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Tips for Creating Beautiful and Engaging Instagram Highlight Covers

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Since the past 3 years, Instagram highlights have gained increasing popularity among business owners, celebrities, and even normal users. Instagram highlights are an easy way to direct your audience. The highlight names and highlight covers ensure that any user visiting your profile taps on an Instagram highlight with content they would like to see first. 

Your Instagram highlight covers should be as appealing as well as effective. You can either choose a suitable photo, solid color, fun icon, or branded image. Whatever you choose to do, the key is to make your highlight cover unique and yours. 

Instagram highlight covers are all about giving a new audience a quick tour of what your page is about. So, they create the first impression of your business or brand. In this article, you will learn how to create engaging Instagram highlight covers to secure a greater audience.

What are Instagram Highlight Covers?

According to Instagram’s default settings, the stories you post tend to disappear after 24 hours. However, many users prefer extended time for their Instagram stories to stay visible to followers. Instagram has now given its users the opportunity to pin stories on their profile. 

You can make a collection of all the stories you would like to keep on your profile and make an Instagram highlight. The Instagram highlights feature allows you to keep your stories for as long as you would like. Highlights refer to a group of stories that you can bring together and save in a folder-like feature. Instagram allows you to create many different highlights so you can group similar stories together. 

The highlights feature on Instagram comprises of two attributes:

  • Highlight Names: You can name your highlights similar to how you would name a pictures folder. 
  • Highlight Covers: You can add an image or icon that acts as the cover of your highlights. This is usually a visual representation of your highlights content. 

Why is it Useful to Add Highlight Covers 

It is important to compel users to tap on your highlights to make a great first impression for successful visual branding. This is where Instagram highlight covers enter the picture. It refers to the small image that you see in the highlight bubble before you click on a highlight. 

The cover images are important to let your audience know about the kind of content they might find in the highlights. You find Instagram highlights right below your bio and is often the first thing that your audience sees after reading your bio. So, it is essential to make your highlight covers as fun, engaging, and eye-catching as possible.

Make sure they are appealing to the eyes so as to compel profile visitors to view your highlights. The rule also applies to highlight names for Instagram. On-brand and engaging Instagram highlight names and covers can significantly enhance the activity of your account.

Brand marketers take advantage of this feature to custom-make graphics using brand colors and aesthetics to represent the subject of their highlights. You can create custom Instagram highlight covers that match the overall aesthetic and purpose of your brand as well as the Instagram page.

Not only do highlight covers elevate the aesthetic of your Instagram page, but they are also a great way to attract and gain new followers. With our instagram growth service you can do so mush more for your Instagram profile, so check it out!

How to Make Engaging Highlight Covers for Instagram

When you add a highlight to your profile, the default Instagram setting sets your first story in the highlights as the Instagram highlight cover. This is usually the story that was published the earliest. While you can totally keep the image as your cover, it is not a good idea to do so. 

We say this because eye-catching graphics and icons can better attract new visitors. On the other hand, the default cover setting tends to zoom in on the actual story. In case your photo is not appropriately positioned, it can confuse the audience. So, you might lose a great branding opportunity this way. 

How to Add to Highlights without Adding to Story

If you have created an Instagram highlight before, you must have noticed that the Instagram highlight cover image is the first published story in the highlight. Or, you might have chosen another story photo from the highlight as your cover photo. 

In any case, your Instagram highlight cover is a photo that you have already posted on your story. But, how can you change your highlights cover without sharing it on your story first? 

Make sure you have the photo you wish to set as the cover in your gallery or photos folder on your digital device. Then follow these steps:

  1. View your Instagram profile
  2. Tap and hold the highlights that you want to add the new cover to
  3. Once the options appear, tap on ‘Edit Highlight.’
  4. Then tap on the ‘Edit Cover’ option
  5. You will be directed to your photos that you can choose from
  6. Select the preferred icon on the photo 
  7. Tap on ‘Done’

Following these steps will set the new highlight cover on your profile. 

How to Create Customized Covers for Instagram Highlights

Setting an engaging and eye-catching Instagram highlight cover is important to market your brand most effectively. But how can you customize an appealing cover icon? There are many softwares that allow you to create interesting and unique Instagram highlight covers. One of the easiest softwares to use is Canva which offers adequate room for creativity. 

Follow these steps to create your own Instagram highlight cover:

  1. Open the Canva software and select ‘Create a Design’
  2. Choose the format named ‘Instagram Story’
  3. Now select the ‘Elements’ option from the sidebar
  4. Then click ‘Graphics’ (you will now be able to search through various illustrations for your Instagram highlight cover)
  5. If you want a text-based cover, skip the above-mentioned step and choose ‘Text’ option
  6. After selecting an icon or text, select your preferred background color
  7. Now click the ‘Download’ option
  8. Once you have sent it to your phone, open your Instagram app and edit the Instagram highlight cover

To create the perfect Instagram highlight cover, make sure it resonates with your brand. 

  • Camera Instagram highlight cover: If you are a photographer showcasing your art or offering photography services, designing a cover that features a camera is a great idea. You can make similar covers for all your highlights with a specific color theme or imagery.
  • Fitness Instagram highlight cover: Make sure you think about the whole look of your page and not just one highlight cover. In case you run a fitness or gym-related page, you would like your highlight cover to match the overall aesthetic by creating logos featuring dumbbells or other gym equipment.
  • Music Instagram highlight cover: There are a lot of Instagram pages that are all about songs and musical instruments. If you present a music-related brand on Instagram, a good idea is to create highlight covers with musical instruments such as the guitar or ukulele. 

Bottom Line

Adding customized Instagram highlight covers is a great way of attracting an audience and gaining followers. Make sure you create covers that are fun, engaging, and eye-catching.

Tips for Creating Beautiful and Engaging Instagram Highlight Covers
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