Instagram guides: dealing with the new format

In May of this year, Instagram announced a new publication format – travel guides or guides or tips (some even call them guides), but even in September, only a few bloggers could boast of the new functionality. In addition, in the Russian-speaking community of SMMs, even a definite common name for the format has not yet been firmly established. I like the name options and I will often use the name “guide”, but you can choose any. Well, let’s figure out how and why it works. And how it looks and who will come in handy.

Interestingly, different Instagram users call this section differently:

*I have a section called – a guide, a colleague – Tips. Could it be the operating system? Share in the comments, under what name did you release the update?*

What is an Instagram guide?

A guide, guide, guidebook, advice is a selection of already published posts with the ability to add description and markup, and visually design. As with the masks and the insta store, the guides are shown on a separate tab:

So far, only one way to get to the section is available – by the icon with an open book on the main profile page

In addition, new publications can always be easily added to each of the collections. Any guide can always be edited or deleted, shared:

*Click the three dots in the upper right corner to bring up the edit menu*

How to share your guide on Instagram

You can share guides in stories, just click on the airplane icon:

*You can select an individual Instagram user in the list*

To share using a link, you need to click on the three dots icon at the top of the screen – the link will be copied to the clipboard and will look like this:

https://www.instagram.com/yyoula/guide/smm/17918812705490383/?igshid=taqtccqkp60f

How to create a guide on Instagram: instructions

To start creating a guide, click on the plus sign at the top of the main profile page and select a guide from the list:

Let me remind you that if there is no guidebook in the list, then the update has not yet reached your account - this is normal for Instagram — *Let me remind you that if there is no guidebook in the list, then the update has not yet reached your account – this is normal for Instagram*

Three types are available in the Instagram guides section. You can share geolocations (recommend places on the map), products or profile posts.

*In fact, the travel guide section is a kind of recommendations section*

Regardless of the type of guide you have chosen, you will have access to your personal publications from your Instagram account and posts from the “Saved” section (finally useful!) For placing in the selection.

*Select the post you want to add to the Instagram selection*

However, a search section is also available for product sections and geo-locations (by the way, in stores, you can search by accounts and search for products in the store).

Places from publications are in chronological order

You can also search for products from the wishlist. After searching for stores by name, you can find the product itself in the store:

Having selected a product for placement in the collection, you can both find a publication from the store, and the option proposed by the search for placement. Your own publications are available again, that is, the ability to combine your posts-reviews of a product in posts with product tags

After selecting the required publications, we proceed to editing. I recorded a video instruction:

As you can see, everything is pretty simple

And after editing you will see a preview of your guide and all you have to do is click the “Share” button or save the publication as a draft. If you click the back arrow in the upper left corner, you will be prompted to save the draft, continue editing, or reset the guide:

*Be careful with unpublished changes – inadvertently dump content and have to recreate*

This is how your guide will look like:

*To add another guide, you can click the plus sign next to the published*

Features of creating tips on Instagram

In the web version of Instagram, guides cannot be edited!
In the finished guide, you can edit all the descriptions, and the cover, for example – but you can choose a photo from your posts, saved publications, or from the guide itself.

And the deferred posting service SMMplanner with the possibility of free access will help you plan your posts on Instagram.

If you share a geolocation mark, the name will be automatically typed into the guide. And you need to fill in the description manually. It’s the same with goods:

*The goods will immediately register their cost.*

When editing, it is also possible to change the order of publications and remove them from the guide:

*To change, click on the three dots next to the publication in the Instagram collection*

And the guides have taken their place in the search for Instagram – in the “Shop” section:

Who, how and why needs Instagram guides – business opportunities

Well, now, actually, let’s see what opportunities the new functionality opens up and who God himself ordered to use the guidebooks.

If we talk about the most basic function of collections – to group posts, then everyone who previously had to use hashtags or the section of relevant stories for sorting, now it is much more convenient to distribute content. So this is a versatile format and, in general, will suit any niche. Except that:

The collections are very useful for travel bloggers – it is convenient to immediately divide information by country. The name of the guide speaks for itself.
Collections are great for online stores – you can create both seasonal collections and separate categories of goods for the convenience of store visitors.

We will definitely track changes in this new Instagram format, and promptly add to the article – stay tuned to the blog for updates. If you still know how to use travel guides to promote on Instagram, share in the comments!

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