Instagram Swipe Up: How to Get and Use It (1/2)

Instagram is one of the hottest social media platforms in the world right now with more than 1 billion active users every month. Moreover, every day, more than 500 million daily active users are online on this platform to watch Instagram Stories. For brands and influencers, Instagram Stories provide a superb way to create and share content, increase brand awareness, and get more sales and leads.

If you have the Instagram Swipe Up feature, it’s great.

Instagram Swipe Up Feature

The Swipe Up feature is available to Instagram accounts with more than 10,000 followers and allows those users to add a link that their followers can get to by swiping up while watching their stories. This can be a big deal on this platform where you’re limited to a single clickable link in your Instagram bio.

With the Swipe Up feature, brands and influencers can promote their products, content, or signup pages that followers can access right from Instagram Stories instead of going to the bio screen to click a link there. And, you’ll be able to change the link from Story to Story, if you want.

The Swipe Up feature is a huge change for brands and Instagram influencers. In this article, we’re going to let you know the way to get the Instagram Swipe Up feature and use it successfully. We’re even going to share a tip that you can use if you don’t already have 10,000 followers.

Using Instagram’s Swipe Up feature can help to increase your traffic, improve conversions, and build customer loyalty. Excited? Let’s get started!

The way to Get the Instagram Swipe Up Feature

Instagram wants to keep the Swipe Up feature unique. As such, there are restrictions on who can get one. To get access to this coveted feature, you have to have an Instagram Business Profile and a minimum of 10,000 followers or have a verified account. That means if you’re a public figure who has gone via the trouble of getting verified on Instagram you can get the Instagram Swipe Up feature even without 10K followers.

However, right when you have it, how do you use it?

The way to Add a Swipe Up Link to Your Instagram Story

Adding a Swipe Up link to your Instagram Story is a simple process with 3 steps.

Step 1. Start Your Instagram Story

Start your Instagram Story as you normally would, either uploading a picture or video or doing it directly within the Instagram app.

Step 2. Click the Link Button

Choose the link icon at the top of the screen.

A brand new screen will come up, then you can add your link.

Add the URL and tap Done (iOS) or the checkmark (Android). Now you should see that the picture or video is linked and the hyperlink icon in the top right corner of the screen should be white.

For the greatest results, ensure you’re using a specific link related to your post. Don’t just send your followers to your website and leave them there. You want them to do something, right? You should make it really easy for them.

Step 3. Add a Call-to-Action

After adding your link, it’s the right time to add a call-to-action. Most creators use a GIF or text that says “swipe up” to encourage viewers to know they will swipe up and take action.

Your call-to-action needs to be eye-catching. We love GIFs for this. If you haven’t started using GIFs in marketing, you’re missing a huge strategy.

After adding your call to action, just post your story as usual.

Get This Feature If You Don’t Have 10K Followers

So, what if you don’t have 10,000 followers? You can use IGTV!

IGTV (Instagram TV) is an Instagram app that allows you to share longer videos. The videos have to be at least one minute and can be up to 15 minutes long if uploaded from a mobile device or up to 60 minutes long when uploading via a web browser. Just download the IGTV app then click the settings icon in the right-hand corner, and choose Create Channel.

Note: If you’re already logged in to Instagram, you’ll be able to just click Continue as… and your channel will be created.

Next, create a video promoting whatever you want to drive Instagram traffic to. Make sure to add a call-to-action to get followers to click on the title link in the top left corner.

When you’ve created your video, upload it to IGTV. Click on your channel and choose the video you just created. You can preview the video and add a cover photo before clicking Next to write a video title and description.

Keep your title short. It should be a call-to-action that will encourage followers to click. Then, in your description, add the URL to whatever you want to drive traffic to and post your video to IGTV.

After posting your IGTV video, head back to Instagram and create an Instagram Story as a teaser linking to your IGTV video. On the Story, add a call-to-action that encourages viewers to swipe up. Then, you’ll click the link icon at the top and add your video from IGTV as the call-to-action before clicking Done.

When your Story is posted, viewers can swipe up for your IGTV video and click the link in the top left of the IGTV video. It will send them to wherever you want them to go.

However, if you don’t have a verified business account or 10,000 followers, you need to take special tips.