Want to wish your friends and family a happy birthday on Instagram? Create them a custom video!
Instagram Stories are a fun way to shine the spotlight on your loved ones and share your favorite photos and videos. But instead of posting and tagging them in twenty separate stories, you can create one video filled with all your photos! In this blog, we'll show you how to make a birthday reel or story on Instagram the easy way.
All you need to do is sign up for a free Animoto account, upload your photos, and drag and drop your way to a video with music, colors, animations, and photos in minutes.
Let's dive in!
TLDR: To create an engaging birthday video for Instagram, sign up for Animoto, select a vertical template and upload your media, personalize the message, customize the visuals and music, and then export and share the final video to Stories or Reels.
How to make a birthday story on Instagram with Animoto
The first step to making your birthday video is signing up for a free account with Animoto! Don't worry, you won't need any special skills or paid upgrades to make your video. Just sign up and get started right away.
Step 1: Choose a template
Templates make it easy to start quickly. Each free template contains professional animations, colors, music, and elements to make your photos shine.
- For the quickest result, use a pre-built template like the Birthday Card template.
- All templates can be reformatted for the Instagram Story/Reel’s vertical (9:16) aspect ratio with a single click.
Step 2: Add your photos
Now, add the photos and video clips that feature your loved one. Animoto makes it easy to upload media from multiple sources:
- Your mobile device (just scan QR code) or computer.
- Cloud storage platforms (like Google Drive).
- Your friends, family, and colleagues with shareable upload links.
Once uploaded, simply drag and drop your assets into the video frames to create a memorable sequence.
Step 3: Add your message
Make the video special by adding a personalized text message or quote. This could be a heartfelt dedication, an inside joke, or a simple "Happy Birthday!"
- Add a celebratory message to the opening slide.
- Use short, descriptive captions on individual photos.
- Consider adding a famous or inspirational quote to finish the video.
Step 4: Customize the look, feel, and sound
Take the customization further by adjusting the visual style and crucial audio elements.
Change colors, fonts, and apply different themes to match the birthday person's style. Themes can instantly update the entire video’s color palette, font, and animations.
Select a song from Animoto’s vast, licensed music library. Using a licensed track is vital, as it guarantees your video will not be taken down or muted on social media platforms like Instagram due to copyright issues.
Here are some of our favorite licensed birthday video songs.
Step 5: Finalize and share away!
And that's it! Once you have your video just the way you want it, click Export to preview, share, and download the video files.
Transfer your video to a mobile device and share your birthday video on Instagram Stories and Reels. Just don't forget to tag them to make sure they see your custom birthday gift!
And there you have it -- your happy birthday Instagram Story is ready to be shared with the world. Happy video making!
