See tips on how to use Instagram highlights strategically to boost your brand’s presence on social media.
The Instagram highlights or stories are a way to give longevity to content that would normally disappear in 24 hours.
Thus, by creating, organizing, and personalizing your highlights, you can showcase important aspects of your brand, share relevant information, and continually engage followers.
In this article, you will discover how to use Instagram highlights intelligently to strengthen your digital presence, gain more followers, and of course, make your profile even more attractive. Let’s go.
Why Instagram highlights are important
Stories have become one of the most popular tools on Instagram precisely because they are dynamic, fast, and allow for a closer relationship with followers.
However, they have a limited duration of 24 hours. That’s where Instagram highlights come in, which allow you to permanently save the stories you find most relevant.
In summary, this feature works like a fixed showcase at the top of your profile, just below the bio, where each user can share and display their best content.
But why are they so important for strengthening your brand and engaging followers? Below are some of the main reasons.
- Prolonged exposure of content instead of letting interesting stories get lost over time, you can select what’s most valuable for your audience in the highlights. This ensures that people visiting your profile immediately see the content you consider special.
- Organization and segmentation allow you to create a logical structure for the profile, separating content by theme or campaign, which is great for the public to quickly find information about products, behind-the-scenes, client testimonials, and much more.
- Attracting and retaining followers after all, a good first impression can convert a visit into a Follow and even encourage engagement from those who already follow your account.
- Strengthening the brand each highlight can be customized with a cover that reflects your business’s visual identity. This consolidates the brand image, makes the feed more harmonious, and consequently conveys professionalism.
That said, we can see how Instagram highlights play an essential role in the marketing strategies of a company that wants to become more relevant online.
How to create strategic highlights for your brand
Now that we understand the importance of highlights, let’s see how to create them strategically to elevate your professional profile on Instagram..
The process is simple, but there are some best practices that can be applied to optimize the result. Follow along.
Highlight categories you can create
To start, one of the best ways to organize your Instagram highlights is to pre-define the categories that will make sense for your business or personal brand.
In this way, if you already have a content plan for the network, it becomes easier to separate the stories according to each theme. Check out some category ideas.
1. Products or services
If your brand is sales-oriented, create highlights that show the main products or services you offer.
In this space, you can include everything from behind-the-scenes of the production process to videos demonstrating the function or utility of each item.
2. Client testimonials
Having an exclusive highlight for testimonials and reviews helps to create social proof.
Therefore, add screenshots of positive messages or short videos of satisfied clients. This way, anyone visiting your profile can quickly see these recommendations.
3. Behind-the-scenes and brand culture
People like to know the human side of companies. Therefore, show details of the team’s daily life, creative processes, and the routine of those behind the product.
After all, this type of content creates identification and proximity.
4. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If you receive many questions about delivery, deadlines, sizes, or functionalities, for example, group the answers in a highlight.
This way, your followers can quickly clear up doubts and you can also avoid the constant repetition of the same questions in Instagram DMs, for example.
5. Promotions and launches
Whenever you launch a new product or have a promotion, save these stories in a specific highlight.
This way, even those who didn’t catch the publication at the exact moment will have the chance to learn about the current news and promotions.
Best practices to organize your Instagram highlights
After defining the categories, it’s time to organize these highlights in a way that values your brand and is friendly for the visitor to your profile. See the best practices.
1. Order the highlights
For this, just add a new story to the highlight that you want to put in front, as it will automatically move to the first position.
If a category is more important, for example, an ongoing promotion, ensure it always remains highlighted.
2. Define clear and short titles
When naming each Highlight, remember that there is a character limit and that people are using their smartphones to read.
Therefore, use objective titles like Products, Testimonials, Behind-the-scenes, or FAQ. You can also use emojis, but don’t overdo it.
3. Create custom covers
An attractive cover makes a difference in attracting attention and reinforcing the visual identity.
At this stage, many brands choose to add an icon or illustration that represents the Highlight’s content. Besides looking nice, it helps in the mental organization of those navigating.
4. Update frequently
Just like the feed, Instagram highlights also require maintenance.
After all, if you haven’t updated your story collections in a long time, the public may think that your profile is not getting attention.
Therefore, whenever you publish something relevant, assess whether it makes sense to add that story to a highlight existing or create a new one.
Tips for creating custom covers and images for Highlights
As mentioned above, the cover, that is, the highlight photo on Instagram, is a business card for the content you are presenting in that category.
Therefore, investing in a look coherent with the brand identity is crucial. Here are some tips to help with the creation process.
1. Design tools
For those who are not very familiar with design or can’t hire a professional at the moment, using tools like Canva can help create good covers for the highlights..
After all, on these design platforms, you can select pre-defined formats and simply edit colors, icons, and texts, making everything much more practical and quick.
2. Standardization
To convey visual unity, define a color palette, typography, and icon style that match the rest of your communication.
This makes your profile more harmonious and conveys the message that your brand cares about details.
3. Clear iconography
Use icons that are easy to understand. For example, for client testimonials, you might choose an icon that resembles a speech bubble or a star for reviews.
For product categories, you can use something that symbolizes the type of item you sell, such as a shopping cart.
4. Readability test
Finally, remember that the covers will be viewed in a reduced size on the mobile screen.
Therefore, perform tests to ensure that the text or icon chosen is clear and readable, avoiding visual clutter.
How to save and reuse Instagram highlights
Another extremely useful feature is the ability to save an Instagram highlight and reuse parts of it later, whether to repost content that has become trendy again or to create new combinations of stories within the same highlight.
Below, check out some possibilities related to highlights.
Save your stories
When you create a Story, it is available for 24 hours. But if you want to preserve it, just access Instagram settings and activate the automatic archiving feature for Stories.
This way, even if it goes offline, it will still be in your archives and can be added to a highlight at any time..
Reuse content for new Highlights
There are situations where you might need to create a new highlight using a story that was posted a long time ago. .
In this case, just go to your Story Archive Settings Archive, select the post in question, and click on Highlight. Then, choose the category where it should be inserted or create a new one.
This practice is great for organizing content that has become recurrent on your profile, such as annual campaigns, new product collections, and important announcements.
Create thematic compilations
If your content is broad, you can create thematic compilations by creating a highlight that gathers stories from different moments but related to the same subject.
This facilitates the follower’s access to all videos and photos within a specific theme.
Remove stories from a highlight
Just as you add, you can remove stories from a highlight. Simply click on it, enter edit mode, and select which posts should be removed.
This action is useful if you realize that the content is no longer aligned with the highlight’s purpose or no longer makes sense for your audience at the moment.
Conclusion
Instagram highlights are a powerful tool for those looking to engage followers, present products/services, and consolidate brand identity in the digital environment.
When well-planned, they help organize the most relevant information and create a smooth navigation experience for the visitor, who quickly finds what they are looking for and feels more confident to become a follower or even a client.
But to achieve significant results, remember to
- Define clear and coherent categories with your business proposal.
- Use objective titles, icons, and custom images.
- Keep your highlights updated, adding or removing posts according to strategy changes or product/service launches.
- Take advantage of the archiving function to save Instagram highlights and have the freedom to reuse old Stories in new campaigns or compilations.
It is worth noting that putting these tips into practice is the first step to exploring the full potential Instagram offers.
With planning and creativity, your highlights can become a permanent showcase for the best your brand has to offer.
