Instagram Story Templates: Everything You Need to Know

Have you noticed those Instagram Stories that just seem a step above the others? There’s something about them that comes together so nicely — the colors, the fonts, the photographs…they look like they were designed professionally. How do you get your stories to look like that?

The good news is, you don’t need to hire a graphic designer. All you need is an introduction to the wonderful world of Instagram Story templates.

What exactly is an IG Story template?

An Instagram Story template is a kind of pre-made layout you can use to create a polished, beautifully designed image or series of images that is aesthetically consistent with your brand. Templates incorporate various design elements such as colors, fonts, and shapes that come together in a visually cohesive way.

Using templates makes it a cinch to put together a beautiful story out of multiple slides that are visually compatible both with each other and with your brand’s aesthetic. It also makes it a lot easier to collaborate with the rest of your team to create Stories, since no matter who puts them together, they will still look on-brand.

Why your brand needs IG Story templates

Developing and promoting your brand is all about maintaining a consistent message and visual language. Using templates helps you do exactly that.

Creating a consistent visual language should already be part of your IG branding strategy. If your profile page and Feed posts already have a certain aesthetic, why shouldn’t your Stories follow that aesthetic, too?

While it’s true that Stories tend to be more spontaneous-looking and less formal than Feed posts, that doesn’t mean you can’t invest a little in creating beautiful Stories — and doing so makes your posts stand out. Plus, using templates makes it super fast and easy to take your Stories up a level.

How IG Story templates can boost your audience engagement

Stories made with templates don’t just look good — they generate more engagement, too. Followers are more likely to stop and pay attention to beautifully designed, eye-catching Story.

If you create a Story with multiple slides using templates that match and complement each other, followers are more likely to stick around to see more instead of swiping through. This is especially true when the design makes it clear that there’s more fascinating content coming and helps build anticipation.

How to create original IG story templates

So how do you create a Story using a template?

One simple way is to use the tools you have right there in Instagram. Stay consistent with your fonts and color palette, and try to use the same style when incorporating other elements like GIFs and stickers. These design choices should ideally match your brand aesthetic.

If you want to take it up a level, though, you may want to try an app like StoryBoost. StoryBoost makes it super easy and fast to design Stories that will wow your followers and keep them engaged. It has more than 1000 trendy, stunningly designed templates, cool stickers and filters, eye-catching animated text, and awesome animated transitions between Stories — something you can’t generate within the IG app.

Below, we’ve included 6 examples of StoryBoost templates and how you can use them to promote your brand.

6 Awesome Instagram Story template examples you can use from StoryBoost

#1: Ovals and All Caps

instagram story template holiday

This template incorporates oval images and shapes and a bold all-caps font with two kinds of backgrounds: plain color and textured. In the sample, it’s announcing an event, using the first slide to introduce the concept, the second and third to create interest using minimal text and interesting imagery, and then going back to the aesthetic of the first slide at the end to give the crucial information. Using this kind of template is a great way to build anticipation.

#2: Curves and Angles

instagram story template free

This template combines basic shape elements — squares, rectangles, and circles — on a subtle background. Notice how the shapes in the design reflect the shapes and colors in the images: the curves and angles, the white, black and pink. The template works to enhance the design elements that this brand is showcasing. This is a great choice if the images you’re using contain these types of visual elements — and remember, you can always change the colors to match your palette.

#3: Sophisticated Grayscale

instagram story template greyscale example

This template goes for a bold grayscale color aesthetic with horizontal, vertical, and angled stripe elements. Grayscale creates a sophisticated, subdued tone, so if that’s your brand’s visual language, this is a great template for you.

#4: Warm & Classy

instagram story template spring and summer

This template combines serif and script fonts in a bright, bold color on a more subtle background. The combination creates a classy, warm, and relaxed aesthetic, great for DIY, family, or home-related themes. It includes space for photos in the first, second and fourth slides and and a space for the question sticker in the third, which will help boost engagement.

#5: Shifting Boxes

instagram story template example free blue

This is a dynamic, energetic template, with shifting rectangular shapes that give a feeling of movement as you move from slide to slide. Thanks to its 5 different slides, this is a great template for showcasing a multiple items in a way that keeps followers clicking and doesn’t overwhelm them visually.

#6: Bright & Bold

instagram story template bright and bold free

This is a snazzy template that’s sure to grab your followers’ attention, with bold fonts and bright colors. Notice how the main messages (“Black Friday” and “50% off”) are repeated in each slide, but each time using a different aesthetic. This helps drive home the message while keeping things interesting. A great template for announcing special offers.

These are just a few examples from the 1000+ templates you can find on StoryBoost and customize to suit your brand. Check out our guide for Instagram small business marketing tips and make use of these templates!

Action Items:

  1. Check out StoryBoost – get to know the app, and then select a template & design your own Stories!
  2. Share your Stories to your Instagram, or to your brand’s Instagram.
  3. Create & share Stories regularly! Check your Stories Insights often to see which of your past Stories are performing best. Create future content based on your best-performing Stories.


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