How To Make Instagram Highlight Covers: An Easy Guide
Mastering the art of creating compelling Instagram highlight covers is a crucial skill for anyone looking to enhance their online presence. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into how to make Instagram highlight covers that captivate and engage your audience.
We will explore the significance of these elements in attracting followers and showcasing creativity. Our journey will take us through different platforms like Adobe Illustrator and Canva where you can create customized covers with ease.
You’ll learn step-by-step processes from establishing guides on square artboards to adding design elements such as shapes & texts. We also cover how to export your designs properly for seamless uploading onto Instagram.
Beyond creation, we will discuss effective strategies using highlights for businesses, including successful product-highlighted stories and tools like Hootsuite & Plann Pro. Finally, we will look at maintaining consistent engagement through engaging content and authenticity, underlining the benefits of saving stories in highlights for increased traffic and potential follower growth.
This guide provides all you need to know about making exceptional Instagram story highlight covers – let’s get started!
Table of Contents:
- Understanding the Importance of Instagram Highlight Covers
- Creating Customized Highlight Covers
- Detailed Steps to Create Your Own Highlight Cover
- Exporting & Uploading Your Custom Highlight Covers on Instagram
- Effective Strategies Using Highlights For Businesses
- Maintaining Consistent Engagement Through Engaging Content And Authenticity
- FAQs in Relation to How to Make Instagram Highlight Covers
- Conclusion
Understanding the Importance of Instagram Highlight Covers
Instagram highlight covers aren’t just pretty pictures on your profile. Highlight covers can be a beneficial asset for those aiming to strengthen their online presence, from influencers and social media managers to the everyday user. These custom icons can help you attract more followers and increase engagement.
The Role of Highlight Covers in Attracting Followers
First impressions count, even on Instagram. When someone visits your profile, one of the first things they see is your story highlights section. If it looks good with well-designed cover images that represent your brand or the content you share – chances are higher that they’ll stick around and maybe even hit ‘follow’.
But it’s not just about looks. These covers give potential followers a glimpse into the kind of content you share regularly through stories – whether it’s behind-the-scenes footage, product launches, or customer testimonials. This helps them decide if following you would add value to their feed.
Showcasing Creativity Through Custom Cover Designs
Creativity is key when designing Instagram highlight covers. It’s a chance to showcase your brand identity while also allowing room for personal expression. Some users opt for minimalist designs using simple shapes and colors, while others prefer vibrant illustrations that reflect their dynamic personality.
Your choice should align with your overall aesthetic goals, but don’t be afraid to experiment until you find something truly unique that fits within your branding guidelines and stands out amidst the sea of profiles vying for attention on the same platform. Remember, a successful social media strategy involves a balance between maintaining consistency and showcasing individuality.
- TIP: There are plenty of free resources available online offering pre-made templates and inspiration for creating your own, such as Canva’s Instagram Highlight Cover Templates.
- Note: Always stay true to your brand voice and visual identity, regardless of trends that may come and go.
Creating Customized Highlight Covers
Elevate your Instagram game with customized highlight covers. These eye-catching visuals attract more followers and showcase your unique style or brand identity.
Using Adobe Illustrator for Customized Covers
Create stunning highlight covers with Adobe Illustrator. Brainstorm creative ideas that represent each category of story highlights. Use simple icons, color gradients, or textures fitting under a specific color scheme.
- Idea 1: Use simple icons – Icons are easy-to-understand visual representations that instantly communicate the content of the highlighted stories.
- Idea 2: Match color gradients – Use colors that match or complement your overall Instagram aesthetic to create a cohesive look across all elements of your profile.
- Idea 3: Incorporate textures – Textures add depth and interest to designs and can also tie into the theme or mood of the highlighted stories.
Utilizing Canva’s Templates for Easy Designing
If Adobe Illustrator seems too complex, try Canva. Canva offers numerous templates specifically designed for Instagram highlight covers. Choose one that fits with your vision and customize it accordingly – change up colors, fonts, graphics until it perfectly represents what’s inside those highlights.
Remember, highlight covers serve a purpose of drawing attention to areas that might otherwise be overlooked. Think carefully about how each cover relates back to the main themes and interests represented within the corresponding saved Stories sections. The ultimate goal is not only to attract new visitors but also to encourage existing ones to explore different aspects of your profile further, thus increasing engagement potential and follower growth.
Detailed Steps to Create Your Own Highlight Cover
Want to make your Instagram profile stand out? Creating your own highlight cover is a great way to do it. Here’s how:
Set Up Your Artboard
First, open Adobe Illustrator or a similar graphic design software and create a square artboard that’s 1080px by 1080px. This ensures your cover will display correctly on all devices. Next, create circular guides within the artboard to ensure consistency across different designs.
Add Design Elements
Now it’s time to get creative. Use shapes, text, or images that fit within the circular guides. Remember, less is more with limited space, so keep it simple. Check out Pinterest for inspiration and ideas.
Tips:
- Select Appropriate Colors: Choose colors that align with your brand identity or overall theme of your Instagram feed for consistency.
- Add Text: Include short descriptive words or phrases alongside iconography to make it clear what content lies beneath each highlighted section.
Creating your own highlight cover is a fun way to express your personal style and resonate with your target audience. Keep experimenting until you find the perfect combination that engages your followers and encourages them to explore your account further.
Exporting & Uploading Your Custom Highlight Covers on Instagram
Ready to bring your custom highlight covers to life on your Instagram profile? Let’s get started. First, export your designs from your graphic design app and upload them directly onto Instagram via its mobile application.
Finalizing Your Designs
In Adobe Illustrator or Canva, make sure your designs fit within the workspace boundaries of each square artboard. Don’t worry if some elements extend beyond this area – as long as the main content is visible in a circular format (which is how it will appear on Instagram), you’re good to go. Once satisfied with each cover, export these artboards into .jpeg or .png formats. These file types are widely accepted across digital platforms and maintain high-quality resolution for clear visibility.
Changing Existing Highlight Covers
To upload new highlight covers on Instagram, save the exported images onto your phone’s camera roll first. Open up the Instagram app and navigate to your profile page where all current highlights are displayed under the bio section. Tap and hold any existing Highlight until an ‘Edit’ option appears – click on it then select ‘Edit Cover’. From here, choose one of the newly saved images from the camera roll as a replacement for the old cover image.
- Select a Highlight from the Profile Page
- Tap ‘Edit’
- Select ‘Edit Cover’
- Pick a new image from the Camera Roll
- Click Done.
This method allows users to change their covers anytime without affecting the actual highlighted stories inside. Only the outer appearance changes while the inner contents remain intact, providing a fresh look every now and then and keeping followers engaged and interested to see what’s next.
Note: If you’re creating brand-new Highlights instead of replacing existing ones, follow a similar procedure. Instead of tapping and holding an already-made Highlight, click on the ‘+’ symbol, which directs you to the creation page. After adding the desired story/stories, proceed the same way as the editing part, selecting a suitable design and uploading it.
Remember, consistency is key when it comes to maintaining an aesthetic appeal and an overall branding strategy. So, ensure that whatever style or theme you choose aligns with the rest of the visuals presented throughout your feed.
Effective Strategies Using Highlights For Businesses
In the world of social media, Instagram Highlight Covers can be a game-changer for businesses. Highlight Covers on Instagram can be a great way to make your profile look attractive, while also providing a powerful tool for drawing in more followers and displaying what you have to offer.
Successful Strategies Involving Product-Highlighted Stories
The slow fashion industry has particularly benefited from this feature. By creating highlighted stories featuring their products, coupled with custom-made cover graphics, they have seen significant success in terms of increased follower engagement and sales conversions. The key here is consistency – ensure that each highlight tells a coherent story about your brand and its offerings.
- Showcase new collections: Use highlights to introduce new product lines or seasonal collections.
- Tell your brand’s story: Dedicate one highlight reel to share the journey of your business, including behind-the-scenes content.
- User-generated content: Share reviews or photos shared by customers using your products.
Usefulness of Tools Like Hootsuite & Plann Pro
If you’re just starting out on Instagram or if designing seems daunting, there are several tools available that make it easy for you to create and add customized covers. Tools such as Hootsuite allow you not only to design but also to schedule posts ahead of time, which saves considerable effort when managing multiple social media accounts simultaneously.
Alternatively, once familiar with the basics of designing your own covers, another resource worth exploring is Plann Pro. This tool offers features like analytics tracking along with design capabilities, making it an ideal choice for those wanting to streamline their Instagram management process.
Though these tools can be beneficial in streamlining the process, it is essential to remain creative and authentic for truly standing out from the competition. So don’t be afraid to experiment and find the style that suits you best.
Note:
All these tips should be incorporated keeping in mind the overall aesthetics and theme consistency across all highlighted stories. This would give visitors an instant understanding of what they can expect from following you on Instagram, thus increasing the chances of conversion into loyal followers and potential customers. Remember, at the end of the day, quality over quantity always prevails, so focus on providing value through engaging, informative content rather than simply filling up space with a high number of highlights.
Maintaining Consistent Engagement Through Engaging Content And Authenticity
To stay relevant in the digital realm, staying engaged and authentic is essential – a great way to do this on Instagram is by creating Highlights with attractive covers that reflect your brand or personal style. On Instagram, one of the most effective ways to achieve this is by saving your stories in Highlights and incorporating visually appealing highlight covers tailored to your brand or personal aesthetic.
Benefits of Saving Stories in Highlights
Saving your best-performing stories in Instagram Highlights not only preserves them beyond the standard 24-hour story lifespan but also provides an opportunity for new followers to engage with your content. This strategy helps increase traffic and potential follower growth as users are more likely to follow accounts that consistently produce engaging content.
Moreover, having a collection of curated highlights can serve as a portfolio showcasing what you or your brand has to offer. Whether it’s behind-the-scenes footage, customer testimonials, product launches, or educational content – each highlight tells a part of your story, which ultimately contributes to building trust and credibility with your audience.
Increasing Traffic and Potential Follower Growth
The aesthetics of Instagram Highlight Covers play a significant role in attracting new followers. A well-designed cover can pique interest, leading users to explore more about you through these highlighted stories. It’s all about creating that first impression.
To make sure you’re staying ahead of trends and continuously improving upon designing captivating highlight covers, consider subscribing to YouTube channels offering easy-to-follow tutorials. Additionally, signing up for newsletters providing regular tips & tricks will help improve overall social media presence.
- Tutvid: This YouTube channel offers detailed Adobe Illustrator tutorials perfect for those wanting advanced design techniques.
- Hootsuite Blog: A valuable resource offering insights into the latest social media trends, including how-tos on optimizing Instagram profiles. Check out Hootsuite’s guide on using Instagram for business.
Crafting engaging content coupled with aesthetically pleasing visuals might seem daunting initially, but remember – practice makes perfect. Try taking creative risks and don’t be scared to make errors while exploring different ideas. So don’t be afraid – start experimenting today.
FAQs in Relation to How to Make Instagram Highlight Covers
How to Create Instagram Highlight Covers?
Use graphic design tools like Adobe Illustrator or online services such as Canva to customize your designs with text, shapes, and other elements.
Apps for Making IG Highlight Cover Photos
Canva and Hootsuite offer templates for creating attractive IG highlight cover photos, while Plann Pro provides a suite of tools for managing your entire IG presence.
Alternatives to Instagram
Explore other social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, or Snapchat to diversify your online presence.
The History of Instagram
Instagram was founded in 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion.
Personal Experiences with Instagram
Share your own anecdotes about using Instagram, from funny mishaps to heartwarming connections made through the app.
Conclusion
By understanding the importance of Instagram Highlight Covers, you can increase engagement on your social media account. Create customized covers using Adobe Illustrator or Canva’s templates. Follow detailed steps for designing and exporting your own cover. Utilize effective strategies like product-highlighted stories and tools such as Hootsuite & Plann Pro. Maintain consistent engagement through engaging content and authenticity to help grow your followers. With these tips, you now know how to make Instagram Highlight Covers that showcase creativity while attracting more followers.
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