How to Find Stickers on Instagram and Use Them in Your Content

Nothing makes your Stories more fun and engaging than adding some Stickers and GIFs to them. These elements can help you set the mood or vibe of your Stories and captivate your audience’s attention.

But not everyone uses them effectively.

So, to help you boost your audience engagement, I’ve put together this comprehensive guide on how to find the perfect Stickers on Instagram. I’ll also show you how to strategically incorporate different types of Instagram Story Stickers and GIFs into your content strategy.

Get ready to take your Instagram Story engagement rate to new heights!

Quick Answer – How to Find Instagram Story Stickers and GIFs

• Finding Instagram Story Stickers is a simple process. Just tap the square smiley icon at the top panel of Instagram’s Story creation interface. It will open the Sticker tray for you, which showcases different types of Stickers.

• To get good Insta Stickers for your Stories, you can search for the following terms in the Instagram Sticker search bar above.
  • Boho
  • Handmade
  • Gladdest
  • Aesthetic
  • Greendotori

What Are Instagram Stickers?

Instagram Stickers are digital graphics, images, or interactive elements that you can add to your Instagram Stories or Reels to enhance and personalize your content.

You can find Stickers in the sticker tray on Instagram’s Story creation interface. They can help you express emotions, add context, provide information, or engage with your followers. Some of these Stickers are animated GIFs while others allow users to directly interact with your Story content.

Simply put, Instagram Story Stickers help you set the vibe of your content and make it more interesting and engaging for your followers.

How to Find Instagram Story Stickers and GIFs and Add Them to Your Stories

Here's the step-by-step process of how to get Instagram Stickers to add to your Stories:

1. Launch the Instagram app on your smartphone. Make sure you are using the latest version of the app to access all the latest Stickers and GIF features.
2. Tap on your profile picture in the top-left corner or click on the “+” icon at the bottom bar of the screen to access the Story creation interface. Capture a photo or video using Instagram's in-app camera, or select an existing photo or video from your phone's gallery to use in your Story.

3. Tap on the square smiley face icon on the top toolbar of the Instagram Story interface to open the Sticker tray.

4. The Sticker tray will display various Sticker categories. Scroll down to explore different options. Some common categories include emojis, GIFs, location, polls, add yours, questions, and emoji sliders.

5. Tap on the Sticker you want to add to your Instagram Story. Browse through the available options. For example, click on the emoji Sticker to choose your preferred emoji. Then, tap “Done.”

6. Some Stickers, like polls and questions Stickers, allow you to customize the text or question. Tap on the Sticker to edit the text as needed and then tap “Done.”

7. To add GIFs, tap on the “GIF” option in the Sticker tray. You can search for specific GIFs using keywords like “boho” and “white” or browse through popular and trending GIFs.

8. Once you've added a Sticker or GIF to your Story, you can resize and reposition it by using pinch-to-zoom and drag gestures on the screen. If you want to delete a sticker you added by mistake, you can drag and drop it on the delete bin icon at the bottom of the screen to remove it.
9. Once you're satisfied with your Story, tap on the “Your Story” button at the bottom of the screen to share it with your followers.

Most Instagram Stickers are easy to use and self-explanatory, so the best way to master the art of using this feature is to pick up your phone and start experimenting.

Pro tip: While Instagram Stickers are a great feature to improve your content, make sure you don’t overdo it as you might end up losing Instagram Story views in that case. That’s because too many Stickers in one Instagram Story may make it look cluttered.

Types of Instagram Stories Stickers and How to Use Them

When it comes to Story stickers, Instagram has a plethora of options. Some of these can be used as effective marketing tools to increase engagement, while others simply add more personality and fun to your Instagram Stories.

Let’s check out some of the most popular types of Instagram Stickers and how to use them effectively.

1. Ask a Question with the Question Sticker

Asking questions is a great way to increase audience engagement. You can ask your audience what they like about your content and which types they’d like to see more of. You can also allow them to ask you questions.

Swiping up on your Instagram Story will allow you to see the audience's questions. You can tap on the question, write a response, and share your answers in Stories. This lets you have engaging conversations with your followers.

Instagram influencers and celebrities often use the question Sticker to host Q&A sessions with their fans.

Even brands can invite celebrity guests and thought leaders to answer their customers’ questions about a particular niche topic. They can also have their executives answer questions about the brand and its products.

Looking for an example?

Josh Zad, the Founder of Alfred Drinking Coffee, used the question Sticker and invited his customers to ask him anything. The questions varied from new store openings to the brand’s marketing strategy to personal questions about Josh.

If you want your followers to start a conversation with your brand and engage more with your Instagram content, use a question Sticker to achieve that. So, get creative and use this Instagram Story Sticker to make your Stories more influential and engaging.

2. Create a Poll

Polls Sticker allows you to ask multi-choice questions and have your audience cast their votes for any of the answers you crafted.

You can use this Sticker to find out what they think about your existing content, the kinds of content they want to see more of, or which among your brand’s products or services they find most useful. You can also conduct consumer research using the poll Sticker and find out audience motivations without making it tedious like a long survey.

You can also use the polls Sticker to simply ask a question to get to know your customers better.

3. Host a Poll with an Emoji Slider Sticker

To make polls more fun, you can use Instagram’s “emoji slider” feature. It allows people to answer questions by the magnitude of preference on a slider scale, instead of tapping on preset answers.

With the emoji slider, you can give them an emoji to rate their answers with. Not only is this more fun, but it adds an added layer of emotional context to your Instagram Story. It can also help your followers gauge the tone of your questions.

To answer using an emoji slider, followers simply have to drag the emoji on the bar either to the left or the right. In a nutshell, emoji sliders animate each response.

With the emoji slider, your followers can also see how others have reacted to the poll.

Check out the example of the emoji slider below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by TRIÓN Bajío (@trionbajio)

Emoji slider polls are extremely easy to respond to. It shows people the percentage of others who are on the same side as them, encouraging them to interact with your IG Story content.

4. Add Text to Your Story

You can use the text Instagram Stories Sticker to write directly on the photo or video on your Instagram Story. You can use this feature to describe the content of your Instagram Story or provide some additional information.

While this Sticker is pretty simple compared to the others, it can add some style to your Stories. This is because you’ve got a variety of font and animation options that you can choose from.

For example, in the below Instagram Story, the influencer has posted a photo of food and used the text Sticker to describe the food items in the photo.

5. Add GIFs from GIPHY with the “GIF” Sticker on Instagram

Instagram also provides the option to add GIF Stickers to Instagram Stories. These are usually used to add a fun element to the Stories, making them more engaging.

You just need to tap the “GIF” option on the Instagram Story Sticker tray and scroll down to browse through popular and trending GIFs. However, you can also search for specific terms to find related GIFs.

For example, if you want to greet someone a happy birthday, you can do an Instagram Sticker search for birthday-related GIFs.

Animated GIFs add some level of activity to your Stories, especially if the Instagram Story consists of an image or some text. It can help capture the attention of viewers and increase engagement.

6. Add Links to Your IG Story Using the “Link” Sticker

You can use the “Link” Sticker on Instagram Story to direct viewers to your articles and landing pages. It can help you increase blog traffic or compel your audience to take desired actions.

Instagram allows you to customize the Sticker text and add the URL to which you want to direct viewers.

7. Add a Hashtag Sticker to Your Instagram Story

You can add a hashtag to your Instagram Story using the hashtag Instagram Stories Sticker. When someone taps on the hashtag Sticker, the platform will show them the hashtag page to explore other related content.

Similarly, adding a hashtag in your Story lets it show up in your audience’s Explore feeds when they search for or follow that hashtag you used. This way, the hashtags Sticker helps you gain more traction for your content.

You can look for the best hashtags in your niche using Instagram hashtag generator tools such as HashtagsForLikes and Tailwind Hashtag Finder.

Instagram Hashtag Sticker also shows relevant popular hashtags related to the keyword you type.

8. Mention a Friend or a Collaborator’s Account

Mention is an Instagram Story Sticker that lets you give a shoutout to someone. You can tag your friends, fellow content creators, the influencers you have worked with, or the brands that you like.

Mentioning them in your IG Story is a great way to build relationships with influencers and other brands on social media.

When you mention someone in your Instagram Story, it sends them a notification. This might prompt them to share your Instagram Story with their followers, enabling you to increase the overall reach of your Instagram Story.

9. Display Date, Time, and Weather Stickers

You can use Stickers to show the current date and weather condition (temperature) where you’re at, while sharing photos on your Instagram Story.

You can drag and drop these Instagram Stickers and choose where you want to place them. While they don’t do much in terms of engagement, they can help you level up your storytelling game.

This Sticker feature adds value to Stories that announce an event or the Stories that people post from an event or product launch.

Here’s an example:

Wimbledon's Instagram page often uses this feature. They add these Instagram Stickers to their photos to keep their fans informed about the local weather. It also gives them a chance to offer their fans a sneak peek into all of the activities that take place on each day of the tournament.

If you want to take a step further, you can even use the countdown Stickers to create buzz about product launches, conferences, or other events.

Matt Crump, an Instagram lifestyle influencer, used the countdown Sticker to announce the launch of his product line. He blurred the background to add an element of mystery to his Instagram Story.

10. Add a Location Sticker

You can use the location Sticker to tag the location of the place mentioned in your Instagram Story. The viewers can just tap on the Instagram Stories Sticker to find the exact location.

In the example below, the founder of Alfred strategically placed a location Sticker in his Instagram Story, while answering a question about store interiors.

How does this help?

The location Sticker has a direct link to the exact store in the picture, making it easier for potential customers to check the location of the store.

11. Add Emojis, Fonts, and Other Stickers

Instagram offers numerous ready-to-use Instagram Stickers in the form of colorful fonts, commonly-used slangs, emojis, and icons. All you need to do is – search for them and add them to your Instagram Story.

No matter what your content is, these Instagram Stickers can add color to your Instagram Story and make it more fun and engaging.

12. Contribute to or Create New “Add Yours” Story Sticker Templates

You must have seen Instagram Stories with the “Add Yours” Sticker. When viewing such a Story, you can tap on the Sticker and add your content related to the same theme.

For example, the Story below asks people to add another Story with their favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) characters.

Participating in this kind of “Add Yours” Story template can help increase engagement and put your content in front of wider audiences.

You can also create your own prompts for a new “Add Yours” Story. Just tap on the “Add Yours” Sticker from the Sticker tray and write your prompt. Post your Story and let others participate in the trend.

Ready to Boost Engagement with Instagram Story Stickers?

Given the level of competition and the sheer volume of content uploaded on Instagram, marketers must make their content stand out. Instagram Stickers are likely the most effective tools to make your Stories more interesting and engaging.

Now that you know how to find Stickers on Instagram, start experimenting with them and witness your Instagram engagement rate skyrocket.

Let us know in the comments if you have any other creative examples of how to find and use Instagram Stories Stickers to design engaging Instagram Stories.

FAQs