The “swipe up” feature on Instagram is a great way to up your social media presence—it allows for a whole new method of increasing engagement with your stories, which will lead to more clicks and more conversions!
We’ll go over how it works, and how you can utilize it effectively, here.
What Is Instagram’s Swipe Up Feature?
We already know that Instagram is not particularly kind to including links in posts. Changing the link in your bio can get tedious really fast, especially if you’re posting a lot (which you should be!). However, accounts that meet certain criteria can add “swipe up” links to their stories, and start getting more versatile with their Instagram strategy!
This feature allows businesses to promote products, blog posts, and sign up pages—these pages open right inside the app for users to explore instantly, without leaving Instagram (a huge plus!). They can even complete a purchase, all within the app.
How Do You Get It?
Unfortunately, not just anyone has access to this feature. Your account has to meet certain criteria in order to utilize it—Instagram wants to keep it exclusive (at least for the time being), so there are some restrictions in place.
You can use the swipe up feature if:
- You have an Instagram Business Profile
- You have over 10,000 followers
OR
- Your account is verified (you know, the little blue check mark)
The “OR” is in there so celebrities, public figures, and verified brands that haven’t crossed that 10,000 follower threshold can still access this feature. If you don’t meet any of these criteria, the swipe up feature isn’t entirely off limits to you—you’ll still be able to link things, they just have to be IGTV videos only.
How Do You Use It?
Once you check the necessary boxes to gain access to this feature, you’ll see the link icon at the top of your stories editor—up there with the drawing, text, save, etc. icons. Tap that icon, and you’ll be able to add a link! It can be a link to your website, a blog post, a landing page, or any number of things. We’ll go over some concrete examples of how to use this feature in a bit.
This is also where you’ll want to put information about brand partnerships if you’re sharing sponsored content. When you tag a business partner, it adds that “paid partnership with” label you’ve probably seen on influencers’ stories. Influencer marketing is all about transparency these days, so this is important!
What Should You Link To?
This little feature is huge for business. People always want the path of least resistance when it comes to making a purchase or reading and viewing content. The swipe up feature makes it as easy as possible for them to commit to you, and quickly! Here are some examples of things you can link to in order to up your Instagram game.
Blog Posts
You already know that social media is ideal for sharing longer-form content. Try creating a custom graphic for your latest blog post, and share it on your Instagram story with a swipe up link! Make sure you know Instagram Story dimensions before making your graphic—nothing makes you look more like a rookie than ill-fitting story content.
Be sure to include relevant imagery, and make sure all fonts and colors match your brand. You can include the title of your blog post, or a great pull quote to draw people in.
Promote Products
One of the greatest things about the swipe up feature is how easy it makes for customers to shop. They can complete a purchase without leaving the Instagram app! Share professional photos of your latest products, encourage people to swipe up for more information, or to go ahead and buy.
It’s a lot like the digital version of the checkout line in a grocery store—it’s way too easy for you to make a last-minute purchase. Take this tactic a step further by adding the Instagram shopping feature.
Promote Events
If you have a big event coming up, use the swipe up feature to encourage people to register for your event. Whether it’s a physical event or a webinar, send your customers to a registration landing page. You can never go wrong, creating a custom graphic to draw people in! You can include the most important info on the graphic (so people have it at a glance) and leave the rest for the landing page.
Have you already posted a graphic for your event on your main feed? You can share that post to your story, then add the swipe up link there. This is a great way to add links and get people visiting your feed.
Promote Videos
Whether it’s a new IGTV video, YouTube video, Facebook video, or a video directly on your website, you can seriously increase your views by sharing a link in your Instagram story. If it’s an IGTV video, you can include a preview in your story, and encourage people to swipe up to watch the rest.
Or, create a custom graphic for it! Can you tell we like custom graphics? With the swipe up feature, you can now send followers from Instagram to a video, another social network, or your website.
How Can You Increase Swipes?
So, you’ve decided what you’re having your followers swipe to—but how do you get them to actually do it? Here are a few really easy tips.
Include a CTA
You don’t want to entice people with your content, only to have them miss that they can swipe up for more entirely! Be sure to call attention to your swipe up link at the bottom of your story—especially if this is a new feature for your brand.
Add GIFS and Arrows
You already know that Instagram has a ton of stickers to choose from—so many, that you shouldn’t have trouble finding something that fits your brand vibes. Get some moving visuals on top of your custom graphic to make sure people see the “swipe up” at the bottom.
Post Often
Okay, this is social media 101—but it affects this feature, too. The more consistently you post, the more reach and engagement you’re going to receive. You might have noticed that the people whose stories you watch the most appear at the very beginning of your story feed. That’s no accident! If you take a long hiatus, or aren’t posting consistently, you could lose a prime spot at the start of customers’ story feeds.
What About the Rest of Social?
That was a lot of information, all about one little feature! If you’re feeling overwhelmed, we’re here to help. Uptick has a whole team dedicated to implementing these strategies to work for your business. Let’s talk.
