It isn’t news that social media marketing is now among the top 3 ways to build an online presence as a brand or business. Among the ones leveraged by marketers most, Instagram stands out and for good reason too. Its potential reach for advertising is around 849 million users with 1 billion active users a month. As a marketing platform, it is a no-brainer that Instagram should feature in every digital marketing strategy.
To add more value to the platform, on 17 November 2020, the Instagram Guides feature was launched. Users and businesses now have a new format for creating content—and better yet, one that facilitates storytelling! For brands that rely on long-form content or thought leadership, now is the time to gear up.
Read on to know how to make Instagram Guides, who can create Instagram Guides, and other important information about the Instagram Guides feature.
What are Instagram Guides?
The Instagram Guides feature is a brand-new addition to the platform. It offers a completely new way for users to consume content, especially given Instagram’s history. After all, the platform was always known to be best suited to visual content with long-form content taking the backseat. However, with the latest Instagram Guides feature, users can scroll through a guide full of curated posts and images. As such, it can be highly valuable for businesses and brands to create Instagram Guides to educate and inform, create awareness, or offer valuable tips, all while engaging their audience with several pieces of content simultaneously.
Instagram guides can be found in the app’s ‘Create’ section, which you can access by clicking the plus icon on the top right-hand corner of your profile page. If you haven’t got it yet and are wondering how to get Instagram Guides, just sit tight and wait for an update to roll through. Another burning question on internet forums is who can create Instagram Guides? As of 17 November 2020, everyone can create Instagram Guides on their profile. However, this wasn’t always the case as the feature was made available to a select few in early 2020 as a trial.
What are the different types of Instagram Guides?
Whether you’re looking to make Instagram Guides in India or any other part of the world, keep in mind that there are 3 different types of Instagram Guides. You can choose to either make a product, place, or posts guide. Each has their own set of dos and don’ts, so it is best to learn about them first.
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Products: To create Instagram Guides about products, the first and most important step is to follow the brand that represents the product. Here, the brand must also have a shop activated that features the product you want to create a guide on.
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Places: With this type, you can create Instagram Guides for places you wish to cover or have already visited. For the latter, you must have checked-in to the place in previous posts in order to feature it in the guide. Any saved posts with locations will also be available for use.
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Posts: This option allows you to create Instagram Guides by using the posts on your profile or any that you’ve saved from the platform.
What are the best ways to leverage Instagram Guides?
Before learning how to make Instagram Guides, it pays to know how to best leverage the feature. Given the versatility and freedom available to you, the idea should be to provide as much information as possible in a single guide. Content is that all-encompassing, educational, and entertaining will work wonders.
Here are few content options to consider creating with Instagram Guides.
- Tutorials and how-to content
- Product guides
- Travel diaries
- Fitness guides
- Topical content
How can you create Instagram Guides?
Here are 5 simple steps to follow to create an Instagram Guide.
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Step 1: Go to the profile and click the ‘+’ button
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Step 2: Select the ‘Guide’ option from the list
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Step 3: Choose the type of guide you want to make from the options
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For products:
- Pick the brand page and browse the store for the product
- Select photos and videos to add to the guide and click ‘Next’
- Add a title for the guide
- Adjust the cover photo
- Add content to each photo/video in the given text fields
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For Posts:
- Pick from posts you’ve previously published or saved
- Add a title for the guide
- Adjust the cover photo
- Add content to each in the given text fields
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Step 4: Click the ‘Next’ button on the top right to proceed
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Step 5: Preview your guide and click the ‘Share’ button to make it live
After the launch of Instagram Reels, the Facebook’s latest launch of the Instagram Guides feature throws open a window of opportunity to brands looking to adopt storytelling to power their marketing efforts online. It also paves the way for unique influencer partnerships and can be used to build trust and give customers insights into products available in an Instagram Shop.
For effective use of Instagram Guides and lasting results from your digital marketing activities, it makes sense to purposefully position the feature within your content marketing funnel. To strategically use Instagram Guides and draw out maximum value from it, grow your business with Edisol. Our content and social media marketing expertise will keep you ahead of the competition and on top of every new feature rolled out by Instagram!
