can check out how they would appear by tapping on them before you save your Instagram 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:
Wimbledon's Instagram page often uses this feature. They add these Instagram 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.
8. Add a Location Sticker
This sticker is used to tag the location of the place mentioned in your Instagram 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 Instagram Story, while answering a question about store interiors.
How does this help?
The location sticker has a direct link to 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 stickers mentioned above, the Instagram app offers numerous ready-to-use Instagram stickers in the form of colorful fonts, commonly-used slang, emojis, and icons.
All you need to do is search for them and add them to your Instagram Story.
Following are some of the Instagram stickers options available:
You can use these as standalone Instagram stickers or in conjunction with other Instagram stickers, on any type of Instagram Story.
No matter what your content is, these Instagram stickers can be used to add color to your Instagram Story and make it more fun and engaging. See an example of a sticker in use below:
If you want to take a step further, you can even use search for the Countdown stickers 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 Instagram Story.
FAQs
Q1. 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.
Q2. 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 Instagram Story and the Sticker you just created will be visible in one corner of the Instagram Story, ready to be added.
Click on the “Add Sticker” option displayed below it. The Sticker will be added to your Instagram Story.
Q3. 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.
Q4. How do I get new stickers on Instagram?
Instagram is constantly loading new stickers onto the platform through GIPHY. If you find that your stickers aren’t updating, make sure that you’re using the latest version of IG.
Q5. How do you find good Instagram GIFs?
GIFs are different from stickers and have an endless amount supported by Instagram. To find a GIF, simply type whatever you have in mind in the search GIPHY box.
Here are some of the coolest GIF collections you can search:
– Greendotori
– Mikyla
– FloweringWords
– Vipapier
– IzzyInk
Q6. How to find cute stickers on Instagram?
GIPHY has plenty of cute stickers that you can find. Simply follow our instructions on adding stickers to your Story.
Finding the cutest stickers is all about preference, here are some of the cutest sticker creators that you can search for:
– The Uncommon Place
– Vipapier
– Ilustragabs
– All Things Lilly Anne
– Linziehunter
Q7. Is it a Good Idea to Mix Different Types of Stickers?
Using more than one sticker can help you add more interactive elements to Instagram Stories.
However, don’t overdo it with the Instagram 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 Instagram Story by Benefit Cosmetics UK uses a combination of countdown, text, and other funky stickers to liven up their Instagram Story.
Using all of these elements, they managed to create an appealing graphic.
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 the mention feature.
In addition to this, they also use the hashtag sticker to highlight their upcoming collection.
These are just some of the numerous ways in which you can use a combination of different Instagram stickers and customize your Instagram Story to make it more influential.
Ready to Leverage Instagram Stories Stickers?
Given the level of competition and the sheer volume of content uploaded on Instagram, marketers must make their content stand out.
Instagram stickers are likely the most effective tools in your social media arsenal for making your Instagram Story more interesting and engaging.
Now you know how to find stickers on Instagram and how to use them.
So, begin using these Instagram Story stickers and watch your Instagram engagement rate skyrocket.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other creative examples of how to find and use Instagram Stories stickers to design engaging Instagram Stories.
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