Instagram Guide - How to use them to attract followers

Instagram Guides are one of the newest ways to share content on the platform. Since the feature was introduced in 2020 (with Live, Shops, Reels and a revamped home screen'phew), brands around the world have discovered how to integrate Guides into their marketing strategies. And with nearly 1.5 billion people using Instagram every day, every new feature offers some serious potential reach.

But there's something about Instagram Guides that sets them apart from all the other features on the app: to create a Guide, you don't need to create any new content.

Exhausted social networkers, rejoice! Guides are all about collecting photos, videos and publications that already exist: it's like a family photo album, but without the embarrassing bathtub photos.

Read on for an overview of Instagram guides, step-by-step instructions on how to create them, and some examples of how to use guides as an effective marketing strategy.

What's a guide on Instagram?

Instagram guides are like a miniature blog directly on Instagram. They allow users to scroll through a stream of organized, commented content - just like a blog post.

They can be used to create gift guides, product spotlights, content roundups, FAQ guides, travel recommendations, restaurant reviews, and much more.

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They don't resemble any other Instagram feature, as you can make an organization of feed posts, products or locations from all over Instagram, bringing it all together with your commentary.

Furthermore, your Guides all live in a dedicated place on your profile: the Instagram Guides tab.

When'a user clicks on an individual feed post in a Guide, they're taken back to the original publication - making them perfect for breathing new life into old content.

Hello, evergreen content!

Why make Instagram Guides?

The advantage of these guides is that they gather and structure your content. You can easily create them without creating new content.

Once created, they enable you to quickly educate your community on very specific topics.

Your followers often ask you about the routines you use, write a guide on this topic to answer them simply.

Your followers wonder what your best addresses in Marseille are. Gather them in an Insta guide.

Bref, create guides that bring together the information you want to share with your community on an ongoing basis. Your audience will thank you.

In time, you'll even be able to use automatic messages to more naturally manage your DMs on the social network.

The 3 types of Instagram guides

<#N°1: Instagram location guides

The first Instagram guide format is a collection of locations. These guides are perfect for city guides, restaurant guides and travel recommendations.

You can search for places in the Instagram library, or choose from past places you've tagged or saved in feed Instagram publications.

When you choose a location, you can select an image that has been tagged with that location to feature in your guide.

#N°2: Instagram Product Guides

The next type of Instagram guide you can organize is a Product Guide. This Guide is perfect for product releases, product recommendations, routines or gift guides.

You can attach and link any product listed on Instagram.

If you want to include a product from a brand's Instagram store, you can either search for it, or select it from your wishlist.

#N°3: Instagram post guides

The next type of Instagram guide you can share is a summary of Instagram feed posts.

You can collect Instagram posts you've created or saved (even if you're not the original author of a post).

Post guides are great for roundups and organizing resource lists - they're perfect for sharing educational content or reflecting on current news or events.

How to create an Instagram guide

Are you new to creating Instagram guides? Follow these steps to create Guides with posts, products or places.

1 - From your profile, click on the plus symbol in the top right-hand corner and select Guide.

2 - To choose your Guide type, tap on Posts, Products or Places.

3 - Depending on the subject of your Guide, you have different options for choosing content.

• For Instagram guides about places: search for tags, use saved places or use places you've geotagged on your own posts.
• For Instagram guides about products: search for brands or add products from your wishlist.
• For Instagram guides to posts: Use posts you've saved, or your own personal posts.

4 - Press Next.

5 - Add the title and description of your guide. If you wish to use a different cover photo, press Edit cover photo.

6 - Check the pre-filled location name and modify it if necessary. If you wish, add a description.

7 - Press Add place and repeat steps 4 to 8 until your guide is complete.

8 - Press Next in the top right-hand corner.

9 - Press Share.

Tip: the easiest way to quickly add items to your guide is to save them beforehand, so make sure you press "save" on the places or posts you want to include (or, if you're using products, add them to your wish list).

This way, Instagram will have the content of your pre-saved guide in one place: no searching is necessary.

13 best practices for successful Instagram guides

If you're curious about guides and don't know where to start, turn to the experts. Here are some examples of ways to use Instagram guides to elevate your brand.

1. Create a gift guide

Trends change, but consumerism remains-and let's face it, there's nothing we can count on more than the holiday season coming up way too fast.

And gift guides aren't just for winter vacations: you can create them for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, weddings or birthdays (or really any hyper-specific occasion close to your heart - a dog adoption birthday party, for example) and showcase your favorite products.

You can create a gift guide that features only products made by your brand, or extend it to non-competing brands that serve the same audience as you.

For example, a company that sells funky pajama sets might create a Christmas gift guide that also includes cozy slippers from'another brand. It's a great way to build community and make your guide feel less like an advertisement.

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Skin care company Skin Gym has put together a gift guide featuring its favorite products for Mother's Day.

2. Compile a list of tips

Everyone is an expert at something - whether it's a night hike, peeling a pomegranate or getting a good night's sleep. Chances are, you (or your brand) have a skill worth sharing.

Collecting a list of tips on a certain topic is a great way to provide a service to your audience: you're giving them valuable advice for free, which helps build a relationship (and encourages them to check out the rest of your content).

This isn't a direct way to generate revenue (as in the gift guide example above), but it does promote another important element of business: consumer trust.

Brass goods manufacturer Perrin and Rowe have compiled a list of tips for designing the perfect laundry room. They've included examples from other designers in the design industry, allowing them to maintain valuable relationships with them too.

3. Group posts under a theme

If your business offers several products or services and publishes different types of content (which you should!), you can group them together in a guide under a specific theme.

For example, a restaurant could create a guide that features only its desserts, or a sports equipment retailer could make a guide about the best baseball equipment.

Instagram automatically organizes your profile in chronological order. At least, that's the case at the time of writing - only the Insta gods know what the future holds. So creating guides to your grouped posts is a useful way for your followers to find exactly what'they're looking for.

This vegan creator makes guides to vegan restaurants in their area under specific themes, like nachos, pizza and dumplings.

4. Share your favorite products

Creatives are often asked what types of tools they use in their work - for example, you might ask a podcaster what type of microphone they use, or a sculptor what type of clay is their favorite.

By sharing a product guide, you give your followers an interesting insight into your process, and help other budding creatives find the best tools for them.

This artist has created a guide to all the materials he uses in his paintings, making it easy for his audience to buy the same ones (Pro tip: if you like affiliate marketing, this is a great way to incorporate it and make money).

5. Create a ranked list

Ranking things (objectively or subjectively) is almost as much fun to do as it is to read'it can be a fun team-building exercise as well as a great content creation method.

Share your bestsellers, your most popular articles or your employees' favorite products in a ranked list. You can organize a contest or publish a story asking your audience to rank things, and publish the results as an Instagram guide.

Visit Brisbane has created a guide to the city's top 10 signature dishes (zucchini fries rank number one).

6. Share a brand story or message

It's hard to control what your new followers' first impression of your brand will be. With only 150 characters allowed in your bio and new posts shared every day, your profile at a glance doesn't give viewers much of an idea of who you are.

Creating an Instagram guide that introduces your business (and the values you stand for) is the perfect way to give potential followers a glimpse of your brand. You can share the company's history, the founder's biography and some of your best-selling products, even your goals as a brand: think of it as a fun alternative to a resume.

Bicycle company Brompton has shared its company history, along with biographies of its current employees, in this Instagram guide.

7. Provide step-by-step instructions

Similar to a guide containing tips or advice, a guide describing step-by-step instructions provides a free service to your followers (how generous!). It's a useful way to stitch posts together, especially if you already manage a series of tips or provide how-to instructions on Instagram.

This digital creator often shares how-to guides in the form of carousel posts, but he's collected them all in one Instagram guide that covers various strategies for improving mental health.

8. Share instagram guide other members of your community

It's important to remember that Instagram guides aren't limited to your own content - you can also include posts from other creators or brands. This benefits both your followers and your business.

Guides containing tips, posts or products from multiple sources will be more useful and communicate more information than guides with a single source.

Also, including content from other brands (psst: make sure their values are in line with yours!) helps you create a positive relationship with them. You create a community and make valuable connections.

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For example, if a brand participates in a guide, they'll be more likely to want to partner with you to run a contest.

Although technically you don't have to, best practice is to ask permission before including a post that isn't yours in an Instagram guide. Send a quick DM to avoid any awkwardness afterwards.

This development company has created an Instagram guide describing the best restaurants in the neighborhood it's developing. It's good advertising for the restaurants and useful information for people considering buying real estate in the neighborhood.

9. Collaborate with a creator

Instagram offers many ways for businesses to collaborate with creators, and guides are one piece of this marketing puzzle.

You can create guides that feature your brand ambassadors, collaborate with influencers to make guides on their accounts, and more. As in the previous case, this helps encourage the community. Plus, it allows you to share your content with a wider audience: your followers will see your guide, and the designer's followers will see it too.

Jewelry brand Ottoman Hands collaborated with designers for this influencer-focused Instagram guide.

10. Share a travel guide

The travel industry jumped on Instagram guides as soon as they became available. And whether your followers are scrolling through them to actually plan trips, find inspiration or just daydream about their next vacation, they're super engaging (and often, beautiful).

If you're a business specializing in travel, this guide is for you.... but by thinking outside the box, it's possible to match almost any brand with a geographically-focused guide.

For example, a running shoe company could provide a guide to the best trails in a certain region, or a cat food company could create a guide to cat-friendly hotels in town. The world is at your fingertips! Dream big!

This Philadelphia-based tour guide company has created a summer guide to places to visit and things to do in the city.

11. Promote causes and provide resources

For businesses that champion causes and engage in social activism, Instagram guides offer a place to summarize efforts and share resources.

If your brand isn't specifically geared towards social activism, you can still do it - and in fact, you should! Using your platform for social change is a good thing, whether you're a homeless-focused nonprofit or a handmade hair scrunchie company.

To celebrate Black History Month, publisher Random House has created a guide to black-owned independent bookstores.

12. Share behind-the-scenes content

Brands in the creative industry often share behind-the-scenes content (and the internet loves it). If you've ever shared the process behind creating your crocheted halter tops or hand-carved walking sticks on Instagram, gather that content together to create a guide.

It helps your audience get to know you better and understand how much work goes into your business, which you know is good for business.

The artist @stickyriceco created an Instagram guide for an anniversary sale that featured behind-the-scenes content, like the unboxing of a new product.

13. Share sales or special offers

The example above also shows how you can use Instagram guides to promote your brand's sales or special offers.

You can use guides to share the products you'll include in the sale, photos of the sales preparation process or even testimonials from previous customers.

FAQ: Instagram guide

Why don't I have the guides on Instagram?

If you can't find the Instagram guides when you visit an account, it's simply because the account you're visiting hasn't created any guides (or has deleted them). So you can't find them again.

If, however you can't find the guide tab on your profile. There are two possible options. The first is that you have not yet created a guide. In this case, it's normal that you won't find a dedicated tab.

If, however, you can't create a guide on the social network, make sure you have the latest version of the Instagram app on your mobile. Once updated, you'll be able to create a guide with no problem.

Where to find Instagram guides?

To access an Instagram Guide, go to a user's profile page and select the Guides icon at the top of their profile feed:

If you don't see this icon, it's because this user doesn't have any published Guides.

You can also discover recommended product Guides by visiting the Shop tab and pressing the "Guides" button at the top of the screen.

How to delete Instagram guides

Just follow these steps to understand how to delete an Instagram guide:

1. Go to the'tab of your Instagram profile.
2. Find and press the'booklet icon found under Story highlights.
3. Now tap the guide to open the one you want to delete.
4. Once'a guide opens, click the'three-dot icon in the top right-hand corner.
5. Choose the Delete Guide option from the context menu.
6. Confirm by tapping Delete.

And with that, your guide to guides comes to an end. It's time to start making your first Instagram Guide (or continue researching Instagram marketing strategies).