Table of Contents

How to Add an Instagram Post to a Story: The Definitive Guide

Want to give your latest Instagram post a turbo boost in visibility? Sharing it to your Instagram story is the perfect way to do just that! This simple act can drastically increase engagement and bring more eyeballs to your carefully curated content.

So, how do you do it? It’s surprisingly straightforward:

Locate the Post: Open the Instagram app and navigate to the post you wish to share. This can be your own post or one from another account, as long as the account is public.
Find the Share Icon: Look for the paper airplane icon located directly below the post, next to the comment and like buttons.
“Add Post to Your Story”: Tap the paper airplane icon. A menu will appear. Select the option that says “Add post to your story“.
Customize Your Story: You’ll now be in the story editor with the post as a sticker. Here’s where the magic happens! You can resize, rotate, and reposition the post. Get creative!
Add Text, Stickers, and More: Enhance your story with text, stickers, GIFs, polls, questions, or anything else Instagram offers. This is your chance to add context or personalize the share.
Choose Your Audience: Select who you want to see your story. You can share it with all your followers (“Your Story”), a “Close Friends” list, or send it as a direct message to specific users.
Post it!: Finally, tap the “Share” button to post your story. You’ve successfully shared your post to your story!

Mastering the Art of Story Sharing: Advanced Techniques

While the basic steps are simple, truly maximizing the impact of sharing a post to your story involves a bit more finesse. Consider these tips:

Strategic Placement: Don’t just slap the post in the middle of the screen. Experiment with different sizes and positions. Consider placing it off-center and using arrows or GIFs to draw attention to it.
Engaging Context: A simple repost isn’t always enough. Add text explaining why you’re sharing this post. Are you highlighting a specific point? Offering a discount code related to the post? Giving background information? Context is king.
Leverage Interactive Stickers: Use polls, quizzes, and question stickers to actively engage your audience. For example, ask if they agree with the post’s sentiment, or if they’ve tried the product featured in the post.
Consistent Branding: Maintain your brand aesthetic in your story. Use consistent colors, fonts, and overall style.
Monitor Analytics: Pay attention to the analytics of your story. Track how many people viewed it and tapped on the post. This data will help you refine your strategy.
Sharing Other People’s Posts: Sharing posts from other creators is a great way to cross-promote and build relationships. Always tag the original creator to give them credit. Make sure their account is public for you to be able to share their posts to your story.

Story Sharing: A Marketing Powerhouse

Sharing your posts on your story is a powerful way to increase engagement and brand awareness. Stories are often the first thing users see when they open Instagram, making it a prime location to capture attention. It is important to drive traffic to your original post from the story.

The Benefits

Increased Visibility: Stories are prominently displayed at the top of the app, making them highly visible to your followers.
Higher Engagement: Stories offer interactive features like polls and quizzes, leading to higher engagement rates.
Brand Awareness: Consistent story sharing reinforces your brand identity and keeps you top-of-mind with your audience.
Driving Traffic: By sharing posts to your story, you’re effectively directing more traffic to your profile and content.
New Content Discovery: Sharing posts from others can expose your audience to new content and creators they might not have found otherwise.

FAQs: Everything You Need to Know About Sharing Posts to Stories

Still have questions? Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions:

1. Why can’t I see the “Add post to your story” option?

This usually happens for one of two reasons. First, ensure the account of the original post is public. Accounts marked as private accounts do not allow sharing of their posts to stories. Second, make sure your Instagram app is updated to the latest version. Outdated apps can sometimes have missing features.

2. Can I share a post to my story if I’m not following the account?

Yes, as long as the account is public. You don’t need to be following an account to share their post to your story.

3. Is there a limit to how many times I can share a post to my story?

No, there’s no explicit limit. You can share a post to your story as many times as you like, although it’s generally best to avoid overdoing it. Sharing a post too often might annoy your followers.

4. Can I schedule a post to be shared on my story later?

Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t offer native scheduling for sharing posts to stories. You’ll need to do it manually. However, there are third-party tools that can help you schedule Instagram stories, which could include post shares.

5. Will the person whose post I shared be notified?

Yes, they’ll receive a notification that you’ve shared their post to your story. This can be a great way to get their attention and potentially build a connection.

6. Can I share a carousel post to my story?

Yes, when you share a carousel post to your story, it will appear as a single image. Viewers can tap the image to be taken to the original post, where they can swipe through the carousel.

7. How do I remove a post I shared to my story?

Simply go to your story and tap the three dots (“More”) in the bottom right corner. Then, select “Delete”.

8. Can I customize the background color of the post sticker in my story?

Yes! When you add the post to your story, tap the sticker itself. Each tap will cycle through different background colors and styles.

9. Can I add multiple posts to one story slide?

While Instagram doesn’t directly support adding multiple post stickers to a single story slide, you can use a workaround. Take screenshots of the posts you want to share, and then add those screenshots to your story as regular images.

10. Can I share a story post to another story?

No, you can only share regular posts to your story. You cannot share a story to another story.

11. What if I don’t want people sharing my posts to their stories?

Unfortunately, there’s no way to completely prevent people from sharing your posts to their stories if your account is public. However, you can make your account private, which will prevent non-followers from sharing your content.

12. Is it better to share posts as is, or to add extra elements to the story?

Adding extra elements almost always wins. Context, interactivity, and personality are key to engaging your audience and maximizing the impact of your story share. Add text, stickers, polls, and anything else that helps your story stand out. The better the story is, the better are the chances to increase the engagement and also drive traffic to the main post.