Instagram Story highlights

What are Instagram story highlights?

Instagram story highlights are collections of your Instagram Stories that you can save and display permanently on your Instagram profile. 

Unlike regular Stories that disappear after 24 hours, Highlights remain visible until you choose to remove them, making them a powerful tool for brands and creators looking to enhance their Instagram marketing strategy.

These curated collections appear directly below your bio information, serving as the perfect showcase of your brand's content and personality. They're one of the first elements users see when visiting your profile, making them crucial for creating strong first impressions and growing your Instagram business.

Key features of Instagram story highlights

Each Highlight collection comes with two customizable elements:

• Highlight cover: A custom image or icon that represents the content inside the Highlight
• Highlight name: A descriptive title that helps categorize your saved Stories

How to create Instagram story highlights?

There are two primary methods to create Highlights:

1. From active Stories: When viewing your active Story, tap "Highlight" at the bottom, select "+" to create a new Highlight, name it, and tap "Add"
2. From archived Stories: Go to your profile, tap "Story Highlights" below your bio, select the "+" icon, choose Stories from your archive, customize the cover and name, then tap "Add" or "Done"

You can add more content to existing Highlights by pressing and holding the Highlight, selecting "Edit Highlight," and choosing additional Stories to include. With ContentStudio's Instagram scheduler, you can plan your Stories content strategically before turning them into Highlights.

Why Instagram highlights matter for marketers?

Instagram Story Highlights have become essential social media management tools for brands because they:

• Allow you to tell an ongoing brand story
• Make valuable content accessible to new followers
• Educate visitors about previous activities or campaigns
• Showcase products or services in a structured way
• Provide a permanent library of useful content for improving your Instagram engagement rate

Best practices for Instagram highlights

For maximum effectiveness, consider these strategies:

1. Create cohesive cover designs: Use brand colors and consistent design elements across your Highlight covers to strengthen your social media presence
2. Organize content logically: Group similar content together under descriptive names that make navigation intuitive
3. Showcase your best content: Curate only your highest-quality Stories that represent your brand effectively
4. Update regularly: Keep your Highlights fresh by adding new content and removing outdated material
5. Include calls-to-action: Guide viewers toward desired actions within your Highlight content

Using Instagram highlights for business

Brands can leverage Highlights for various purposes:

• Product showcases: Feature product demonstrations and customer testimonials
• FAQs: Answer common questions about your business
• Behind-the-scenes: Share company culture and team activities
• Tutorials: Provide educational content related to your industry
• Event coverage: Preserve important moments from company events

By strategically using Instagram Story Highlights, you can enhance your social media presence, improve profile navigation, and ensure your best content remains accessible to followers. 

With ContentStudio's social media management tools, you can plan and organize your Instagram content strategy more efficiently, including creating compelling Stories that can later become valuable Highlights.

To maximize your Instagram marketing efforts, consider using Instagram features for marketers and implementing Instagram growth hacks alongside your Highlights strategy. Remember that understanding the Instagram algorithm is crucial for ensuring your Highlights contribute to your overall social media success.