If there’s one thing you should do, it’s to make sure that you are making the most of Instagram’s features. And, one that is sorely neglected is the Instagram Highlights section. I just took a hard look at mine and realized they were doing nothing for me – so they got a MAJOR refresh.
But this section is the perfect piece of real estate for followers to connect with you. It’s directly under the bio and what their eyes land on next. In this video, and in this article I’m going to show you how to use it to make the most impact.
Your highlights are located right beneath your profile and look like bubbles. These are Instagram stories that you “save” to your highlights. Some of your Instagram stories are more important than others, so you want to have the option to have them up longer.
This is where highlights come in – basically a catalog of your best stories, and they will stay up as long as you want them to.
There is no limit to how many Instagram highlights you can create. However, you can only add 100 stories to each highlight. But, I would not go crazy – less is more here. If someone goes to look at your highlight and sees there are a million slides, they will be leaving immediately. I mean, who puts 100 slides in a highlight – I can barely stand watching people with a ton of stories
You want to showcase everything your customer needs to know about your business in your highlights. Think of them in terms of your website. Every website has a navigation menu – think about what is in your navigation menu and re-create them as highlights. Also, take a look at what is on your website homepage – these are the types of highlights a brand wants to focus on.
Here are some highlight ideas to get you started:
–About Me – everyone wants to know the inside scoop, so use this one to explain your why or how you started your business
–Work With Me – explain how people can work with you and what you offer
–FAQ’s – answer you most frequently asked question
–Tips – think any tips that help with your industry
–Contact information – to make it extremely clear how to get ahold of you
– Portfolio – featuring your best services/products and their benefits
– Results/Testimonials – to show social proof – this one, in particular, is very important because people are more likely to buy when they see praise from other like-minded people. It helps to show that you are a match for their needs
–Meet the team – people LOVE getting to know you and your business, it builds the likeability factor
Once you sit down and sketch out your highlights, be sure to think about your highlight covers. There are a couple of things you can do. One is by choosing an image in your highlights. Or you can create custom-branded images in canva. Or you can even use your brand colors.
The key is to make the highlights legible and clean. I don’t recommend it because people won’t be able to read it – Besides, you will title your highlight to let people know the topic. Be sure to keep the name short, though, because Instagram only allows so many characters.
If you don’t choose a cover, then Instagram will pull a cover from one of your photos – and that never.
Having a CTA at the end of each highlight is something to keep in mind. Invite them to join your email list, direct them to your website, OR my favorite is to ask them to DM you – this starts a new DM thread, and you get to have a 1:1 conversation with them.
You should check out this video where I tell you how to grow your community on Instagram in 2022!
Be sure to vary your highlights – have some slides talking and some slides of photos or canva graphics. Changing things up will keep the viewer’s attention.
You want to make sure you have your MOST relevant highlights at the very beginning of your highlights. So, when you add to a highlight, Instagram will automatically bump that highlight to the front of the line. And since you aren’t posting in each highlight every day, you want to make sure that you keep the important ones upfront.
So how do we do this?
You can go in and add a new slide to the highlight; it doesn’t matter what slide; it can be from one of the stories you posted that day. Because as soon as you add that slide to your highlight, you will go back into the highlight and delete it. BUT because you added that one slide, Instagram will then move that highlight back to the front of the line.
Here are the three Instagram highlights that I recommend you keep top of mind: The About You highlight, or a Start Here highlight, a portfolio or specific product or service highlight, and finally, the testimonial highlights.
These are the highlights you want new people who land on your page to gravitate towards and help you make more sales!
Setting up your Instagram Highlights should be easy! With a bit of thought and strategy, your audience and potential new followers and sales will be able to connect with you in a meaningful way.
Are you interested in learning the exact sales formula to make your highlights work while you sleep? Be sure to check out The Content Membership for only $1 with a 7 day trial!
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