Being able to share an Instagram post to your story is a great way to boost engagement on your posts and easily share user-generated content.
But the tricky part is making sure your repost is aligned with your Instagram Stories aesthetic.
We’re covering how you can share an Instagram post to your story with a generous side order of design hacks to keep your aesthetic at the top of its game:
How to Share an Instagram Post to Your Story
Sharing an Instagram post to your story is a great way to gain valuable extra exposure for your content.
Whether you want to share your own post to your stories feed, or you’re reposting a cool piece of user-generated content, it’s super-simple to share:
Tap the paper airplane icon (share button) underneath a feed post.
Select “Add Post to Your Story”.
Edit the post in your Instagram Story — you can move, rotate, scale, and tap to explore other sticker styles.
Posts shared to stories become clickable stickers — creating a direct link back to the original Instagram post.
Plus, the original poster’s username will be clearly displayed, which is great for fairly crediting the contributors of user-generated content (UGC).
The whole process takes less than 10 seconds.
Why Can I No Longer Share a Feed Post to Instagram Stories?
If you've recently discovered you can no longer share an Instagram feed post to your story via the paper airplane icon, you are probably part of a test group for Instagram's new "Reshare" sticker.
To add a feed post to your story, you will now need to create a story, tap the sticker tray icon, and select the "Reshare" sticker.
From here, you will be able to select a post you've recently seen, saved, or added to your Instagram grid.
6 Design Hacks for Sharing an Instagram Feed Post to Your Story
Searching for and sharing an Instagram post to your story may be quick and easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for your brand aesthetic on Instagram Stories.
Thanks to the rise in easy-to-use design apps — such as Storyluxe, Unfold, StoryBoost, and Over — high-quality, branded Instagram Stories are rapidly becoming the norm.
Here are our top design hacks to help you take your stories to the next level.
Design Hack #1: Use the Brush Tool for a Quick Fix
One of the easiest ways to make your Instagram Stories feel more on brand is by integrating your brand’s color palette — and this little known hack is one of the quickest ways to do it!
Simply select the brush tool, pick any color (or use the color picker to sample a color from the feed post) and then tap and hold the background for 1-3 seconds.
This is a great way to quickly make your repost stickers look more uniform and on brand.
TIP: If your brand colors aren’t readily available in the stories color menu, tap and long-hold any of the default color options at the bottom of the screen to open the color slider.
Design Hack #2: Copy and Paste a Designed Overlay
Imagine if you could create a totally on-brand Instagram Story slide, and still be able to click through to the original Instagram post.
Well with this design hack, you can.
Here are just a few examples of this hack in action on the Later Instagram account:
Here’s how to do it!
Step #1: Take a screenshot of the Instagram post you want to share on your story.
Step #2: Using an editing app (like Over, StoryBoost, Unfold, Mojo, or Storyluxe) create an Instagram Story design to sit on top of the repost sticker. You may want to use the screenshot of the original post in this design. Once completed, save this design to your Camera Roll.
Here’s an example of a quick Instagram Story design template from Unfold:
Step #3: Open the design in your Camera Roll, select the “Share” icon, and tap “Copy”.
Step #4: Go back into the Instagram app, and follow the steps to share a feed post to your story.
Step #5: Tap on the story to open a text editor, and then hold down for a second until the “Paste” button pops up. Click “Paste” to import your design.
Step #6: Move and scale your design to fit the screen (covering the repost sticker) and add extra text or GIFs to really bring the post to life.
The finished story will still contain a link back to the original feed post — even if it’s hidden from view by the design you’ve pasted over it.
UGC TIP: Always credit the original poster in your design overlay (especially when it comes to user-generated content) and include text or a GIF to encourage more click-throughs, such as “Tap Here”!
Looking to get started with using Instagram Stories for your business? Check out our free 45-minute video course on how to design beautiful Instagram Stories that will help you get more followers, traffic, and sales!
Design Hack #3: Use Fun Instagram Overlay Stickers
Now you’re up to speed with the copy and paste hack, you can use it to add all sorts of cool design elements to your Instagram Stories.
Influencers and designers, like Mallory Joy, regularly add Instagram overlay stickers to their stories for an extra creative touch.
Once you’ve found overlay stickers that suit your brand style (check out this blog post for some killer examples) simply download a pack of Instagram overlay stickers (a PNG file) to your Camera Roll, and use the copy and paste trick to add them to a story.
Ready to get creative with Instagram overlay stickers? We created our own FREE Instagram Overlay Sticker Pack!
Design Hack #4: Create a Collage Effect by Copy and Pasting Images or Using the Add from Camera Roll Sticker
Creating a picture collage on Instagram is a popular trend, with brands such as Summer Fridays regularly sharing them on their stories.
To create a similar effect on a repost sticker story, simply copy and paste several images around the post (or use the "Add from Camera Roll" Instagram Stories sticker) — making sure that the original post is still easily clickable and clearly credited.
Layering up images in this way is a quick and fun way to make repost stickers look more curated and on-brand — and you can also edit the background color (using Hack #1) once you’re happy with the layout!
Design Hack #5: Add Text, Brush Strokes, GIFs, and Instagram Stickers
Even without any secret design hacks, you can still get super creative with the tools available in the Instagram Stories editor!
Text, brush strokes, GIFs, and stickers can transform a simple post — making it more engaging and better aligned with your brand.
And you can even create custom Instagram Stories GIFs to add to your stories — making your GIFs even more on-brand.
At Later, we design custom Instagram Stories GIFs for different events and campaigns, making it really easy to make our stories more branded.
Looking to level-up your Instagram Stories? Find out how to create custom Instagram Stories GIFs for your brand!
Design Hack #6: Fill the Whole Screen With the Repost Sticker
Last but not least, you can fill the whole screen with a repost sticker — removing the background element altogether.
This may seem like a quick and easy fix, but there are some things to keep in mind.
First off, it’s important to make sure the repost sticker looks good at a bigger scale — as low quality images can easily look grainy or distorted.
Take note of how Memobottle uses this hack with super high-quality UGC:
It's also a good idea to make sure the original poster is still clearly credited — even if it’s through a text overlay.
Sharing Instagram posts to stories is a great way to integrate more user-generated content into your content strategy — which can be a powerful tool for strengthening the sense of community on your channel.
Plus, by sharing your own posts as repost stickers on stories, you can drive even more traffic to your feed.
With these top design hacks, you’ll never have to compromise the aesthetic of your Instagram Stores again.
Ready to elevate your Instagram Stories strategy? Start planning and scheduling your Instagram Stories with Later — available on all paid plans.
