One of my favorite Instagram tools within the app is the Instagram save feature (sometimes called Instagram Collections). Social media users can click a little banner icon underneath anyone's content and save that image or video to look back at later. This is super useful for both marketers and general Instagram users because it always you to save images from your own feed, as well as images from others that you want to go back to.

How to Use the Instagram Save Folder Feature

You can save images from your own profile, from anyone you follow, OR even from people you don’t follow. Just click the little banner image under the photo/video on the right-hand side of your phone. Hold down the banner image to get a popup. Then you can either save it into a folder you already created or click the little cross where you can create a new folder.  

Go back to your saved photos at the top of your Instagram profile anytime you want to check them out (you can edit the folders there, too).

Why using the Instagram Save folders are Important for Me Personally

For my personal use, I love being able to save photos to come back to later for inspiration. Maybe it's a recipe I want to try out, or a hair color I want to share with my hairstylist during my next appointment. Instagram has also become a source of workout inspiration for me, and I save workout videos in a folder called WORKOUTS, which allows for easy access of this content later when I want to do a quick HIIT session in my garage.

It's perfect because I don't necessarily want to follow these accounts because that's not what I like interacting with on a daily basis, but I'm able to save specific pieces of content from their Instagram feed that is important to me.

I also have a save folder dedicated to food I want to try the next time I visit my in-laws in Long Beach (we travel down there at least 4x a year). I mean…. ice cream tacos!?!? Who doesn’t want to remember that.

My personal FAVORITE folder is called “Family.” This is where I save photos I want to easily go back to...Like this one. Ryeson’s first picture. <3

Instead of scrolling through 3+ years of Instagram photos to find it, I can simply go into my saved folders and find it much more quickly.

Using Instagram Save for Marketing

When it comes to some of the brands I work with – like various wineries – I like to encourage them to use this feature to manage User-Generated Content (or UGC). This is content from your customers that you as a brand may want to reshare. UGC includes content like images of your products, videos from your retail location, or fun quotes that work with your brand.

Find these images by looking at who has tagged you, your location, or maybe a branded hashtag – and save these photos for later use.

NOTE: BEFORE YOU USE ANYONE ELSE’S PHOTOS, JUST ASK IF YOU CAN USE IT. EVEN IF YOU ARE TAGGED.

I like to simply say “I love your photo, can we reshare and give you credit?” This way the author of the content allows you access to use their creativity, AND it starts a relationship with your customers…which is always a good thing. In fact, that is what social media is really about!

Other ideas for how to use the Instagram save feature:

• If you are a winery, you can save photos of wine club members or someone with who you want to interact with later.

• Connect with influencers from a specific region in which you may be throwing an event.

• Keeping track of your competitors. (No one else can see your saves, so why not?!)

• Save photos for inspiration later. This is kind of like a mini moodboard, or specific images you like the style of.

• Kind words you can use for testimonials later.

The uses of the Instagram save feature are endless depending on how you use the platform! Let me know what types of images you think you would like to save for your brand!