Boost Your Small Business with Facebook Stories and Instagram Highlights
Social media has become a vital tool for small businesses looking to connect with their audience, build brand loyalty, and drive growth. Among the many features available, Facebook Stories and Instagram Highlights offer unique opportunities to engage creatively and effectively with customers. These tools aren’t just about aesthetics; they are powerful assets to communicate your brand message and showcase your offerings.
If you’ve been wondering how to make these features work for your small business, this guide will walk you through the benefits, practical tips, and strategies for success.
Why Use Facebook Stories and Instagram Highlights?
Both Facebook Stories and Instagram Highlights enable businesses to connect with followers in fresh and exciting ways. Here’s why they’re essential platforms for growth:
- Visibility Boost – Stories appear at the top of the feed, ensuring your followers see your content before scrolling through their timeline.
- Authenticity – Stories offer a less polished, more real glimpse into your business, helping you build trust and relatability.
- Ease of Use – Creating stories is quick and simple, making them ideal for sharing updates without the pressure of perfect execution.
- Longevity Through Highlights – On Instagram, Stories usually disappear after 24 hours, but Highlights preserve your best content permanently on your profile page for anyone to view.
For small businesses with limited budgets or resources, these tools allow you to stretch your creativity and make a big impact at a minimal cost.
Practical Tips for Using Facebook Stories
Facebook Stories can help you stay in front of your audience in a fun and interactive way. Here’s how to maximise them for your business.
1. Share Behind-the-Scenes Content
Give your audience a glimpse into your brand culture, employees, or the process behind your products. For example, a café could share stories of a new recipe being tested in the kitchen.
2. Promote Time-Sensitive Offers
Stories’ 24-hour lifespan makes them perfect for promoting flash sales, daily deals, or urgent calls to action. Pair these offers with features like stickers, countdown timers, or polls to create urgency and engagement.
3. Use Interactive Stickers
Polls, questions, and voting stickers are excellent tools to engage followers. For instance, you could use a poll to ask your audience which product they’d like to see discounted next.
4. Add Links to Your Stories
Businesses with over 10,000 followers or those who qualify for a verified account can use the swipe-up feature to direct viewers to a website. Use this to lead your audience to key landing pages, such as new product pages or booking forms.
Practical Tips for Instagram Highlights
Instagram Highlights provide a golden opportunity to categorise and display important aspects of your business on your profile. Since they sit right under your bio, they play a key role in making a great first impression.
1. Organise Your Content
Create themes for your Highlights, such as “Products,” “Customer Reviews,” or “How It Works.” This ensures visitors can easily find the information they’re looking for.
2. Showcase Your Best Stories
Feature Stories that have been successful in engaging your audience. For example, a florist could include highlights like bouquets of the month, wedding arrangements, or tutorials on how to care for flowers.
3. Use Branded Covers
Custom Highlight covers are an easy way to make your profile look polished and consistent. Ensure the design matches your branding to maintain a professional image.
4. Highlight FAQs
Consider answering common questions about your products, services, or processes through a dedicated Highlight. This could include shipping policies, sizing guides, or how to redeem offers.
Engaging Strategies for Small Businesses
Now that you know how to use Stories and Highlights, combine them with these strategies to take full advantage of their potential.
Create a Content Plan
Randomly posting Stories might get you some views, but a consistent, structured plan ensures you’re maximising engagement. Plan your content around sales events, product launches, or even national holidays relevant to your brand.
Encourage User-Generated Content
Ask customers to tag your business in their posts and stories. Reposting their content on your Stories not only acknowledges their support but also builds social proof, encouraging others to interact with your brand.
Cross-Promote Between Platforms
Since Facebook owns Instagram, the two platforms work hand-in-hand. Share your Instagram Stories directly to Facebook for a wider reach without extra effort.
Analyse Performance
Use Facebook and Instagram Insights to monitor how your Stories and Highlights are performing. Pay attention to views, interactions, and completion rates (for Stories). Use this data to refine future campaigns.
Why Small Businesses Should Make the Most of These Features
Facebook Stories and Instagram Highlights offer a cost-effective, approachable way to tell your brand story, engage with customers, and leave a lasting impression. With their visual appeal and ease of use, they’re invaluable tools for small businesses looking to compete in an increasingly digital world.
At Footprint Digital, we help businesses harness the power of social media to achieve real results. If you’re unsure where to start or need expert guidance, our team can help you craft a social media strategy tailored to your business goals.
Feel free to contact us to find out how we can take your digital marketing to the next level.
Start making Stories and Highlights work for your business today – your audience is waiting!
Best Practices for Businesses Posting Stories & Highlights on Facebook & Instagram
Stories and Highlights are powerful tools for businesses to engage with their audience, showcase products, and reinforce their brand. Below are some of the top tips to make most of them on Facebook and Instagram:
Best Practices for Highlights
Post Consistently – Aim for daily or frequent updates to keep your brand visible. Stories disappear after 24 hours, so regular posting helps maintain engagement.
Use High-Quality Visuals – Clear, professional images and videos grab attention. Avoid blurry, pixelated, or low-light content.
Keep It Short & Engaging – Stories should be quick and to the point. Use a mix of videos, photos, and boomerangs to keep content fresh.
Incorporate Branding – Add your logo, brand colours, and fonts to maintain consistency across all posts.
Use Interactive Features – Encourage engagement by using:
- Polls & Questions – Get feedback from your audience
- Quizzes – Fun way to educate and entertain
- Countdowns – Create excitement for an event or launch
- Swipe-Up Links (if eligible) – Direct users to your website
Tag & Mention Others – If you’re working with partners, customers, or influencers, tag them to increase reach and engagement.
Add Location Tags & Hashtags – Helps increase discoverability, especially if targeting a local audience.
Include Call-to-Actions (CTAs) – Guide viewers with prompts like:
- “Swipe up to shop”
- “DM us for more info”
- “Tap to learn more”
Use Music & GIFs – Adds personality and helps create a more engaging experience.
Share User-Generated Content (UGC) – Reposting customer photos, testimonials, or reviews builds trust and social proof.
Best Practices for Highlights
Turn Key Stories into Highlights – Save important Stories in Highlights so they remain on your profile beyond 24 hours.
Organise by Category – Group Highlights into clear themes to make it easy for visitors to navigate. Examples:
About Us – Introduce your brand
New Arrivals – Showcase latest products
Behind the Scenes – Give an insider look at your business
Customer Reviews – Feature happy clients
FAQs – Answer common questions
Events & Promotions – Highlight special offers
Use Custom Highlight Covers – Design branded icons or thumbnails for each Highlight to create a cohesive and professional look.
Keep Highlights Updated – Regularly review and refresh Highlights to keep them relevant and engaging.
Prioritise Key Information – The first few Highlights should feature your most important content (e.g. services, bestsellers, or testimonials).
Use Actionable Titles – Keep Highlight names short and clear, e.g. “Shop Now”, “Our Work”, “FAQs”, or “Reviews”.
Final Tip: Track Performance & Adjust Strategy
Use Facebook & Instagram Insights to check how your Stories and Highlights are performing. Analyse views, interactions, and responses, and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
- High Engagement? Post similar content more often.
Low Views? Experiment with different formats, CTAs, or posting times.
If you’d like any more information, please just give us a call and we’ll be happy to help!
Understanding the Role of SEO in Building a Successful Digital Marketing Plan
Search engine optimisation (SEO) has become an indispensable part of any effective digital marketing strategy. It combines technical expertise, creative content, and strategic thinking to improve your online visibility, drive organic traffic, and ultimately support your broader business goals.
A successful digital marketing plan is like a puzzle, and SEO is one of the most important pieces. Without it, you risk losing visibility in search results, which are often the starting point for customer journeys online. This blog explores the essential role that SEO plays in a well-rounded digital marketing strategy, breaking down its key components and showing how it integrates with other marketing efforts.
Why SEO Is Crucial to Digital Marketing
At its core, SEO is about making your website and content more appealing to search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. However, its influence extends far beyond algorithms. Here’s why SEO is a critical part of any digital marketing plan:
1. Enhancing Online Visibility
With millions of websites competing for attention, getting noticed can be a challenge. SEO gives your website the best chance of appearing on the first page of search results for relevant queries. This higher visibility increases the likelihood of attracting potential customers.
2. Driving Sustainable Organic Traffic
Unlike paid advertising, which delivers short-term results for a fee, SEO focuses on driving consistent, sustainable traffic over time. By ranking highly in search engines for keywords your audience is searching for, you attract visitors who are genuinely interested in your products or services.
3. Building Trust and Credibility
Websites that rank well in search results are often seen as more credible by users. Well-executed SEO instils confidence in your audience by demonstrating that your site is trustworthy, authoritative, and relevant to their needs.
4. Supporting Other Marketing Channels
SEO doesn’t operate in isolation—it works in harmony with content marketing, paid advertising, social media, and other strategies. By nurturing organic search visibility, SEO enhances the impact of your overall digital efforts.
Key Components of SEO
Effective SEO is not a single action but a combination of strategies that improve your site’s performance in search results. Below are the fundamental components of SEO that every business should understand and implement.
1. Keyword Research
Keywords are the foundation of SEO. They represent the search terms people use to find information, services, or products online. Comprehensive keyword research helps you identify the terms that matter most to your target audience.
To get started:
- Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Moz to identify relevant keywords.
- Focus on long-tail keywords that reflect specific intent, such as “best vegan café in Surrey.”
- Group keywords by intent—such as informational (guides), navigational (finding a website), and transactional (shopping)—to tailor your content accordingly.
2. On-Page Optimisation
On-page SEO involves optimising individual website pages to make them more search engine-friendly. Key areas to consider include:
- Title Tags and Meta Descriptions – These are the first things potential visitors see in search results. Make them compelling and keyword-rich.
- Headers and Subheaders – Organise content clearly using H1, H2, and H3 tags, incorporating relevant keywords.
- URL Structure – Keep URLs short, informative, and keyword-focused (e.g., footprint.co.uk/seo-strategy).
- Image Optimisation – Use alt text to describe images, incorporating keywords where natural.
- Content Quality – Ensure your content answers user queries effectively and is free from fluff or errors.
3. Technical SEO
A technically sound website enables search engines to crawl and index your content efficiently. Important technical factors include:
- Site Speed – Fast-loading pages reduce bounce rates and improve user experience.
- Mobile-Friendliness – With the majority of users browsing on mobile devices, responsive design is essential.
- XML Sitemaps – Guide search engines through your website with structured sitemaps.
- HTTPS Encryption – Secure sites with SSL certificates rank higher than unsecured ones.
4. Link Building
Links act as endorsements from other websites, signalling to search engines that your content is credible and valuable. Focus on:
- Quality Over Quantity – One link from a trusted, high-authority site is worth more than several from low-quality sources.
- Guest Blogging – Write articles for respected websites to earn backlinks.
- Internal Linking – Create a web of links within your site to improve navigation and encourage visitors to explore further.
Integrating SEO with Other Digital Marketing Strategies
SEO doesn’t work in isolation—it must be woven into your broader digital marketing plan. Here’s how to integrate SEO smoothly with other strategies for maximum impact.
1. SEO and Content Marketing
Content and SEO go hand in hand. Without well-researched, high-quality content, SEO cannot succeed. Meanwhile, even exceptional content won’t reach its audience without optimisation.
- Create blog articles, guides, and case studies targeting your primary and long-tail keywords.
- Repurpose content into multiple formats, such as infographics, videos, and podcasts, to expand its reach.
- Regularly update older content to maintain its relevance and improve rankings.
2. SEO and Social Media
While social media doesn’t directly impact search rankings, it amplifies your content and drives traffic to your site.
- Share newly-published blog posts across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
- Use relevant hashtags to reach local or niche audiences.
- Encourage followers to share your content to improve engagement and increase visibility.
3. SEO and Paid Advertising
SEO and paid ads can work harmoniously to achieve both short- and long-term goals.
- Run pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns for immediate visibility while waiting for your organic rankings to improve.
- Use keyword insights from PPC campaigns to refine your organic SEO strategy.
- Re-target website visitors—first attracted by organic search—through personalised ads on Google Ads or Facebook.
4. Measuring Success with Analytics
To ensure your SEO efforts are effective, track performance using tools like Google Analytics or SEMrush. Key metrics to monitor include:
- Organic search traffic.
- Keyword rankings.
- Bounce rate and dwell time.
- Conversions from organic traffic.
By analysing your data, you can make informed decisions to refine your SEO and digital marketing strategies.
Final Thoughts
SEO is a powerful and essential tool in building a successful digital marketing plan. By enhancing your online visibility, attracting organic traffic, and supporting other marketing efforts, SEO strengthens your overall digital presence and drives growth.
Whether you’re focusing on keyword research, on-page optimisation, or link building, every element of SEO plays a role in achieving your business goals. And by integrating SEO with content marketing, social media, and paid advertising, you create a cohesive and strategic approach to digital marketing.
If mastering SEO sounds challenging, Footprint’s team of experts is here to help you build a plan that suits your business. Contact us today to learn how we can help optimise your website and craft a comprehensive digital marketing strategy tailored to your needs. Together, we’ll ensure your brand stands out in an increasingly competitive online landscape!
