Instagram Is Testing The Ability For Creators To Add a Link To Story Highlights In Reels

@cmcalgary

Instagram is currently testing a Link Highlight feature. This feature enables creators to add a link to their Story Highlights in their Reels.

During the post-creation process, creators will see a "Link Highlight" option. Here, they can select a Story Highlight to to add to their Reel.

Once published, the chosen Story Highlight will be displayed as a button at the bottom of the Reel, alongside other buttons for audio, people, and location. When clicked, viewers will be directed to the Story Highlight and can watch the collection of Stories.

@cmcalgary / Radu Oncescu

Why It Matters: Link Highlight is an iteration of YouTube's Related Video and Facebook’s ‘Connect your reel to a video’ option. Like these, creators have a way to connect their short-form videos with other relevant content, in this case, Story Highlights.

This can be useful for creators to direct viewers to more content. For example, a creator can share a vlog-style Reel exploring a new city and link it to a Story Highlight featuring additional content related to the city.

There's also a use case for influencer marketing, especially as Reels and a set of Stories, including a Link Sticker that drives to a brand website or product page, are common deliverables for campaigns on Instagram.

Creators can save these sponsored stories as highlights, link them to their sponsored Reel, and include a call to action in their caption for viewers to click the button to watch the sponsored Stories and learn more via the Link Sticker.

While not intuitive, it's a workaround that addresses the limitation of not being able to add a link directly to Reels and provides an alternative path for creators to drive traffic on behalf of brands.