How to make your Instagram Story public (and amazing)
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Instagram Stories are a great way to engage with your audience. So of course, you want to share them with the internet!
Before you make your next Instagram Story, make sure your profile is set to public for all to see.
And… since your account will be primed for more traffic and engagement, we’ve added 7 tips on how to make creative Stories that grow your following. Be sure to check out the end of this article for those!
Step-by-step on how to make your Instagram Story public
Going public on Instagram is a matter of your account privacy settings.
Unlike Facebook, you won’t be able to pick and choose the privacy settings for each Instagram post.
Instead, you’ll have to make your entire account viewable to the public. Here’s how:
- Open the Instagram app.
- Go to the account profile page that you want to modify. You may have multiple.
- Click on the 3 horizontal lines (up in the right corner).
- Click on Settings. It may have a gear icon.
- Click on Privacy. It may have a lock icon.
- Make sure your account is not set to Private Account. Turn off the private account setting by switching the green toggle into the “off” position.
Now, your Instagram Stories will be public and ready to share with the world!
To modify additional Story privacy settings:
- Go down the list of additional privacy options.
- Find the Story option. It has a circle icon with a “+” in the center.
- Click into the Story option. You’ll see various settings that you can update.
- Designate all privacy settings as desired.
You can choose to hide your Instagram Stories from certain users and choose who can reply to your Story. You can even choose to save Stories to your smartphone or have them archived. Remember: Stories don’t last forever!
To make your Instagram Story more shareable, make sure to allow Story sharing via DMs and Facebook.
7 tips on how to make your Instagram Stories more amazing
Maybe you already make incredible Instagram stories, but your account was set to private. If so, good for you!
Otherwise, if you want to make your Instagram Stories better, we have 7 tips to make that happen.
#1 - Use apps for Stories
Want a surefire way to make creative and interesting Instagram Stories? Use apps designed for Stories! Video creation apps enable you to produce visually engaging videos that you’ll love to share with your followers.
Here at Mojo, our users love choosing from hundreds of video templates. They also love our special features like background removal and the ability to create videos for all different types of social media platforms. We help them turn their ideas into stunning, animated stories that are on-brand and easy to create.
#2 - Add a location
Show off where you’re at by adding your location to your Stories. Wondering how to turn on your location in Stories?
All you have to do is open the Story section of Instagram, snap your visual and then add your location as a sticker (look in the smiley sticker tab on the right).
#3 - Spark engagement
If you want to get on the “good side” of Instagram’s algorithm, you’ll need more than just a bunch of Story views. Get interaction on your posts!
Add questions, quizzes and polls to your Stories. People love giving their thoughts - especially if they can do it in one click.
#4 - Make 15 seconds count
Regardless of how long of a video you add to your Story, it will be split up into 15-second increments.
If you want to keep your viewers interested in your video, however, think about switching up your content every 15 seconds or less. This can help to keep their attention.
It may help to think of your Stories like a movie trailer. Movie trailers usually have tons of switching from frame to frame. Fast transitions, action-packed scenes and build-up to something exciting!
#5 - Add some audio
Hit on more than just the visual senses! Add audio like songs, sounds and script to your Story.
Background music will make any animated story more interesting and watch-worthy. After all, who wants to watch you make customized merchandise in silence?
It’s amazing how a popular dance jam can make even knitting look kick-butt.
#6 - Don’t forget closed captions
It’s super important that your Instagram Stories are accessible to everyone. Plus, even people with great hearing may miss something that you say in your Stories. It’s always helpful to enhance your videos with captions.
If you end up saving your Stories as permanent posts, closed captions will be helpful when it shows up on your grid or within the Feed. That way, even users who have their sound off will still get the right messaging from your videos.
#7 - Have a plan
You may get lucky every once in a while when you randomly add to your Story, and it takes off. Sometimes going viral is a total accident!
However, for a long-term sustainable solution, be sure to strategize when, how and what you’ll post. Great Instagram Stories that go public (big time) often come from companies that have clear and consistent branding, design and flow.
Every single Instagram Story frame should be part of an entire “branded experience.” From your Feed, to your grid, to your Instagram Stories, you want to put your best foot forward. With stellar content, you can make yourself look like the sophisticated, customer-centric brand you’ve always dreamed of.
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