Social Rocket
What is a highlight cover?
On Instagram, highlight covers are the cover images of Stories that have been saved permanently. If you don't set your own highlight covers, an image from your Stories is automatically used as the cover image. To give your account more consistency and professionalism, you should design and upload your own highlight covers. The images should be especially meaningful and any text (if present) should be easy to read. If you doubt the readability, it's better to rely on icons.Why you should create highlight covers
Alongside your profile picture and Instagram bio, highlight covers are one of the first elements users see on your Instagram profile. As the saying goes... first impressions count. For this reason, you should put effort into designing your highlight covers and not leave the cover image to chance. Only if the cover image and the text below it make clear at first glance what the user can expect will your highlight Stories be successful in the long term.Creating a highlight cover - what should you consider?
With modern apps, it has become almost child's play to create your own professional highlight covers. One of them is, for example, Canva. You will find further tool tips in the next section. If you want to design your highlight covers with Canva, click on the design templates for Instagram Stories (1080x1920 px). You can now either choose a template from Canva or create your own design. If you want a single-coloured background in your company colours with an icon on top, click on the "Blank template" option. Use the plus symbol to choose a background colour. A colour palette opens from which you can select, or you enter your company colour's colour code to use the optimal shade. Once the background is chosen, you can pick a suitable icon. To do this, click the plus in the app again and go to the Elements section. Scrolling lets you discover a variety of elements. If you are looking for a specific symbol, for example a star, enter your keyword in the search. The selection will immediately adapt to your wishes. Once you have found the right icon, simply click on it and the icon is placed on your background. Now comes the final touch. Adjust the size and colour of your icon. Make sure your icon is placed in the centre of the field. Canva shows you guide lines when your icon sits perfectly centred. When you are happy with your design, you just need to save it. To do this, click on the download symbol. This is the downward-pointing arrow at the top of the image. Now click on Save as image. If you are asked for the format, choose JPG. Of course, you can also create your design with other tools or have it designed by a professional. Simply give your graphic designer the dimensions mentioned above. They will surely create stunning highlight covers for you.Create highlight covers with an app - these apps make creating highlight covers even easier!
[shoppable_image id="22345"] You can have professional highlight covers designed by a graphic designer. However, you can also create them yourself fairly easily without graphic design skills. There are now many apps on the market that make the work easier for you. Here are a few examples with a short explanation: Canva: If you don't know Canva yet, you should definitely try it. Canva is the graphics tool for non-designers. Without any Photoshop skills, you can create your own posts, Stories, flyers or highlight covers here. The basic version of the tool is free. Adobe Spark: Like Canva, Adobe Spark is a tool for simple media design. Both the desktop version and the app are free of charge. Mojo: With Mojo you can mainly create professional, animated Stories. The app already offers pre-made Story templates that you can adapt to your design. Although these are mostly animations, you can use them to create great highlight covers. The app is free. The relatively affordable paid version, however, offers significantly more freedom. Highlight Cover: As the name suggests, you can design great highlight covers with this app. You will find various single-coloured, patterned, drawn, glittery ... templates already included. A design suitable for your Instagram profile is certainly among them. You can still adapt the colours and icons to your company's corporate design despite using a template. The app is free, but here too the paid version gives you more options to get creative.How to create a Story highlight
[shoppable_image id="22361"]How to add a cover to your Story highlights
Your highlight cover is created, only placing it on Instagram remains. If you have already created highlights on Instagram, start with Step 14. If you want to learn how to create a highlight from scratch, start at Step 1 Step 1: First, activate archiving of your Stories. That way you can still add Stories to your highlights after 24 hours. If this is already done, skip ahead to Step 7. Otherwise, open Instagram and tap your profile. Step 2: Now tap the menu at the top right and choose Settings. Step 3: Now tap Privacy. Step 4: Now select the Story section. Step 5: Here you will find the Save section. There, activate the option "Save Story to archive". Your Stories will now be archived automatically. Step 6: Return to your profile to create your first Story highlight. Below your bio you will find a round circle with a plus in the middle. Tap it to create your first highlight. NOTE: You must have uploaded at least one Story beforehand to be able to create a highlight. Step 7: Now select one or more Stories from your archive that should appear in this highlight. Step 8: Once your Stories are added, tap "Edit cover". Step 9: Tap the symbol that takes you to your photo gallery. Step 10: You should now be in your gallery and see all your photos. Select your previously created highlight cover and tap the arrow at the top right that takes you to the next step. Step 11: Tap Done to save your highlight cover. Step 12: Your image is set. Now all that's missing is a fitting name for your highlight. Type it in below the image. Note: it should be as short as possible so that it is displayed in full. Then tap Done again. Step 13: Your highlight should now be visible on your profile. If you want to change something later or edit another existing highlight, tap the highlight. Step 14: A small menu opens. Tap Edit highlight there. Step 15: If you want to change the cover image or title, go through the steps again from Step 10.Best practice examples for highlight covers
You now know how to create highlight covers, but are still unsure what your highlight covers could look like or which categories you actually need? Here are some topic ideas for your highlight Stories:- Your vision/mission
- Customer feedback
- New products
- Sales
- Your team
- Stories from your community
- Current events
- Positioning topics that matter to you, e.g. sustainability or social engagement
- @ikea