Instagram Stories That Stay on Your Profile

Stories that no longer vanish

Until yesterday, an Instagram Story disappeared after 24 hours. Whatever it showed, the answer to a common question, a tour of the shop, this season's prices, was gone by the next day.

Instagram now saves every expired Story to an archive that only the account can see.

It also lets accounts gather chosen Stories into Highlights: a row of circles below the bio, each a set of Stories that plays when tapped and stays until you remove it.

For a business, that turns Stories from a daily habit into something that can do lasting work, provided the right things go into them.

How it works

The feature arrives with the latest version of the app. On the profile, a circle marked New sits at the left of the row: tap it, choose Stories from the archive, pick a cover and give the Highlight a name.

The archive fills itself as Stories expire, and it can be switched off in the profile settings. Leave it on, because it is the raw material for every Highlight.

To change or remove a Highlight later, press and hold its circle. There is no limit on how many you can have, which is a reason for restraint rather than a target.

What visitors look for on a profile

• Services or the menu, shown in a few frames.
• Prices, or at least ranges, so nobody has to ask.
• How to book, step by step, ending at the bio link.
• Reviews and customer photographs, used with permission.
• Directions and parking, filmed from the street.
• Common questions, answered in large text on screen.

The second is the one most accounts leave out. Price is the question people are least comfortable asking in a direct message, and some would rather move on than ask.

Old promotions are the wrong use

The obvious first Highlight is last week's offer: the Black Friday Story, the holiday sale, the contest. Within days it is out of date, and the circle keeps playing it to every new visitor.

That is the Instagram version of a home page banner nobody took down.

Promotions belong in ordinary Stories, which still disappear after a day. Highlights are for what stays true for months: what you do, what it costs, how to book and where to find you.

Names and covers people can read

Names appear in small type under each circle and longer ones get cut off, so one short word works best: Prices, Book, Menu, Parking.

Each cover is chosen from the Stories inside the Highlight, so add a simple frame made for the purpose: one background colour for every set, with a symbol or a single word.

The row then reads like a menu rather than a strip of snapshots, and four to six Highlights is plenty. A row that runs sideways past ten circles leaves visitors guessing.

Frames that last

People tap through a Highlight quickly, so each frame should make sense on its own, with large text kept clear of the edges of the screen.

Film frames for the purpose rather than relying on whatever happened to be posted. Hold the phone upright, use daylight, and keep each Highlight to five to ten frames.

End with a frame saying what to do next: tap the bio link to book, or call the number on the profile.

A worked example

A zipline park in the mountains, a couple of hours from the city, runs tours from spring to autumn and on winter weekends, and sells gift certificates in December.

Its Stories showed guests on the lines and the view from the top platform, and each one vanished after a day.

Meanwhile the same direct messages kept arriving: weight limits, minimum age, what to wear, whether tours run in the rain, where to park.

Yesterday the staff member who runs the account built five Highlights from frames filmed that afternoon: Tours, Rules, Wear, Directions and Gifts.

Rules shows the weight and age limits as text on screen. Directions follows the turnoff from the highway to the check-in hut. Gifts explains how certificates work and that they are valid next season.

Each set ends on the same frame, book through the link in the bio, and replies to direct messages now point to the right circle.

The archive as a source

The archive is useful beyond Highlights. Tapping a saved Story offers to share it again as a Story, post it to the main feed, or add it to a Highlight.

A good answer filmed for one day's Story can now become a permanent post or the opening frame of a Highlight, instead of disappearing with the day.

Customers in your Highlights

Photographs and kind words from customers make a strong Highlight, and they are not yours to use without asking.

Ask each customer first, especially when faces are clear, and take extra care where children are in the shot. A parent's yes is worth getting in writing, even as a direct message.

Keeping Highlights current

Prices change, seasons end and staff move on. Look through every Highlight once a month and remove frames that are no longer true.

Seasonal sets, such as gift certificates in December, should come down in January and return next year.

The same information belongs on the website too, where it can be found in search by people who never open Instagram. Highlights are the summary; the website is the full answer.

The counter-case

An account that rarely posts Stories gains little until it starts. A business whose followers are mostly regulars who already know the prices may need only one or two Highlights, such as hours and booking.

Highlights also reach only people who are already on the profile. They do nothing for someone who has never heard of the business.

For accounts that do get visits from new people, though, a few well-chosen Highlights answer the questions that otherwise arrive one message at a time.

The first Highlights

1. Update the app and open the archive.
2. List the questions people message most.
3. Make a Highlight for each of the top four.
4. Film new frames where the archive falls short.
5. Name each one in a single word.
6. Keep promotions in ordinary Stories.
7. Check every Highlight once a month.

Step two decides whether the rest is worth doing. The direct messages already show what people want to know, and a Highlight built around a real question is one people actually watch.

Another platform's change for business accounts this autumn is covered in Twitter's 280 characters and business accounts.

Frequently asked questions

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.