David Malkin

Owned platform · Instagram

Instagram Highlights + UTM redesign

The brand’s Instagram Highlights existed, but they had no clear job and no way to show whether anyone followed a link from them.

The design

I designed the replacement system: five highlights, each with a defined job, on a rolling refresh schedule, with custom UTM tracking on every CTA card. The tracking turned a static profile feature into something the team could evaluate.

Out of the same work came a universal CTA card standard, applied across all carousel output from May 2026.

Earlier, in 2025, I proposed expanding carousel distribution from Instagram to Facebook and LinkedIn, alongside a long-form caption and article-card approach adopted across four platforms.

1 2 3 4 5 Five highlights, one defined job each · rolling refresh cadence Measurement layer: custom UTM on every CTA card
  1. Five recurring HighlightsGive each a defined job and refresh schedule.
  2. One card standardKeep the category, headline, standfirst, and link in a consistent order.
  3. Tracked calls to actionUse custom UTM links so the team can evaluate each ask.
Every placement gets a job and a measurement plan. Recreated system diagram; individual highlight names are internal.

The system, running

One highlight, three positions in its sequence. The structure is the same in all five.

Opening card of the Editor's Picks highlight, stating what the highlight is for
The job, statedEach highlight opens by saying what it collects and why
A story card inside the highlight: category label, headline, standfirst, and a tracked read link
The card formatCategory, headline, standfirst, tracked link, in that order every time
Closing call-to-action card of the highlight with a link sticker
The CTA standardEvery sequence ends on the same tracked ask

Shown here in saved screenshots from July 2026: the opening card, a story card, and the closing call to action.

What it changed

The system was adopted as the operating standard and ran as designed. The highlights now had defined jobs, consistent CTA cards, and trackable links. No before-and-after performance result was isolated for the change.

Attribution Proposed and designed by me; implementation ran through the standard design and publishing workflow.