Instagram Stories have a limited shelf life. They disappear after 24 hours. However, if you want to capitalize on your marketing efforts, then it’s better to use the Story Highlight feature. Now, your stories will be around forever!
You also get to share special moments with your followers, make your profile more attractive and connect in more ways with your audience.
Sounds great, right?
But what if you want to add some more Stories to your Highlights without spamming your followers?
For example, maybe you want to put together some instructions for ordering your product or service to have as a guide on your profile. Not everyone will want to see each step in your Stories but having it as a Highlight would be really useful for when people are ready to buy.
So, how do you add highlights on Instagram without posting to your story? Here’s an easy step-by-step guide for you!
5 Simple Steps: How To Add Highlights on Instagram Without Posting to Story
This guide will show you how you can make use of the Story Highlight feature without adding it to your Instagram Story.
Step 1: Make Your Profile Private
On your phone, open the Instagram app and go to your profile.
The first step is to switch your public Instagram profile to private (unless it is already set to private). If it is private, follow step 2. Your profile will need to be private for 24 hours for this hack to work.
To set your public profile to private on Instagram on your phone, tap the menu icon (the three-bar one). Go to Settings and then enable a private account by toggling the icon. These steps are the same for iPhone and Android.
Step 2: Change the Story Settings
The next step is to hide your Story from all your followers.
To hide your Story, go to Settings. Under Privacy and Security, tap on Story controls.
You’ll see an option that says “Hide story from.”
The following part is tedious (sorry!), especially if you have loads of followers. Tap where it says “0 People”. One by one, manually select all the followers you want to hide your Story from.
Once you are done, tap the Check icon. This is located on the top-right corner of your screen.
Step 3: Upload Your Story
You can now upload your Story as you normally do. The only difference is that it is hidden from your followers so no one will see it.
Step 4: Add to Highlights
When your Story is published, add it to Highlights.
To do so, open the Story. Tap on the Highlights icon, which is located at the bottom of your screen. Now you can either choose to create a new one or choose Highlight.
An important step here: don’t delete your Story. If you do, then your Story won’t appear in Highlights. Your Story needs to be live for 24 hours before they appear in Story Highlights.
Step 5: Unhide
Now that you’ve waited a full 24 hours since you’ve published your Story, it will move to Archives. It’s time to unhide it from your followers.
Tap on the three-bar menu and go to Settings. Next, tap on Story Controls and find “Hide story from.” Unselect everyone. Now you can make your profile public again as well.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Add an Instagram Highlights Cover Without Posting to Story
You may also wonder how you can add a Highlights cover without adding it to your Instagram Story.
Keep your Highlights up to date by adding or changing the cover photo. Luckily, you don’t need to add a Story in order to add a Highlights cover image.
Step 1: Go to Your Profile
The first step to add a Highlights cover to your Instagram story without posting to it is to go to your profile.
Step 2: Choose the Highlights
Now you want to choose the Highlight cover you want to change. Tap and hold the Highlight until a pop-up menu appears. Tap on Edit Highlight.
Step 3: Choose the Cover Option
Once you’ve selected the Edit Highlight option, choose Edit Cover.
Step 4: Choose the Highlight Cover You Want
You now have two options. One, choose an existing Highlight and make this the cover photo. You need to navigate to that video or image.
Two, you can also upload the new cover you’d like from your gallery. Simply tap on the Gallery icon. You can find this icon to the left of the image thumbnails.
Step 5: Choose the Image
Choose the image you want for your Highlight cover. Tap Next.
You may need to adjust your image so it fits perfectly in the circle. Once you are done and happy with how your image looks, tap Done.
Step 6: Tap Done
Once you’ve tapped Done, you’ll see the Edit Screen. Tap Done again, and that’s it!
Why Use Highlights on Instagram?
Using Instagram Stories as part of your marketing strategy helps you drive traffic, establish your brand, promote brand awareness, connect and engage with your followers, and more.
However, these Stories are only available for 24 hours. This is a short window of opportunity for your followers to see the Story, reducing the effectiveness of Stories that should have a valuable place in your marketing arsenal.
A Highlight is a collection of Instagram Stories where you can save and display your favorite Stories. This gives you more chances to boost engagement, help your followers find important information, promote your brand, and make your profile stand out.
Final Thoughts
Keep your Stories forever, and not just for 24 hours, by using Instagram’s Highlights feature.
The whole process of adding Highlights to your Instagram Story without posting to it may take a whole day to achieve, but it can definitely be worthwhile for many people.
If you need to add a lot of images to your Highlights and don’t want to spam your followers with random Stories, then knowing how to add to Highlights without posting is very helpful!
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