Instagram Story vs Reel vs Post: A Complete Comparison Guide

Confused about whether to create an Instagram Story, Reel, or Post? We’ve all been there. While it’s great that Instagram offers multiple ways to share content, choosing which option to use can be daunting. But not when you know what performs best where — precisely what we’re to help with.

This guide takes an in-depth look at the Instagram Story, Reel, and Post features, covering what they are, their key differences, and when to use each. If you’re unsure about which content format to invest in, this post is exactly what you need.

Understanding Instagram Stories

An Instagram Story is a vertical, full-screen photo or video post that automatically disappears after 24 hours, unless you save it to your Highlights. If you want to share something without it appearing on your main profile grid, this is the Instagram feature for you.

It’s also a great way to keep your brand top of mind. When you post a Story, Instagram adds a ring around your profile picture to let users know that you’ve published new content. It also positions your profile at the top of followers’ home screens, making your updates hard to miss — if you rank well, of course.

Why Post on Stories?

The Stories feature is sometimes overlooked by brands and creators looking to grow on Instagram. After all, Stories content is only displayed to existing followers.

However, just because it’s not designed to bring in new followers doesn’t mean it’s any less valuable than other content formats. Here’s why you need to give Stories a chance:

• It can bring you closer to your current audience: The Stories feature offers interactive elements, such as polls and question boxes, to facilitate seamless engagement with your followers.
• It can help you drive traffic to external pages (your website, eCommerce store, blog post, etc.): Other than your bio, Stories is the only place on Instagram where you can add clickable links.
• It’s hard to miss: As mentioned earlier, Stories appear at the top of followers’ home screens. The feature is the first thing they see when they open Instagram, so it’s hard to miss.
• It requires less effort than other content formats: There’s an ease that comes with the temporary nature of Stories. You can share raw content (such as behind-the-scenes clips) throughout your day without worrying about it affecting your profile’s aesthetic.
• It gives you control over who sees your content: You can share private or sensitive content, such as product sneak peeks, with a select group of followers by adding them to your Close Friends list.
• It has a broad reach: According to Instagram, over 500 million people engage with Stories every day.

Best Practices for Instagram Stories

As with any other content format, how you use the Story feature determines how valuable it is for your brand. For optimal results:

• Post Story content multiple times daily: This keeps you top of mind, increasing the likelihood that followers will watch and engage with your posts. The more they do so, the better you’ll rank in their Stories trays.
• Take advantage of the feature’s interactive stickers: Use Questions, Polls, and Emoji Sliders to drive audience engagement. This not only deepens your connection but also sends positive signals to the Instagram algorithm, which can boost your visibility.
• Use Story Highlights: Not all Stories have to be temporary. If you share important content, such as a product reveal or answers to commonly asked questions, save it to Highlights to extend its lifespan.

Understanding Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels are short-form vertical videos designed for discovery and reach. How? Well, unlike Stories, they don’t only show up in followers’ feeds.

Instagram also displays them in the Reels tab and Explore page, allowing content creators and brands to reach non-followers. If your primary goal is to grow your Instagram account, Reels are one of the best ways to do it.

Reels don’t just help with audience reach. They’re also gold when it comes to engagement, often registering more likes, saves, comments, and shares than single-image posts.

Why Post on Reels?

Reels are one of the most valuable assets for content creators and social media managers. Here’s why:

• Broad reach: They get 36% more reach than carousels and 125% more reach than single-image posts.
• High engagement: While carousel posts receive more engagement than Reels, the short-form videos get more interactions than single-image posts.
• Creativity: Reels allow you to use effects, music, and other creative edits like transitions. This can help retain users’ attention.

Best Practices for Instagram Reels

To increase Reel reach and engagement:

• Keep your videos short: Instagram now allows up to 20-minute-long Reels. However, as human attention spans decline, using the full 20 minutes can reduce completion rates and, consequently, engagement. Further, Instagram doesn’t recommend Reels longer than 3 minutes to new audiences. To play it safe, keep your videos as short as possible — 30 to 90 seconds is the sweet spot.
• Use captions: Add captions to videos to boost accessibility for people with hearing difficulties, sound-off viewers, and non-native speakers.
• Create strong hooks: Use engaging visuals, audio, or texts within the first three seconds of your videos to stop users from scrolling away. You can use transitions, make bold statements, or ask questions.

Understanding Instagram Posts

Instagram Posts are the classic pieces of content that live on your profile grid and appear in users’ feeds. They can be images, videos, or carousels.

Unlike Stories, which expire after 24 hours, Feed Posts live permanently on your grid — until you decide to delete or archive them, of course.

Why Post on the Feed?

It’s easy to get carried away with Stories and Reels (due to their interactive elements and broad reach) and forget about Posts. However, this would be a mistake on your part. Here’s why:

• Your feed is your digital storefront: When users discover accounts through Reels, they typically click through to their profiles to decide whether to follow them. Having great content on your grid can go a long way toward encouraging them to follow.
• Feed posts receive significant engagement: Well-curated Posts increase your overall engagement, which can signal account value to the algorithm. What’s more, carousel posts outperform all other content formats in terms of engagement. According to a Buffer analysis, they receive 12% more audience interactions than Reels.
• Lasting impression: Feed Posts remain on your profile, minimizing some of the pressure to keep creating. Unlike with Stories, where you have to publish multiple pieces of content daily to show an active presence, you can post several times a week to your feed and still stay top of mind.

Best Practices for Instagram Posts

As with other formats, your success on the feed is contingent on how you curate your Post content. To drive success:

• Mix single-image and carousel posts: Carousel posts may be a lot more work than single-image posts, but they’re worthwhile. They keep users on your page for longer, which can send positive signals to the Instagram algorithm and broaden your reach. So, try to incorporate them into your posting strategy regularly.
• Write engaging captions: Hook your audience and drive engagement with compelling copy. Ideally, captions should add value to your posts and feature relevant hashtags and CTAs. If you’re not sure how to write captions yet, you can try using one of these free caption generators to get started.
• Maintain a consistent aesthetic: Consistency makes your page more appealing and professional-looking. Take Glossier’s profile grid, for example. The soft pinks, consistent lighting, and minimalist aesthetic create a visually appealing profile and a professional feel.

When to Use Each Content Format

When creators dive into Stories, Reels, and Posts, some expect to find that there’s one superior format. However, this isn’t the case.

The truth is, these formats serve varying purposes. So, rather than try to pick just one to focus on, mix them up. Here’s a look at when to use them:

Instagram Stories: When You Want to Connect With Followers

Instagram Stories are immediate and personal, making them ideal for nurturing relationships with your audience. Use them to:

• Run polls
• Ask questions
• Request feedback from your audience
• Share time-sensitive information, like limited-time offers
• Drive traffic to other brand pages, such as your other social media handles
• Show behind-the-scenes content

Stories are also great for content that doesn’t align with your profile’s aesthetic or standard posts (because they’re temporary). If you want to share something that’s outside your niche but still valuable to your audience, they’re a great way to do so.

Jared Polin FroKnowsPhoto, for example, regularly uses Stories to answer questions and take his followers behind the scenes of his photography works.

Instagram Reels: When You Want to Expand Your Reach

If your primary goal is to grow on Instagram, Reels are the perfect vessel. They have the highest reach on the platform and, as such, can expose your account to broader audiences. Use this Instagram feature to:

• Jump on trends in your niche
• Build brand or product awareness
• Tell your brand story
• Showcase your creativity

Instagram Posts: When You Want to Build Authority

Instagram Posts are great for authority-building content because they’re permanent. Further, they determine whether new users follow your account. To facilitate growth, use them to:

• Share educational and thought-leadership content
• Share results or customer reviews
• Recognize your milestones
• Showcase product features and value propositions

Apple regularly uses Feed Posts for such purposes. In the post below, for example, the brand uses the content format to showcase its phones’ camera quality.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by apple (@apple)

Instagram Story vs Reel vs Post: Side-by-Side Comparison

While Stories, Reels, and Posts are all Instagram content formats, they’re inherently different. Here’s a quick breakdown of their differences:

	Instagram Story	Instagram Reel	Instagram Post
Primary goal	Nurture relationships with current followers	Reach new audiences	Build your authority and overall brand
Reach	Limited (shared with followers)	Broad (shared with both followers and non-followers on the Reels tab, Explore page, and search results)	Medium (displayed on the Feed, Explore page, and search results)
Engagement	High (receives likes, replies, and interactions, such as dropping answers in Question boxes)	High (gets likes, shares, reposts, saves, and comments)	Medium (gets likes, shares, reposts, saves, and comments) Note: Carousel posts get more engagement than single-image posts and Reels
Shelf life	24 hours (unless saved to Highlights)	Permanent	Permanent
Effort level	Low (can share raw content on the go)	High (requires you to record and edit high-quality, high-value videos)	Medium (require high-quality images or videos)
Content style	Casual, raw, in-the-moment	Polished and well-edited	Curated and well-edited
Content length	Up to 60 seconds per segment	Up to 20 minutes	Carousels: Up to 20 images and videos Videos: Up to 60 minutes

How to Make the Most Out of Your Stories, Reels, and Posts

Stories, Reels, and Posts can help you achieve your Instagram goals, but only if you play your cards right. Here are some tips to help you do just that:

Prioritize Content Quality

Content quality is non-negotable, even on a temporary format like Stories. It shapes people’s perception of your brand and can therefore determine whether they follow and engage with you.

To ensure content quality:

• Use a clear camera and mic for content creation.
• Ensure proper lighting during shoots.
• Avoid uploading screenshots.
• Use recommended pixel and aspect ratio settings (1080p and 1.91:1-4:5), so Instagram doesn’t crop out vital content elements. This Instagram size guide explains how these dimensions work for posts, Reels, and other formats.

Also, create content that offers value to your target audience. Ideally, it should address a pain point, educate, inspire, or entertain.

Engage With Your Audience

Encourage interactions across all content formats by asking questions, running polls, liking comments, and responding to users’ replies. The more engagements you register, the more valuable your content (and account) appears to the algorithm. This could lead to:

• Better rankings on Stories trays.
• Regular appearances on users’ feeds.
• More recommendations across new audiences’ Reels and Explore tabs.

Use Trending Sounds

Incorporate trending audio into your Reels, Stories, and Posts. These sounds create a sense of familiarity, which can stop users from scrolling or swiping away from your content. Trending sounds also signal the algorithm to push your content to broader audiences.

To find trending audio under a professional account, tap your profile, then Professional dashboard, and select Trending audio. If you have a personal account, look for Reels with a small arrow icon next to their track names.

Note: These features are only available on the Instagram mobile app in the US.

Post at High-Engagement Timeframes

When you post determines your engagement numbers, and consequently, your reach. If you post when your target audience is most active, your chances of achieving immediate engagement increase. This can then prompt the algorithm to share more of your content across followers’ and non-followers’ feeds.

To find your highest-engagement timeframes, head to your profile and tap Professional dashboard. Then tap Followers and scroll down to the Most active times section to see when most of your people are online.

Once you identify peak engagement windows, lean on GeeLark to make sure you don’t miss them. GeeLark is a cloud phone platform that provides isolated cloud phone environments to minimize the risk of multi-account linking.

Beyond helping you separate multiple Instagram accounts, the platform offers automation templates that can handle Reels and Post publishing on your behalf. All you need to do is set up cloud phone profiles, install the Instagram app, and launch your preferred automation template (the “Post Reels video on Instagram” template for videos and the “Instagram publish Reels gallery” template for photos). GeeLark will then publish your content at the set time, helping you capitalize on your audience’s activity.

Unlike standard automation tools, GeeLark doesn’t rely on APIs to auto-post content. Instead, it uses cloud phones to simulate real user actions, such as tapping the “+” button when posting videos and images. This makes it appear as though you’re posting the content yourself, reducing the risk of triggering automation flags.

Instagram Story vs Reel vs Post: Which Is the Best Format?

The truth is, none. These content formats serve different purposes and are all vital to your Instagram strategy. Use Stories to foster deeper connections with your audience, Reels to increase your reach, and Posts to showcase your authority.

With GeeLark, you can easily maintain posting consistency at high-engagement timeframes. The platform provides Reel and Post automation templates that publish content at set times across multiple accounts. This takes the hassle out of maintaining an active presence on Instagram and lets you focus on high-value tasks, like actually creating your content.

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