Instagram has rolled out the ability for all users to add clickable links to their Instagram Stories. This new capability provides creators, small businesses, and users looking to drive traffic, showcase art portfolios, promote launches, or highlight specific projects a huge opportunity.
Adding Clickable Links to Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories have quickly become one of the most engaging types of content on the platform, with over 500 million daily active users. For creators and entrepreneurs, Stories present a valuable channel to engage audiences and direct them to key destinations.
As of 2022, you no longer need 10,000+ followers to add links to your Instagram Stories. The capability is now available for all users globally on iOS and Android.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here is exactly how to add clickable links to your Instagram Stories:
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Open the Instagram app and tap the plus (+) icon to create a new Story. You can either record a new video/photo directly or upload existing content from your camera roll.
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Once your Story content is uploaded, tap the face icon to open the sticker tray then select the “link” sticker.
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Copy and paste any link you want into the URL field – this could link out to your online portfolio, shop, Kickstarter project, specific pieces of art, etc.
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Customize the sticker text to provide context for users on where they will be directed when they click. For example “See Portfolio” or “View This Piece”.
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Drag the sticker to reposition anywhere on top of your photo/video. The sticker will pulse gently to indicate an embedded, clickable link.
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Share your Story as usual. Users who view it can click the sticker to visit the linked website!
To add multiple links, follow the same steps to include additional URL stickers with custom text onto a single Story. With strategic positioning, creators can showcase projects across mediums and promote launches by embedding links to various destinations.
Creating an Optimized Link-In-Bio Landing Page
Complementing linkable Stories, Instagram bios offer valuable real estate to direct audiences to important pages. Best practice is creating a custom landing page with key links aggregated instead of sending your bio to just one destination.
Veed’s Link-In-Bio solution enables creating optimized landing pages to showcase portfolios:
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Visit Veed’s Link In Bio page and click “Get Started Now”
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Claim a custom URL for your page (for example @yourname)
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Input account details and create a password
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Add portfolio links, custom branding details like colors and upload a profile avatar image
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Further customize with themes, embedded video, custom layouts, and more
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Add the Veed Link-In-Bio URL to your Instagram bio – now all links live in one spot that looks polished and completely on-brand!
Now whenever anyone engages with your link-in-bio callout, they will land on a robust, professional landing page showcasing all relevant creative work and shop details – with branding consistent across your Instagram presence.
Strategic Tips for Showcasing Your Portfolio
Leveraging Instagram’s linking capabilities provides impactful ways for visual creators like photographers, painters and jewelry artisans as well entrepreneurs with digital downloads or physical product inventories to direct engaged audiences to shop pages or dedicated project spotlights.
Share Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Looks
Let followers behind the curtain with exclusive images and video from photoshoots, product packaging sessions, workspace tours, creative processes, events, and more happenings “IRL”. This VIP access makes fans feel special while showcasing your expertise.
Spotlight Specific Projects
Rotating spotlights on works across different mediums, categories or time periods helps followers fully appreciate the range of your skills, styles and talents.
Drive Traffic to Online Portfolios
Robust online portfolios are the holy grail for creatives to land paid client work. Leverage linkable Instagram Stories as a valuable traffic source to these showcase destinations.
Promote Product Launches
Seed awareness and drive hype for upcoming launches like merch collections, NFT drops, books, courses, and other offerings by directing engaged Instagram audiences to tailored landing pages for each launch.
Engage Followers with Interactive Polls
Post polls in Stories to crowdsource project ideas, gather audience preferences and get feedback to help inform upcoming work. This engages followers while tailoring content to what fans want to see more of.
Share Client Testimonials and Press
Build authority and convey trust by reposting happy client testimonials in Stories linking to their tagged, glowing reviews. Spotlight press features and industry publication coverage wins linking to published articles and interviews.
Highlight Awards and Collaborations
Bring attention to accolades, contest wins and exciting co-lab partnerships via Stories linking to official announcement details. This continues driving engagement long after initial reveal.
Best Practices For Link-In-Bio Landing Pages
To maximize impact of the custom link-in-bio landing page showcasing portfolios or product offerings, ensure pages have:
Consistent Branding and Assets
Maintain visual continuity across Instagram profile theming including color scheme, logo, icons, fonts, imagery, etc. Familiar styling assures visitors they have landed in the right spot to explore featured work.
Easy Navigation Layout
Carefully curate a clean layout that makes navigating between portfolio sections quick. Link groupings, brief descriptions and ample whitespace promote seamless browsing.
Prominent Calls To Action
Include clickable buttons leading to contact forms, sales channels or mailing list sign up to provide clear direction on next steps after viewing portfolio highlights.
Integrated Analytics
Install page visit tracking to uncover valuable intel like highest traffic sources to inform content strategy. Monitor click rates on individual portfolio links to guide future link additions.
The Importance of Tracking Link Analytics
Integrating analytics provides actionable data including:
- Total link clicks and top referring posts
- Bounce rates and scroll depth
- Top clicked portfolio destinations
- Audience geographical data
- Traffic sources (Instagram vs other profiles)
Analytics inform creators on highest-performing content to help tailor future material. Metrics also indicate how long visitors engage with portfolio pages to optimize layouts and on-page elements for conversions.
For example, insights reporting especially high traffic to specific product collections or art style spotlights empower creators to produce more of what fans clearly enjoy most. Ongoing optimization fosters audience loyalty.
More on Instagram’s Linking Capabilities
Enabling links in Stories emerged from considerable advocacy by creators on the need for built-in traffic driving abilities – especially for artists, photographers, makers and entrepreneurs building brands on Instagram without access to swipe up or website link stickers unless verified with 10K+ followers.
Without native linking for the average user, directing audiences to supplementary content and online stores previously required cumbersome workarounds in captions like changing link bio URLs.
Access to link stickers addresses various marketing and monetization obstacles creators faced that sparked pushback and suggestions for Instagram to meet user needs – especially as competing platforms increasingly cater to creators.
The enhanced functionality offers a more seamless experience for users to discover profiles organically by following links shared to them by creators they engage with.
While Stories linking rolled out broadly in 2022 after a smaller initial test launch, capabilities continue expanding with additional enhancements like customizing sticker colors.
Instagram also provides account owners robust analytics within Stories including breakdowns on total interactions with each Story, link clicks, and traffic driven to destinations. Creators can leverage data to optimize content.
Optimizing Linked Portfolios Strategies For Diverse Creators
Customizing portfolio showcase strategies using Instagram’s linking capabilities can be tailored for diverse types of artists, makers and entrepreneurs.
Photographers
Detailed photo galleries organized by category like portrait, landscape, conceptual and more. Promote print purchases or image licensing opportunities. Include client submission forms and detail booking processes.
Visual Artists
Curated selections balancing works across painting, drawings, mixed media, NFTs and merch. Share works-in-progress and studio vlogs to engage fans in the artistic journey from concept to final piece.
Musicians
Link to full song streaming, promote events and shows in Stories. Offer exclusives like pre-saves for upcoming releases. Embed a playlist sampler mixing originals and covers.
Bakers / Restauranteurs
Appetizing images spotlighting signature recipes and dishes. Promote catering services or workshop classes. Link to updated menus and online reservations or delivery ordering pages.
Jewelry / Clothing Designers
Showcase collections with shoppable tags. Share styling inspiration content. Promote pop up shops and trunk shows. Link to designer process videos and production vlogs for transparency.
Consultants / Coaches / Service Providers
Link case studies and client success stories. Highlight Q&A videos addressing common pain points. Promote booking calls to action and free consult sign ups. Embed testimonial reels.
The options are endless on portfolio strategies depending on your strengths and offerings!
Additional Portfolio Linking Tools and Services
While Veed provides an end-to-end platform for creating tailored link-in-bio pages, additional tools help manage links in bios:
Linktree:Simple interface to customize links displayed in bios with call-to-action buttons
Milkshake: A link-in-bio tool focused on analytics and UX for conversion optimization
Later: Popular Instagram marketing platform that offers link-in-bio functionality
Tap Bio: Features robust analytics on link clicks and audience traffic sources
Shorby: Built specifically for creators enabling seamless click tracking abilities
Creators can mix and match platforms across linkable Stories which live natively on Instagram and external landing pages housing portfolios. The combo enables showcasing a diversity of work.
Show Off Your Best Work
As Instagram continues evolving into a premium channel for creators and entrepreneurs to gain visibility and paid client work, seamless external linking opens up valuable opportunities to direct engaged audiences to professional portfolios and shop pages.
Hopefully this guide provided helpful tips and actionable best practices for creatives and makers to showcase the full range of talents to potential customers or collaborators.
Ready to start linking Stories or upgrade your link-in-bio page? Have you creatively leveraged Instagram’s linking capabilities already for your business? Share your experiences in the comments!