8 Ways to Use Instagram Highlights to Drive Long-Term Affiliate Conversions

Affiliate marketing is a staple part of a good marketing strategy, enabling businesses to generate revenue through a performance-based model. In fact, with an average return on investment for every dollar invested in affiliate marketing being 1400%, it is undeniably one of the most cost-effective methods for driving online sales.

Instagram has long been a key platform for affiliate marketers, offering a range of features that allow your business to drive conversions. One of those features is Instagram Highlights, a prime opportunity to transform your profile, yet one that is also vastly underutilized by businesses.

In this article, we delve into the benefits of using Instagram Highlights as part of your affiliate marketing strategy and how to set up your profile accordingly. We will then share eight different ways you can use your Highlights to drive conversions, showing some examples of well-known brands that are acing their strategy.

The Benefits Of Instagram Highlights For Affiliate Marketing

Instagram is the 4th most-visited website in the world, with 169 million users in the US alone. With it being such a powerful platform, your business would be losing out on valuable opportunities if it did not use its features.

For marketers, Instagram is a great tool when trying to reach the younger generation. The infographic below shows that 62.7% of Instagram users are actively using the platform to connect with brands, following their accounts to get regular updates and insights into their product ranges. Creating an online community of consumers who are interested in your brand and being able to grab their attention regularly as they scroll through their feed is invaluable.

Instagram Highlights are a crucial tool for affiliate marketers, yet many brands fail to utilize them to their fullest. Unlike Stories, which are designed to disappear after 24 hours, a Highlight permanently sits at the top of your profile. This offers endless opportunities to provide value to your audience and ensure that affiliate links remain visible.

To boost the likelihood of affiliate content being seen and interacted with, you can organize your Highlights in a way that is easy to navigate. For example, Highlights can be split into things such as product types, seasons, or new releases to allow followers to find what they’re looking for in an instant.

If your Highlights are well-kept and affiliate links are at the forefront of your content, a continuous flow of conversions can be achieved as followers click through to find out more.

How To Setup Instagram For Affiliate Marketing

To ensure you are ready to track affiliate sales, your Instagram profile needs to be set up to allow you to make money from your efforts.

First, you will need to switch to a Business or Creator account if you have not already done so. This will give you access to a deeper level of performance data and allow you to monetize your content. To do this, go to your settings, scroll near the bottom to “Account type and tools”, and then select “Switch to Professional Account”.

Once your account is ready, you will need to link to your affiliate marketing programs. Many businesses opt for a link in their Instagram bio alongside a catchy CTA (call to action), which leads to an affiliate landing page.

When posting affiliate content on your Feed or Stories, it is important to remember that you must disclose any paid partnerships. The Federal Trade Commission is the regulatory body governing the labeling of any affiliate marketing partnerships to provide transparency to online audiences. Include “Ad” in the Story copy or tag the affiliate partner to create a “Paid partnership with” disclaimer above a post.

8 Ways To Utilize Instagram Highlights

Once your account has been set up to prepare for your affiliate marketing strategy, it’s time to finetune your Highlights to ensure they are driving as much traffic as possible and encouraging conversions.

Here are 8 ways you can use Instagram Highlights to maximize your affiliate traffic:

1. Include affiliate discount codes

Discount codes are a key way to draw in both new and existing customers, enticing them with an exclusive code that can help them make irresistible savings. 

Creating unique affiliate discount codes will make every transaction easily traceable back to the source, making it easier than ever to track exactly where the sale originated from. Using a platform such as Tapfiliate to automate affiliate marketing tasks will save hours on setup and means you can track the progress of the campaign through a seamless dashboard.

By incorporating discount codes into Instagram Highlights, followers will not miss out as they can be accessed at any time – not limiting them to a 24-hour window. Whether the discount code entitles them to a percentage off their cart total, a seasonal promotion, or limited-time offers, sharing the offer at the start of the Highlight will maximize the effectiveness of the campaign.

2. Customize Highlight covers

When you first click on an Instagram profile, the Highlight covers are one of the first things you see. Make sure your first impression is a good one by customizing your Highlight covers to reflect your brand image.

When it comes to affiliate content, Highlight covers are a prime opportunity to make it stand out and encourage more clicks. By choosing a design that reflects the content while adding a more professional touch, you can increase views and encourage followers to click through your Highlight.

Sephora is a great example of a brand that designs branded Highlight covers to suit the aesthetic of their profile. The use of icons is an effective way to visually communicate what the Highlight is all about and grab the eye of consumers who are interested in that topic.

3. Build an e-commerce storefront

Getting users to click on an affiliate link is one thing, but seeing them make it to the checkout is another. It is important to create an efficient user experience that seamlessly connects the Instagram Highlight with the sale to avoid people dropping out along the way.

Designing a new landing page will create a storefront experience perfectly tailored to the content of the Highlight. If the user lands straight onto a web page that includes the promoted product they have an interest in, they are much more likely to continue with the purchase.

Using Tapfiliate to connect your website with your affiliate marketing program can help seamlessly integrate your platforms without the need for complex code. Since there is a dedicated affiliate platform for e-commerce, it has never been easier to set up the perfect affiliate marketing campaign and track the results.

4. Showcase product reviews

Testimonials are one of the best ways to build up trust between your brand and a new customer. By seeing that others have had a positive experience and swiping through more pictures of the products in action, there is an increased chance of a shopper making a purchase of their own.

Creating a Highlight dedicated to product reviews is a great way to show off the kind words customers have said about your brand. Whether you choose to copy snippets of text, repost pictures from the customer, or share video reviews, these are all great ways to keep the Highlight fun and engaging.

Having easily accessible reviews available as soon as a user arrives on your profile will mean trust is built up from the offset. This makes them much more likely to have trust in the affiliate links on your profile, boosting the chance of a conversion.

5. Post product demos

If your business is promoting products that may require explanations when it comes to their use, product demos are an incredibly valuable type of content for Instagram followers to come across. Whether this be the best way to apply a makeup product, the health benefits of a supplement, or styling tips for a new shoe line, a Highlight is the perfect place to provide some inspiration to your audience.

To provide the most value to your followers, consider what type of content is most appropriate for the products. In some cases, detailed demonstrations can help customers get used to the features of a product, whereas in others, highlighting the benefits of certain ingredients or features can help sway a decision.

This type of content is much more likely to increase sales than posting generic sales content that is clearly affiliate marketing. By engaging with the product and showing it in situ, your followers are much more likely to see its value.

6. Give behind-the-scene insights

Posting insights into the running of your business is a great way to build up your following and maximize engagement. People love seeing behind-the-scenes content from their favorite brands and getting sneak previews of new products in the making. 

Your Instagram Highlights can be used to boost your affiliate links and show the products in action. For example, ideas such as showing them being used by your team in the office or doing a ‘day in the life’ feature are great ways to naturally promote the products and show how they are bringing value to your team.

A huge part of behind-the-scenes content is exclusivity – people love to get sneak peeks that most people would not, making them feel valued and more connected to the brand. By utilizing this psychology in your affiliate marketing strategy, deeper connections can be made with your followers.

An example of a brand executing this well is Glossier. Their Highlight, “#GlossierIRL”, is filled with photos and videos of behind-the-scenes content, including the team, event set-ups, and customers at their events.

7. Regularly update products

Since your Highlights remain at the top of your profile, if followers are clicking on content that is outdated and irrelevant, it can impact their user experience and end up in them leaving your profile.

Your content should be up-to-date, and all affiliate links should be live. Regularly cleaning up your Highlights to remove any inactive promotions or old links will ensure your followers are only engaging with your current affiliate links – keeping them interested for longer.

By keeping your Highlights relevant and updated with new products or promotions, they will become a go-to place for loyal followers who like to keep up with your latest content and hunt for a great deal.

8. Share customer’s snaps

When it comes to affiliate marketing, UGC is an incredibly powerful tool. By resharing photos taken by real customers, trust is instantly built, and the authenticity of the partnership is cemented. Seeing other people enjoying the product first-hand can be the final push for a follower to make the purchase they’ve been considering, leading them towards your affiliate link.

Encouraging your followers to submit their own content is a mutually beneficial way to increase the amount of UGC you have the option of using on your profile. People love the opportunity to feature on the Instagram page of one of their favorite brands, wanting to see themselves pop up on your Stories and Highlights.

If you’ve got a shortage of UGC to publish, consider running a small Instagram competition. Asking your followers to share their snaps to win a prize will incentivize them to tag you in their content and show off the product you are trying to promote.

Conclusion: Using Highlights for Affiliate Marketing Success

Instagram has long been one of the most powerful social media platforms for businesses, and it is showing no signs of slowing down! By utilizing the different features of the platform to make sure your business has a first-class social media presence, you can keep building up your followers.

Strategically using Highlights to create collections of content at the forefront of your profile is a great way to maximize the impact of your campaigns. Incorporating affiliate links into your Stories and keeping them accessible to your followers will drive those all-important conversions so you can boost your revenue.

Tapfiliate can help you stay on top of your affiliate marketing by integrating your platforms and tracing sales back to the original source. Creating a seamless affiliate strategy not only saves you hours of setup but ensures you get the commission you deserve.