If you'd rather listen to this post than read it, you're in luck! Use the audio below to listen to this post. You can also download and take it on the go, just like a podcast. The audio version has some additional details as I dive a little more into each point. ENJOY!
It’s no surprise that Instagram stories are booming, and people love the short, less-curated content that stories provide. If you aren’t using Instagram stories for your business - START NOW. (Seriously NOW. I’ll wait.) It’s the perfect way to drive traffic to your Instagram posts, website and everything in between.
Now… let’s talk about Story Highlights.
Unlike regular Instagram stories that disappear after 24 hours, story highlights remain on your page until you delete them. You can group stories together that you’ve shared and highlight them on your profile. This allows you to let your best content live on, or to create content just for the highlights. Highlights provide an amazing opportunity to showcase your business in a new way, all without the consumer ever leaving Instagram.
So, let’s dive in. Here are 7 simple ways to use Story Highlights to grow your business.
1. Highlight customer reviews.
Let your customers do the talking for you. By featuring positive feedback from your past customers, you give potential customers the gift of going second and help establish your authority. Choose 3 to 5 short reviews, and create Instagram story sized images for viewers to tap through. Head to my Instagram profile for an example!
2. Highlight your services.
For the customers who find you on Instagram first, give them a taste of what you offer (in a format they are used to. I.e. stories) BEFORE they click to your website. You could create a series of videos explaining a particular service with examples of each service in its own group. Or, you can do one big group highlighting all your services.
3. Highlight your products.
Like above, you can feature your products by category. I’ve seen fashion brands do this one really well by highlighting a trend such as velvet, with a group of their velvet products utilizing the “swipe up” feature.*
* Note: Currently you must have 10k+ followers in order to do the “swipe up” feature on stories.
4. Highlight your latest blog content.
Create images with details on your latest blog content, maybe even with a preview of what you’ll be sharing. You can make a highlight group featuring your latest content. If you have the “swipe up” feature then this would be a great time to use it! Otherwise, direct people to the link in your bio.
5. Highlight a giveaway, sale, or event.
Have something special going on in your business? Highlights is the place to put it! Whether it’s a holiday sale, product giveaway, store event, or a launch - post it as a highlight and let it live long on your profile!
Be sure to title the highlight something short and sweet like “Win”, “Event”, or “Sale” so that viewers who would be interested will know to click!
6. Highlight spoken content on a specific topic.
Chose a topic that relates to your products or services, and do a series of 5 - 12 stories talking about it! Need ideas? Look to some of your old blog content for inspiration. Keep it short, sweet, and applicable! This allows viewers to get to know you before clicking to your website and learn that you have authority in your industry.
7. Highlight a series of polls.
Want to survey your audience and then show the results? The Instagram polls feature is perfect for this! Create a series of questions that users can tap through on your highlight.
One more tip …
You can only use up to 15 characters in the highlight title, and when previewing on your profile the title cuts off at 8 characters. So, choose a title that is under 8 characters and clearly states what the highlights are about!
I hope these 7 ideas are helpful to growing your business. Are you using Instagram Story Highlights yet? Tell me in the comment!
Want more tips on using Instagram to grow your biz? Check out these posts:
8 Ways to Create Genuine Engagement with your Audience on Instagram
7 Mistakes You’re Making On Instagram That Could Be Costing You Customers
January 8, 2018
Didn’t even know this was an option. Thanks for the info!
These are some really great tips! I always see other people using highlights, but they weren’t directed anywhere and I didn’t find any use in them. Now I can see how to strategically implement them for other purposes and pushing my services and products! (:
Thanks for the tips!
These are such great ideas! Right now I am only highlighting blog posts, but I am going to try a few of these out! Thank you!