Instagram Gives More Space to Highlights and Wants Your Reels to Stand Out

Watch Next: Ensuring Your Reels Don’t Get Lost

Stories has become established on Instagram and has even become the primary channel for communicating with followers.

The new Watch Next feature in Stories creates a seamless way for users to discover unseen Stories from accounts they follow.

Instagram is creating a list of missed Stories to help profiles more easily gain their followers’ attention. For e-commerce brands, this means a greater chance to capture users who might otherwise easily overlook them.

The Watch Next feature is designed to make it easier for users to discover content they haven’t yet seen. If you follow many accounts and can’t keep up with all Stories, this feature automatically gathers them in one place. This allows you to quickly and easily get an overview of content that might interest you.

The new feature increases the chances of your content reaching people, even if followers don’t view it immediately after posting. It helps keep audiences connected and reduces the likelihood of your content getting buried. To check if you have access to Watch Next, simply open Stories on Instagram. If you see a frame with “Watch Next” after your current Story ends, the feature is available to you. Ensure your app is updated, as new features are often rolled out gradually.

Highlights Getting More Space

As Lindsey Gamble reports on Threads, Instagram has also significantly improved its Highlights feature. We can expect new opportunities for brands to showcase their best Stories content. What can we expect?

• Dedicated tab for Highlights: Highlights should get their own tab in profiles.
• Better images: Cover photos in Highlights will be larger and higher quality.
• Reels integration: You’ll be able to include Reels in Highlights.
• Feed visibility: Highlights will appear among standard posts in the Feed.
• Inclusion in Stories: Highlights will also appear within Stories.

Improve Your Instagram Strategy

These changes can help take your reach to another level. You have the opportunity to gain more attention and engagement from users, as the new features improve your content’s visibility.

The combination of different formats on one platform brings new creative possibilities for reaching customers. Increased reach of your Highlights, which appear in both Feed and Stories, will enable you to gain more attention and retain your audience.

How to Use This to Your Advantage

• Add current content to Highlights.
• Enhance cover photos to match your brand.
• Include Reels in Highlights. An ideal space for showcasing products or promotions.
• Monitor what works and improve your content based on results.

Instagram’s new features clearly show that the platform is striving to create a better experience for both users and brands. They bring new opportunities to reach more people, strengthen your brand, and communicate more effectively with your audience. Utilise these improvements in your strategy now to stay ahead of the competition in the competitive world of social commerce.