How to Engage Your Brand on Instagram Using Shoppable Posts
After carrying out rigorous tests for months, Instagram released a big modification to its user interface (UI) in late 2020: changing the user "Activity" tab with the "Shop" tab. For further monetisation on Instagram, the social platform's latest action was aimed to be more business-friendly.
It's a considerable transformation from where the feature was just a few years ago. Currently, it seamlessly allows users to purchase products from brands within the app. Purchasability without leaving the app means less clicks and more chance for conversion.
Social media platforms are widely seen as excellent brand awareness tools. Yet, Instagram's latest update has turned it into a big revenue driver. This scenario is reminiscent of when Facebook made its Marketplace a feature in the main navigation.
A 2019 Facebook analysis revealed that 54% of respondents shopped products in a flash, sometimes after seeing an item or service on Instagram.
And, it's not only direct-to-consumer businesses that can leverage from using Instagram's new shopping features. Shoppable posts are featured with a clickable shopping bag icon that demonstrates the product details and the "View Products" call-to-action to redirect to the page of the brand. This establishes a smooth experience for the user and authorises you to display your brands without being too promotional. Talk about win-win!
How to Start Selling On Instagram
Meet the Instagram Criteria for Eligibility
You have to meet some eligibility criteria before you start selling on Instagram:
- You have to be located in one of these markets
- You must have an Instagram creator or business account.
- You have to market products that comply with Instagram's merchant deals and commerce policies
- Link your Instagram profile with the corresponding Facebook Business Page.
Uploading Product Catalogue
The product catalogue is a file that consists of the products you wish to sell along with all details including pricing and description. There are two options to upload the product catalogue:
- Choose the do-it-yourself option via Facebook Business Manager by manually including the items to the catalogue.
- Associate with an eCommerce platform partner, like Shopify or BigCommerce.
Perform Account Reviews
- Once you have uploaded your product catalogue to the Instagram account, you can then submit that account for a review.
- Navigate to the professional dashboard. Open "Set Up Instagram Shopping"
- Click on "Get Started" on the set up page
- Choose your catalogue
- Analyse the details and click on "Submit for Review"
- The review procedure can take some days - you may also require to give further information like domain verification
How to Optimise Your Instagram Posts for Shoppable Purchases
Creating Genuine Posts
While marketing on Instagram is more effortless than ever, keep in mind that your followers shouldn't feel like they are being heavily advertised to. You should keep to their prevailing content strategy, integrating shoppable tags on posts that are a genuine fit for your brand profile.
Make Use of Influencer Posts
An impressive approach to organically include shopping tags to your post is by making use of posts from clients. Reports show customers trust influencers much more than businesses and these posts benefit as social proof, i.e., reliability and affirmation for the brand.
You can also optimise your Instagram marketing strategy by leveraging influencer posts. Influencer associations and sponsorships have almost ousted traditional ads and are an extensive part of social media strategies today.
55% of fashion consumers have shopped a fashion item after noticing it being promoted on Instagram according to a 2020 post from Instagram's creator profile.
Utilise Multiple Tags
Adding multiple shopping tags in your posts will alleviate your exploration of clients and browse through your products instantly. You can also check by including shopping tags to carousel posts to assess their effectiveness against single-picture posts.
Activate the Shop Page on your Instagram Account
Post at least nine (9) shoppable posts to initiate the "Shop" tab on your Instagram account. This will arrange all your shoppable posts under one tab for effortless shopping and product exploration.
Analytics of Shoppable Posts
You can check the analytics on your Instagram business profile for your shoppable posts, which includes data on how many users viewed product details and clicked through to the page. This data helps to figure out what category of products resonate with your Instagram clients and determine gaps in the buyer's journey.
As with all of your social media marketing exercises, you should assess performance data to identify what makes the best results (and why) and adopt that for future posts.
Once your business starts selling on Instagram, continue exploring with images, copy, shopping tags, and other elements that may lead to improved sales.
No matter what kind of products you market, examining your analytics favours you to find out your audience's demands, boosts your content, and finally helps you drive more traffic and sales to your brand.
Marketing on Instagram is an exclusive opportunity to reach clients in all phases of the buyer journey through a smooth experience.
