Instagram can gain such a significant notability in its users over the past few years. It is a platform that gave priority to images and slowly transition to include videos. Its popularity has not gone unnoticed by many businesses and organisations.
The E-commerce community has embraced the use of Instagram and an online tool for them to reach out to their target audience. They use Instagram to display their catalog of products and can interact with their target customers or clients.
Hootsuite published the findings of a study that gave some impressive figures regarding this social media platform now owned by Facebook. The statistics show that Instagram has a billion users and a significant number of them being active users; 80% of them live outside the United States of America. The same study revealed that women made up 39% of the monthly active users, while 30% were men.
To see the power that Instagram has to offer for doing business, we shall focus on how companies can use it to increase sales.
Selling on Instagram is not rocket science. It is relatively easy though you should appreciate the fact that not every Instagram account will sell products. For such a thing, you need to open a company account on Instagram.
Once you have the account up and running, you should ensure that it has significant activity. It also may benefit from having some input, mentions, or association with influential people on Instagram. In short, you should try to contact and connect with the known influencers on Instagram. Such individuals will play a vital role in promoting our products. You may also want to consider automatic comments- safe after the update. While at it, also take advantage of Instagram’s advertising program.
Read on to discover how you can leverage Instagram to increase sales.
- Activate Your Company Profile And Access Exclusive Features
First, you need to open a company account on Instagram and ensure you have a well-detailed and activated profile. Doing this gives you some exclusive perks.
Keep in mind that Facebook is the current owner of Instagram. And give the prominence that Facebook has, it suffices to say that doing any successful E-Commerce will need you to have an active profile on both social media networks; both being company accounts.
Given the ownership and with you have a company profile on both Facebook and Instagram, the two accounts will be associated across both networks.
From that point moving forward, the e-commerce you do will see you pace direct links on images and ads that appear in the form of pop-ups stating the product name and price. When a user clicks on them, they will be directed to your online store to purchase the product.
- Associate With Influencers
You need to have strong ties and association with influencers on both Instagram and Facebook. They are the ‘online celebs’ the public figures that give luminary to what trends; their opinion has a significant impact on what is published on social networks. Most importantly, they are individuals who matter the most because they often have a substantial number of followers.
As such, if you want to tap into Instagram and back a substantial following, then these are the people you need backing you on Instagram. Keep in mind that not all influencers will be suited to all kinds of products or services.
Therefore, you need to do some research and background checks to find the ideal influencers to have in your team. Look for profiles that can be easily identified with your brand or what you have to offer. Look at the number of likes the profile houses and if its posts or publications have generated enough interactions with its followers and other Instagram users.
Why do this? You have to because it will help you know if the influencers can make the desired impact and if users are interested in what they advertise.
- Use Instagram Ads
As you do your best to partner with influencers, you also should invest in the Instagram ads. The platform has an advertising program can those with company accounts or business profiles that take advantage of for purposes of doing E-Commerce.
If the profile is activated, then things will be easy for you, depending on your projected budget. Assess your needs and objectives to that you know the ads you need to create and ensure you mix things up by using videos and photos.
Moreover, with the Instagram ads, you can evaluate your campaigns and even know how many visits each ad brings and what has generated significant interest in your target audience and the general market.
- Use Hashtags In Your Posts
You will need to make use of hashtags. They work the same way as keyword and thus need proper placement in the content you post. They, therefore, will be vital in your efforts to improve your E-Commerce sales using Instagram. You need to pick a catchy phrase and the type the text preceded by a hashtag (#). The post with the hashtag, be it a video, image, or text will join others that share the same hashtag to that they can reach a bigger and diverse audience.
For the hashtags you use to be effective, you need to research and find out the labels that users prefer and then place them among your daily or weekly posts. However, you also need to give priority to what fits your product or service so that it provides the desired results. While at it, restrict your use of the hashtags to at least 5 or 6 of them in a post.
- Increase Your Followers With Contests
Remember that improving your sales is a numbers game; the greater the number of followers you have on Instagram, the higher the chances of increases the sales. That is the real power of leveraging social media for marketing purposes.
With the growing following, you will have loyal followers that help to give your brand, product, or services more online visibility as they comment, like, and share your Instagram posts. But for this to happen, you need to take up an active role on Instagram. You should publish relevant, informative, and entertaining content that captivates your followers and other Instagram users to the point where they feel your posts are worth liking and sharing.
Aside from the content, you also should hold contests. For instance, you can raffle some of the products you are selling and place a requirement that participants must follow your company account and also recommend it to other Instagram users. It all is a tactic that focuses on word of mouth, to increase the popularity of your E-Commerce brand on Instagram.
Closing Remarks
To sell on Instagram, you need an active company account or business profile on this popular social media platform. Your initial stages will be the most delicate as you wade through the waters to reach out to the diverse demographic that you want to buy your product or services.
Hopefully, by implementing the tips given above, you will be able to create exciting and relevant content, make use of hashtags, contact influences, take advantage of Instagram ads, and hold contests to boost your E-Commerce on Instagram.
Most importantly, remember that you need to research the behavior of your target customers and how they respond to your product or service before you develop and implement campaigns.
