The popularity of Instagram is beyond doubt and the fact that this application adds new features every once in a while even makes it more popular. One of the features that is now hot and trendy is Instagram highlights. Ever wondered how this feature works and you were too shy to ask? Here’s a guide on all you need to know.
What are Instagram highlights?
You might know it by now that regular Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours. Of course, this is exactly what makes this feature exciting, however, Instagram added a new feature later allowing you to keep a particular story in your profile permanently. This great feature of Instagram is called Instagram Stories Highlights and is now used and loved by many Instagrammers including celebrities and business accounts.
Instagram highlights appear in your profile, directly under your bio and above your feeds. Your followers will be able to revisit the story that you have highlighted whenever they want right from your profile.
This feature of Instagram is absolutely useful for Instagram business accounts as it allows users to showcase the content that they want the user to see first. Here is what you need to know about Stories Highlights as stated by Instagram itself.
Stories you add as highlights remain visible as highlights until you remove them, even after the original story has disappeared. Keep in mind that those you’ve allowed to see your story can also see your highlights.
How to use Instagram highlights?
Now that you have fully understood what this feature is and how it works, you might want to get started to add your first stories highlights. In what follows, I will explain step by step how you can use Instagram highlights.
1. Turn on the auto-archiving feature
The first step to use Instagram highlights is to turn on the auto-archiving feature. Stories Archives feature of Instagram stores your stories in a private section after 24 hours and when they expire. You can access this private section from the archive icon located on the top right corner of your profile.
Only you have the ability to view your archive folder and you can revisit or re-shore your old stories from here. You can also use this section to add a new Stories Highlights.
2. Add your Instagram Highlights
Once you have your Instagram archives all set up, you can go on to add your first Instagram Stories Highlights. Here are the steps you will need to take:
- Launch Instagram application on your phone and open your profile
- Tap on the arrow next to the Story Highlights icon
- Tap the New button
- Select stories that you want to add to your Instagram highlights
- Now that you have selected your stories, you will be prompted to choose a title and a cover photo
To edit or remove a particular story from your highlights, you just need to tap and hold that particular highlight on your profile. From here, you can change the name, edit the cover, and add or remove stories to your highlights.
You can also watch this video by TapLab to learn how to work with Instagram highlights and archives.
What are Instagram highlights good for?
If you want to make this super easy for your audience to view your content, you can just categorize your stories into highlights. This feature is especially useful for your business account. Here are some of the different ways how Instagram highlights can be useful for you:
- Fashion brands can use Instagram stories highlights feature to create separate channels for their products and promotions
- You can create categories and topics for your posts so that your audience knows what to expect when they open a particular story. This way, your new stories will be added to their respective topic.
- Another way to make it easier for your audience to view your content is to highlight your events. This way, you can make sure that everyone will find out about your particular new event when they view your profile.
