I hope that by now you have embraced Instagram stories and have gone from watching others create them to creating your own! Stories are my favorite addition to the Instagram platform (followed closely by GIF stickers.) They are such a great way to share your day-to-day activities, show less “produced” content and to give your audience a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes!
Until recently, those stories only lasted for 24 hours and then disappeared. But with the addition of “Highlights” you can now take your favorite story segments and save them into a highlight reel that lives on your Instagram profile for as long as you want to keep them there.
Since these highlight reels are front and center on your profile (below your bio and above your posts) it only makes sense to brand them to enhance your profile and attract your users to view them!
Here are a few examples of some of my favorite branded highlight reels:
Ready to Make Yours?
Method #1 – Graphic Design There are a number of ways to create your highlight reel cover images. You can always choose to create an image in Photoshop, Canva or any other graphic design program. If you choose that method, remember that that you’ll only see what is placed in the center of the image. You’ll also have to send that image to your phone photo library in order to get it into your story and on to your highlight reel. You’ll want to create an image that is 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels – Ratio 9:16. Method #2 – Inside Instagram There are a number of different ways to create a branded highlight reel cover right in Instagram stories. I’ll show you how to do with a step-by-step tutorial in this blog video, so be sure to check it out!The 7-Step Social Media Strategy Guide
Wrappin’ it Up!
I hope you found this helpful and that as soon as you are done reading this you’re going to create a list of at least 4 highlight reel names and start creating your cover images! Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your social media game and to continue to build your brand and delight your audience.
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask in the comments below and we are happy to help! We’d love to connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn so we can follow along with what you’re doing too!
And finally, if you are a small business owner struggling to do what you do best AND to figure out how to stay on top of the latest changes, strategies, tips and tools in online marketing, we’d like to personally invite you to join our private Facebook Group, Bobbi B’s Social Media Clambake, where we share all that information for free!
Bobbi Baehne
President, Think Big Go Local, Inc.
My mission at Think Big Go Local is to create a “buzz” around our client’s businesses online and in social media platforms so their message reaches their desired audience. We know that relationships are built and maintained online each and every day and work to make sure our clients are building credibility, authority and attracting new followers and clients . We don’t work in a cookie cutter environment, each of our clients is unique and their accounts are fully managed using their voice, talking to their specific audience and sharing value that keeps them coming back.