Instagram introduced a tool called Guides, which allowed chosen users to post content based on well-being advice and tips. Since then, Instagram has expanded Guides across its platform, making them more accessible and simpler to all users.
Instagram Guides are an excellent way to share curated, scrollable content with your followers.
They give users a simple way to consume a collection of Instagram posts, products, or places in an easy-to-digest format.
In this post, we will highlight everything you need to know about getting started with Instagram Guides!
Table of Contents
What Are Instagram Guides?
Instagram Guides are a new feature that allows users to easily discover and share recommendations, tips, and other content from individual creators, small businesses, or brands. It’s like a miniature blog right on Instagram.
They can be used to curate gift guides, product highlights, content roundups, FAQ guides, travel recommendations, restaurant reviews, and so much more.
They’re unlike any other Instagram feature because you can curate feed posts, products, or locations from across Instagram, bringing it all together with your commentary.
Plus, your Guides all live in one, dedicated place on your profile: the Instagram Guides tab.
When a user clicks on an individual feed post in a Guide, they’re directed back to the original post — making them great for giving old content a new lease of life.
Types of Guides
Instagram offers three different types of Instagram Guides that you can create. Whether you want to group your content together, promote products you sell, share an in-depth travel guide, or something else, here are the types of Instagram Guides you can choose from and how to decide which one is best for your brand.
Posts
Using existing posts as a starting point for Instagram Guides is a simple way to get started. Consider an Instagram Posts Guide to be a broad topic that you’d like to address. You may use this feature to connect specific posts you’ve already created to generate curated content for your audience, and you can do it in a variety of ways. You may make a how-to article out of DIY postings, answer commonly asked questions, or simply give more information on a topic you like to your audience. After you’ve chosen the posts for your guide, add appealing titles and descriptions to give your followers additional information and keep them engaged throughout.
Products
Product guides are great for promoting your favorite products, launching new collections, and creating gift guides. This type of Instagram guide allows you to search for and spotlight certain products from a brand, small business, or influencer. Users can only feature products that are listed in the Instagram Shop, so if you haven’t done so previously, you should. That way, you’ll be featured in other people’s postings! To keep your audience reading, employ fascinating items and vibrant images.
Places
A places guide allows you to choose specific locations and public photos from users at a tagged location. This is a good option if you want to highlight your favorite places in a neighborhood, recommend popular local bars and restaurants, share vacation travel ideas, and more. These guides help you show love for places in your community and give your followers a look into the places you care about most. Users can also increase visibility for local businesses by featuring them on places guides. Once you’ve made your selections, you can add interesting headers and descriptions to give your followers more context as to why you chose each place.
Benefits of Using Instagram Guides
It’s fairly quick and easy to add Instagram Guides to your social media marketing strategy, especially if you’re already on the platform. Here are a few reasons to start using Instagram Guides!
Boost Brand Loyalty
Creating guides is another way for you to give your audience valuable content they enjoy. By creating an Instagram Guide that shares your brand’s story or promotes a cause you’re passionate about. It’s important to stand out among the faceless Instagram business accounts, so don’t be afraid to get personal and make those connections with your followers.
Keep Users Engaged
Similar to Instagram Reels, Guides are a type of long-form content that can keep users engaged. Instead of seeing your post on their feed and scrolling by, a guide can help users learn more about your brand’s story, discover new products, learn information from your tips, and even look at similar posts you’ve shared that you can now group in one place. Plus, they can get all the information they need from your guide instead of having to click away to get more information if it’s curated correctly. Engagement can also come from users liking, sharing, commenting, and making purchases directly from an Instagram Guide.
Take Advantage of Keywords
Instagram has updated its search function, allowing users to search for content by broad keywords in addition to profiles, hashtags, and location. This gives you an opportunity to include relevant keywords in your guides to help increase your chances of showing up in Instagram searches, as well as on a user’s Explore Page.
Collaborate with Influencers
Influencer marketing is a major part of Instagram, and creating Instagram Guides is one way to collaborate with influencers to help promote your products and share your content. One way to partner with Influencers is with Instagram product guides. They can help promote your products by sharing your guides on their stories, as well as feature your items on in-feed posts.
More Chances to Make a Sale
Product guides are a great way for e-commerce businesses and local shops to promote their products and potentially increase your chances of making a sale. Whether it’s highlighting your bestsellers or creating a gift guide, you can expand your reach when selling on Instagram by pairing Instagram Shop and Instagram Guides together.
Bring Awareness to Causes You Care About
People love to learn they care about the same causes as the brands they follow, as well as how businesses make an impact in their community. Try using Instagram Guides to showcase a movement that you care about or highlight businesses that are promoting a good cause. If there’s something that you care deeply about, chances are your followers may also share that passion!
How to Make an Instagram Guide
To create your first Guide, tap the plus icon on the top-right of your profile page and select “Guide.”
You may pick between three distinct forms from here: Places, Products, and Posts. Choose the type of Guide you want to create, then curate your content using the in-app prompts.
You can rearrange the blocks, “Add a Title,” and “Change Cover Photo,” as well as add titles and comments (optional) for each content block after you’ve picked the Places, Products, or Posts you want to feature in your Guide.
When you’re happy with your curated Guide, select “Next” in the top-right hand corner of the screen and then “Share.”
Published Guides are not shared to your main profile feed (yet). Instead, they are kept on a dedicated Guides tab on your profile. Guides are also surfaced in your followers’ Home feeds in the immediate hours and days after publishing.
Instagram Guides Best Practices
Ready to create the best Guides for your brand? Here are four top tips to keep in mind
1. Think About What Your Audience Wants
Instagram Guides are a fantastic way to curate and organize content for your followers, with endless creative possibilities.
Consider what Instagram content your followers are most interested in, and use that data to design your Guides content.
If you’re unsure, ask your audience. Ask your followers what kind of Guides they’d be most interested in using an Instagram Stories question or poll sticker.
2. Share Instagram Guides in Stories
Since Instagram Guides aren’t shared on a user’s main profile feed, you may want to give them an extra boost on Instagram Stories.
Luckily, you can easily share Instagram Guides to Instagram Stories.
Here’s how to share Instagram Guides in Stories:
- Open your Instagram Guide
- Tap the paper airplane icon in the bottom left-hand corner
- Select “Add guide to your story”
3. Highlight Your Community
If you’re a brand, this is a great way to show your products and provide valuable context. Think about creating a guide that showcases your customers using your products.
4. Use Guides to Build Strategic Relationships
Guides are an excellent way to highlight brands, creators, or peers in your network, which may help you build your profile.
If you’re a creator or brand in a certain niche, you may create a list of 10 accounts that provide content related to your niche (including yourself).
It’s a great way to get their attention, start a conversation, and who knows, maybe they’ll feature you in a future Guide!
This is exactly what makes Instagram Guides such a powerful tool for building relationships.
Instagram Guides introduce a whole new way to curate and consume content on the platform, with huge benefits for storytelling and e-commerce.
Conclusion
Instagram Guides are another great tool for a brand’s marketing arsenal to build its following and increase conversions.
Whether you’re creating Instagram guides as catalogs of your products, showcasing your business location through UGC, or providing tips and educational posts to your audience, there are so many creative ways you can use guides to benefit both you and your followers on Instagram.
What do you think? Have you created any Instagram guides yet? Are you going to give it a try after reading this? Please share your thoughts or tips in the comments below.
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