Getting Started With Instagram Sales

With an average of 1 billion people on Instagram each month, using the popular platform should be a no-brainer for eCommerce companies. Instagram is a great place to show off creativity, brand personality, and connect on a more personal level with customers. It is also an ideal platform for showing off your products in a more casual setting. While your website’s product pages are likely to be product-focused, Instagram gives you the opportunity to show users what they could do with your product in day-to-day life. And with Instagram Shopping, it is easier than ever for your followers to purchase items they like from your page.

What Is Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping is a simple way to let customers purchase items they are eyeing on your page, with direct links from the app. For example, say you own a clothing boutique and you want to show off a new fall outfit you just got in stock, from head to toe. After you decide how to want to display the outfit to best catch the eye of your customer (on a model, a flat lay, etc) you can use Instagram Shopping to “tag” each piece with the name of the item, as well as the price. From there it is just another simple click on the tag for your customer to go directly to the product page to purchase the item they are interested in!

How To Set Up Instagram Shopping:

Setting up Instagram Shopping for your account isn’t difficult, but there are a few steps you need to take before you can get started.

Get Approved As A Business Profile:

If you have not already gotten approved as a business profile, now is the time! Only official business profiles can take advantage of Instagram Shopping features. To get verified, follow these simple steps on your Instagram account. As long as you are a legitimate business selling legitimate products, you should have no problem achieving this status.

Create A Catalog:

The next step is to connect your Facebook page or eCommerce shop to your catalog. There are several ways to do this, depending on how your shop is currently set up. The three ways currently available are through your eCommerce platform, a catalog manager, or through your Facebook shop. Depending on which method you need to use, you can find Instagram’s detailed instructions here.

Upload Your Content:

This is the most fun step, as this is where you get to show off your products. Think of creative ways to display products. Try different display methods to see what your audience responds to best, and don’t be afraid to use a combination of methods. Using people in your photographs showing off how to use your products in everyday life is a popular and effective way to get your Instagram sales going. However, using flat lays, pictures of displays or other ideas you come up with can be a nice change to your grid.

Make sure all of the photographs you take are high-quality and not over-edited. One of the best tips to use is to keep a consistent color scheme. Although your products will vary in size, shape, and color, keeping the same brightness and filters on your pictures makes your Instagram grid look much more pleasing, and encourages customers to purchase from you. Etsy sets a wonderful example of this, by keeping an aesthetically pleasing page while displaying products and pictures from various vendors. Make sure you write an engaging caption as well.

Once you follow these steps, you are ready to start tagging your photos with the shopping tags to allow your customers easy access to purchasing! Add new products to your story to grab customers, attention and guide them towards your shoppable posts. Although these steps are all fairly simple, putting in your best effort to make your posts clean and interesting will bring major benefits.