As of June 2018, the number of monthly users on Instagram grew to 1 billion and daily users grew to 500 million. There are also 400 million users actively watching Instagram stories on a daily basis – Omg! 

If you are a brand, business or influencer on Instagram and have yet to take advantage of Instagram stories, the question is why? A huge chunk of your potential opportunities is literally going out the window. Now if you just don’t know how or have always been confused on how to leverage yours, don’t worry, you are in the right place. Get all the insights and learn more about how businesses are using Instagram Stories to drive their success. Don’t get left behind.

Guys, are you ready?

I discovered more cool stuff…I’m spilling all the tea people!

If you are reading this, you are probably looking for awesome ways to engage your audience through Instagram stories.  The best ways I  have genuinely connected with my friends, brands and my audience besides this blog has been through Instagram stories – prior to that, it was Snapchat. It’s amazing how you build great friendships through this online space, and even weird that you may or may not meet these people in reality – but you bond on the good stuff!

—-> Now, do you know why Instagram stories need to be part of your strategy?  I’m spilling all the tea, see here

Honestly, Instagram has given me so many insights on what my audience enjoys, using different engagement tactics. if you are interested in growing your brand, you should in fact use this as part of your core strategy, in order to  engage better and add value to your own  online community.

I pretty much treat my internet friends as family, if we engage with each other often,  it shows we either are curious, like each other or like each other’s stuff. In the course of our engagement, I discovered you guys wanted to learn how I curate my Instagram stories. I like to have fun with Instagram stories. Without further ado, here are 6 best apps to help step up your game on Instagram stories. Make your connection more fun.

 

Canva

Canva is the best thing that’s happened to creators! Just show me something more user-friendly and creative. Get your brand off the ground as little or no cost with Canva. It is available mobile and desktop. If you aren’t very tech savvy and find it difficult to use complex software to design or even had to hire a designer or tech pro at some point, Canva is here to alleviate and reduce the bottlenecks in your workflow.  Canva has a library with a ton of professionally design template, most of these templates are free.

 

Splice

Not a fan of portrait video? Splice allows you to fully customize and edit your video in vertical mode, all on your phone – which was why I downloaded the Splice app initially. You can also add music and make fun transitions. Splice – best thing since sliced bread! I personally love the audio library.

 

 

Adobe Spark Post

I get DMs on Instagram, every time I post on my stories using this app. Save money on hiring a graphic designer on the little stuff. If you are a solopreneur or content creator  Adobe Spark Post comes in handy in helping you creating design graphics with zero design experience – Yes! ‘Adobe’ I know it sounds like anything Adobe is always complex, but Adobe pretty much realized there is a need for people who can’t handle complexities and there are other competitors who can do the same job. If you are not web design savvy, want something on-the-go with lots of inbuilt templates, and have no design skills, this one is for you.

 

InShot

InShot is a video editing app that allows users to be creative with content. Think of it as Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere made easy. It makes your video Instagram-size ready, gives you the ability to blur the backgrounds of your video – and oh my favorite part – you can add voice-overs and fun sound effects to your videos on your phone! I definitely recommend this app if you want to get more creative with Instagram stories and tv, but you also don’t want to go over the top with it, otherwise, your content starts to look tacky.

 

 

Unfold

If you love a minimalist and clean template when telling stories, this is for you. Even better, it contains a folder dedicated to curating multiple pages of stories at once.  You have the ability to tell a visual story through image, video and or text.

 

 

HyperType

I have been using HypeType for over a year now and I love how I can animate my text – change fonts, move it around and tell a visual story in doing so. Think of it as motion typography for photos and VIDEOS ( Uggh it looks like a mini youtube vlog). I definitely recommend using this app for both stories and IGTV.

 

More? I discovered a few more that will be popular going into 2019, I don’t want to overload you with too much but at the same time I want to provide you with enough options, so you can pick your favorites and work with those.  To see more, you can access my resource library below. I provide the latest tools and resources so you can make fire content!