Instagram has added yet another "directory-like" feature to the app which makes it possible for users to club similar posts into GUIDES. It helps bring together products, places, and posts scattered all over your feed/Instagram, into one single place, making them manageable for you and accessible to your audience.
Why haven't we heard of this for so long?
Although Instagram had announced the introduction of the Guides feature back in mid-2020, it was only later in the year that some brands started using it on and off. But as the first quarter of 2021 rolls in, it is about time to learn about this new feature and use it to gain some much needed organic engagement and views for your Instagram account.
How to set up an Instagram Guide?
Setting up Instagram Guides is extremely easy. Whether you have a personal account or a business account you can set up a guide on your profile. All you need to know is what kind of guide will you be setting up, as you will find three options to choose from.
Here we go:
Step 1
Head over to you profile and tap on the "+" symbol.
Step 2
Tap on the last option that says "Guide"in the pop up window.
Step 3
Select the guide of your choice, based on your Instagram content. For example, since the DigiWitch handle mostly talks about Content Writing, Content Marketing, and Branding through its posts, I chose Posts.
If you are an e-commerce brand, you can go ahead and choose Products from the list and search for your brand/partner brand in the search bar.
Once you find the brand, head over to list of products and click on the product of your choice. All related images of that particular product will pop up and you can go ahead and add them to your guide.
Note that only products available on Instagram shops can be added to your product guide.
Travel bloggers can use the Places guide.
Choose Places, search for the place of your choice, and select the most attractive and eye catching pictures to make a collage that people will be hooked to for quite some time.
Step 4
Coming back to the Posts guide, upon clicking posts you will find two options: Saved posts and Your posts. Saved posts are the ones you might have bookmarked to revisit later. Head over to YOUR POSTS and start selecting the posts for which you are creating the guide.
For example, I created the first Instagram guide on content writing. So, I went ahead and selected all the posts on content writing that were scattered all over my feed.
Step 5
Once you select all the posts, you need to make sure you add:
A cover photo,
A title for the guide,
A minimum of 2 posts per guide, and
Titles for the posts added to guide
You can then hit "Next" on the top right corner as shown in the video below. The video below shows you what a completed guide will look like.
That's it, you can create your own Instagram Guide in just 5 steps and bring all your valuable yet scattered content in one place for easy perusal. Your target audience can now go through your posts in a meaningful manner, gaining insight through your content thus building trust and loyalty towards your content.
Where to find guides on the Instagram profile?
Same as the other IG features, you can find Guides on the tab that features Reels, IGTV, Tagged Posts, just above your feed. This is how it looks.
I hope you found this post helpful. I will now go ahead and create guides on Content Marketing and Branding on the DigiWitch handle on Instagram. Want to find out how it turns out, follow us on Instagram and find out soon!
Liked the article? Let me know through comments so I stay motivated to keep researching and bringing to you the latest trends and topics on social media marketing, content marketing, branding, and of course, writing.
