While Instagram Guides are no longer available as of June 2023, understanding how they worked and their potential can inform your future content strategy. This guide will explore how to create and leverage Instagram Guides to boost engagement, even though the feature itself is discontinued. Instead, you can apply these insights to other features like Collections or even repurposing content on other platforms.
Are you investing significant time in crafting your Instagram posts? From strategizing and drafting to designing and editing, creating successful posts is a demanding process. It can be frustrating when a post doesn’t perform as expected or engagement is fleeting. Instagram Guides were designed to maximize the impact of your posts and unlock their full engagement potential.
In 2020, Instagram introduced Guides as a way to easily discover recommendations, tips, and other content from creators, public figures, organizations, and publishers. Similar to Stories Highlights, Guides allowed you to repurpose and curate content from your brand, partners, and community. However, instead of Stories, Guides exclusively used published posts. While no longer available, the principles behind Guides—content curation and value addition—remain relevant. Let’s explore the different types of Guides and how you can adapt these concepts to drive engagement in other ways.
Understanding the Types of Instagram Guides (and How to Adapt Their Principles)
There were three primary types of Instagram Guides: post, product, and place. Each type offered a unique way to breathe new life into existing posts and reach your audience in new ways. Even though Guides are gone, the underlying concepts are still useful for planning content.
1. Post Instagram Guides: Curating Content Around Themes
These Guides allowed you to curate your posts, and posts from other accounts, around specific themes and events. You could use them to introduce the people behind your brand, share content from creators, and provide helpful resources such as how-to guides and curated listicles. Popular topics often included celebrating Black History Month or sharing mental health resources.
Adaptation: Create a series of Reels or carousels on a particular theme. You can also group your saved posts into Collections based on themes and promote these Collections to your followers.
2. Product Instagram Guides: Showcasing Products
Product Guides featured e-commerce products sold on Instagram. You could use them to highlight your own products or products from partners. Holiday product Guides and those inspired by pop culture and topical events were effective ways to generate excitement. Examples included “Clean skincare routine starter kit” or “What to bring camping checklist.”
Adaptation: Utilize Instagram Shopping effectively. Create shoppable posts and Stories, and use the “Product” sticker in Stories to highlight specific products. Run targeted ads showcasing product collections.
3. Place Instagram Guides: Highlighting Locations
Place Guides spotlighted specific locations important to your community. They allowed you to curate content using posts from certain geotags, highlighting multiple places with a common theme. Place Guides were ideal for sharing content captured by your audience, such as content from your university’s campus or a brick-and-mortar store.
Adaptation: Create location-based content using Reels and Stories. Encourage user-generated content by hosting contests or challenges related to specific locations. Use location tags strategically to increase discoverability.
How to Adapt the Creation Process
The process of creating Guides involved selecting a Guide type and then adding relevant posts, products, or places. While the specific steps are no longer applicable, the thought process behind them remains valuable. Consider the following adaptation of the process:
- Define Your Goal: What do you want to achieve with your content curation? Increase brand awareness, drive sales, or engage your community?
- Choose a Theme: Select a relevant theme that aligns with your audience’s interests and your brand’s goals.
- Curate Content: Gather existing posts, Reels, and Stories that fit your chosen theme.
- Repackage and Promote: Create new content, such as Reels or carousels, that repurposes and curates the existing content. Promote these new formats across your Instagram channels.
Learning from Past Success: Instagram Guide Examples and Their Adaptations
Examining successful Instagram Guide examples can provide inspiration for your content strategy. Here are a few examples and how you can adapt them today:
1. Indiana University: Introducing Team Members
Indiana University’s Guide introduced their 2020-2021 ambassadors. This approach made their brand seem personable and authentic.
Adaptation: Create a Reel series introducing team members or highlight employees and collaborators in your Stories.
2. Sprout Social: Addressing Community Concerns
Sprout Social used Guides to address frequently asked questions and concerns from their community, such as how brands can celebrate Pride.
Adaptation: Conduct Q&A sessions on Instagram Live or create Reels addressing common questions and concerns.
3. Petco: Spotlighting Products with User-Generated Content
Petco shared user-generated posts to spotlight trending products and provided explanations of product usage and benefits.
Adaptation: Run contests encouraging users to share photos and videos using your products. Feature this user-generated content in your Stories and Reels.
4. Grove Collaborative: Highlighting Brand Values
Grove Collaborative used a product Guide to draw attention to their sustainability efforts and plastic-free products.
Adaptation: Create a series of Reels highlighting your brand’s values and initiatives. Partner with influencers who share your values to create sponsored content.
5. Hotel Whisperer: Sharing Expertise
Hotel Whisperer curated elegant hotels using her travel expertise, providing highlights and must-see elements from each location.
Adaptation: Create a series of Reels sharing travel tips and recommendations. Partner with hotels to offer exclusive deals to your followers.
6. Explore Uptown Chi: Partnering with Local Businesses
Explore Uptown Chi partnered with local restaurants and businesses to showcase the Argyle Street Lunar New Year celebration.
Adaptation: Collaborate with local businesses to create joint content promoting your neighborhood. Host Instagram Live events featuring local business owners.
Adapting to the Current Instagram Landscape
While Instagram Guides are no longer available, the core principles of content curation and value addition remain essential. By adapting the strategies outlined above and focusing on creating engaging content in other formats like Reels, Stories, and Collections, you can still achieve the goals that Guides were designed to address. Remember to meet your audience where they are and create content that resonates with their interests and needs. By understanding your audience and creating innovative content, you can maximize your impact on Instagram.
For more ideas to help you optimize your Instagram presence, explore strategies for growing a real audience and boosting engagement.
