Our Guide to Instagram Guides

We’ve just started to get the hang of Reels, so why not throw in yet another feature to confuse us – thanks Instagram! Have you seen the new Instagram Guides feature? Yes? No? Maybe? All of the above? Well here’s our Propel Breakdown of all things Instagram Guides.

Firstly, what is it? Well this new way of sharing content is most like a mini-blog whereby you can create a collection of posts and collate them into an easily digestible scroll. Here you can create a flow of related posts, which can match to a particular theme. This way you can share recommendations, tips and other content from yourself, or even other creators! Guides can include text, photos, galleries and video content to help get your point across. Initially, this feature was only available to a few select influencers, however it is now available to us common folk so let’s make the most of it!

Now that you know what Instagram Guides are all about let’s teach you how to make one! Start off by clicking that little ‘+’ in the top right corner of your IG, then click ‘Guide’. You’ll be faced with a choice of: Places, Products & Posts. Let’s break this down a little.

Places – here you can recommend places in your region and beyond. So hypothetically, if you’re a producer with stockists, you can select your stockists across Australia and collate them into a neat little guide so your followers can easily access where you are stocked! Likewise, if your business has numerous locations you can easily show your followers which one is closest to them!

Products – here you can select your favourite products and promote them to your followers! Let’s pretend you’re a local hotel and want to show what your region has to offer, you could share some excellent locally made products to help promote the community to your followers. Or of course, if you’re a retailer you can simply share your own best selling products for some extra exposure!

Posts – here you are able to share your own posts, or even your saved posts from other creators. This format enables you to give commentary and customised headings to each post to help share information about whatever you choose! Whether you’re wanting to give further detail about a post, make your content more consumable or simply just want to maximise reach on certain posts this is the way to go!

So why should you be getting your guide on? Well it’s simple, again, it’s all about the *algorithm* Instagram loves to spruce their new features therefore, getting your guide on will help to boost your reach and improve your visibility. But this isn’t the only reason! Guides are an awesome way to share knowledge, opinions, tips and longer-form content in a simple and unique way, right in the Instagram App. Think of it as Instagram’s In-House Blog.

So go on, give it a whirl – you’ve got nothing to lose! If you’re looking for some inspiration, head on over to our instagram @propeldigital we’ve just uploaded our first guide on some excellent local stocking fillers!

As always, any questions just send us a message! We’ll be happy to guide you through anything!