Since November 2020, one of the biggest social networks has updated its latest “Guide” feature, allowing all its users to promote via their account what’s close to their heart: namely a publication they’ve enjoyed, a product or even a place.
This is a real Eldorado for tourist destinations.
After all, what better way to talk about a destination in a concrete, objective way than with holidaymakers who’ve tried it?
And to promote places that are sometimes new or unexplored by most tourists?
Knowing how to take advantage of the new possibilities offered by Instagram is essential if you want to stand out from the crowd, as many influencers are doing.
We’ll show you how?

What is the “Guide” function on Instagram?

“Guide” or Instagram’s response to the health crisis – Instagram’s influence on the daily lives of Internet users around the world no longer needs to be proven, and the platform has understood this.
It has taken advantage of this potential by offering guides in May 2020 focusing on the themes of well-being and mental health.
This is with the aim of supporting, in particular, people who are victims of COVID 19 in one way or another.
Initially, only public figures, professionals in the field and content creators could publish guides on their profiles.
These guides, in the same form as a blog page, brought together advice, tips and recommendations, as well as photos, short videos and engaging images.

“Guide” features extended to almost all passions – In November 2020, Instagram brings updates to this feature.
First, it opens up to three new themes: publication, product and location guides.
A guide editor can also create a guide by harvesting other users’ publications that he or she finds relevant, and grouping them under a single theme.
The “Guide” function can also be used to promote a brand’s products and tourist destinations.

Secondly, the possibility of editing has been extended to all web surfers and users of the platform.
Everyone now has the possibility of gleaning information, photos, images or videos and compiling them on their own page into as many themes as they wish.
Exchanges and interactions now take place on a much larger scale, and searches are made easier.
This offers great opportunities on many levels.

What are the advantages of using “Guide” as a travel destination?

Make dreams come true and share in the dream – With ever-increasing competition on the web, tourist destinations face a real challenge: to stand out from the crowd and capture the attention of Internet users.
There’s no shortage of travel offers online, each more attractive than the last.
By using Instagram, tourist destinations need to inspire web users with inspiring publications.
The aim of the “Guide” section is to make visitors want to go there, and to encourage them to make a purchase or visit.
The only difference is that this option not only allows you to include classic promotional content, such as photos of dream beaches, but also to compile videos, tips or even publications by Internet users who have been there.
Guides such as “The Most Beautiful Beaches in the French Overseas Departments and Territories”, or “10 Things to Do in Panama”, published by tourism professionals, will also be supported by shared user experiences.
Influencers are the most popular to share their content, because of their power to prescribe and advise their community.

Use stories to boost sales

It’s worth noting that viewing stories, a sequence of images and videos, is now part of everyday life for Instagram’s one billion users.
This social media network is all about capturing and sharing moments.
By creating inspiring and effective content to promote your destination with photos, short texts and videos, you’ll have a better chance of going viral and spreading awareness among your audience.
And hopefully, they’ll add your page or guide to their story.
Imagine if several platform users were to share your guides again?
If so, this snowball effect will bring you real visibility, traffic to your page and your site, and, consequently, more sales or travelers to your destination!

Taking advantage of Instagram, the essential e-commerce platform?

The creation of this feature fully confirms Instagram’s strategy, which aims to become an essential platform for information, inspiration, discovery and finally the purchase of online products and services.
The condition, of course, is to have a professional account and to be a creator of content, to have a community that is committed to sharing it and thus viralizing it.
So you need to think carefully about an editorial communications strategy that’s fully adapted to the uses and expectations of your community, and in particular to your digital social media strategy.
The more your content is seen, appreciated and shared, the greater your chances of attracting tourists!

What does the future hold for other apps in the face of Instagram’s new features?

What platforms are looking for: buzz!

What every social platform wants is for its users to create a buzz.
And to become the benchmark in terms of usage.
The web is full of applications that offer innovative, original offers and services, depending on your geographical location or interests.
And each has its own regulars and target audience.
Here too, you have to work hard to stand out from the crowd.
Nevertheless, the secret of the “buzz” you’re looking for lies in sharing: sharing content and, in turn, engagement (and therefore your power of prescription).
As we said earlier, the more your publication is shared, the more successful you’ll be.
We saw this in the summer of 2020 with the Jerusalema Dance: starting in South Africa, the few steps were broadcast on Tik Tok and the video went viral. No continent, no country was spared: the song created a worldwide buzz!
This is just one example of the many buzzes generated by the platform’s various challenges (that’s another story).

The secret of sharing the “Guide” function

Like Tik Tok, the Instagram platform makes it easy to share content.
Once a guide has been created, it’s as easy as a tap to share it, or copy content you like.
The creation of guides is based on the interests of Internet users.
And they’re only limited by the interests of the users themselves.
So as long as there are spots, tourist destinations or products that interest communities, there will be guides and content shared, recommendations published as well as opportunities to buy.
This new Instagram feature is therefore revolutionarily easy and useful for maximizing calls to action!

Tough competition for other apps

And that’s not all. Instagram can send personalized recommendations to a user on its home page: these are based on their identified centers of interest, their search activities on the platform or even their location. In other words, the same features offered by many geolocation applications. All an Instagrammer has to do is type a search into the application’s “Explore” tab, and hundreds of guides are suggested. All he has to do is scroll his screen to find those that seem complete and relevant. He can also see what his contacts have liked and make his choice according to theirs. Like a guide to the hotels where they’ve stayed, for example, or their publication of the restaurants they’ve tried and approved. A hashtag, a location, usernames, keywords… all types of search are now possible via the application. And let’s not forget consulting reviews on other sites or blogs: no need to look elsewhere, it’s all on Insta? (Well, we’re not going to get angry with Trip Advisor, but the riposte may soon be to see stories on their platform? 🙂 Just like Linkedin and Instagram have done. )

How does an influencer’s past ensure their future on Instagram?

The influencer, pope of social media

Often the owner of a blog or a website, an influencer is a person who, as the name suggests, has influence. For once, the saying is useful: it’s not size that counts, but engagement.
His presence on the Internet through all his actions has given him legitimacy with the Internet users who follow him, and we consider the engagement and ROI of campaigns thanks in particular to his power of prescription.
His publications of articles, experiential or professional videos, images, photos or simply posts are considered expert in his field or theme.
All the more so as these are often based on his or her passions, and generally the more passionate they are, the greater the prescription power, because he or she possesses legitimacy on the subject.
On Instagram, an influencer therefore carries considerable weight when it comes to promoting a brand’s products, a destination they’ve tested themselves, or a web user’s publication.
After all, all their followers give them the right to speak out, to look at things or to give advice.

Guide” functionality for even greater traffic and visibility!

What’s more, influencers benefit from this new “Guide” feature in spades!
Influencers have a wealth of content on which to build their reputation.
Reusing them through guides is a way of capitalizing on all the work they’ve put in over the years.
By creating his own guides, he increases traffic to his page, as well as his visibility.
This is because all his guides will be grouped together in a single, easy-to-access location, and by theme: Internet users with similar interests will find a wealth of resources.
If the e-marketer promotes a brand, a restaurant, a trip or even a publication, he or she ensures a high rate of engagement.
This opens the door to new possibilities for collaboration, and new consumption habits via the application, a positioning to be adopted by tourist destinations and brands.

Influencers and Instagram’s “Guide” feature:

Chloé Penderie ‘s testimonial:

• You’ve just created two Insta guides. What attracted you to this new feature?

Honestly, it’s simply to quickly test new Instagram features as soon as they’re released, because Instagram generally pushes content created with their new features.
I try to be reactive and a good student!

• These two types of guides are totally different: one for gift ideas, and the other about Bordeaux. What are the differences between these two guides, which did you prefer to do, and for what purposes?

The Gift Idea Guide allows me to resend publications from other accounts previously saved from my account.
The aim is to offer Christmas gift inspiration to my community by highlighting 30 French brands.
The Bordeaux guide is a recap of my publications in my favorite city, so that my community can find my Made In Bordeaux photos and good addresses!

• In producing these guides, can you tell us what kind of impact they’ve had?
  (engagement, clicks, affiliation…)

Honestly, I’d love to, but I have NO idea!
There’s NO way of knowing the statistics of Guide publications and the community can’t interact with my Guides (no like, no comment)…
So I may have thrown 2 paving stones into the pond, but as they say, 2 without 3, count on me to throw another one and more if affinity!

Le Petit Français testimonial: