How to Use Story Highlights to Boost Engagement
Learn how to effectively use Instagram Story Highlights to enhance engagement and showcase your brand's best content for followers.
Instagram Story Highlights are a simple yet powerful way to keep your best content visible on your profile. Unlike regular Stories that disappear after 24 hours, Highlights stay permanently until you remove them. They allow you to organize and showcase key content, making it easier for visitors to explore your profile and engage with your brand.
Key Takeaways:
- What are Highlights? Circular icons below your bio that display curated Stories.
- Why use them? They help increase engagement by keeping important content accessible.
- Benefits for businesses: Promote products, share testimonials, and provide quick access to FAQs or tutorials.
- How to create them: Select Stories from your archive, name the Highlight, and choose a cover image.
- Keep them updated: Regularly refresh Highlights with new content to stay relevant.
Tips for Success:
- Organize Highlights by topic (e.g., products, reviews, behind-the-scenes).
- Use simple, branded covers for a polished look.
- Include interactive elements like polls or Q&As to boost engagement.
- Track performance metrics like views and engagement to refine your strategy.
Using tools like UpGrow can further optimize your Highlights by providing detailed analytics, audience insights, and suggestions for improvement. With Highlights, you can turn your Instagram profile into an engaging, easy-to-navigate showcase for your brand.
Use Instagram Highlights Strategically | How To Set Up Instagram Stories Highlights To Wow Customers
How to Create and Organize Story Highlights
Setting up Instagram Story Highlights is a straightforward process, but doing it effectively requires a bit of planning. The goal is to create Highlights that not only look good but also serve your audience and align with your business objectives.
Creating Your First Highlight
To start, head to your profile by tapping the button in the bottom-right corner of the app. Under your bio, you’ll see a "+" icon or the option labeled "Story highlight." Tap it to begin.
This will take you to your Instagram Archive, where all your saved Stories live. From here, select the Stories you want to include by tapping the circles on each one. You can mix and match Stories from different dates, allowing you to curate the best content regardless of when it was originally posted. After selecting your Stories, tap "Next."
Now, give your Highlight a clear and descriptive name. Then, choose a cover photo that represents the content well and tap "Done." Your Highlight will now appear on your profile, right below your bio, and will stay there until you decide to remove it. The next step is to organize your Highlights into meaningful categories.
Organizing Highlights by Topic
Think of each Highlight as its own mini-section of content. To make them effective, focus on broad, versatile categories instead of creating too many overly specific ones. This helps avoid overwhelming your audience while keeping your profile clean and easy to navigate. Some popular category ideas include:
- Products or services
- Customer reviews
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Tutorials or "how-to" guides
- Company values or culture
For example, some brands use Highlights like "New Arrivals" or specific product categories to make it easy for followers to find relevant information. Others take a more creative approach. Hawaiian Airlines, for instance, created a Highlight called "ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi", featuring everyday Hawaiian words to engage their audience while adding value. Similarly, Vrai used a Highlight to showcase all their showroom locations worldwide, complete with addresses for visitors.
To make the most of your Highlights, prioritize the most important ones by placing them first. Instagram displays the most recently updated Highlight first on your profile, so you can control the order by refreshing key Highlights regularly.
Updating and Maintaining Your Highlights
Keeping your Highlights up to date is essential for maintaining relevance. Review them every few weeks to ensure the content still aligns with your current goals. Set a schedule - whether monthly or at another interval that works for you - to refresh your Highlights and keep them engaging. For instance, PrettyLittleThing ensures their Story Highlights are always under a year old, showing their dedication to keeping content fresh and timely.
It’s also a good idea to remove outdated content, particularly Stories tied to expired sales or events. Rotate your featured Stories to reflect seasonal campaigns, new product launches, or upcoming promotions. Glow Recipe does this effectively with Highlights like "Guava Eye", which answers common questions about their gel cream, making it a helpful resource for customers.
Designing Highlight Covers
Once you've curated your Instagram Highlights, it's time to focus on their visual appeal. Highlight covers act as a visual menu for your profile, sitting prominently between your bio and main feed. Think of them as mini billboards for your brand, offering visitors a quick glimpse into what you offer and the kind of content they can expect. When done well, these covers grab attention, create a consistent brand image, and encourage users to explore your Highlights. This not only boosts engagement but can also lead to gaining new followers [16, 19]. Professionally designed covers show that your brand values detail and user experience, helping to build recognition and trust with your audience. Let’s dive into some strategies to make your Highlight covers stand out.
Why Highlight Covers Matter
Highlight covers are one of the first things visitors notice when they land on your Instagram profile. These small, circular images can make a big impact. They grab attention, help create a unified brand look, and encourage people to explore your Highlights. This can lead to higher engagement and, potentially, more followers [16, 19].
A polished, consistent design also sends a message: your brand cares about the details. And when visitors see a distinct style across your covers, they start associating that look with your business - reinforcing your brand identity.
Tips for Designing Covers
You don’t need to be a professional designer to create effective Highlight covers, but a little planning goes a long way. Here are some tips to get started:
- Center your icons or graphics: This simple trick ensures your covers look balanced and professional, especially on mobile devices where most Instagram browsing happens.
- Keep it simple: Avoid cluttered designs or detailed images that won’t translate well at such a small size. Bold icons or text are much easier to recognize than intricate illustrations.
- Stick to a consistent style: Use your brand’s color palette to tie all your covers together. While each cover doesn’t have to be identical, they should share a cohesive look, whether you opt for minimal icons or vibrant photos.
- Match your brand identity: Your covers should reflect your brand’s overall vibe. For example, playful brands might use bright, colorful designs, while more formal industries like finance might lean toward clean, professional aesthetics. The key is to align with your audience’s expectations.
Ideas for Highlight Covers
If you’re looking for inspiration, here are some creative approaches used by successful brands:
- Product-focused covers: Retail brands like Florence by Mills showcase their products on their covers, using brand colors to tie everything together. This approach highlights their offerings while maintaining a consistent look.
- Brand ambassador covers: Featuring real people can add a personal touch. For instance, Nike Women uses photos of athletes as covers, pairing them with the athletes’ names as Highlight titles. This not only humanizes the brand but also connects it with recognizable figures.
- Icon-based covers: A classic option, icons work well for organizing content. Sephora uses clean, simple icons in their brand colors to categorize Highlights by product type, while Shake Shack incorporates green-themed icons to align with their branding.
- Text-based covers: Using words or phrases as the main design element is another way to make your covers clear and engaging. This works particularly well if you want to spell out exactly what each Highlight contains.
- Mix and match: Combine icons, text, and images for a varied yet cohesive look. For example, use icons for some covers and text for others, or blend both elements into a single design.
Emojis can also be an effective tool. Since Instagram limits Highlight names to 15 characters, emojis can add visual interest and convey meaning without taking up space. Just make sure they align with your brand’s personality and are used consistently.
The best part? You can update your covers anytime. Don’t hesitate to experiment with different styles to see what resonates with your audience. Maybe product photos perform better than icons, or covers featuring real people spark more engagement. The flexibility allows you to refine your approach over time.
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Optimizing Highlights for Engagement
Make your Highlights work harder for you by using them to boost engagement and achieve tangible business outcomes. Let’s dive into the kinds of content and strategies that can take your Highlights to the next level.
Content That Drives Engagement
The most effective Highlights provide value by delivering what your audience cares about most:
- Behind-the-scenes content: Giving people a glimpse into your team, creative process, or product development can make your brand feel more relatable and trustworthy.
- Tutorials and how-to content: Whether it’s showcasing product features, offering industry tips, or teaching something new, educational content grabs attention and inspires viewers to save and share.
- Customer testimonials and user-generated content: Real stories, photos, and video reviews from customers act as powerful social proof, often more convincing than traditional ads.
- Limited-time promotions: Flash sales, exclusive deals, or time-sensitive offers in your Highlights can encourage immediate action.
- Interactive elements: Features like polls, quizzes, and Q&A sessions invite your audience to participate, helping to build a sense of community around your brand.
Using Highlights for Business Goals
Highlights aren’t just about engagement - they can also be tailored to meet specific business objectives:
- Customer support: Create a "FAQ" Highlight to answer common questions quickly, saving time for both your team and your customers.
- E-commerce: Use Highlights to showcase products by category, feature seasonal collections, or introduce new launches. They act as a mini catalog that’s easy to browse directly from your profile.
- Event promotion: Capture the buzz around product launches, conferences, or milestones with dedicated Highlights. These allow you to extend the life of time-sensitive content and keep your audience informed.
- Social proof: User-generated content Highlights not only build credibility but also encourage others to share their experiences, strengthening your community.
- Seasonal campaigns: Organize Highlights around specific seasons or campaigns to make it easier for visitors to find content that matches their interests.
Analyzing and Improving Highlight Performance
To make your Highlights as effective as possible, it’s essential to track their performance and adjust your approach. Keep an eye on metrics like views, engagement rates, and exits:
- If views are steady but engagement is low, consider adding interactive features like polls or quizzes to spark interest.
- Too many taps forward could mean your Highlight has too many slides. Trim it down and focus on key messages.
- Low reply rates might signal that your prompts need to be clearer or more engaging.
"Stories is the best place to convert because real people and real relationships happen in stories."
Timing plays a role too. Experiment with different posting schedules - weekends often bring higher reach. Set up a regular review process, such as weekly check-ins, to monitor your progress and tweak your strategy as needed.
Here’s something to think about: 15% to 25% of viewers swipe up on branded stories. Even small improvements to your Highlight strategy can lead to noticeable increases in traffic and conversions. Brands that treat their Highlights as evolving, strategic tools rather than static archives tend to see the biggest payoffs.
Maximizing Highlight Success with UpGrow
Once you've created compelling Story Highlights, the next step is making them work harder for you. That’s where UpGrow comes in. This AI-powered Instagram growth service takes your Highlights from simple collections of content to powerful tools for boosting engagement and attracting real, organic followers.
Using UpGrow's Analytics
UpGrow dives deep into your content’s performance, analyzing over 50 metrics to identify what resonates most with your audience. Unlike Instagram’s basic insights, UpGrow goes further, pinpointing which Stories are worth featuring in your Highlights. For example, it can reveal whether behind-the-scenes clips generate more saves or if your tutorials perform better on weekdays versus weekends.
By tracking engagement patterns across different content types, posting schedules, and audience demographics, UpGrow helps you make data-driven decisions. Instead of guessing, you’ll know exactly which topics drive profile visits and follows. This means your most impactful content gets prime placement in your Highlights.
With AI-driven strategies boosting engagement by up to 65%, UpGrow ensures your Highlights are tailored to what your audience loves.
Optimizing Your Profile with UpGrow
Once you have the analytics, UpGrow helps you fine-tune your profile to attract the right audience. Its smart AI-targeting filters for location, age, gender, and language to ensure your Highlights reach people who are genuinely interested in your content.
Need inspiration for new Highlights? UpGrow’s viral content library is packed with trending topics and formats that are performing well on Instagram. Use this resource to refresh your existing Highlights or create new ones that tap into current trends and keep your profile relevant.
UpGrow doesn’t stop there - it also analyzes your overall profile performance and suggests improvements that align with your Highlight strategy. By learning from audience behavior, the platform continuously refines its targeting, helping you attract followers who are more likely to engage with your content.
Monitoring Growth with UpGrow
The real magic happens when you combine optimized Highlights with UpGrow’s 24/7 real-time monitoring. The live dashboard gives you a clear picture of how your Highlights contribute to profile visits, follows, and overall engagement.
UpGrow’s analytics break down the customer journey, showing which Highlights are drawing people to your profile and which are converting visitors into followers. This data helps you fine-tune both the content and placement of your Highlights for maximum impact.
Seasonal trends also come into focus with UpGrow. For instance, you might find that product-focused Highlights perform better during specific months, while educational content shines at other times of the year. These insights allow you to plan and update your Highlights strategically, keeping them fresh and effective year-round.
For businesses serious about Instagram growth, UpGrow offers a powerful combination of AI tools and analytics. Starting at $39 per month, the platform even comes with a growth guarantee - if you don’t see results, you get your money back. It’s a risk-free way to see how smarter Highlight optimization can transform your Instagram engagement and follower count.
Conclusion
Story Highlights turn your Instagram profile into a curated showcase that not only grabs attention but also encourages visitors to keep coming back for more.
Key Takeaways
The secret to effective Highlights lies in strategic organization. Think about grouping your content into clear, purposeful themes - like product features, behind-the-scenes glimpses, or how-to tutorials. This creates a cohesive visual story that instantly tells visitors what your brand is all about.
Keeping things fresh is just as important. Take a cue from brands like Nike, which regularly update their Highlights to stay relevant and engaging. Fresh content keeps your audience interested and drives more views and interactions.
Don’t forget to track metrics like views, impressions, and engagement rates. Experiment with different content styles and interactive features to discover what resonates most with your audience.
For an extra edge, consider using tools like UpGrow’s AI-powered analytics. It offers smart targeting, real-time performance insights, and even access to a viral content library. These features help you pinpoint your best-performing content and ensure your Highlights are reaching the right audience. With 24/7 monitoring, you’ll always have the data you need to refine your Instagram strategy and keep your Highlights driving engagement and growth.
Next Steps
Here’s how to get started:
- Audit your Highlights: Remove outdated content and reorganize your Stories into well-defined, branded categories. Don’t forget to design attractive covers that align with your brand’s look and feel.
- Track performance weekly: Focus on the Highlights generating the most views and profile visits. Stay active by responding to comments and messages to build stronger connections with your audience.
- Use UpGrow’s tools: Leverage their analytics and targeting features to optimize your Highlights and grow your Instagram presence effectively.
FAQs
How can businesses use Instagram Story Highlights to boost engagement?
Businesses can make the most of Instagram Story Highlights by grouping their top content into themed sections. This setup helps followers easily access important information whenever they need it. Highlights can feature products, services, customer reviews, or even behind-the-scenes peeks to create a closer bond with your audience.
To keep things interesting, update your Highlights regularly with new content and use visually appealing covers that match your brand's style. This not only keeps your profile looking polished but also invites followers to dive deeper into your content, driving more interaction and building loyalty over time.
How can I create Highlight covers that look professional and match my brand?
To create Instagram Highlight covers that look professional and align with your brand, focus on using consistent colors, fonts, and visuals that represent your brand's identity. Keep the designs clean and easy to recognize, ensuring they stay clear and visually appealing even at smaller sizes. You can also subtly include your logo or other signature elements to reinforce brand awareness.
For a cohesive appearance, aim for a uniform style across all your covers. This not only ties your profile together but also boosts its overall visual appeal, making it more inviting for your audience to explore your Highlights. Thoughtful design choices here can go a long way in grabbing attention and enhancing engagement.
How can I track the performance of my Instagram Story Highlights and improve engagement?
To gauge how well your Instagram Story Highlights are performing, pay attention to key metrics like reach, impressions, engagement rate, sticker taps, and navigation actions (such as forward, back, or exit). These numbers give you a clear picture of how your audience is engaging with your content and which highlights strike a chord with them.
Leverage Instagram's analytics tools or performance dashboards to pinpoint your top-performing highlights. Look for trends in the content that gets the most interaction - whether it’s specific themes, eye-catching visuals, or effective call-to-actions. Use this data to fine-tune your approach by doubling down on what works while testing fresh ideas to keep your audience interested.
By consistently reviewing and tweaking your strategy, you can make your Story Highlights more engaging and build stronger connections with your followers.
