It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3 …
If you’re looking for new and exciting ways to offer value to your followers, Instagram Guides might just be the answer you’ve been looking for.
Adding value is crucial to any great Instagram account, and educational content is one of the most engaging and easy-to-produce forms of content out there.
Originally introduced for a small number of health and wellness advocates to help people during the COVID-19 pandemic, Instagram Guides blur the line between blog posts, tutorials, and straightforward marketing.
So, let’s dive a little deeper into the world of Instagram Guides.
What are Instagram Guides?
With Instagram (and many other social media platforms) placing more effort into moderating and promoting reliable and factual content, Guides offers a way for users to “more easily discover recommendations, tips and other content from your favourite creators, public figures, organizations and publishers on Instagram.”
In simple terms, Guides are a new way for users to share and interact with content. Found under the Shop tab, Guides are a fantastic place to head to for tips, shopping, recommendations, and step-by-step tutorials.
How to create and browse Instagram Guides
Like most things on Instagram, creating and browsing guides is simple.
To browse Guides, simply follow these steps:
- Tap on Explore
- Tap Shop
- Swipe left on the header menu and tap Explore Guides
If you’re interested in creating guides for your business, it’s important to know that there are three formats to choose from: places, products, and posts.
Use Places to make recommendations for favourite places. Use Products to highlight new and existing products, promotions and more. Use Posts to share and highlight some of the best posts you’ve created.
Let’s take a look at eight brands that are absolutely killing it with Instagram Guides.
1. Refinery29
From product recommendations to empowerment, Refinery29 has found a way to add value to their followers and spread a little positive energy at the same time. Making the most out of a bad situation isn’t always easy, but Refinery29 is certainly giving it a crack during COVID-19 and trying to make a difference in the process, all with the help of Instagram Guides.
2. NBA
For the NBA, storytelling is a huge part of their marketing efforts online. Guides offer a way for the NBA to do a bit of that storytelling alongside the release of new products.
3. Mr Essentialist
If product recommendations are your game, then Guides are for you. Mr Essentialist has embraced Guides for its ability to recommend products in a truly personal way.
When you’re recommending a product to your followers, authenticity is the key. People need to believe that you actually use the products you’re pushing or you’ll find it difficult to make any kind of meaningful connection.
4. Tasty by Buzzfeed
We all know video content is on Instagram. Stories and Reels are massively popular on the platform. If there’s a brand that’s truly nailed short-form video content online, it’s Tasty, so adapting their video recipes into Guides was an easy decision. Embracing new features on social media isn’t always about reinvention. Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of adaptation.
5. Later
Play the hits. Just because a social media platform introduces a new feature, it doesn’t mean you have to reinvent the wheel with your content. And what better way to do it than with a classic year in review.
6. Christina Galbato
If ever there was an industry tailor made for Guides, it’s the tourism and hospitality industry. Just like Christina Galbato, keep an eye out for influencers to flock to Guides, especially when we’re able to start travelling internationally again.
What’s great about Galbato’s post “Where to Visit in Jordan” is the fact that it’s simply a collection of six of her previous posts on Instagram. What a low-effort way to repurpose existing content and give it a new life.
7. Vestiaire Collective
How can you add value without breaking the bank? Well, educating your followers is a great place to start. Take a look at one of Vestiaire Collective’s recent guides “5 Ways to Keep Clothes Clean Without Washing.” Not only does this Guide educate, it also hits right on a specific pain point for so many people.
This Guide also reads a lot like a blog post. That’s really important to note. While it may not be the case here, there’s no reason you can’t repurpose some of your existing blog posts into a Guide.
8. Red Bull
If there’s one thing Red Bull does extremely (get it?) well, it’s nailing their image and brand style consistently. Whether it’s a TV commercial, still image, or an event sponsorship, Red Bull knows their aesthetic, and they stick to it. Their implementation of Guides is no exception.
At the end of the day, Guides can be whatever you want them to be. It’s still early days for the new feature, so it’s difficult to tell just how successful Guides will be with the Instagram community. However, there’s no harm in jumpin on the platform and figuring out what Guides can do for your business.
