How to Change Background Color in Instagram Story

Instagram Stories have become a staple of social media communication, providing an easy and creative way to engage with followers. Whether you're sharing personal moments or promoting your brand, Instagram stories offer a perfect platform to connect with your audience. One of the most effective ways to customize your Instagram Story is by changing its background color.

Changing the background color not only makes your story visually appealing but also helps align it with your brand or mood. Whether you're showcasing a product, making an announcement, or just having fun, the background color can set the tone for your content.

In this article, we’ll guide you through how to change the background color in your Instagram Story, with tips, tricks, and advanced techniques for adding extra flair to your content.

Why Changing Background Color in Instagram Stories Matters

Customizing the background color in your Instagram stories is more than just a design choice; it can significantly affect the engagement, visibility, and branding of your story. Here's why it’s important:

• Boosts Visual Appeal: The right background color can transform a simple Instagram story into something eye-catching. Whether you choose a bold color or a subtle shade, background colors enhance the overall aesthetic and encourage users to engage with your content.
• Supports Branding: If you're using Instagram as a marketing tool for your business, aligning the background color with your brand’s color palette is crucial. Consistent use of brand colors across your Instagram Stories helps reinforce brand identity, making it more recognizable and memorable to your audience.
• Evokes Emotion and Mood: Colors have a powerful psychological impact. Warm colors like red, orange, and yellow can invoke excitement, while cool tones like blue and green are calming and peaceful. Using the right color can convey your story's message more effectively and influence how your followers perceive it.
• Increases Engagement: Stories with a dynamic and custom background stand out in a crowded feed. By taking the extra step to personalize your background color, you're more likely to grab the attention of viewers and encourage them to interact with your content.

How to Change Background Color in Instagram Story

Changing the background color in your Instagram Story is simple and can be done in just a few steps. Here’s how you can do it:

• Open Instagram and Create a New Story
  
  • First, open your Instagram app. Tap on your profile picture or swipe right to open the camera. Take a photo, record a video, or select an image or video from your gallery that you want to use for your story.
• Access the Drawing Tool
  
  • Once you’ve selected your content, tap the pencil icon in the top right corner of the screen. This icon opens the drawing tool, allowing you to customize your story.
• Select the Background Color
  
  • On the drawing tool screen, you’ll find a color palette at the bottom of the screen. Tap the color circle to select the color you want for your background. If you want a custom color, you can hold the color circle and drag it to choose the shade that fits your brand or mood.
• Fill the Background with Color
  
  • To fill the background with your selected color, tap and hold anywhere on the screen. The background will immediately fill with the chosen color. The entire screen will change to the new color, even if it’s a photo or video you initially added.
• Add Content on Top
  
  • Once the background is set, you can add text, stickers, GIFs, emojis, or images to further personalize your story. Instagram provides various creative tools to make your story unique and engaging.
• Save and Share
  
  • After finalizing your story, tap “Your Story” to post it or “Send To” to share it directly with specific users or groups.

Advanced Tips to Enhance Your Instagram Story Backgrounds

While changing the background color is simple, there are advanced techniques to make your Instagram story stand out even more. Here are some creative tips to enhance your background and make your stories pop:

• Use Gradient Backgrounds: Instagram allows you to use gradient backgrounds, where two colors seamlessly blend into one another. Gradient backgrounds add depth and dimension to your story, making it more visually appealing. You can choose from preset gradients or create your own by adjusting the color range.
• Use Custom Images or Patterns: Instead of a solid color, you can upload a custom image or pattern as your background. Create designs on tools like Canva or Adobe Spark and upload them to Instagram to make your story more personalized and visually attractive. You can use a custom background that reflects your brand’s theme or promotes a special offer.
• Combine Text and Background for Impact: Contrast your background color with text to make it more readable and engaging. For example, light-colored backgrounds with dark text are highly visible, and vice versa. Play with the font style, size, and alignment to match the background color and create a balanced and cohesive look.
• Create Transparency Effects: If you want to blend your content with the background seamlessly, try using transparency effects. Instagram offers a brush tool that can erase parts of your image, allowing the background color to show through. This gives your story a sleek and modern look.
• Add Dynamic Elements Like Stickers: To make your Instagram Story more fun, add dynamic elements like stickers, GIFs, and emojis that match the background color. Instagram’s extensive library of stickers allows you to choose items that match your brand’s personality and style.

Using Instagram Story Backgrounds to Strengthen Brand Identity

Instagram stories are a valuable marketing tool, especially for businesses. Customizing the background color of your Instagram stories is a powerful way to reinforce your brand’s identity and maintain a consistent aesthetic across your content.

• Align with Brand Colors: If you have a brand color palette, make sure to use it consistently across your Instagram stories. Consistent use of your brand colors helps your followers instantly recognize your content in their feeds. If you're using platforms like Spocket for product sourcing, aligning your Instagram stories with your store’s color theme creates a seamless brand experience for customers.
• Create Visual Consistency: Just like maintaining a consistent logo or product packaging, keeping a consistent color scheme in your stories ensures that your audience connects your content with your brand. This visual consistency helps build brand trust and loyalty, making it easier for followers to recognize your content.
• Incorporate Your Brand’s Personality: Colors have the power to convey your brand’s personality. For example, vibrant and energetic colors like orange and yellow may be used to represent a fun and youthful brand, while darker shades like navy or black can convey sophistication and elegance. Tailor the colors to reflect your brand’s message and values.
• Incorporate Calls to Action (CTAs): Use background colors to highlight CTAs like “Swipe Up,” “Shop Now,” or “DM for more info.” Using contrasting background colors or gradients can make your CTAs stand out, encouraging more engagement from your followers.

Best Practices for Instagram Story Background Colors

Changing the background color in your Instagram story is an excellent way to grab attention and stand out in the crowded social media space. However, to truly make your stories effective, it's important to follow some best practices when it comes to selecting and using background colors. Let’s dive into these practices and explain why they are important.

Avoid Clashing Colors

Color combinations play a crucial role in making your Instagram story aesthetically pleasing and ensuring that your message is easily readable. While it’s tempting to go for bold contrasts, you should avoid clashing colors that can make your content look chaotic or difficult to read. For example, pairing bright neon yellow text with a bright green background can create visual strain, making it harder for your audience to focus on the message.

To achieve optimal readability and visual comfort, aim for color combinations that provide enough contrast but are complementary. For instance, using dark text on a light-colored background, or vice versa, can help your message pop without overwhelming the viewer. The goal is to find a balance where your text, graphics, and background color work together harmoniously.

Don’t Overcomplicate

Simplicity is key in the world of design, especially on Instagram. Instagram Stories are meant to be quick, engaging, and easy to consume. If your story is overcrowded with too many colors, elements, or text, it may become overwhelming and detract from your main message.

Instead, focus on clean, simple backgrounds that allow the main message to stand out. For example, a solid background color with a few well-chosen text and graphic elements can make your story visually appealing without overcomplicating the design. The goal is to communicate your message effectively while maintaining a clean, easy-to-digest layout.

Using a consistent design style for your stories will also make your brand more recognizable and professional. Whether you use subtle gradients, muted tones, or minimalist elements, keep your design consistent with your overall branding.

Test and Optimize

Just like any other marketing strategy, using Instagram Stories effectively requires constant testing and optimization. What works for one audience may not work for another. Therefore, experimenting with different background colors, fonts, stickers, and layouts is essential to see what resonates best with your followers.

Instagram offers tools like Instagram Insights, which provide valuable data on how your stories are performing. With insights into how many people viewed, engaged, or skipped your story, you can fine-tune your content to increase engagement. Testing different background colors is a simple yet effective way to improve the overall impact of your stories.

For instance, try posting two similar stories with different color schemes and monitor which one gets more interaction. Over time, you can gather valuable data that informs your decision-making and helps you optimize your stories for better results.

How to Align Background Colors with Your Brand Identity

Another important consideration when choosing background colors for your Instagram Stories is how those colors align with your overall brand identity. Colors are not just visually appealing; they carry meaning and evoke certain emotions. For example, blue is often associated with trust, professionalism, and calm, while red conveys energy, passion, and urgency.

Here’s how you can use background colors strategically to align with your brand:

• Choose Colors that Reflect Your Brand’s Personality: If your brand is playful and energetic, opt for vibrant, bold colors. If you’re representing a luxury brand, use subtle, sophisticated hues like black, gold, or dark blue. Ensure the colors you use are consistent with the mood and message you want to convey.
• Use Brand Colors: If your business has established brand colors, use them in your Instagram Stories to create consistency across your social media platforms. By sticking with your brand’s color palette, you reinforce your brand identity and ensure your content is easily recognizable by your audience.
• Consider Cultural Implications of Colors: Different cultures associate different meanings with colors. For example, while white symbolizes purity in some cultures, it can signify mourning in others. Consider your target audience when choosing your background colors.
• Maintain Consistency Across Stories: Consistency in color helps create a cohesive look for your stories. If you're using your brand’s color palette, keep it consistent across multiple stories to create a visually unified experience. This makes your content instantly recognizable and easier for followers to engage with.

Conclusion

Changing the background color of your Instagram story is a simple but effective way to make your content stand out, align with your brand identity, and engage your audience. By customizing the background, you can create a unique and visually appealing story that captures the attention of your followers. For businesses, aligning the background with your brand colors ensures consistency, strengthens brand recognition, and promotes engagement.

Take the time to experiment with different colors, techniques, and styles to find what works best for you. With tools like Spocket for product sourcing and Smartli for AI-powered content creation, you can enhance your Instagram Stories while maintaining a consistent brand experience.

Start customizing your Instagram story backgrounds today and watch your engagement soar!