Influencer Marketing: Instagram Guides for Brands
In May 2020, Instagram launched a new feature called “Guides,” which allowed creators to share tips, resources and other longer-form content in a dedicated tab on their user profiles. When it launched, Instagram Guides were limited to a select group of creators that published mental health and well-being content during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In November 2020, Instagram opened up Guides to all users and expanded it to include other content types, including Products, Places and Posts. This allowed users to create travel guides or provide product recommendations within the app. Brands and content creators can now produce long-format organic content, similar to a blog post. Instagram Guides include text accompanied by photos, galleries and videos, allowing users and followers to consume content without having to click through to external websites and blogs to access posts. Guides can also be shared in Instagram Stories, providing another way to promote your content.
Since its launch, we’ve been intrigued by the way Instagram Guides will change the way influencers and content creators use the app and how brands can get involved. It opens up a range of new possibilities for marketers and public relations professionals in presenting and sharing your client’s products.
What will this new feature bring to the world of influencer marketing? Here’s what we think:
Brands can now lead customers and prospective customers to long-form content on their Instagram page. This means that they don’t have to navigate away from the app to another website.
Expect to see sponsored guides on content creator’s pages! This means a brand might work with a creator to develop an Instagram Guide that will feature their product or service. For example, a fashion brand may work with a fashion influencer to put together a style Guide for users in paid partnership with the brand.
In the same way that content creators share stories highlighting products they’ve received in-kind or when editors include products in their gift guide or round-ups, Guides may transform to include organic product placement opportunities through earned outreach. We may start to see marketing experts work with influencers and editors to include their products in their guides,