Instagram Guides: All you need to know

22 April 2022

Instagram Guides are the most underrated feature that you’re most likely not using. They are the perfect way to share curated and scrollable content with your followers and community. They give people a simple way to view a cluster of Instagram posts or products in an easy-to-digest format. Despite the many positives, Guides are still majorly underutilised across the platform, which makes them a great opportunity to stand out against competitors.

This blog will tell you everything you need to know about Instagram Guides and how to make the most of the underrated features.

What are Instagram Guides?

Instagram Guides are like a mini-blog on Instagram, which allows followers to scroll through a curated flow of visual content with a commentary. They are perfect to curate gift guides, content roundups, product highlights, and travel recommendations. They all live in a dedicated place on your profile under the Instagram Guides tab, and when a follower clicks on the post in a Guide they’re directed back to the original post. Hello, evergreen content!

How do you make them?

To create your first Guide, tap the plus icon in the top right corner and select ‘Guide’. From here, you can choose from three different formats: Places, Products, and Posts. Once you’ve chosen your format, follow the in-app instructions to curate your content. You can rearrange the blocks, add a title and change the cover photo, as well as add text for each content block. Once you’re happy with all this, you can select ‘Next’ and then ‘Share’.

The published guides are not shared within the main feed, but they are found under the ‘Guides’ tab on your profile, which is found next to ‘Reels’ and ‘Tagged Photos’.

Examples of Instagram Guides

Place Guides: These are great to make city guides and travel recommendations. You can search locations from Instagram’s library or choose from your own tagged locations. 

Product Guides: This type of guide is perfect to display product releases, recommendations, and gift guides. You can attach and link any product listed on Instagram and if you want to include a product from a brand’s Instagram shop, you can choose to search for it or add it to your Wishlist.

Post Guides: These allow you to share a summary of your Instagram feed posts. You can collect Instagram posts that you’ve created even if you’re not the owner of the post. They are great for educational purposes or reflecting on current news.

Our Top Tips
  1. Think about what your audience will want to see
  2. Share them on your Instagram Stories
  3. Highlight your community
  4. Use them to build strategic relationships with your followers

If you have enjoyed this blog, why not read our blog on ‘The Photo Dump Trend Taking Over Instagram’ or you can find all our other blogs here.

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