When it comes to Instagram Stories, making them exciting and fun is how you get people to continue to engage with them. One of our favorite ways to add some pizzazz and fun to a Story? Adding cute Instagram stickers and GIFs!
Why Should You Be Investing Time Into Your Instagram Stories?
Over 500 million Instagram users view or post Instagram Stories daily.
Over 60% of all millennials post or view Instagram Stories.
The tap forward rate for Instagram Stories is 68%.
58% of people are more interested in a brand or product they see in Stories.
Those are some pretty impressive numbers, but that’s not all! There are plenty of other equally compelling reasons to invest time into creating effective Instagram Stories:
They can help drive website traffic
Instagram Stories are the only type of content on the platform that supports direct links. In other words, Instagram Stories are the best way to drive traffic from the platform to an external website (aside from your bio).
They can help you sell products and services
Not only does Instagram Stories help to drive website traffic, but they can also be used as a powerful tool for product and service promotion—for the same reason! The ability to support direct links means that your Instagram Stories can become dynamic calls-to-action that inspire followers to become customers.
They’re a great way to connect with followers
Maybe it’s their semi-permanent nature, but feed posts are often treated much more seriously than Stories. One of the best things about Instagram Stories is that they offer brands and individuals a unique opportunity to connect with followers on a more personal level.
They can be incredibly interactive
While feed posts are more or less static from the perspective of your followers, Stories can be incredibly interactive and fun! You can embellish them with everything from countdowns to quizzes, with the aim of making them more engaging for your audience.
They’re incredibly visible
This last point is actually two points disguised as one!
The first aspect of visibility we need to cover is the fact that Stories are visible for a full 24 hours—that’s a big deal! Now, you’re probably thinking, “But feed posts are there forever”. You’re right, but they aren’t visible forever.
Feed posts inevitably get buried when new posts come along due to Instagram’s algorithm. Since timezones exist, that means not all of your followers will be seeing your post in their feeds. Stories resolve this issue by remaining visible for a full day.
In addition, Stories have far less competition. For the average user, there are way more feed posts to look through than Stories when they open up Instagram. That means your Story is particular has more time to shine!
Now that we’ve answered the question of why you should be using Instagram Stories, let’s move on to how you can find the stickers and GIFs that will best represent your brand!
How do you add stickers to an Instagram Story?
First things first, we need to cover how you actually add stickers to your Stories. It’s pretty simple—but before we get to the fun part, you’ll need to choose a photo to post on your story!
To do this, you need to open up the Story editor. In case there are any Instagram beginners reading, there are three ways of getting there:
Tap your profile picture in the top-right of the feed tab
Tap your profile picture in the top-right of the profile tab
Swipe right anywhere on your feed
Once you’ve done this, you’ll be given the option to either take a photo using Instagram’s native camera or upload a photo from your camera roll. Either option works!
Once you’ve got your photo uploaded, it’s time to add the stickers! Find the sticker icon in the upper menu bar and tap it (if you’re struggling to find it, looks a bit like a smiley paper bag).
This will open up a searchable drawer where you’ll be able to browse all the stickers currently supported by Instagram. Varieties include GIFs, countdowns, location tags, polls, and so much more!
From there, you can tap on stickers to add them to your photo. Added stickers can be resized and rotated as needed by pinching and rotating your fingers, so there’s tons of room for customization!
How does Instagram sticker search work?
Inside Instagram’s sticker drawer, you can browse a wide variety of stickers ranging from GIFs, countdowns, location tags, polls, and more! Instagram’s sticker collection is impressive, so you’re bound to find something that matches the vibe you’re going for… if you know how to look! Don’t worry, though. If you’ve ever searched for a GIF while texting or messaging, the process will feel familiar.
There are a few ways you can search for stickers:
Search For Keywords
The easiest way to find stickers is by searching for specific keywords that are likely to yield relevant results. For example, if you’re about to post a story that advertises a sale on shoes, you might search for stickers with the keyword “sneakers”.
Search For Moods or Aesthetics
Sifting through Instagram’s sticker drawer can be a lot of fun, but it can also be time-consuming if you don’t know what you’re looking for. A great way to shortcut the search process is by searching for moods or aesthetics.
For example, if you’re feeling excited and you want to post a story that matches your mood, all you need to do is you could search for stickers with the keyword “excited”. Instagram’s search algorithm will automatically collect stickers that fit the mood.
Alternatively, you can browse stickers that fit a certain aesthetic—even fairly obscure ones! Want something cozy? Try searching for “hygge” or “cabincore“. Looking for something a bit more artsy? Search up an art style you’re a fan of—something like “art deco” or “abstract“.
Search For Sticker Packs
One final way to find stickers on Instagram is by searching for specific sticker packs. Usually, you’ll find these stickers by searching for the name of the artist or pack.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy way to find a list of artist and sticker pack names—you need to be in the know! Don’t worry, though. We’ll be listing a few of our favorite artists and packs for cute Instagram sticker options below.
What to search for cute Instagram stickers
Bored of the same old Instagram stickers? We’ve got you covered! Here are a few things you can search for some cute Instagram stickers that work with almost any Story post:
Boho stickers are cute, fun, and whimsical. Plus, it’s really easy to remember what to search for when looking for cute Instagram stickers!
Floweringwords has a combo of cute scripted stickers mixed with seasonal (think fall and summer vibes!) stickers you can add to your story.
If you’re looking for cute days of the week written out, we love searching for Haleyivers stickers.
One of our all-time favorite stickers to search for: bright, colorful and cute!
If you’re looking for cute food, coffee, flowers, and more to add to your story, we highly recommend searching for scarletpin!
When it comes to cute script to add a flourish to your story, search for scriptbynora!
For beige tones and whites, search for vipapier and scroll through their cute stars, hearts, flowers and more to add to your story!
Want to highlight something on your story or make it look like a scrapbook? Search for “tape” to find stickers to add something extra special to your story.
Another search we love to do when looking for cute font is lidiaontheroad! Their fun illustrations are always cute to add to your Instagram Story!
Another fun illustrator and artist, queenbemonyei has some of the cutest illustrations and text that you can add to your Instagram Story!
Looking for some fun illustrations to add to your story? Mikaylacreates is one of our favorite artists that has created fun stickers for IG!
Fruits, flowers, cute stars are what you’re going to find when you search dindaps on stickers!
Ohlalalita
These cute, understated stickers are great for adding subtle, trendy details to your story posts. All or designed in an off-white color, so they’ll work with almost any post!
Linziehunter
We think Linzie Hunter’s stickers are adorable and had to include them on this list. They’re much more colorful than some of the options on this list, but still very applicable!
Ilustragabs
These stickers are designed with impressive attention to detail. They’re cute, trendy, and topical—everything you could ask for!
We hope you enjoy these fun and chic stickers to add some personality to your Instagram Stories! If you’re ever stuck on what to search for, just think about what mood or aesthetic you’re going for, and Instagram will do the rest. Have fun exploring!