Instagram attracts greater than two billion energetic users who spend a mean of 12 hours on the app every month. That’s a selling opportunity your brand can’t afford to disregard.
To sell on Instagram, businesses and creators use Instagram Shopping—the platform’s social selling solution. It turns your profile right into a branded shopping experience, and offers approved accounts the power to tag your products in posts, Reels, and Stories.
Learn the way to sell on Instagram here. This post explains the way to arrange Instagram Looking for your account, then gives you seven ways to assist boost your IG sales.
What’s Instagram Shopping?
Instagram Shopping is a set of features that allow people to purchase your products on Instagram. With Instagram Shopping, you possibly can create a store in your profile and tag your products in posts and videos.
Instagram Shopping features include:
- Shopping tags: Tag products in Reels, Stories, and posts to direct viewers to your online store.
- Storefront: Share your brand story and create product pages and collections on Instagram.
- Checkout: Allow shoppers to buy in-app, as a substitute of visiting your online store (US only).
Easy methods to arrange Instagram Looking for your brand
The simplest approach to arrange Instagram Shopping and begin selling on the platform is to make use of Shopify. While you arrange a Shopify store, you possibly can integrate the Instagram sales channel to sync your product catalog with Instagram.
You may as well sell on Instagram without Shopify. To do this, you’ll must upload your product catalog to Meta Commerce Manager before your items will be tagged or bought on Instagram.
Either way, you’ll need an Instagram business profile to start out. Here’s the way to arrange Instagram Shopping in three easy steps:
1. Create an Instagram business profile
First up, you’ll need an Instagram business profile. You possibly can create a brand new profile and switch on business features, or convert your existing account. To start a business account on Instagram:
- Go to your profile and tap on the hamburger icon within the upper right corner.
- Tap “Settings and privacy,” then “Account type and tools.”
- Select “Switch to skilled account.”
- Pick a category that best describes your online business.
That is an excellent time to ensure your online business and products comply with Instagram’s commerce policies.
💡 You’ll also need a Meta Business Manager account to upload and manage your products in Meta Commerce Manager in the following step. When you’ve made an account, you should use Business Manager to sell on Facebook, too.
2. Add or sync your product catalog
Next, it’s time so as to add your products. You possibly can do that manually, or by integrating your Shopify store.
Manually create your product catalog
To manually upload a product catalog, create a Commerce Manager account.
Meta Commerce Manager is where your product data might be stored. You’ll use Commerce Manager to upload a product catalog, customize your shop, and create product collections.
While you’ve made it into Commerce Manager, click “Add catalog.”
Then select a catalog type to create. If you happen to’re an internet retailer, you’ll need to create an ecommerce catalog.
Upload your inventory. Select “Upload product info” and add the next information for every of your products:
Sync your Shopify product catalog
If you happen to have already got a catalog of products on a Shopify store, there’s no must enter them again. As a substitute, install the Facebook and Instagram app and connect your accounts.
It takes as much as 48 hours for Instagram to review your products. Then, you should use Shopify to customize your Shop, create Instagram ad campaigns, and track orders made by Instagram users.
3. Activate shopping in your Instagram account
When you’ve created a business account and added products to your catalog, you’re able to enable Instagram Shopping.
- Go to your Instagram profile settings.
- Tap Business, then tap Shopping.
- Hook up with your product catalog.
When that’s done, try to be able to promote your shop, tag products in posts, and create Instagram Shopping ads.
Easy methods to sell on Instagram: 7 effective suggestions
- Partner with influencers
- Run Instagram ads
- Use product tags
- Publish reels
- Curate user-generated content
- Use the precise hashtags
- Use video to showcase your product
Along with your Instagram shop arrange, harness these seven Instagram marketing suggestions to start out bringing in sales.
1. Partner with influencers
Lately, many businesses have turned to TikTok in quest of personalities to advertise their products. But Instagram is where the phenomenon of social media influencers took off, and influencer activity on the platform stays high.
Instagram influencers are a part of a $21 billion market. They work as your brand ambassador, attaching their reach and fame to your products, boosting your visibility amongst their audience.
Influencers can impact buying habits due to their authority in a selected industry. In the instance above, @lizarch, a yoga influencer with greater than 53,000 followers, promotes a giveaway for essential oil company Savhera. The brand partnered with Liz because her audience trusts her wellness and lifestyle suggestions.
Don’t be fooled into considering that each influencer charges Kim Kardashian money to advertise products and types. Accounts with smaller followings, who’re nonetheless influential in a particular area of interest, often charge reasonable rates and should create content in exchange without cost products.
In reality, these micro-influencers (defined as having fewer than 20,000 followers) will be probably the most impactful relating to promoting your goods.
Based on Rhiannon Taylor, founding father of gardening accessories store RT1home, which sells products on Instagram, “Nano-influencers and micro-influencers are inclined to get higher engagement rates. [The] best influencers have been folks that are genuinely fascinated with the product and desirous to share it with their followers.”
2. Run Instagram ads
Instagram is now a mainstream shopping destination. After posting and scrolling, browsing products is the third-most-popular reason people use the platform.
With mobile sales projected to reach $552.28 billion by the tip of 2024 within the US, Instagram launched shoppable ads to capitalize on mobile commerce.
Shoppable Instagram ads are like your standard Instagram ad, but with product tags. When someone is fascinated with a promoted product, they’ll go on to its product detail page or your website to learn more. If you happen to’re a US business, you may also run ads with Instagram checkout, so people should buy directly in-app.
Insta ads run in feeds or the Explore page using single image, carousel, or video formats out of your product catalog. They work identical to regular Instagram ads: you construct them in Ads Manager and might show them to a custom audience or lookalike audience to search out recent potential customers.
3. Use product tags
The trail from product discovery to buy is just not linear on Instagram. As your customers are scrolling, tags give them a likelihood to change tasks and simply discover more a couple of product. They will visit your website in the intervening time of discovery, and even make a purchase order from Instagram itself.
Tag products in your posts, Stories, and Reels so people can easily shop wherever they find joy within the app. If you happen to’re a business with checkout-enabled shopping, you may also tag Live feeds.
In case your goal is to get your product in front of more customers, it’s price knowing that tagged products can even appear in users’ Explore feeds.
Users can even tag your products. When your product receives a tag, you’ll get a notification. You possibly can view all tagged content in your profile and control tagging permissions in settings.
Based on Instagram, 1.6 million people tag a minimum of one product each week. Using product tags will help expand product awareness and drive potential customers to your products.
4. Publish Reels
Reels let your online business create and publish videos as much as 60 seconds long. It’s easy to get creative with text overlays, AR filters, and popular background music to inform your brand’s story. Reels can even appear on the Explore page, where anyone on Instagram can see them.
The good part? You possibly can tag products in your Reels, in order that when someone views your Reels they’ll easily access any products or collections mentioned.
5. Curate user-generated content
If individuals are buying and having fun with your product, likelihood is they’re posting about it on social media. User-generated content is an ideal approach to fill your Instagram feed with quality content while still benefiting from Instagram Shopping features.
For an example of a brand leveraging user-generated content, take a have a look at tattoo company Inkbox. They curate and repost mentions and proposals to their 1.5 million Instagram followers.
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand Vuori also leverages a user-generated Instagram content strategy. Nikki Sakelliou, the corporate’s chief marketing officer, told Glossy Vuori initially was hesitant about tagging products and featuring user posts in its feed. But because of the success of the approach, about half of Vuori’s posts at the moment are shoppable.
Many brands have come to see social media marketing because the gateway that lets them connect authentically with audience members one on one. With user-generated content, brands give users the chance to inform real and relatable stories—something that will be hard to realize with traditional content.
6. Use the precise hashtags
Instagram hashtags make your shoppable content discoverable on Instagram and help it reach more people. Hashtags also influence how the Instagram algorithm treats your content when deciding whether to serve your posts in user feeds or Explore.
While you add a hashtag to your post, the Instagram algorithm sees it as a touch about your post’s contents. It’s one other way of telling Instagram, “My post is relevant to this topic.” In case your hashtags are on point, Instagram will show your post to people who find themselves fascinated with similar things.
If you happen to have already got an excellent idea of hashtags that work well in your brand, think about using them in your Shoppable posts. You possibly can go broad with a hashtag like #style or #fashion, or something more specific like #earringsaddict. Either way, you’ll be helping Instagram match your posts with the precise people.
7. Use video to showcase your product
Did you recognize that after watching a video, 78% of viewers usually tend to purchase a product online? Unnecessary to say, video ought to be an integral a part of your Instagram marketing strategy.
Letterfolk, for instance, does an ideal job of using video in its Stories. From product demonstrations to live Q&A, the Letterfolk team knows exactly the way to make the most of this compelling format.
The perfect product videos tell stories that connect on a deep level with the viewer. The higher you tell stories about your brand or product, the more likely your viewers are going to grasp what your organization is offering and what it will probably do for them. And, in turn, the more likely they’ll be to purchase.
Don’t forget so as to add product stickers to your Stories to drive sales. Also consider pinning videos as highlights below your bio to surface them to recent profile visitors.
Best practices for video content include:
- Short duration. If you happen to’re making a video ad, make it between six and 10 seconds.
- Design for Sound Off. Don’t assume viewers have their volume turned up.
- Frame your story. Use a vertical aspect ratio to suit phone screens.
How are you using Instagram to sell products?
Instagram Shopping is only the start for entrepreneurs trying to boost sales on Instagram. The content you create, your posting schedule, and the approach to interact with followers all impact your sales figures. As more shoppers turn to social commerce, it’s as much as your brand to hitch the conversion and make it easy for social media users to search out your products.
Illustration by Martina Paukova.
Selling on Instagram FAQ
Are you able to sell directly on Instagram?
Yes. With Instagram Shopping, you possibly can sell directly on Instagram by tagging products in posts, Reels, and Stories, in addition to converting your profile to a Shop with product pages and collections. If you happen to’re a US business or creator, your customers can even take a look at directly on Instagram.
How do beginners sell on Instagram?
The essential ways for beginners to sell on Instagram include:
- Product tags
- Instagram ads
- Influencer partnerships
- Hashtags
Does it cost to sell things on Instagram?
There is no such thing as a cost to tag products on Instagram and send users to your online store. Nonetheless, Instagram charges a processing fee of two.9% when users take a look at directly on Instagram. This fee doesn’t apply to Shopify merchants using the Facebook and Instagram app, who’re charged payment processing fees by Shopify directly.
How do I accept payment on Instagram?
You possibly can accept payments on Instagram in case you are a US-based business or creator with a US checking account and address. You possibly can enable payment features through your Meta Commerce Manager or Business Manager accounts. Everyone else can use Instagram Shopping to direct customers to your online store.
