Not long ago, Instagram showed the lengths the company would go to remain on the top of the social pyramid. They introduced Instagram Stories, a tool that functions and looks almost identical to Snapchat. It's since become incredibly popular and has even been added to Facebook.

Instagrams CEO Kevin Systrom admits the function bears a striking resemblance to Snapchat. "They [Snapchat] deserve all the credit," said Systrom in a TechCrunch interview. "This isn't about who invented something. This is about a format, and how you take it to a network and put your own spin on it."

With that in mind, it's easy to see how and why Instagram would add its new tool, Collections. This new feature takes Instagram's bookmarking, which launched in December, to the next level. Now, you can bookmark photos and save them to collection boards. There, you can keep visual reminders of brands, places, designs or even recipes you want to try later.

Sound familiar? Instagram's Collections looks and functions very much like Pinterest's boards. The biggest difference, though, is that all the images and collections you create on Instagram are completely private. No one else can see, share or comment on them; they're just for you.

In other words, Instagram's Collections are meant to provide an intuitive way for you to save images you want to revisit. Since launching the bookmarking tool last December, nearly half (46 percent) of users saved at least one post. So, it is solving a problem for active users.

And the good news for you as a business? You don't have to worry about engaging with others' collections since they are meant for personal use only. That does also mean you won't be able to track which of your posts are saved the most.

As a brand, you may find it helpful to gather social content that's successful and could inspire your own brand's editorial calendar. Or, you can save pictures and posts from others that you want to share later.

Ready to jump in and see how it works? Here's how to use Instagram's Collections for the first time:

1. As always, update your Instagram app in either the App Store or Google Play. The new version, Instagram 10.16, enables this feature.

2. Once you've found a photo you want to save, tap and hold the bookmark button underneath the post, on the right-hand side.

3. You'll be prompted to create and name a new collection. And that's it! You just created your first collection.

4. To see all your collections, travel to your profile, and again, tap the bookmark icon. There, you can scroll through all the posts you've saved.

5. You can tap collections to browse or add new collections from here. Once you create a new collection, you can scroll through your saved posts and add them to the collection.