How to Find Trending Story Templates on Instagram

Jumping on an Instagram Story trend can feel like trying to catch lightning in a bottle, but finding the right template is much easier than you think. Using these trends is a powerful way to boost your engagement, showcase your brand's personality, and connect with your audience in a fun, interactive way. This guide will show you exactly where to find trending story templates and how to use them to grow your account.

The "Add Yours" Sticker: Your Direct Line to Trends

The single most powerful tool for finding and participating in Story trends is the "Add Yours" sticker. Instagram created this feature specifically to help prompts and templates go viral. When you see an "Add Yours" sticker in someone’s Story, it’s an open invitation to join a chain of user-generated content built around a single theme. Think of it as a collaborative Story that anyone can contribute to.

How to Find and Use "Add Yours" Templates

Once you know what to look for, you'll see these everywhere. The process for joining in is incredibly straightforward.

1. Spot the Sticker: While tapping through Stories, look for a sticker that says "Add Yours" followed by a specific prompt, like "A photo of your pet that looks fake" or "Your recent camera roll dump."
2. Tap the Sticker: Tapping on the sticker itself is your entry point. This will open a new screen showing you who created the original prompt and a grid of everyone else who has participated. This is a great way to discover new accounts.
3. Join the Trend: At the bottom of this screen, you’ll see a blue button with the "Add Yours" prompt. Tap it. Your phone will open your camera roll, allowing you to choose your own photo or video to add to the chain.
4. Customize and Post: After selecting your media, you can resize it, add text, GIFs, or other stickers just like a normal Story. The "Add Yours" sticker will be automatically included in your post. Once you share it to your Story, your followers can tap on it to join in, continuing the chain.

Pro-Tip: When you tap an "Add Yours" sticker, look at the top of the browse screen. You'll often see a pair of dice. Tapping the dice will shuffle through and show you other, similar trending "Add Yours" prompts, giving you even more options to join at once.

Mastering Instagram's Native Features

Beyond actively hunting for "Add Yours" stickers, Instagram has several built-in tools that surface trending templates and popular content styles. These are often overlooked but can be a goldmine for fresh ideas.

Explore a Growing Library with Story Templates

Instagram is slowly rolling out and improving a dedicated template browser right inside the Story creation camera. This feature allows creators to build pre-designed layouts that others can easily adapt.

• How to find it: Open your Instagram Story camera. At the bottom, swipe through the options like "Reel," "Post," and "Live" until you see "Template."
• What you'll find: This gallery showcases templates with designated photo and text cutouts created by other users. You might find templates for a "Week in Photos," a "Top 3 Of..." list, or a "This or That" comparison.
• How to use it: Simply tap on a template that you like, and the designated placeholder boxes will open your camera roll. Tap each placeholder to fill it with your own photos or videos. The design, text, and layout are already done for you.

Using Reels Audio to Predict Story Trends

Many Story trends don't begin as static templates, they start as audio clips on Reels. A trending sound or song almost always bleeds over into Stories. By paying attention to what's popular on Reels, you can get ahead of a trend.

1. Identify Trending Audio: While scrolling Reels, look for videos with a small, upward-pointing arrow next to the audio title at the bottom. This indicates the sound is currently trending.
2. See How Others Use It: Tap on the audio title. You'll be taken to the audio’s main page, where you can see all the Reels that have used that sound. This is where you can spot patterns and get inspiration for a video of your own.
3. Save It for Later: Tap the "Save Audio" button at the top of the page so you can easily find it later when you’re ready to post.
4. Share to Your Story: Create your Reel using the trending audio, and then use the "Share to Story" option. This keeps your content fresh and ensures you're participating in conversations happening across multiple parts of the app.

Searching the Effects Gallery for Inspiration

Sometimes a trend is built around an Augmented Reality (AR) filter or effect rather than a sticker. "Which character are you?" filters or interactive background effects often go viral because they're fun and easy for people to use.

• How to find it: Go to your Story camera. At the bottom, scroll all the way to the right of the filter icons until you see a magnifying glass icon that says "Browse effects." Tap it.
• What to search for: Inside the Effects Gallery, you can check out the "Trending" tab or use the search bar to look for keywords like "quiz," "this or that," or specific themes related to seasons or holidays ("fall filter," "new year").

Sourcing Templates and Inspiration Off the Beaten Path

Not all trends start and live exclusively on Instagram. Looking at other creative platforms and following the right people can give you a massive advantage.

Follow Accounts That Specialize in Templates

Some of the best Story trends are jump-started by creators, designers, and influencers who build a reputation for making beautiful or funny templates. Building a small list of these accounts to follow will turn your feed into a personal trend-spotting resource.

Who to Look For:

• Graphic Designers & Content Creators: Find people whose primary focus is making social media content. Search bios for terms like "Social Media Designer," "IG Templates," or "Canva Expert." They often share templates first with their own audience.
• Influencers in Your Niche: Top influencers are often the ones to popularize a trend within a specific community. See which "Add Yours" formats they're using and participating in, as their followers are likely to do the same.
• Brand Accounts That Excel at Community Engagement: Watch how big brands (like Duolingo or Spotify) use interactivity in their Stories. They have large teams dedicated to this, and you can borrow ideas from their strategies.

Use Hashtags and Keywords Strategically

A simple search can uncover a lot if you know the right terms to use. On Instagram's main search page, look up hashtags like:

• #addyourstemplate
• #instagramstorytemplate
• #storyinspo
• #igstoryideas
• #storychallenge

When you get the search results, be sure to tab over to the "Recent" filter. This shows you what's being posted right now, not just what was popular six months ago. It's an excellent method for finding new templates before they become oversaturated.

Browse Pinterest for Ideas and Inspiration

Pinterest is a visual search engine, making it one of the best places to find aesthetically pleasing templates and get ideas for your own. Users create and share boards filled with Story templates, including bingo cards, quizzes, "get to know me" graphics, and more. While you can't click a sticker to participate like you can on Instagram, you can easily save the template image to your phone, upload it to your Story, and then build your content on top of it. Use search terms like "Instagram Story Template" or "monthly photo dump template" to find endless options.

Final Thoughts

Finding trending Instagram Story templates is all about knowing where to look - from the “Add Yours” sticker and native features within the app to following inspiring creator accounts and browsing other visual platforms. By paying attention to these different channels, you'll always have a fresh supply of ideas to keep your audience engaged and your content relevant.

Staying on top of trends is one thing, but consistently weaving them into your calendar is what drives real community growth. We designed the visual calendar in Postbase to make this process feel effortless. You can plan out all your trend-based Stories and Reels in advance, see your entire content plan at a glance, and ensure you never miss an opportunity to connect with your audience.