Details matter on social media and gym Instagram highlight covers are no exception. They’re a seemingly small but surprisingly powerful element of your account page. So, how can you take full advantage of the sales and marketing benefits that these tiny circular buttons offer?
In this article – we share gym and fitness Instagram highlight covers for you to download along with 10 story ideas that you can use on your own account.
- Benefits of using Instagram highlights
- Downloadable highlight covers
- Highlight ideas for gyms & fitness brands
- Cover design tips & ideas
We’re a specialist fitness marketing agency with 15+ years of industry experience, so we know first-hand what works (and what doesn’t!). We’ve helped gyms, fitness studios, and personal trainers to successfully promote their businesses, so our social media marketing strategies are tried and tested.
Why Use Instagram Highlight Covers?
Using Instagram highlight covers for your fitness or gym account can make it look more professional, enable you to convey more messages up front, and drive people to your website.
- Messaging – highlights are located underneath your bio but above your posts which means they allow you to convey key messages up front.
- Branding – the colours, fonts, and design you use on your covers can showcase your branding and immediately appeal to your ideal client when they land on your page.
- Lead generation – you can include links in your gym Instagram Stories which enables you to drive followers to your website or other locations to capture their contact details for follow-up.
Highlights may not be a top priority when first starting your fitness Instagram. Creating a strong bio and posting content consistently should be your initial focus areas. But once your Insta account is established, highlights should be something you incorporate. Using gym covers for Instagram highlights can help you tap into the additional messaging, branding, and lead gen benefits.
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Fitness & Gym Instagram Highlights Covers
So, what should you put on your Instagram highlight covers for your gym or fitness account? Here are our top 10 recommendations based on our social media consulting experience with clients…
- Cardio
- Strength
- Classes
- Nutrition & meal plans
- Programmes & courses
- Lead generation
- Gym tour & image gallery
- Testimonials & success stories
- FAQs
- News & events
As you can see, these ideas touch on a variety of themes. Some gym highlight covers are focused on what you offer – the types of training, classes, or nutritional services you provide. Others are designed to generate leads (by encouraging gym tours or event sign-ups) and sales (by addressing common objections).
Here’s a selection of ready-made gym highlight covers for Instagram that you can download. Simply right-click and save, or get the complete bundle with 30+ done-for-you fitness covers when you sign up for the Social Media Growth Roadmap…
These story cover designs (along with editable templates) are available to download as part of our Social Media Growth Roadmap. Grow your fitness Instagram, increase engagement, and generate leads with our comprehensive roadmap bundle. It includes video training, practical guides, 4000+ ready-made fitness posts, and more.
Now let’s explore each of these gym highlight name ideas and how fitness accounts can use them…
Cardio
Cardio is a staple for most gyms and fitness trainers, so talk about your offering in your highlights. Whether it’s treadmills, cross-trainers, rowing machines or bikes, there are lots of ways to represent your cardio offering. Fitness highlight covers featuring running, cycling, or a heartbeat will all work well.
Strength
When it comes to workout-themed Instagram highlight covers, strength training is a popular choice. Whether people want to bulk up or lose weight, strength exercises can help them achieve their goal, so it has a wide appeal. A dumbbell or bicep on the cover is perfect for stories on this theme.
Learn more… check out how the best fitness Instagrams use highlights on their accounts.
Classes
Featuring your group exercise classes and timetables are an ideal gym Instagram highlight. Pinning it under your bio makes it easy for members to check what’s on and which sessions they can fit into their schedule. Covers with people, cycling, boxing gloves, yoga, or anything else related to your particular classes will work well.
Nutrition & Meal Plans
We all know fitness isn’t just about working out – it’s about consuming the right fuel too. If you offer nutrition programs, meal plans, or diet guidance, then dedicate a story highlight to it. You can include a broccoli, apple, or food shopping list on the cover to reflect this.
Programmes & Courses
If you offer fitness programmes, workout videos, or online courses, then Instagram highlights are an ideal place to promote them. You can create a story that demos the programme or describes who it’s for, with a link to learn more or sign up for it. Covers that feature a computer screen or clipboard can be good for this.
Lead Generation
The links in Instagram stories are really powerful for lead generation. You only get space for one link in your bio but stories provide additional opportunities for you to link.
One of our favourite ways to generate leads through Insta is with interactive quizzes. Ask followers to answer a few questions and then provide membership, product, or service recommendations based on their answers. Themes like ‘which workout style is best for your body type’ or ‘how much protein do you need to lose weight’ typically generate lots of interest and interaction. Include a form to capture their email at the end.
Build an engaged fitness following in less time with 30+ done-for-you social media posts, cheat sheets & planning templates.
Gym Tour & Image Gallery
If you run a gym, health club, or fitness studio, then it’s important to have a story highlight that showcases your facility. This might include a selection of photos, video, or a virtual tour if you’re looking for pre-launch sign-ups. A cover with a camera, video play button, or building will work well for this.
Testimonials & Success Stories
People trust recommendations from others much more than advertising or other promotional methods. So, it’s vital to include fitness testimonials, case studies, and success stories in your sales efforts. Story highlights that feature clients’ fitness journeys are ideal – you can use a trophy, star rating or heart ‘like’ on the cover.
FAQs
Including a story highlight that covers frequently asked questions allows you to address common objections. Most people who have a question won’t actually ask it, they’ll click off somewhere else and then you’ve lost the opportunity. But answering common queries in a story and pinning it to your highlights can prevent this and encourage more sign-ups.
We like to use a question mark on the cover to represent FAQs.
News & Events
The final story highlight that’s particularly effective for gyms is one featuring the latest news and upcoming events. It’s another way to let people know what’s going on, increase engagement and create a sense of community in your club. A cover with a calendar, ticket, or the name of the current month is well suited to this.
Bonus Cover Idea – About Us
OK so we said there were 10 ideas initially, but we wanted to include this one as a bonus idea since it won’t be right for everyone. Your bio should list a bit about you, who you help and why people should follow you. But space for text is limited here so why not use a story highlight to go into this in more detail. Put your smiling face, brand logo, or a waving hand emoji on the cover.
Highlight Cover Design Ideas
You may have noticed that all of our cover designs share a common theme. They all feature a simple icon to represent the topic the highlight is about. We love icons since they’re easy to understand and help create a sleek, minimalist design. But there are several different design approaches you can use..
- Photos
- Icons
- Numbers
- Short words (run, lift, eat)
- Emojis
Fitness story highlight covers should match your brand so choose a design that’s in line with your aesthetic. Whether that’s modern, bold, dreamy, or urban, the important thing is that it’ll appeal to your target audience.
In terms of size, your Instagram highlight cover should be a square that measures at least 400px by 400px. We like to use a larger 1200px by 1200px size with our clients to ensure the covers look clear and aren’t blurry.
Instagram Content Made Easy
For people who don’t have the time to create social content or aren’t graphic designers, we’ve created done-for-you wellness-themed social media posts. They take all the hassle out of Instagram, Facebook, and X/Twitter. They’re included with our Social Media Growth Roadmap, along with video workshops, step-by-step guides, and time-saving social media resources…
Social Media Growth on Autopilot
Grow your social media, increase engagement & generate leads.
Social media channels are vital for attracting new clients, keeping existing ones loyal, and raising the awareness of your brand. Lack of time or design expertise shouldn’t hold you back which is where our Social Media Roadmap can help. It saves you time and enables you to benefit from our marketing agency expertise at a fraction of the cost.
We’ve created high-quality, wellness-themed content for you to post yourself… So, if you’re unsure what to post about, or how to create professional-looking content, then the roadmap is a life-saver. It contains a range of post types across a variety of themes including inspirational quotes, practical training tips, and nutritional guidance. Save yourself time and effort by getting the roadmap today.
