How to Use Stories Highlights on Instagram

Instagram has transformed the way people share their lives, businesses, and creative expressions. Among its many features, Instagram Stories offer a unique way to engage with audiences in real-time, while Instagram Highlights provides a method to preserve these moments for future viewing. In this guide, we will dive deep into Stories Highlights, their importance, how to create them, optimize them, and leverage them for engagement and branding.

What Are Instagram Stories and Highlights?

Instagram Stories: Launched in 2016, Instagram Stories allow users to post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. This feature emphasizes ephemeral content, providing a sense of urgency and immediacy that encourages users to engage more frequently. Stories can contain various elements including polls, questions, music, and location tags, making them interactive and dynamic.

Instagram Highlights: Instagram Highlights are essentially collections of Stories that users can curate and save on their profiles. Highlights remain on your profile permanently until you choose to remove them, allowing users to showcase specific themes, moments, or information. They are displayed in circles at the top of your profile.

Together, these two features create a powerful storytelling tool for individuals and brands alike.

The Importance of Instagram Highlights

1. Curate Content: Highlights allow users to curate their Stories into manageable collections. This helps avoid the clutter of a crowded feed and enables followers to easily access important content anytime.

2. Showcase Branding: For businesses, Highlights serve as a digital portfolio displaying services, customer testimonials, behind-the-scenes content, and promotional offers. They establish a brand's identity and values in a quick and engaging format.

3. Driving Engagement: Highlights make it possible to keep popular or important content active beyond the standard 24-hour timeframe of traditional Stories. This drives engagement and reinforces your messages over time.

4. Increase Visibility: By using Highlights strategically, you can create an organized narrative of your presence on Instagram, making it more likely for visitors to engage with your content, leading to increased follower growth.

Creating Your Instagram Highlights

Step 1: Post Stories

Before you can create Highlights, you need to post Stories. Here's how:

1. Open the Instagram App.
2. Tap the '+' icon or swipe right to access the Stories camera.
3. Capture or Upload Content: You can take a photo/video or upload existing content from your camera roll.
4. Edit Stories: Use Instagram's built-in features like text, stickers, and music to enhance your Stories.
5. Share: After editing, tap “Your Story” to post your content.

Once your Stories are posted, they are available for 24 hours.

Step 2: Create Highlights

1. Go to Your Profile: Tap your profile icon in the bottom right corner.
2. Create a Highlight: Beneath your profile picture, tap the "+" icon under "Highlights."
3. Select Stories: Choose the Stories you wish to add to this Highlight. You can select multiple Stories if they fit within your theme.
4. Name Your Highlight: Create a compelling title. This might be descriptive of the content (e.g., "Travel" or "Testimonials") or catchy (e.g., "Fun Times").
5. Choose a Cover Image: You can select a cover from the selected Stories or upload a custom image that represents the Highlight.
6. Add to Your Profile: After finalizing everything, tap “Add” to place the Highlight on your profile.

Best Practices for Using Instagram Highlights

1. Organized Structure: Consider categorizing your Highlights to create a clear navigation system. Common categories include About Us, Products, Services, FAQs, and Testimonials.

2. Engaging Covers: Use visually appealing cover designs for your Highlights. Create a cohesive look by using similar colors, fonts, or graphics that align with your brand. Tools like Canva or Adobe Spark can help design custom covers.

3. Keep Your Highlights Updated: Regularly review and refresh your Highlights to keep them relevant. Remove outdated content to maintain professional integrity and ensure that followers see the most current information.

4. Incorporate Storytelling: Use the Highlights not just to showcase moments, but also to narrate a story. Build depth within your categories by interlinking Stories that may allow followers to navigate through different aspects of your experience.

5. Follow a Consistent Theme: Ensure that the Stories you include in each Highlight adhere to a consistent theme. This consistency helps create a clearer brand image and allows followers to know what to expect.

6. Use Call-to-Actions (CTAs): Include CTAs in your Stories and even in the captions of the Highlights’ covers to encourage interaction. Guide your viewers on what to do next, whether it's to visit your website, shop your products, or DM you with questions.

7. Leverage Analytics: If you have a Business account, use Instagram Insights to analyze how your Highlights are performing. This data can provide insights into what content resonates with your audience, allowing you to refine your approach.

8. Engagement Features: Integrate engagement features like polls or question stickers in your Stories before adding them to your Highlights. This enhances interaction and encourages followers to visit your Highlights for engagement.

Using Highlights for Branding and Marketing

1. Product Promotion: Highlight collections specifically for your services/products. Create separate Highlights detailing new arrivals, bestsellers, tutorials, or recommendations to guide customers more effectively.

2. Showcasing User-Generated Content: Encourage your customers to share their experiences with your products and tag you. Gather these Stories into a Highlight to not only promote your products but also build a sense of community.

3. Behind-the-Scenes Content: Share your creative process or a day in the life at your business. People love seeing the human aspect behind brands, enhancing relatability and authenticity.

4. Testimonials and Reviews: Collect and highlight customer feedback through Stories and use the Highlights feature to build trust among potential customers. Positive reviews can significantly influence purchase decisions.

5. Promote Events and Announcements: If you host events, sales, or significant announcements, create Highlights specifically for these to keep your audience informed long after the initial Story has vanished.

6. Educational Content: If you're in a niche that requires explaining concepts or providing tips, consider creating Highlights that offer value through educational content, tutorials, or FAQs.

7. Drive Traffic: Use Highlights to direct traffic to your website or blog posts by teasing content within the Highlight and encouraging users to click the link in your bio for more information.

Instagram Stories Highlights represent a blend of creativity, strategy, and branding opportunity. They allow users and brands to present a curated view of their most important, engaging, and evergreen content for followers to explore at their convenience.

Mastering the art of using Highlights effectively can greatly enhance your Instagram presence, deepen your connection with your audience, and create a compelling narrative that tells your unique story. Whether you are an individual sharing personal moments or a business building a brand, Instagram Stories Highlights are a powerful tool that, when used strategically, can elevate your social media game to a whole new level.

Remember, your Instagram profile is often the first impression users have of your brand. Make sure it reflects your identity effectively, and don’t underestimate the power of curated Highlights in crafting your narrative. Happy Highlighting