In this tutorial, learn how to create videos for Instagram Stories quickly and easily by using a professional, customisable template.
Contents
- 1 An Overview of Instagram Stories
- 2 Add Links and Tag Relevant Accounts
- 3 Be Top of Mind
- 4 Try a Template
- 5 Instagram Stories Pack No. 1
- 6 1. Open the Template
- 7 2. Import Media
- 8 3. Adjust the Colours
- 9 4. Adjust the Text
- 10 5. Export Your Instagram Stories Video
- 11 More Great Instagram Resources from Envato
- 12 Tuts+ Tutorials to Help You Create Instagram Video
- 13 Make an Insta Website With Milkshake
- 14 Read Our Video Marketing Guide
- 15 Download Free Video Footage From Mixkit
- 16 Make a Motion Graphics Video With PlaceIt
An Overview of Instagram Stories
You’re probably very familiar with the Instagram Stories
feature by now, but for those who might still be new to the platform, here’s a
quick summary:
- Instagram Stories let you use video or images to
send a message to your audience. - Instagram Stories can be up to 15 seconds long for
video and seven seconds for photo. - You can run Stories back to back, so it’s possible
to create one longer video, and chop it into 15 second segments, and still have
the same effect.
Add Links and Tag Relevant Accounts
Anything you add to any post should always be relevant and subtle,
but Stories sort of forces you to abide by that anyway. Unlike posting an image
with a stream of hashtags, you really only have the room and time to make
careful choices, otherwise they’ll disappear and your viewer won’t remember
what they saw. Instagram Stories are searchable, which – in the opinion of many
– seems to put them leagues ahead of Snapchat if you have a message (particularly
a sales message) to get across.
Note: you can only currently add a ‘swipe up’ link to your
story if you’re a verified account with over 10,000 followers.
Be Top of Mind
Stories are shown right at the top of your Instagram feed,
so you posting a new story will likely be one of the first things your
followers see. If you post regularly, your fans will get used to expecting
regular content from you and hopefully start to view your story as habit.
Some ways you might want to use Instagram Stories:
- To promote a product
- To drive people to your website or other outlet
- To give your followers a little glimpse into
your life or process
Try a Template
Often, a casual Instagram user might not be feeling confident enough to create their own high-quality video, but still wants to use it. Making an Instagram Stories video with a template means that you can use as much or little video as you feel comfortable with – you can use just images even, and let the template do the heavy lifting when it comes to animation.
We’ve selected this template from Envato Elements, to show you how quick and easy it can be to create video for Instagram.
Instagram Stories Pack No. 1
This set of templates for Premiere Pro includes 6 Stories options and you can do everything right there in Premiere Pro. There’s a link included to the free font used, as well as an in-depth tutorial video on how to use the template.
Here’s an example we made to show you how simple it is to use.
1. Open the Template
When you open the template in Premiere Pro you’ll notice it’s
broken down into three folders:
- Edit Placeholders
- Export Stories
- Assets
There are six different Stories options, which you’ll be able
to see along the top of your timeline. They all run at 10 seconds. I’ve chosen
Story 02.
Story 02 is clean and simple with some animation at the
beginning, before holding on your message and encouraging you to swipe up with
an up arrow (visit a website) for more.
2. Import Media
Import the image or images you’d like to use in your
project, either by dragging them in, or clicking on File > Import.
I’m going to create a fashion based Instagram Story, so I’ve
imported an image of folded
sweaters. To place that image into the template, I need the Edit
Placeholders folder and then the Images sub-folder within that.
You’ll see that in the sub-folder the placeholders are
labelled according to which story you’re working on. I’m working on Story 02
and so I know ‘Story 02 Image’ corresponds with my current template.
With the image placeholder highlighted, drag the image you
want into your timeline. You can adjust the size and position in the Effect
Controls panel.
If you click back onto your Story in the Timeline then you’ll
be able to see how your image looks within the template as a whole.
3. Adjust the Colours
As the template is well-organised, it should be really clear
how to edit each part of the colour scheme on the template you’ve chosen. Just
go the Edit Placeholders folder and then the Colors sub-folder.
If you
double-click on a colour label, a colour picker will pop up and you can choose
your scheme to match your branding or promotion. I’ve changed my example from pink
to more of a buff colour, to fit with the sweaters, but I’ve kept a splash of
hot pink in the animation at the start.
4. Adjust the Text
Altering the text is the same premise as changing the
colours: go to Edit Placeholders and this time choose the Texts sub folder. If
you double-click on the text placeholder, an editing box will pop up for you to
make changes
I’ve added a ‘50% off’ on the left, and ‘Winter Range Sale’
in the main circle. There’s an animated arrow below this latter text, so the
idea would be to add a ‘swipe up’ hyperlink to that in Instagram when you
upload it.
5. Export Your Instagram Stories Video
Exporting your video is fairly simple – you’re working in
vertical video so it’s the reverse of what your dimensions would usually be: 9:16, or 1080 by 1920. For Format, choose H.264. Under Preset select Match
Source – High Bitrate, and make sure that you have export video and audio (if
applicable) checked.
Remember, your maximum upload size is 4GB so keep an eye on
the file size, but with only 15 seconds to play with you should be well within
that limit.
Here’s the rendered video, ready to be uploaded to Instagram.
More Great Instagram Resources from Envato
Tuts+ Tutorials to Help You Create Instagram Video
Keep on learning about Instagram, here on Envato Tuts+:
-
Why do some people seem to gain Instagram followers effortlessly, while others struggle to get any traction? Find the answer by enrolling in the School of…
-
Grab attention with your Instagram Stories by using templates that look great and help you engage with your audience.
-
Instagram Stories launched back in 2016, and since then millions of us have leapt at the chance to share short, disappearing snippets of our lives. Here,…
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A selection of our favourite Instagram promo video templates to get you stacking up the likes.
-
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing app with more than 300 million active users. In this tutorial I’m going to tell you why small businesses should use…
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Whether you want to use your DSLR exclusively or are open to taking spontaneous photos with your phone’s camera, Instagram is a useful tool for sharing…
Make an Insta Website With Milkshake
Instagram gives you one link in the bio: make a great Insta website using Milkshake, on your phone, no web or design skills needed.
Read Our Video Marketing Guide
Boost your video marketing skills
with our comprehensive guide: You’ll learn video
marketing from start to finish, so that whether you’re a novice or a
pro, you’ll learn some useful skills that will improve your next video.
Download Free Video Footage From Mixkit
Check out Mixkit for high-quality royalty-free stock video footage that
you can use whenever you want, wherever you want, free of
charge. Find business videos, lifestyle videos, nature videos, and much more.
Make a Motion Graphics Video With PlaceIt
You don’t need professional software to
make videos, you can make them right in your
browser: PlaceIt’s video maker uses professionally-designed motion graphics templates to help you create custom Instagram Stories videos in minutes.
