Instagram Stories have become a powerhouse for engagement, offering a dynamic and immediate way to connect with your audience. As a content creator or brand on Instagram, leveraging this feature effectively is crucial. One powerful tactic is reposting stories, photos, and videos from your audience and other accounts. This not only diversifies your content but also significantly boosts engagement without the constant pressure of creating original content from scratch. Learning How To Repost A Story On Instagram is a fundamental skill for any social media strategist aiming to maximize their reach and community interaction.
Understanding the Legality of Reposting User-Generated Content
Before diving into the technicalities of reposting, it’s essential to understand the legal and ethical considerations, especially when dealing with user-generated content (UGC). Instagram’s Community Guidelines are clear: you should only share content you’ve created or have the right to share. Therefore, securing permission is paramount when reposting content that falls outside these categories.
Failing to obtain proper permission can lead to copyright infringements and damage your brand’s reputation. To ensure you’re on the right side of Instagram’s rules and maintain positive relationships with content creators, always give proper credit. This involves mentioning the original creator in your caption and tagging them directly in your Instagram Stories or posts.
Crediting the original creator is not just about legality; it’s about respect and community building on Instagram.
Even when encouraging users to share content using a branded hashtag, like Sta Travel in the example above, proactively seeking permission before reposting to your Instagram Story remains best practice. Directly messaging the content creator is the most professional approach. Avoid generic comments and opt for a personalized message. Here’s a template you can adapt:
“Hey [Creator Name]! We love your post featuring [Product/Service] and think it would resonate well with our audience. We’d be thrilled to share it on our Story with your permission, of course! We’ll make sure to give you a shoutout and tag you. Would you be interested in letting us repost?”
Brands like Sephora exemplify best practices by consistently tagging original creators when sharing content from influencers and customers on their Stories, reinforcing ethical content sharing.
When to Repost a Story on Instagram: Strategic Timing
Timing and relevance are crucial when incorporating reposts into your Instagram strategy. Strategic reposting can amplify your message and cater to your audience’s interests effectively. Here are key scenarios to consider when deciding whether to share a feed post to your Instagram Story or repost another account’s story:
- Influencer Partnerships: When collaborating with an Instagram influencer, reposting their content to your Story extends the reach of your campaign and leverages their audience.
- Cross-Brand Promotion: Sharing posts from partner brands or accounts that align with your brand values can introduce your audience to valuable content and foster collaborations.
- Feed Post Promotion: Reposting your own new feed posts to your Story is an excellent way to increase visibility. Many users prioritize viewing Stories over scrolling through their feed, making this a prime opportunity to capture attention.
- User-Generated Content (UGC) Spotlight: Highlighting customer-created content, whether they’ve tagged you or you’ve discovered it, builds community and shows appreciation for your audience.
Bonus Tip: Instagram’s Collabs feature offers a more integrated approach for sharing UGC, allowing you to co-author posts and Stories, which can be planned in advance for seamless collaboration.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Repost a Story on Instagram When Tagged
Instagram simplifies the process of reposting stories you’re directly mentioned in. When someone tags you in their story, you’ll receive a direct message notification. Reposting from this point is straightforward:
- Open the Direct Message: Access the direct message containing the story you were tagged in.
- Tap “Add to Story”: Below the story preview, you’ll find an “Add to Story” button. Tap this button to begin reposting.
- Customize Your Story: Instagram opens the story in the Story editor, allowing you to personalize it. Add text, GIFs, emojis, stickers, or drawings to enhance the reposted story and align it with your brand voice.
- Share to Your Story: Once you’re satisfied with your customizations, tap “Your Story” to publish the reposted story to your audience.
Pro Tip: Before sharing, tap on the story within the editor to enlarge it. This ensures better visual presentation and maintains the original creator’s visibility.
Reposting Stories When You’re Not Tagged: Alternative Methods
What if you encounter a fantastic story that resonates with your audience but you haven’t been directly tagged? While direct reposting via tag is the easiest method, you can still share these stories with a few workarounds, always remembering to secure permission first. Here are effective methods for reposting a story when you haven’t been tagged:
- Screen Recording or Screenshot: Utilize your smartphone’s built-in screen recording or screenshot feature to capture the story. Then, upload the recording or screenshot as a new story on your account. While simple, be mindful of image quality when using this method.
- Third-Party Reposting Apps: Several third-party apps are designed to facilitate Instagram reposting, such as Repost It (available for iOS). These apps often streamline the process and may offer additional features, but always check their privacy policies and permissions before use.
How to Repost an Instagram Feed Post as a Story
Sharing an Instagram feed post (photo or video) to your Story is a fantastic way to cross-promote content and add context. Instagram simplifies this process, automatically tagging the original poster, but it’s still good etiquette to consider informing them of your share, especially for smaller creators. Here’s how to repost a feed post to your Story:
- Locate the Feed Post: Find the Instagram photo, video, or Reel you wish to share.
- Tap the “Share” Icon: Beneath the post, you’ll see a “Share” button, which resembles a paper airplane. Tap this icon.
- Select “Add Post to Story”: From the share options that appear, choose “Add post to story.” This action will bring the feed post into the Story editor.
- Customize Your Story: As with direct story reposts, you can now enhance the feed post in your Story with text, GIFs, stickers, and more.
- Share to Your Story: Once you’ve customized it to your liking, tap “Your Story” to publish.
Pro Tip: Elevate your feed-to-story reposts by adding supplementary content. Include behind-the-scenes photos from the same day, relevant background music, or GIFs that reflect your reaction to the post. Engage your audience further by asking questions or polls related to the shared feed post.
Reposting Reels to Instagram Stories: Sharing Engaging Video Content
Instagram Reels have become a dominant force in content discovery, and sharing them to your Story can significantly broaden their reach. The process for reposting Reels to Instagram Stories mirrors that of sharing regular feed posts. If you encounter a Reel that aligns with your brand or audience interests, follow these steps:
- Find the Reel: Navigate to the Instagram Reel you want to repost.
- Tap the “Share” Icon: Similar to feed posts, Reels have a “Share” icon (paper airplane) at the bottom. Tap it.
- Select “Add Reel to Story”: Choose “Add reel to story” from the share options. This will open the Reel in the Story editor.
- Customize and Share: Add any desired customizations like text or stickers, and then tap “Your Story” to post the Reel to your audience.
Boosting Engagement with Strategic Story Reposts
Reposting Instagram Stories is not just about content curation; it’s a strategic tool to enhance engagement and build a vibrant community. To maximize the impact of your story reposts, consider these engagement-boosting tips:
Maximize Image Quality
Reposted content can sometimes suffer from reduced image quality, especially when using screen recording or screenshots. To maintain high visual standards, particularly for visually-driven brands, request the original media files from the content creator whenever possible. This is especially effective when collaborating with influencers or past partners.
Curate User-Generated Content
Tap into the wealth of content created by your audience. Many users may already be posting about your brand. UGC often feels authentic and relatable, and frequently boasts high production quality. Curate this content effectively by:
- Utilizing a Branded Hashtag: Encourage users to use a specific hashtag when posting about your brand, making it easier to discover UGC.
- Creating Saved Collections: Organize UGC by creating categories within your Saved posts. This builds a readily accessible library of content for reposting.
- Integrating UGC Strategically: Incorporate UGC posts between your brand-created content to maintain a diverse and engaging feed and story mix.
Acknowledge Accounts That Have Mentioned You
Reciprocity is key in social media. Acknowledge and appreciate followers and customers who mention you in their stories. A simple thank you message or a quick repost of their story (with permission) can significantly strengthen your relationship with your community. This fosters goodwill and encourages further engagement.
Add Your Brand’s Touch to Reshared Stories
Instagram Stories offers a rich toolkit of creative elements. Enhance your reposted stories by adding your brand’s personality. Incorporate branded GIFs, emojis, music, and interactive features like polls or quizzes. Use your brand colors and voice in text overlays to maintain consistency and brand recognition.
Create Story Highlights of Your Reposts
Instagram Highlights extend the lifespan of your stories beyond the standard 24-hour window. If your reposted stories are particularly valuable, informative, or thematically related, group them into Story Highlights. Organize highlights by topic (e.g., “Customer Love,” “Events,” “Product Features”) to create a curated content library that followers can easily access and browse for extended engagement.
Bonus: How to Repost a Comment on Instagram to Stories
Instagram’s latest feature expands reposting capabilities even further, allowing you to share comments directly to your Stories. This is a powerful way to highlight positive feedback, spark conversations, and amplify social proof. Here’s how to repost a comment:
- Locate the Comment: Find the comment you wish to share on a public Reel or Feed Post.
- Swipe or Tap and Hold: On iOS, swipe left on the comment. On Android, tap and hold the comment. Select “Add to Story +”.
- Position the Comment Sticker: The comment will appear as a sticker overlaying the original post. Resize and reposition it as desired within your Story frame.
- Customize Your Story: Add further context and engagement by using Instagram’s creative tools – filters, text, music, interactive stickers, etc.
- Publish Your Story: Tap “Your Story” to share the comment-enhanced story with your followers.
This feature mirrors similar comment-response functionalities on platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts, promoting increased interaction and content longevity on Instagram.
Make Instagram Story Reposts a Part of Your Social Media Strategy
Mastering how to repost a story on Instagram is an invaluable asset for enhancing your social media strategy. It’s a potent method for growing your audience, showcasing user-generated content, and driving significant engagement. However, ethical and strategic execution is key. Always prioritize obtaining permission and giving due credit.
By creatively curating UGC, adding your brand’s unique touch, and leveraging Story Highlights, you can transform reposting into a dynamic and engaging component of your Instagram presence. Remember to analyze your Instagram performance to refine your reposting strategies and maximize their impact on your overall social media goals.
