Instagram “Highlights” help narrow your categories for shoppers
The latest changes to Instagram’s algorithm haves many users face-palming, and rightfully so. Not to fear, however—it just means that Instagram wants to make sure their users are getting the content they actually want, when they want it.
Instagram notoriously knocked off Snapchat by basically copying their competitor feature for feature with their “Instagram Stories” roll out. Since Instagram launched stories, eyeballs have switched massively (but not entirely) from the almighty grid to the actual stories.
This is the part that jewellers can take full advantage of. Stories historically lasted for 24 hours and then disappeared, but with the recent addition of “Instagram Stories Highlights” all of your hard work and effort can be archived for your potential jewellery buyers’ browsing pleasure. If you have not already done so, switch your Instagram profile to a “business” profile as the business profile (vs. a personal profile) is a mecca of nuanced data such as insights and analytics.
Let’s get back to highlights though. A few curated and strategic ways jewellers can use this feature is to simply categorize stories by watches, engagement rings, diamonds etc. What this does is take your stories—which can be just a ball of unrelated mess without a recurring theme—and single them out in a way that is easy to organize and find.
Here’s an example of how this works. If I am a potential customer, I may not care to see men’s watches, but would love to see what you have for engagement rings. When I first arrive to your Instagram profile, right below your bio, I will see your highlights section beautifully laid out and listed so I do not have to go on a hunt to find what I am looking for. When creating these small snippets of content, have your customer in mind. Taking an engagement ring and looking at the clarity or shape of the diamond and then briefly explaining a few helpful tidbits about it could be huge to someone who is looking to buy that specific piece but has no clue how, what its attributes are, its price and quality, etc.
Using highlights to educate your customer is one main starting point you should focus on. Gone are the days of just putting up a cute picture with a caption that says “This could be yours!” Be creative, be sassy and be fun. It is jewellery, not a lump of coal—and trust me, when your customers are looking at the almighty grid, they are looking for so much more!
Load up Instagram, search under “Discover” for jewellers and browse to see what some other amazing jewellers are doing when it comes to Instagram. Unlike Facebook, which has become a pay-to-play type of game, Instagram is totally free and often has upwards of 30 times the engagement that Facebook does!
I will end with a couple of examples of highlight categories you could use to get your brain rolling:
- Client Engagement Pictures
- Education (e.g. cut, clarity, quality)
- Currents events and news
- Some humour
- Your staff and team: some insider behind-the-scenes action
How to create Instagram Stories Highlights
Stories Highlights appear in a new section on your profile below your bio. To create a highlight:
- Tap the “New” circle at the far left.
- From there, choose any stories from your archive, select a cover for your highlight and give it a name.
Once you’re done, your highlight will appear as a circle on your profile that will play as a stand-alone story when someone taps it. Highlights stay on your profile until you remove them, and you can have as many highlights as you’d like. To edit or remove a highlight, just tap and hold that highlight on your profile.
Don’t know how to create an Instagram Story?
You’ll need to create stories first to make into highlights. Your story is a method of sharing photos and videos with your followers. Stories disappear from your profile and Feed after 24 hours unless you add them as a highlight.
Here’s how to make a story:
- Tap the camera icon in the top left of your screen or swipe right from anywhere in Feed.
- Tap the circle icon at the bottom of the screen to take a photo, or tap and hold to record a video. To choose a photo from your phone’s library or gallery, swipe up anywhere on the screen.
Note: If the photo or video you choose doesn’t fit on the screen at first, pinch to change the size.
Remember the key to a great highlight section is to have content that is simple, fun and engaging! Content marketing is about distributing value that ultimately makes people want to engage and purchase from you.
For great social media tips you can listen to my podcast called The Ryan Holtz Show on iTunes or Google Play or head over to www.RyanHoltz.ca. If you have any questions, reach out to me @RyanHoltz1 on any of the social media platforms.
