The Ins and Outs of Instagram Highlights
Instagram, like Facebook and Twitter, is a popular social media platform that people share their stories on. Along with that, Instagram has also become a medium to make your business more popular and expand your customer base. It lets you add a glimpse of what you do for people to see.
With the new Instagram Highlights feature, you can do so much more.
What Are Instagram Highlights?
Along with its regular feed, Instagram lets you post and view a story for 24 hours with the Instagram Stories feature. This feature can be beneficial for businesses because it gives customers a glimpse into what you do every day. If you are a realtor, you can record a short video of new apartments and homes to advertise.
A newer feature, Instagram Highlights, has taken Instagram Stories to a whole new level. While your regular Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours, the new Instagram Highlight feature lets you highlight any of your stories previously posted to keep around on your profile. This is an especially handy feature for business owners.
Whenever you add a story, you can tap the “heart” icon at the bottom right to highlight your story.
Instagram Highlights and Archived Stories
Yes, you heard that right! Along with Instagram highlights, a new feature has been introduced — archiving stories. This is especially great if you want to be able to access any of your previous stories from a few days, months, or even years ago.
If you click on the ‘+ New Highlight’ button on your profile, it will take you to your archived stories. You can choose any story to highlight, even if it was a few days ago. This can save you the trouble of creating a new story.
How to Best Use Instagram Highlights to Promote Your Business
Your Highlight Cover Image
The very first highlight that you add on your profile becomes your highlight cover image. This is the very first image that your followers will see when checking your highlights, so you need to make sure that it looks inviting.
You can edit your highlight by clicking on the “More” option on the bottom right. Here, you can also add a small line stating what you do or how your business works.
Naming Your Highlights
The new highlight feature also allows you to name your highlights. This allows you to segregate different types of highlights on your profile and gives followers a better idea of what you do.
As the area is small, you only have about 8-10 characters to correctly display the name of your highlights on your profile. So, remember to keep short and sweet names that easily convey what you want.
Think Your Highlights Through
Highlights appear right at the center of your profile, and this is what your customers are going to see first, even before they check your feed. This means that you need to make sure that by seeing your highlights, potential customers are interested in your business. Keep these pointers in mind when selecting your highlights.
- What do you want customers to know about your business?: This is an important thing to keep in mind. What makes your business popular amongst customers? Make sure that you include these in your highlights.
- Behind the scenes: Adding “behind the scenes” clips of what you do in your business allows customers to connect with you. This gives viewers proof of how you make your products, so make sure to include them.
- Freebies and offers: You can also include a highlight to show your customers all of your offers and freebies. A perfect way to promote your business.
- Updates: If you are making any changes in your business or upgrading any of your products, ensure that you include them on your highlights as well.
Instagram Highlights is a great way to promote your business, giving your customers a glimpse of what you do. However, you only have space for four highlights at a time on your profile, so sort them properly and add the most important ones first. Remember that it is not that easy to change the order of the highlights (hopefully someday in the future), but don’t let that keep you from making full use of the feature.
