Instagram Launches ‘Guides’ Feature: What Does it Mean for Designers?

Instagram is launching yet another brand new feature: Instagram Guides. Instagram guides will live on your profile nestled between your posts, IGTV, and mentions. So what are Instagram Guides? How is the feature being used right now? Will it be useful for designers in the future? Listen to this Monday Marketing Minisode to find out! 

What You’ll Hear On This Episode of Wingnut Social

• [0:36] Darla LOVES her new Peloton Bike
• [1:40] Wingnut Social’s very first webinar
• [2:41] Instagram’s new Guides option
• [7:13] Where to find current examples
• [8:01] What do ‘Guides’ mean for designers?
• [9:12] The ONE caveat Darla identified
• [11:33] Blooper Reel! 

Resources & People Mentioned

• Register for the Wingnut Social Webinar!
• Instagram Guides
• Emilie Kyle

Instagram Guides 101

Instagram launched its newest feature that will initially focus on mental health and well-being. At this time Guides are only available for specific creators that Instagram has teamed up with to produce wellness-inspired content. To see a few examples head to the profiles of @heads_together and @Klicksafe on Instagram (mobile). Click on the little ‘open book’ icon to see their curated feeds. 

Currently, these creators will feature scrollable curated content regarding managing anxiety and depression, well-being, and staying healthy amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s quite similar to Pinterest—but the content lives on Instagram. It’s a sneaky way for them to keep traffic in their app while also providing immense value to users. 

They even announced it will be available in the ‘explore tab’ soon!

How a designer can benefit from Instagram Guides

According to Instagram, Guides will be available to “creators, public figures, organizations, and publishers.” As a business owner, designers WILL be able to use and leverage Instagram Guides. So what could that look like?

Darla and Natalie recommend curating specific content such as a short blog post or infographic. It can be regular text OR a video. You could feature the latest trends or a completed project. Highlight your blog with a snippet of a post. You could even feature collections from your favorite designers—and maybe even land a sponsorship deal in the process. 

Using Instagram Guides can position YOU as an influencer in your space. It will be on the explore page soon, which means it can expand your reach and lead to more active followers. 

Darla identified ONE caveat to Instagram Guides. What is it? Listen to the minisode to find out!

Connect With Darla & Wingnut Social

• www.WingnutSocial.com
• On Facebook
• On Twitter: @WingnutSocial
• On Instagram: @WingnutSocial
• Darla’s Interior Design Website
• Check out the Wingnut Social Media Lab Facebook Group!
• 1-877-WINGNUT (connect with us for your social media marketing needs)

Subscribe to The Wingnut Social Podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, or TuneIn

Audio Production and Show notes by
PODCAST FAST TRACK
https://www.podcastfasttrack.com