Instagram Stickers: How to Search & Use Them Best

Wondering what to search for Instagram stickers?

One of Instagram’s most successful features is Stories, added in 2016. People love to use them.

You probably do too!

A fun addition to Stories is Instagram Story Stickers. But what are they, and how can you maximize them?

Let’s take a look.

What are Instagram Stickers?

Instagram Stickers are dynamic graphic elements that you can add to image or video Stories – but not regular Instagram posts.

There are different types including animated and clickable. Some even give IGers some kind of interaction with the content of the Story.

They’re a fun way make your content more engaging, and increase the chances of people interacting with it. And we all know the Instagram algorithm loves to see that interaction and engagement!

Clever and cute Instagram stickers are one of the best ways for small businesses to increase brand awareness.

How to Use Instagram Stickers

We’ll go more into what to search for Instagram Stickers in a bit. But let’s start with a basic idea of how to use them.

You can find Stickers once you start or add to an Instagram Story by taking a new photo or video, or selecting one from your camera roll.

There’s a dedicated Sticker icon that appears on your content in the top right corner of the editing options.

Tap this and you’ll see a bunch of Stickers.

You can see the different types, and scroll down to find more! Or search for a new sticker, as I’ll describe later.

Once you pick the one that works best for your Story, tap to add it. Then drag it to where you want to position it.

You can also pinch to resize it, and tap it to see any options available for the sticker, before settling on your final choice.

Why Use IG Stickers?

So while they sound cute, what makes using Instagram Stickers a benefit as a content creator?

Well, there are some solid plus sides to adding them to your Stories.

They can help drive website traffic

Stickers make your Stories more interesting and engaging. They even increase the chance to drive traffic to your website, now that you can add direct links in them.

They can help you sell products and services

Stories can help to sell products and services, and Stickers can make it easier by using the right types strategically.

They’re a great way to connect with followers and non-followers

Anything that makes your content more interactive will always be popular with the algorithm! And hashtag stickers can help your Stories be found by even those who don’t follow you.

They can be incredibly interactive

Stories are an interactive format naturally, but Stickers add to that in ways you choose.

They’re incredibly visible

Because Stories have a short lifespan, there’s that fear of missing out. Stickers can enhance their visibility and help make the short lifespan more useful.

Different Types of Instagram Stories Stickers and How to Leverage Them

When you start looking for different types of Stickers, you’ll notice there are a few options.

There are at least 8 different types of stickers that come in loads of different styles.

This means you can find the perfect sticker that also does the job you want.

Question sticker

The questions sticker lets you add open-ended questions to your Story to get reactions from your followers.

It allows people to simply tap and type their answer for you to see.

Alternately, instead of YOU typing in a question, you could ask viewers to ask YOU a question as their response! Then you can post Stories that have answers to the most frequently asked questions.

They’re great for hosting a Q&A with followers, or getting their feedback on things. And can give you new content ideas too!

Poll stickers

Polls are interactive stickers – another way to get engagement and also opinions.

They allow you to create a question and specify answers, that people can then tap to register their preferred option.

You can poll on any number of things, from what content you should create to the color you should dye your hair!

You can also use an emoji slider feature within polls to get a more subtle answer to a question.

Text stickers

While text stickers might seem a bit boring, there are times when they are useful.

You could use the sticker to explain what was in a photo, such as a recipe.

There are different font options and ways to make them more interesting.

Hashtag sticker

We are all familiar with hashtags on Instagram.

But there’s even a sticker specifically to add them to Stories.

Use it to include a key hashtag, or even a branded one, that’s visible to everyone watching your Story.

Mention sticker

Mentions are another familiar feature from IG that has its own sticker.

When you mention someone in the Story using the sticker, they get a notification.

They might react or share the Story following this.

Time and weather stickers

These stickers simply add the time and weather where you are at when you post the Story.

Events that happen outdoors often use them to show people what the conditions are like.

Sports events are also using them in a similar way during big games or tournaments.

Location stickers

Location tags work similarly – they let you mention a physical location in your Story. People can tap it and see where you are referring to.

You could do this if you were visiting a location, on vacation, or promoting somewhere.

You can even include a direct link to the store or restaurant in the picture, so people can go straight to check out where it is.

Other fun stickers

These aren’t the only types of stickers! There are tons of options:

• Emoji slider stickers
• Funny fonts
• GIF stickers
• Music stickers
• Countdown sticker
• Donation sticker
• Quiz sticker

Don’t be afraid to search for something and see what comes up to enhance your Stories.

Finding the perfect stickers for your brand

Before you start looking at the different ways to search for Story stickers and GIFs, take a moment to think about your aesthetic.

The point of stickers is to enhance your Stories. But if you use stickers that are at odds with other visuals you post, it might not work so well.

For example, there’s a big trend for pink hues at the moment. However, if you aren’t a pink fan and use mostly blues and greens for branding, a ton of pink stickers might be at odds with your style.

So while looking at the latest IG trends and aesthetics can inspire you, don’t let it sway you too far from your own look.

How to search for Story stickers and GIFs

The best part is, you can search for almost anything in the search box to see different stickers.

Tap in the search bar to bring up the keyboard, then start typing!

Tap into the search results to make the keyboard go away. Now you can scroll through the results, which may include static stickers, emojis, and animated GIFs.

Here are some examples of the kind of search results that you might see for popular terms.

Styles

Searching by style is a good place to look when searching for stickers or GIFs.

Boho is a popular look. Adding this to the search will bring up a range of whimsical-looking stickers.

You can also fine-tune this by adding color to this. Here I searched ‘Boho pink’ to get the Boho vibe but in a specific color.

Another example is to search for something like ‘minimalist’ if you like that very simple style.

Occasions

Another approach is to look for stickers based on an occasion or event.

Let’s say you wanted to mention someone and celebrate their birthday. Use the @mention sticker to tag them. Then a search of ‘birthday’ stickers would bring up a range of fun stickers you could use.

You could do the same with searches for holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or even something like St Patrick’s Day.

Elements

You can also search for elements if you want to accent your photos. Add a color or a style to them to fine-tune your results.

Good news! Search bright colors, neutrals, whatever matches your aesthetic.

One example could be ‘line green’ to find some green lines you could add under an element in a photo, as an accent.

Or you could look for ‘neutral heart’ to get results that include soft browns, beiges, and creams in hearts.

You can also search for certain types of fonts to find ready-made phrase stickers.

If you search for ‘script font’ you can see a whole range of phrases, ready to add to your Story.

This is different from using a font sticker and changing it to script font. That’s because it is animated and has built-in movement.

Emoji stickers

Finally, you can also search for something like ‘emoji’ and see a range of animated emojis.

These go beyond the usual static ones you can use from your emoji selection on your phone.

You can also search for a specific emoji and see what options are available for it. Tap the emoji icon at bottom left of the letter keyboard to bring up the emoji keyboard.

Favorite ones like “heart eyes” will turn up a lot of cute gifs. Others, not so much.

Try it and see!

You can also learn more about emoji meanings and favorite Instagram emojis!

Search by sticker creators

Another way to find the best stickers for your Instagram Stories is to start taking note of your favorite artists.

When you use stickers, you can see who created the original. Then simply add their name into the search bar to find more by the same artist.

A few of my favorites include:

Greendotori

Simple line drawings, some of which are animated, so they will work with any type of photo.

Scriptbynora

Classic script font words, some of which are animated and can easily be added to your photos.

Ohlalalita

Another font art creator, this one uses a handwritten but very casual style to create ready-made phrases and words to add to stickers, alongside doodles and icons.

Vipapier

Bit of a Boho feel with animated elements including words with backgrounds, heart icons, and pretty images like butterflies in some neutral shades.

Plantethics

One for those meaningful posts, their stickers include word art as well as self-care images and lots of plant icons.

Can you mix different types of Stickers?

Using stickers is a great way to make your Stories more interactive. And there’s also the fact you can combine more than one type to get different – maybe better – results.

There’s no set rules or guidelines about using more than one type of sticker. But most successful IG users say to do it sparingly.

Think about the aesthetic you are creating, and make sure you don’t overload your Story.

So while you can mix types and use more than one, only do it with a purpose.

Can you remove Instagram Stickers?

You can easily delete a sticker if you decide it isn’t the right one.

Drag the original sticker to the trash can symbol in the bottom of the screen. This will remove the sticker from your Story.

Making the most of IG Stickers

Instagram Stickers are one of the newer ways to make your Stories more visually interesting.

There’s a great range of static and animated stickers, word art, and icons.

You can even use different types of stickers to improve your engagement.

Experiment to see what your audience responds to and let us know what proves the most popular in the comments below!

Story stickers are one part of an amazing IG presence. Want more?

Learn how to grow your Instagram followers 11 ways!