Instagram is constantly evolving with new features and improvements to enhance the user experience. One of the features they introduced for that purpose is Instagram Guides. Though more underused than Reels and Stories, this feature is an effective tool for sharing curated content and creating a cohesive experience for your audience.
In this post, we take a look at what Instagram Guides are and how you can create them. We even provide you with some practical ideas to start using these Guides in your marketing. Let’s dive in.
Your Guide to Insta Guides:
What Are Instagram Guides?
An Instagram Guide is a collection of content that serves as a guide to a particular topic. They can be created using a combination of pre-published posts, product tags, and text. Much like a blog post, you can add text to the Guide to actually guide your followers on the topic at hand.
For example, you can share skincare routines, travel guides, product recommendations, gift guides, FAQ guides, content roundups, and more. Plus, all the Instagram Guides you’ve created live in a dedicated section on your page. This gives your followers a cohesive experience of learning about something through a combination of visuals and text commentary.
Source: instagram.com
If someone clicks on a particular post within the Guide, they’ll be redirected to the original post. This is also a great way to repurpose older posts and generate new visibility and engagement for them.
Types of Instagram Guides
Instagram gives you three Guide types to choose from depending on whether you want to promote your products, share travel recommendations, or simply group your content together. Here are the three types of Instagram Guides you can create:
Place Guides
Place Guides allow you to create a collection of certain locations to highlight your favorite places, provide travel recommendations, or share local guides. You can create a place Guide using locations from the Instagram library or the places you’ve tagged or saved in the past. You can also feature public posts that have been tagged with that particular location even if you’re not the original author.
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Product Guides
With this type of Instagram Guide, you can link to products in your Instagram Shop so followers can easily find and buy those products. These are great for creating buying guides, product recommendations, or product launch promos.
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Post Guides
This type of Instagram Guide allows you to put together posts that you’ve created or saved into one coherent collection. Post Guides are a great way to curate content and turn them into valuable resources for your followers. You can use them to share educational content, provide how-to guides, or answer frequently asked questions.
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Why Should You Use Instagram Guides?
Instagram Guides may be a bit underutilized when compared to Reels and Stories, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore this feature. Whether you’re a brand or a content creator, there are plenty of benefits to creating Guides.
Keep Your Audience Engaged
If you know how the Instagram algorithm works, you’d want to build a highly engaged audience base. Being a type of long-form content, Instagram Guides are a great way to keep your audience engaged for longer. They can get all the information they need in one place while learning more about you and/or your brand story.
Garner Loyalty
With the kind of value that you can offer through Instagram Guides, they’re a powerful tool for building a loyal fan base. You’re providing them with the exact kind of information they need, which leaves a strong impression on them and makes them want to come back for more.
Boosting Search Visibility
Now that Instagram is considering broad keywords in its search algorithm, Guides are going to be even more essential for Instagram SEO. You can leverage the space for text content to work relevant keywords into your content and improve your search visibility for those keywords.
How to Create Insta Guides
Ready to start creating your own Insta Guides? Follow the steps below to get started:
Step 1: Go to your profile page and tap on the “+” icon at the top to create a new Guide. Note that you won’t be able to access the option to create a Guide from your Feed page.
Step 2: Choose the Guide type you want to create. The next steps will vary depending on the type of Guide you’re planning to create.
To create a place Guide:
- Select the location you want to use. You can also choose locations from your saved posts or your own posts.
- Choose all the posts you want to include in your Guide and tap on “Next.”
- Add a title for your Guide so people can know what it’s about. Optionally, you can change the cover photo to make it look more enticing and consistent to your brand. You can also include a description, which gives you an excellent opportunity to include relevant keywords.
- If you want to create a Guide consisting of multiple places, tap on the “Add place” button at the bottom of the screen and follow the same steps as above.
- Once everything’s ready, tap on “Next” and check the preview to see if everything’s to your liking. Then hit “Share” to make this Guide available for your followers to access.
To create a product Guide:
- Search for the product you want to add to your Guide and select it.
- Choose the posts you want to include in the Guide then tap on “Next.” A product tag is automatically added to each product you include in the Guide.
- Add a title for your Guide so people can know what it’s about. Optionally, you can change the cover photo to make it look more enticing and consistent with your brand.
- Use the description space below to describe what the Guide consists of. You can even write an additional description explaining the benefits or what you like about each product.
- Tap on “Add products” to include more products in your Guide then tap on “Next.”
- Check the preview to see if everything’s in order and hit “Share” to make this Guide available for your followers.
To create a post Guide:
- Choose the posts you want to include in your Guide. You can choose from your existing posts or posts that you’ve saved from other creators.
- Add a title for your Guide so people can know what it’s about. You also need to add a title for each of the posts that you include in the Guide.
- Optionally, you can change the cover photo to make it look more enticing and consistent to your brand.
- Use the description space below to describe what the Guide consists of. You can even write an additional description explaining what each post is about.
- Tap on “Add posts” to include more posts to your Guide then tap on “Next.”
- Check the preview to see if everything’s in order and hit “Share” to share this Guide with your followers.
7 Ways to Use Insta Guides for Marketing
Not sure how Instagram Guides fit into your Instagram content strategy or your overall marketing plan for the matter? Here are a few ideas to inspire you:
1. Compile Products to Address a Pain Point
One of the best ways to convince people to buy your product is by showing them how it’ll solve their problems. Creating an Insta Guide about products to address a specific pain point is a great way to not only add value to your audience but gently nudge them to buy your products.
Cocokind regularly creates Guides providing skincare routines to address specific pain points. For example, they have a routine for dark spots/uneven skin tone, oily/acne-prone skin, and so on.
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2. Compile a List of Tips
Guides are also a great way to give some of your old posts a new lease of life in the form of tips. Put together your existing posts into a list of tips that your followers will find valuable. Additionally, you can also add some of your saved content from other creators to make the list even more robust.
Pick a theme to focus on and select the posts that will best fit the said theme. For example, fashion stylist Thalia Castro-Vega regularly puts together style tips using her existing content and turns them into Insta Guides.
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3. Share Educational Information
Another way to add value to your audience is by sharing educational and informative content. This may not necessarily be tips or advice, but it can also be information that’s just good to know like fun facts and brand stories.
Glow Recipe does a great job of this, creating Guides on educational information that their audience might like. For instance, they have a Guide explaining what SPF actually means and a Guide on why people should take a gentle approach to clogged pores.
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4. Create a Gift Guide
Gift guides are a great way to promote your products without being too “in your face.” They provide purchase inspiration while helping customers make the right product selection. You could create gift guides for specific occasions such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day. Additionally, you could create regular gift guides around anniversaries, birthdays, baby showers, weddings, and other celebrations.
You could even go the Tentree route and create gift guides that are more relevant to your brand. Being focused on eco-friendliness, the brand uses Instagram Guides to share eco-gift ideas.
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5. Share a Travel/Activity Guide
The place Guide option is an excellent way to provide your followers with travel and activity recommendations. This is particularly useful for brands and content creators with a focus on travel, adventure, and food. For example, you can create a Guide for your favorite local haunts or you can share a Guide providing the best sights to see in a certain country.
With a little bit of creativity, this type of Guide can also work for other types of brands. For Everlane, it provided the perfect opportunity for their influencer collaboration. The brand worked with influential creators Eunice Chang and Moe Alvarez for their Retro Jersey campaign, which was shot on Venice Beach.
The two creators then put together a list of their favorite spots in Venice Beach, which Everlane shared as an Insta Guide. This is a great way to share behind-the-scenes stories and put content creators in the spotlight.
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6. Share Useful How-to Guides
Due to the long-form nature of Instagram Guides, they give you the opportunity to go more in-depth with your content. This makes them a great option for sharing detailed how-to guides and step-by-step instructions that your audience would find valuable. For example, you could share a guide on how to decorate a room or you could provide instructions on how to set up your product.
Dr. Martens, for instance, uses this feature to share valuable how-to guides around their products. They have a Guide on how to lace Dr. Martens and a Guide on how to look after them.
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7. Answer Frequently Asked Questions
Instagram Guides are also an excellent tool for answering frequently asked questions. You could put together a list of questions that people often ask about your brand and products and share your answers in a Guide. Alternatively, you could also share FAQs that are related to your industry in general and not just about your brand.
For example, Bark Bright is a dog dental care brand. They regularly create useful Instagram Guides that are related to dogs. They even have a Guide answering all the FAQs about dogs like why they love squirrels or what it means if they’re eating grass.
Source: instagram.com
Getting Creative with Instagram Guides
Now you know exactly why you should use Instagram Guides and how to start creating them. Make the most of the ideas given above to get creative and turn Instagram Guides into a valuable asset.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you use Instagram Guides?
You can use Instagram Guides to share valuable how-to guides, travel recommendations, buying guides, informative content, and answer frequently asked questions.
Are Instagram Guides worth it?
Instagram Guides can be very helpful for grouping your content together into a neat category that your followers can easily access. They’re worth it if you want to give your older content pieces a new lease of life or make your content easier to navigate.
Do Instagram Guides show on Feed?
Instagram Guides show up under a dedicated tab on your page. However, they won’t show up in the Feeds of your followers.
Can everyone create Guides on Instagram?
Instagram has made the Guide feature accessible to everyone on the platform.
How do I find Guides on Instagram?
You can find Guides on Instagram by tapping on the dedicated “Guides” icon, which looks a bit like a book.
