Who could ever imagine that the app initially developed as a check-in and photo-sharing service would turn into a full-fledged marketplace with more than 1 billion active monthly users? This is really amazing but true. And now every brand owner tends to find out how to sell on Instagram in the most effective way.
The story of Instagram shows there is nothing impossible. And nowadays it has become one of the most robust and rapidly growing platforms. According to the latest statistics, there are more than 2 million monthly advertisers and more than 25 million business profiles (mention, 2017). Therefore, if you still don’t sell on Instagram, it’s high time to start.
Of course, some business niches like clothing, home & decor, photo presets, or beauty products are literally ‘born’ for this platform. But we are pretty sure that almost every product or service will find it’s Insta audience. Moreover, the narrower your niche, the more chances to stand out and succeed you have.
In this article, you’ll find an extensive guide on how to sell on Instagram using a professional account and make the most of it.
What benefits a Professional Account offers
Why do you need a professional account? The answer is simple! On the one hand, it ensures a better retailing experience by offering more opportunities compared to a personal account. On the other hand, it makes your business easy-to-connect with your customers.
- Contact button. The business account is equipped with the Contact button that allows including a geolocation, phone number, or email address. This way customers will be able to get in touch with you just in one tap.
- Action buttons. CTA buttons like Book or Get Tickets, displayed right above your Insta feed, significantly increase the number of sales by making the purchase process as fast as possible.
At the moment, according to Instagram, the service has a limited number of CTA button providers, but they promise to enrich the list in the nearest future. Follow the link to learn more about Instagram call-to-action button partners.
- IG Insights. This built-in service for analytics lets you keep track of your followers’ activity as well as of well-performing content.
- Run Post Promotions right from your account. The option is similar to the one on Facebook.
- Quick Replies feature allows prearranging replies for your FAQs. The option will save you time when you have to answer dozens of similar questions.
- Add links to Instagram Stories. Business accounts with 10K + audience can show links in their Stories to redirect traffic to particular posts or websites.
- Show links in your profile bio. Use a clear short URL to drive Instagram traffic to your online shop.
- Branded content control. Specify who can or can not tag you as a branded content partner. This way you’ll prevent other Instagramers from wrongly marking your brand as friendly to their profiles.
Step 1: How to set up a Business Instagram Account
Before switching to a business account, make sure you’ve chosen a proper Instagram name, as this is one of the most essential elements of your brand identity.
The below steps will help you shift to an IG Business account from your personal one:
- Open your profile and tap the Hamburger button (three horizontal lines) in the upper-right corner.
- Then, go to Settings -> Account.
- Tap Switch to Professional Account -> Continue.
- Select a category and specify whether to display a category label.
- Tap Next –> OK and that’s it!
- Nice work! Now you can fill your profile with details.
If you have a Facebook Page for your brand, it’s also possible to connect it with your Instagram Business Account. Here you will find a detailed guide on how to attach your Facebook page, enable Call-to-Action buttons, and use Instagram Insights.
Step 2: Generate engaging content
Want to know how to sell on Instagram with an effective content strategy? A secret formula of a brilliant content strategy actually is not so secret. All you need is consistency plus tons of high-quality content.
And since creative content published regularly builds your brand’s image, the more your posts, videos, and stories stand out, the higher the chances of attracting and retaining customers you have.
Tips on how to sell on Instagram and improve customer engagement
- Choose your specific aesthetic. Starting from using the same background or filters and ending with applying ready-made color themes, you will build your unique brand identity and stand out among competitors. By the way, there are many apps specially developed to make your Instagram feed shine.
- Stick to high standards. By ‘high standards’ we mean high-quality photos, videos. No grainy images, no low-resolution cropped pics, etc. Carefully polished feed is a key to customers’ hearts.
- Write catchy texts. Be it a product description or a philosophical post, make sure it’s clear and written exactly for your target audience.
- Conduct polls and quizzes. Be creative and try to engage your audience by all means possible. The more often your customers interact with your brand page, the more likely they’ll come back.
- Create tutorials. Explain in detail how customers can utilize your product, or make a series of posts with the most popular use cases. This will not only reveal the hidden product superpowers but demonstrate your attention to clients.
- Try giveaways. Insta giveaways are limited-time campaigns conducted by brands or bloggers. They offer free products or services to those who will perform specific tasks. This is the ultimate tool to increase customer engagement.
- Remember about subscribers. Show your presence by answering customer questions and reacting to their comments. Constant communication will help to learn more about your target audience and turn occasional visitors into loyal customers.
Need more tips on how to sell on Instagram? OK, here we go!
Step 3: Get verified
Instagram verification is about proving that your account is authentic. All verified accounts get a special blue badge. The mark automatically increases your Instagram store credibility, thus building customer loyalty and boosting your sales.
To get the Instagram verification badge, make sure your account satisfies specific requirements.
Step 4: Try the magic power of Instagram Stories
The Stories feature is excellent for growing your brand audience and staying involved with your subscribers.
What can you do with Stories?
- Demonstrate your products in action;
- Advertise products, deals, and special offers;
- Ask questions and conduct polls;
- Add links to Stories (for profiles with 10k+followers and verified accounts).
Add links to Stories
All business owners with 10k+ followers, as well as verified accounts, can add links to Instagram Stories. To follow the link, users just need to swipe up the screen. This easy-to-use feature helps redirect traffic to a specific page or a website to increase brand awareness, get more customers, and boost conversions.
Tip: As long as Instagram is a mobile app, make sure the website to which you redirect customers is optimized enough to be mobile-friendly.
If you have never added links to your Stories, take a look at the following easy steps:
- Snap a photo or video right in the Stories window, or choose a picture from your mobile gallery.
- Tap the chain icon in the upper-right corner to add the link.
- Enter the necessary URL and click the checkbox when everything is done.
After the link is successfully added, let customers know where it leads to. Use product pics, videos, and GIFs to motivate users to swipe up.
Oh, and don’t forget to highlight the “Swipe up” button with stickers, arrows, text boxes, or any other eye-catchers so that subscribers could instantly notice it. This way, you’ll raise selling on Instagram to an absolutely new level.
Links in Stories are also fruitful for partnership as they drive traffic from your stories to any partner website.
Step 5: Run Instagram advertising campaigns
The purposes of advertising on Instagram are identical to those on any other online platform – boost your brand awareness, attract new customers, and increase sales. And of course, carefully created and wisely targeted, your ad campaign will drive massive traffic to your website or IG store.
To decide whether you really need Instagram advertising, take a look at the impressive stats numbers below. They definitely speak louder than words.
Find more statistics at Statista
To run a campaign, you need to make one of two simple steps – either tap Promote below the corresponding IG post or use Facebook Ad Manager.
Before you start, answer 3 simple questions:
- What is your budget?
- Where exactly you’d like to display your ads?
- What are your time limits?
Then set a campaign goal. Instagram has already created a list of objectives and accurately organized them into groups:
- Awareness;
- Consideration;
- Conversion.
And now, it’s high time to think about your ad format. Instagram offers the following types:
Choose Instagram ad format:
- Stories ads. Due to Instagram, 500M + accounts use stories daily. The numbers speak for themselves.
- Photo ads. Simple pictures are still considered to be the most effective ad format on Instagram. Use photos in square and landscape formats and make sure they are of high quality.
- Video ads. Share videos in square and landscape format up to 120 seconds long. Videos use not only our eyes but our ears as well, thus achieving the maximal level of immersion.
- Carousel ads. This format lets you add up to 10 photos to one ad post to show more product details to customers.
- Collection ads. Make product collections to enable users to browse them in image and video formats.
- Ads in explore. This ad type is targeted at people whose interests are not limited by the profiles they follow. It lets you reach the Explore section audience.
Tip: We recommend to start testing several ad types at a time to find out which format works better for your specific business.
If you are overloaded with information and not sure whether you’ll be able to run ad campaigns without extra help, rely on Instagram guidelines. All you need to do is to carefully follow them and timely track your statistics.
Step 6: Try Instagram Shopping
We do understand that Instagram shopping deserves a separate post. And we promise to create it in the nearest future. But anyway, let’s take a quick look at this tool and the opportunities it offers.
What is IG shopping?
Instagram Shopping is a great tool for selling on Instagram. It was announced in 2017 to let users shop right from bloggers’ posts and videos. Thus, the tool has simplified the whole shopping process allowing customers to view products with prices and make purchases directly from the app.
In other words, IG Shopping provides an utterly new experience both for brand owners and subscribers. Customers don’t have to spend additional time trying to find the products they’ve just seen on Instagram somewhere else. Retailers don’t lose potential customers at this stage of the funnel. Everyone wins!
What perks does it give?
- Better shopping experience for customers;
- Possibility to share content on Explore, thus expanding your reach;
- Possibility to tag multiple products per photo (up to 5) or up to 20 products per carousel;
- Instant redirect to your website with the “Shop Now” button;
- Real-time analytics and performance control in the Insights tab.
The cherry on top is the Checkout option, released in 2019. Due to the option, customers can purchase products without leaving the app! Read more details here.
Sounds good? Then, grab the IG go-to-guide on how to open your first Instagram storefront and get ready for sales growth.
Summary
To make a long story short, we’ve gathered the main benefits of selling on Instagram with a Business Account that help increase sales in four points.
- You will unlock a great variety of business features for better product presentation and customer engagement.
- You’ll connect Instagram and Facebook accounts to take advantage of cross-platform marketing.
- You’ll be able to keep track of customer activity and content performance due to built-in analytics tools.
- It ensures the ultimate shopping experience for your potential customers and increases your sales.
Now you definitely know how to sell on Instagram and use Instagram business profile perks to the full. Yes, it is much easier than you could imagine. Just carefully study the tools the platform offers, follow the instructions, be consistent, and you’ll grow your loyal audience with minimal effort.
