5 Ways to Generate eCommerce Sales with Instagram Shopping
If you didn’t know already, Supersize Social was built on the idea of using Instagram to grow your business to the next level. Seriously, we talk about it a lot, an for good reason. Instagram is hands down the best way to up your marketing game in 2021. I know, I know… that sounds a bit biased. Truthfully, it is. But, when you’ve seen the kind of success Instagram brings to businesses as we have, you will be too. I promise.
The social media platform is an absolute powerhouse for building a base, engaging with that base, and turning your engagement into money. How, you ask? Instagram Shopping.
Instagram Shopping allows your followers to purchase products directly from your posts. No click-through. No redirection. Directly from your Instagram post.
Talk about a short path to purchase.
Add that to the fact that 90% of Instagram users are following brands, and 83% of users discover new products and services on the platform, it becomes apparent why Instagram is such an ecommerce machine - because it’s users are in a buying mindset when they use the app.
And by the way, the average value of an order from Instagram is $103! Like we said, powerhouse.
So, yeah, if you want to boost your company's ecommerce, you need to be using Instagram Shopping. Here are 5 tips to help you get the most out of it.
1. Make Purchases Effortless
When you are in the zone - you’re creating top quality content, your audience is growing, and you’re getting great engagement - it can feel like the job is done. But, how are you using your newfound social media success to benefit your business?
Likes and follows are great - they look great, they feel great, and they are necessary for the process - but you’re not in this for vanity, you’re in this to make money. Instagram shortens the path to purchase so you have to adjust your sales funnel to meet that. This likely means removing steps, adjusting the strategy, and creating a way to make purchasing effortless.
While Instagram Checkout is currently only available for select brands, the ability to make your posts easily shoppable for your followers is still simple. Here are a few ways to do that:
Add Linkin.bio by Later into your bio
Tag products in your posts
Use hashtags to make products searchable
Create a lookbook with carousel posts
2. Create a Community
Direct ecommerce sales are a great way to make your Instagram efforts profitable, however, the companies at the top of the Instagram Shopping game know that it all comes down to the customer experience. Followers like to engage, but they don’t just want to interact with your brand, they want to interact with the online community around it.
This means you need to humanize your brand and utilize things such as user-generated content, contests, and influencers. By creating a community around your brand, your products become more accessible. The community attracts more people to the top of the funnel, which turns into sales. And if you do it right, those sales will continue to grow the community. That’s the beauty of Instagram in action.
Here are a few ways to build up your Instagram community:
Post user-generated content
Run contests and give-aways
Recruit Influencers
Post behind-the-scenes content
3. Tag Your Products
Not to take away from tips 1 and 2, because they are the method in which you scale your Instagram Shopping efforts, but without tip 3, the rest fall flat. In short, tagging your products in your photos is how you make your posts shoppable. Tagging your products provides a clear call-to-action for your followers and shortens the path to purchase to just one click - turning your Instagram page into an aesthetic sales channel.
Tagging is without question the most useful Instagram marketing tip to turn Instagram efforts into sales. Here’s how to set it up:
Set up a Shop section on your Facebook Business page
Connects it to your Instagram page
Add your products to your new Shop section
Allows checkouts through your ecommerce website instead of Facebook
Posting an image of your product
Select the “tag a product” option to see a list of the products you uploaded on your Facebook
4. Utilize Hashtags
Similar to tip 3, tip 4 is absolutely necessary for success with Instagram Shopping. Hashtags give posts visibility. They allow your posts to become searchable, and with the ability to add up to 30 hashtags per post, you have a lot of ways for a potential customer to find your products. This is why the use of hashtags is so powerful.
Though, hashtags can be tricky. You don’t want to be using just any hashtag that you think up. #supersizemysocial might sound good (eh, not really), but it has no relevancy. I know because I just checked, there are no posts using that hashtag.
You want to be using hashtags that people are already using. This means you’re going to need to do some hashtag research. By finding the hashtags that are relevant to your products and brand, you’ll be tapping into a community of users that already follow products and brands similar to yours.
PRO TIP: Save a list of the hashtags you use for specific products, you can then use the same hashtags for other posts with those products.
Keep in mind that, on platforms like Instagram, trends come and go quickly. If you want to stay up to date, you need to be regularly updating your hashtag strategy. And be particular. 30 hashtags might seem like a lot, but you want to only be using those that are relevant to your audience or it could have a negative effect on your visibility.
Always keep your users in mind
Target new customers
Actively update your hashtag strategy
If you do these simple things you’ll be well on your way to creating a hashtag strategy that taps into the community that best suits your brand and helps launch your Instagram efforts to the next level.
5. Recruit Influencers
Instagram Influencers are users that have a notable following in a distinct niche with whom they actively engage. More so, influencers have the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of their influence on their audience. Hence the title.
Essentially, the use of an influencer is simply capitalizing on the vanity metrics of the influencer to expand your reach. However, the influencer not only reaches a larger audience but has the authority to help push their followers into making a buying decision.
The cost of sponsoring posts is determined by the size of the following an influencer has, and the methods of recruitment vary. That said, if you can manage to find the right influencers for your brand and products, you have the potential to make a serious profit off of the partnership. Here are a few examples of companies that got it right:
Uwheels generated over a million dollars in sales by relying on influencers
FoundrMag gained half a million followers within a year by recruiting influencers
Madmen coordinated an Instagram “flash mob” of 500 employees, fashion bloggers, and editors to generate over 160,000 likes and 8.5 million impressions
It’s no secret, Instagram users like to shop. If your business wants to generate ecommerce sales, you need to be utilizing Instagram and the tips listed above to drive those sales. Not to mention that, to see good sales on Instagram, you don’t need a big budget.
If you’re not already utilizing Instagram Shopping, get to it! If you are, fantastic! Let us know how well it’s going for you in the comments below. 👇👇👇