How to Make an Instagram Story for Your Business (With Music, Multiple Photos, Highlights)
In short. On Instagram, tap your profile picture, take or pick a vertical photo or video, add stickers (music, mention, link, poll), then tap "Your story". On Facebook, open your Page and tap "Create story". Business accounts get a royalty-free music library instead of commercial tracks. To stop depending on the phone, stories can be prepared ahead of time from a computer through Meta's official API.
A story is the most-watched format on Instagram and Facebook, and yet it is the one local businesses publish the least. Not for lack of wanting to: it gets made on the phone, between two customers, and the right moment never comes. Here is how to make a story on Instagram and on Facebook, step by step from the app, how to put music on it, and how to prepare it ahead of time from your computer when the day leaves no room.
How to make an Instagram story from your phone
- Open Instagram and tap your profile picture at the top left (or the + button, then Story).
- Take a photo or a video with the round button, or swipe up to pick a file from your gallery. Prefer a vertical visual: a story is 1080 × 1920 pixels, in 9:16.
- Add whatever you want on top with the stickers icon (the smiling square at the top): text, music, a link, a poll, a question, another account's mention, your location.
- Tap Your story at the bottom left to publish. The story is visible for 24 hours to your followers and to your profile's visitors.
One detail that changes everything: leave the top and bottom of the image free of any important text. Instagram draws your name and the reply bar there, and anything written in those areas goes unread.
How to add music to an Instagram story
Music is the most-used sticker, and the one that raises the most questions.
- Once your photo or video is in the story, open the stickers and choose Music.
- Search for a track, or browse the suggestions. Instagram offers a 5 to 15 second clip that you can slide along the song.
- Choose the display: lyrics, the cover art, or nothing at all. Then publish.
Something many businesses find out too late: a business account does not get the same catalog as a personal one. Commercial tracks often vanish from the search, replaced by a library of royalty-free music. It is not a bug, it is a licensing matter: an account that sells something cannot use any song. If a well-known track does not show up, that is why.
How to make a story with multiple photos
In the Instagram app, select several photos from your gallery before confirming: Instagram creates one story per photo, shown one after the other. Add the music to the first one and, when the option appears, choose the same music for the following ones. If you prefer several photos in a single story, the Layout mode builds a collage, two to six photos on one screen.
How to make a Facebook story with your Page
On Facebook, a Page's story is created from the Facebook app, not from Instagram.
- Open the Facebook app, then your Page (menu, Pages, or by switching to the Page's profile).
- Tap Create story at the top of the Page's feed.
- Choose a photo or a video, or a colored background for a text story.
- Add your elements (text, stickers, music, link), then tap Share to story.
The size is the same as on Instagram: vertical, 9:16, visible for 24 hours. If you prepare a visual, it serves both networks.
Keep a story in your highlights
A story disappears after 24 hours, but a story in your highlights stays on your Instagram profile, under your bio, for as long as you want. It is the right place for your hours, your menu, your prices, your work or your address.
- Open your published story and tap Highlight at the bottom.
- Pick an existing collection or create one with a short name ("Menu", "Before/after", "Directions").
- For a story that already expired, go to your profile, tap + then Story highlight: Instagram finds your archived stories.
Prepare your stories ahead of time, from your computer
Everything above happens on the phone, at the moment you publish. For a business, that is exactly the problem: today's special gets photographed at 11:30, in the middle of the rush, and Friday evening's story waits for a quiet moment that never comes. You know it as well as we do.
The fix is to prepare stories ahead of time, the way you prepare posts. With a tool connected to Meta's official API, a story can be scheduled from a computer for Instagram and for the Facebook Page at once. In GMB Club, it happens in the same place as your posts:
- Click Create post, then the Story button at the top of the window.
- Tick Instagram, Facebook, or both.
- Upload a vertical image or video (up to 60 seconds). A badly framed photo can be cropped to 9:16 in the editor.
- On a photo, the music button dresses it with a track from our royalty-free library: the story then goes out as a fifteen-second video.
- On Instagram, mention accounts if you wish: they are notified when it is published.
- At the Schedule step, choose the day and time. The story goes out by itself, at the chosen time.
What Meta's API does not allow, and therefore what no serious tool will promise you: interactive stickers. A poll, a question or a clickable link can only be added in the Instagram or Facebook app. For a story that needs a poll, publish it from the phone. For everything else, the head start comes from the computer.
And after publishing
Two things happen once the story is live. First, the statistics: Instagram only shows them during the story's 24 hours, then erases them. If you publish from GMB Club, they are read every hour and kept in Reports › Social media, under Your stories: views, accounts reached, shares, new followers, profile visits, and navigation (how many people tapped forward, back or exited).
Then, the replies. When a customer replies to your story, their message lands in your Instagram inbox. In GMB Club, it lands in Messaging with the story as a thumbnail, so you know right away what they are talking about, and you reply from there. If a customer mentions you in their own story, it is kept before Instagram erases it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make an Instagram story with multiple photos and music?
Select several photos in your gallery before confirming: Instagram creates one story per photo. Add the music to the first one, then choose "the same music" on the next ones when the option appears. From GMB Club, a scheduled story carries one visual; for a series, schedule several stories a few minutes apart.
Why can't I find a song on my Instagram story?
Because your account is a business account: commercial tracks are reserved for personal accounts, for licensing reasons. You have access to a library of royalty-free music.
How long does a story stay visible?
24 hours, on Instagram as on Facebook. A story in your highlights stays on your Instagram profile for as long as you keep it there.
Can I schedule an Instagram or Facebook story?
Yes, with a tool connected to Meta's official API, such as GMB Club. You pick the day and time, and the story goes out by itself on Instagram and on your Facebook Page. Only interactive stickers stay in the app.
For everything about your posts and your stories, the Social Agent page presents the calendar shared by your eight networks, and the Messaging page shows how replies to your stories arrive there.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make an Instagram story with multiple photos?
In the app, select several photos from your gallery before confirming: Instagram creates one story per photo. From a scheduling tool, schedule several stories a few minutes apart.
Why can't I find a song for my Instagram story?
Because your account is a business account: commercial tracks are reserved for personal accounts, for licensing reasons. You get a royalty-free music library instead.
How long does a story stay visible?
24 hours, on Instagram as on Facebook. A story added to your highlights stays on your Instagram profile for as long as you keep it there.
Can I schedule an Instagram or Facebook story?
Yes, with a tool connected to Meta's official API, such as GMB Club. You pick the day and time, and the story goes out by itself on Instagram and on your Facebook Page. Only interactive stickers stay in the app.