Instagram Guides are the perfect tool for sharing curated, scrollable content with your community in 2023.
They give users a simple way to consume a collection of Instagram posts, products, or places in an easy-to-digest format.
Despite all this, Guides are still relatively underused — which makes them a great opportunity to set your brand apart on Instagram.
What is a Guide on Instagram?
Instagram Guides are like a miniature blog right on Instagram.
They let users scroll through a curated flow of content with added commentary — similar to a blog post.
They can be used to curate gift guides, product highlights, content roundups, FAQ guides, travel recommendations, restaurant reviews, and so much more.
Plus, Guides live in one, dedicated place on your profile: the Instagram Guides tab.
When a user clicks on an individual feed post in a Guide, they’re directed back to the original post — making them great for giving old content a new lease of life.
Hello, evergreen content!
FYI: Later’s social media management tools are trusted by over 7M businesses, creators, and social media managers to plan, publish, and analyze content. Create an account for free:
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How to Make a Guide on Instagram in 2023
To create your first Instagram Guide, tap the plus icon on the top-right of your profile page and select “Guide.”
From here, you can choose from three different formats: Places, Products, and Posts.
Select the type of Guide you want to create, and choose the posts you’d like to feature in your Guide.
From here you can re-arrange the blocks, add a title and cover photo. You can also add titles and commentary (optional) for each content block.
When you’re happy with your curated Guide, select “Next”, and then “Share.”
Published Instagram Guides are not shared to your main profile feed (yet).
Instead, they are housed on a dedicated Guides tab on your profile.
What Are The Different Types of Instagram Guides?
#1: Instagram Place Guides
The first Instagram Guide format is a collection of places. These Guides are great for city guides, restaurant roundups, and travel recommendations.
You can search locations from Instagram’s library, or choose from past locations you’ve tagged or saved in feed posts.
When you choose a place, you can pick an image that has been tagged with that location to feature in your Instagram Guide.
#2: Instagram Product Guides
The next type of Instagram Guide that you can create is a Product Guide.
This Guide is perfect for product releases, product recommendations, or gift guides.
You can attach and link any product listed on Instagram.
#3: Instagram Post Guides
The third type of Instagram Guide you can post is a roundup of feed posts.
Post Guides are great for curating lists of resources — whether it’s sharing educational content, your most popular recipes, or reflecting on current news or events.
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Where to Find Instagram Guides
To access an Instagram Guide, visit a user’s profile page and select the Guides icon at the top of their profile feed:
If you can’t see this icon, it’s because that user does not have any published Guides.
4 Best Practices for Instagram Guides in 2023
Ready to create the best Instagram Guides for your brand? Here are four tips to keep in mind:
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Think About What Your Audience Wants
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Share Instagram Guides in Stories
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Highlight Your Community
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Build Strategic Relationships
Tip #1: Think About What Your Audience Wants
Using the Instagram Guide feature is a great way to curate and organize content for your followers — the creative opportunities are endless.
Think about what content your audience engages with the most, and use this information to influence your Guide’s content.
For example, at Later, our audience is full of small business owners, creators, and social media managers who are on the lookout for social media tips.
Knowing that, we created a Guide highlighting five of our favorite social media podcasts.
And when in doubt, ask your audience.
Share an Instagram Stories question or poll sticker and ask your followers what type of Guides they’d be most interested in.
Tip #2: Share Instagram Guides in Stories
Since Instagram Guides aren’t shared on a user’s main profile feed, you may want to give them an extra boost on Instagram Stories.
Luckily, you can easily share Instagram Guides to Instagram Stories:
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Open your Instagram Guide
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Tap the paper airplane icon in the bottom-left corner
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Select “Add guide to your story”
It’s that simple!
Tip #3: Highlight Your Community
If you’re a brand, this is a great way to show your products out in the world and provide valuable context.
Think about creating a guide that showcases your customers wearing or using your products like @tjswim:
You can find user-generated content (UGC) by manually scrolling through your tagged photos and branded hashtag page.
Or, you can make the UGC search process a breeze by using Later’s Content Creation Tools — like searching via specific hashtags. Create an account now:
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Tip #4: Use Guides to Build Strategic Relationships
Guides are a great way to shine a spotlight on brands, creators, or peers in your network — which can be huge for profile building.
If you’re a creator or brand in a specific niche, you could create an Instagram Guide that highlights 10 accounts relevant to your subject matter.
It makes for a great conversation-starter and could even lead to a future partnership or collaboration.
And there you have it — all of the reasons you should experiment with Instagram Guides this year.
It’s an underrated curation feature that opens up huge opportunities for storytelling and connecting on the app. We can’t wait to see yours.
