In terms of curating a cohesive model and an aesthetic Instagram feed, templates are a marketer/creator/enterprise proprietor’s greatest good friend.
As a result of, let’s be trustworthy: who has a superb designer or video editor available to expertly craft each single publish, Story, or Reel you could develop on Instagram?
Right here at Buffer, we’re a small Advertising and marketing crew that doesn’t! We do have a superb designer who lends a hand for launches and particular initiatives, however lots of the Instagram posts, Tales, carousels, and Reels you’ll discover on Buffer’s Instagram feed had been created with the assistance of templates.
On this article, I’ll unpack Buffer’s go-to template sources, plus my private favorites. Even in the event you’re a graphic design or video-editing novice, this template record can have you creating stunning Instagram content material in a few minutes.
Instagram templates for feed posts, carousels, and Tales
Free Instagram templates for Tales, feed, and carousel posts are comparatively straightforward to return by lately. The websites and platforms beneath are all value including to your content material creation toolkit.
1. Canva
How might I not begin with Canva? Canva is a light-weight, easy-to-use design and video enhancing software that will help you create designer-quality creatives. It’s normally Buffer’s first port of name for Instagram publish templates.
Canva has a library of hundreds of eye-catching templates for Instagram Tales, feed posts, and even Reels. You’ll be able to even filter by way of choices for sq. and portrait templates to your feed in the event you want one thing particular. Gradients, font pairings, stickers, infographics… Canva is a digital advertising dream software.
Some social media templates are solely accessible as a part of their premium plan (these with the little crown icons on the highest proper nook), however there are millions of nice free choices.
Bonus: there’s even a helpful Buffer-Canva integration you need to use to schedule your Canva-made artwork in Buffer immediately.
2. Etsy
For those who don’t thoughts spending slightly cash, Esty is dwelling to a whole bunch of hundreds of lovely, high-quality templates to your Instagram feed and Tales.
The very best half about shopping for an Etsy package deal (all of that are fairly moderately priced, by the best way) is that you just’ll get exactly that — an entire pack of matching Instagram templates somewhat than only one. Oh, hi there, fantastically curated feed!
Bonus: you’ll probably be serving to out a small enterprise or freelance creator if you purchase, too.
3. Pinterest
You’ll be able to’t instantly edit templates on or obtain them from Pinterest. Nonetheless, the platform is certainly value together with right here as a supply of inspiration — maybe even a template search engine of kinds.
On the social media platform, you’ll discover thousands and thousands of aesthetically pleasing Instagram template pins that hyperlink you to the supply (typically Canva, Etsy, or related platforms). Pinterest’s search performance is superb — you may hop on there to get particular examples of what you’re after (like my seek for “this or that” Instagram Story templates beneath).
Professional tip: click on on a pin you want, then scroll down — Pinterest will floor others similar to it that will help you discover precisely what you’re after.
4. Vecteezy
Vecteezy is dwelling to thousands and thousands of free inventory photographs, inventory movies, vectors — and round 14,000 Instagram templates. From Instagram carousel templates to full matching graphics packs such as you’ll discover on Esty, there are some nice free template choices on the positioning.
One caveat with Vecteezy: the platform permits minimal enhancing inside the software for some designs, however for almost all, you’ll want a software that may work with vector (normally .ai) information, like Adobe Illustrator. Vecteezy has a helpful information on how to try this.
5. Figma
Figma is a barely extra technical platform to get your head round, however when you’ve acquired the cling of issues, the design world is your oyster. The free software has lots of the capabilities of Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop — and lots will argue it’s simpler to make use of.
Now, Figma doesn’t have a library of ready-to-post templates you may tweak and share, however they’ve a choice of customizable templates of their ‘Instagram publish creator’ you could make your personal. Working with these templates is a superb first foray into Figma and studying a robust new software.
6. Visme
Visme is a web-based design software lots like Canva. They don’t have fairly as many templates on supply as their important competitor (round 10,000 in complete), however there are some nice choices to discover.
What’s the distinction between Canva and Visme? Not an entire bunch. Their interfaces and pricing are very related, although a fast scan by way of Visme’s templates left me feeling they had been a bit much less playful and inventive than Canva’s (which is a professional in the event you’re managing a company Instagram account).
7. iStock Photograph
If you wish to keep away from the “I-found-this-template-on-Canva” look, it’s value exploring the extra area of interest choices of inventory picture websites like iStock Photograph — notably if your organization has a paid account.
iStock picture has hundreds of distinctive Instagram templates you may make your personal. Like Vecteezy, although, you’ll need a software like Adobe Illustrator to tweak them — most of their templates are vector information. You’ll additionally want a paid plan to make use of most of those templates. Pricing on iStock Photograph ranges from $29 – $99 monthly.
8. Fiverr
For those who’re searching for one thing extra custom-made — say, together with your firm brand, fonts, and colours — working with a designer on Fiverr is a good way to attain that.
There are slightly below 2,000 freelancers providing their companies for designing distinctive Instagram templates. Their costs and expertise ranges differ, however the website’s evaluations system will make it simpler to search out somebody you’d wish to work with.
Bonus: That is one other approach to help a freelancer or small enterprise when you have a little bit of price range to mess around with.
Instagram templates for Reels
If design abilities will not be your robust go well with (proper there with you), then video enhancing could also be outdoors your wheelhouse, too. However due to the host of incredible templates and instruments for creating short-form movies for social media, you don’t want them to your social media posts.
The best approach to get viral clips up in your Instagram feed (and, with luck, the Discover web page)? You guessed it: Instagram Reels templates.
9. Instagram
Does it really feel a bit ‘duh’ to incorporate Instagram itself on this record? Possibly — however in the event you’re sleeping on Instagram’s tremendous easy in-app Reels templates, you’re lacking out.
There is no such thing as a smoother approach to get high-quality Reels posted at velocity. With the platform’s Reels templates, you’ll find a Reel you want and (if the creator has allowed it for use as a template) create one similar to it in minutes.
Right here’s a fast explainer on how you can use Instagram templates to your Reels:
Easy methods to create a video with a Reel template
- Faucet on the create (+) button within the Instagram app, then select ‘REEL’ on the backside of the display.
- Select ‘Templates’ on the high of the display. Right here, you’ll discover a library of Reels you need to use as a template to your subsequent video, together with a range really helpful for you and trending Reels.
- When you’ve discovered a Reel you want that’s accessible as a template, faucet the ‘Use as Template’ button.
- From there, faucet on the template clips to exchange them with your personal.
You’ll be able to tweak as a lot or as little of the unique Reel as you want — the timings, transitions, and audio will all be carried over.
10. Veed
Veed is the Canva of video enhancing (OK, Canva has video enhancing now, however you get what I imply). The online-based video editor is easy to make use of, even in the event you’re not utilizing a template.
Nonetheless, Veed has templates in abundance, which make the method of making Reels laughably straightforward — it’s one in every of my favourite instruments!
The one potential disadvantage is the watermark on the free model of your movies, however it’s comparatively obtrusive. If that’s not for you, Veed’s pricing ranges from $12 to $59 monthly for its paid plans.
11. CapCut
Video enhancing app CapCut discovered fame on TikTok, however the easy-to-edit templates on there are good for Instagram Reels, too. It’s one in every of our Social Media Supervisor, Mitra Mehvar’s go-to instruments (which you’ll know in the event you’re a daily reader of Buffer’s Social Media Publication, after all).
CapCut has a web-based editor and a cell app that make getting your Reels on Instagram (or into Buffer to schedule!) a breeze.
For those who’re a TikTok person, you’d be mistaken for considering CapCut is only for creating movies about moon section soulmates and seeing what you and your associate’s youngsters will appear like with AI (simply my FYP, then?). Together with this basic silliness, they’ve some smooth template choices that wouldn’t look amiss in an Instagram advert marketing campaign, both.
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