With Instagram Shopping, eCommerce brands can make digital catalogs of their products that can be shared right on Instagram. Users can find out more about the product right in the app, and they can buy it right on Instagram (using Checkout) or go to the brand’s eCommerce site to finish the transaction.
It’s not new to use Instagram to share products or boost sales. According to Instagram, 87 percent of users say that seeing product information on Instagram from influencers makes them want to do something, and 70 percent of people who shop a lot use the platform to find new products.
In the past, e-commerce brands could only drive sales traffic directly from “one gram” by adding links to their bios or making their Instagram stories clickable.
Why Use Instagram Shopping to Sell?
Instagram is here to stay, so if you want to make the most money and make your store’s social media profile look its best, you should definitely sell on Instagram. Here, we’ll look at some of the most important ones in more depth.
Getting to know customers on a personal level
Nowadays, people like to feel like they know the brand they trust on a personal level. From this point of view, Instagram gives sellers more than just a way to show how the products they sell can make their followers’ lives better. It gives you the chance to meet real people.
If you post pictures of the process, customers will know how your business works. Let them see it before it hits the shelves, or ask them what they think about your new products. There’s no doubt that these interactions between you and your customers will make your followers feel valuable, special, and more connected to your brand.
People want their favorite brands to talk to them in a sincere and personal way. “Human” brands are thought to be friendly, responsive, considerate, and helpful, and the way they communicate with customers shows that they understand their needs and can meet them. Instagram is a place where buyers and sellers can talk directly with each other.
Brand awareness and recognition
Instagram is a great way to show a brand’s goals, vision, and achievements while building a reputation and a personality that people will recognize. Sure, what you write on your blog can help build a strong online brand presence, but have you ever thought about how powerful it can be to include relevant headlines in your Instagram posts?
So, the more people see your brand and products, the more familiar they will be with the brand name and products. The more people know about the brand, the more likely it is that they will buy it again and again.
Instagram is a great way to soft-sell products because people can get first-hand information about the brands they follow, and they naturally focus on brands they like. If you want to sell more products, you could use Instagram Shopping to make your account shoppable.
Also, if you want to sell your own branded products instead of selling other people’s products on Instagram, dropshipping and private label products can help you reach your goal of having your own unique brand.
Because dropshipping means you don’t need to rent an inventory or anything else, you can save some money and put it toward marketing your store and products instead of worrying about next month’s rent. Dropshipping is a smart choice for people who want to start a business but don’t have a lot of money.
Make it easy for your customers to buy your products right from Instagram by using Instagram Shopping. Instagram events can go viral in a day, giving businesses a powerful way to share content about their brand. Putting together content and images is a great way to promote your brand.
How to set up shopping on Instagram?
First of all, you need to make sure that your business can use Instagram Shopping.
Check out Instagram’s requirements, which are listed below:
- Your store is in a Supported Market where Instagram Shopping can be used.
- Your business sells real, eligible products, which is what Instagram asked for.
- Your business is in line with the Merchant Agreement and Commerce Policies of both Instagram and Facebook.
- Your business owns a domain for an online store that you plan to sell from.
Assuming you have done all of the above, you can now set up your Instagram Shopping. Even if you already have Instagram Shopping set up before reading this blog, you can still learn more about how to use Instagram to market your online store.
Sign up for a business account
Change your personal Instagram account into a business account or make a new account. Once you have a business account, you can add information about your business, like business hours, the address of your store, a phone number, and a link to your website.
Select the button in the top right corner of your profile, then tap Settings > Account > Switch to Professional Account. Fill in your business’s information. Then you will have to pick a category that fits your business the best.
If you choose a category that could be considered business, you’ll be able to choose whether you’re a business or an author. Choosing business. Check your phone number, physical address, and email address to make sure they are correct. People will be able to contact you through these parts of your profile, but you can change or remove them at any time.
Link your Instagram account to the Facebook Page for your business, then click Next.
You will be asked to fill out your profile, invite friends, and share photos and videos. Your account for your business is ready to go! Your Instagram account can now be used by other people. But that’s not the end of the work. Keep going in the same way.
Link up with a Facebook page
- Go to the Instagram page for your business
- Choose Change Profile
- Click Page under “Public Business Information”
- Choose “Connect Existing Page” from the list of Facebook pages you want to link, or “Create a New Facebook Page” if you don’t have a Facebook page.
Upload the product categories for your business
Instagram says that your product catalog is what makes Instagram Shopping work. You can link a product catalog to your Instagram business account in two ways:
Catalog Manage – Facebook Business Manager has a “do-it-yourself” option.
Partner for an E-commerce Platform – An integration through one of our certified eCommerce platform partners, such as Shopify
Since this blog is mostly about using Shopify to sell on Instagram, the second method will be shown here.
- Go to Business Manager
- Click on Catalog and then go to Data Sources.
- Click Add Items, then Use a Partner Platform, then next.
- Choose Shopify as your platform.
- Click the link to go to the website of the partner platform and follow the steps there to link your account to Facebook.
Send in your account to be looked at
After connecting the product catalog to Instagram and adding the product to the catalog, you can submit your account for review by following these steps. Most of the time, account review takes a few days, but it can sometimes take longer.
- Go to the Instagram page for your business and click Settings.
- Register to shop
- Follow the instructions to get your account reviewed.
- Check your status by going to Shopping in your Settings.
Shopify lets you turn on the Instagram Sales Channel
One last thing needs to be done before you can start selling on Instagram. You need to turn on the Instagram sales channel in Shopify.
- Click the plus sign next to Sales channels.
- Choose Instagram in the box that says “Add sales channel”
- Click “Add channel” and sign in to your Facebook account to complete the authentication.
Activate Instagram Shopping
After your account has been approved, you can link your product catalog to your Instagram store.
- Click Settings on your Instagram profile.
- Go to Business, then Shopping.
- Choose the catalog of products you want to link to your account.
- Click Done
You’ve done everything you need to do to sell on Instagram. Now is the time to tag your products in Instagram posts. Choose a post (or add a new photo), click Share, and then choose Tag Products. You can choose one or more products in the photo by clicking on them, typing in their names, and choosing the order you want them to appear in. When you are finished, click “Done” and then “Share.”
You were able to put a tag on an Instagram photo of your product. Now, go to all your other posts and do the same thing. Remember that each photo can have up to 5 tags for products, and a carousel post can have up to tags. You can also tag your products in Your Instagram Stories if you want to. You can do this by making Instagram Stories like you normally would and then adding the Products sticker to your products.
How to Use Instagram to Market Your Shopify Store?
With its thousands of users and ease of use at any time and place, social media is the best and cheapest way to market your online store and bring people to it.
Using hashtags is a great way to find your Instagram tribe. Keep a list of the theme tags your followers use that are related to your store’s industry or do a good job of representing your brand. You can follow these hashtags by looking for them on Instagram and clicking the Follow button. When you see a new post with this hashtag, you can comment on it to draw attention to your brand’s Instagram profile. If you don’t know which hashtags to use, you can use tools like the Instagram hashtag generator to find the best ones.
But don’t use the comments on the hashtag to advertise your product. If you keep doing this, you might be marked as spam. Instead, talk to the Instagram users who are posting. You can build a relationship with these potential customers by liking their Instagram posts and letting them know that you offer similar content. Instagram users will be able to tell if you are spamming them with comments, so take the time to leave real comments that add to the conversation.
Instagram Ads
When Instagram Ads came out in 2015, it went one step further. When marketers found out that the Ads system would let them reach Facebook’s 1 billion monthly users across a wide range of content segments and categories, they jumped for joy.
About 72% of Instagram users buy a product they saw on the app, which is a great way to get more people interested and make more money. So use Instagram ads to reach the people you want to reach.
Only on Instagram Promotions
You can turn Instagram into a sales portal by giving your followers discount codes, coupons, or free stuff. Plus, because the deal is only on Instagram, your customers will feel extra special.
In turn, this will make more people want to check out your profile. In the end, promotions on Instagram are a way to thank your followers for following you. When you start advertising your products on Instagram, the ads will show up in the feeds, stories, and explore tags of other users.
Last Word
When you use social media as part of your online marketing plan, it has a much bigger effect on your success and income than just sending people to your website. Adding Instagram to your Shopify store is a good step toward success because it will help you connect with customers and other social media groups on the platform. So, now that you know how to connect Shopify to Instagram, it’s time to get going and make more sales on social media!
Users don’t have to pay anything to use Shopify and Instagram together. In other words, the integration will make it easier for you to sell on both Instagram and Shopify.
Because Shopify is so easy to use, setting up the Instagram Shopify integration is quick and can help you in the long run. So keep having fun as you sell things with Instagram Shopping.