How To Sell On Instagram

The promised land for many around the globe - Instagram is a platform that is common amongst influencers, reviewers, small businesses, modern entrepreneurs, actors… the list can go on and on and on. As for backing up with the analytics, the platform is now at 1 billion users that use the app monthly, making it the 6th popular social networking platform in the world. Not only that, there are about more than 200+ million Instagrammers who visit one business profile a day - isn’t this crazy! In fact, there are about 60% who do so to discover new products with 90% of the accounts following a business on Instagram, clearly becoming a major player in the e-commerce field. As business owners, there can be no better platform to sell and make the world your oyster - we know you are sailing the same boat, aren’t you!

So, coming to the crux of it, how can one actually sell on Instagram?

How To Sell On Instagram In 9 Simple Steps:

Here are 9 simple steps to help sell on Instagram:

1. Choose a Niche Product To Sell

By default and for obvious reasons, Instagram is a social media platform that is backed by a heavy focus on all visuals. Therefore, it's the best space to showcase your products and sell them on the platform through strong visual appeal/aesthetics. These strong inputs can be enhanced by LUTs, Graphic designs, Presets, Fonts, Typefaces, etc. Be it apparel, accessories, beauty products, goods, home decor, or even business ideas through services, online courses, content creation, you name it and you’ve got it with Instagram. 

This is why it is best for you to narrow down your niche products and market them on this social media platform to help build your audience and sell the products; growing your business in the best possible manner. 

2. Set Up Your Account To An Instagram Business Account

Now that you have a clear idea of your niche product, the next thing that you must do is build a business profile, similar to an interactive business card. 

‍Note - This step provides some best marketing strategies as a business owner to help connect your potential customers to the business. If in need of a digital consultation, strategies, marketing, feel free to connect with us and let’s do great things together!

So, if you have a personal profile set, here’s how you can switch to an Instagram Business Account:

• Visit your Instagram profile and click on the hamburger icon in the upper right corner
• Now, click on settings > account
• Once done, click on “Switch to Professional Account” and then Business 
• Next, add all necessary details to the profile, such as the contact number and the business category
• Lastly, tap on “Done” and you’re good to go

Additionally, if you have a Facebook Page that is associated with your business, it's a good practice to connect it to the Instagram Business Account, and here’s how:

• Click on “Edit Profile”
• Now, tap on “Page,” you’ll find this under Public Business Information
• Select the Facebook Page to connect to your Instagram account. There can only be one page that can be connected to the business account

3. Create Instagram Content For Engagement

The only way to get anywhere close to 1 billion+ people to acknowledge your page is by making sure you are consistent and are providing high-quality content. This will help you build the brand’s identity and professional image, that is, the more content stands out there is higher the chance of building a loyal customer base to bring sales.

Increase your Instagram engagement by:

• Choosing a distinct theme. This could mean, narrowing down a color theme or building the brand voice in the content through multiple editing apps. 
• Creating quality graphics and videos. You must, at all costs, avoid shaky video or grainy images and keep in mind to make sure the profile looks visually appealing with many post types to make the profile dynamic
• Curate tutorials, Q&A polls, and quizzes adding more fun and creativity, such as this-or-that templates or ask people interesting questions to increase engagement
• Curate captivating captions and always stay in touch with the followers. This can be done by answering their questions, being more responsive with comments, etc.

4. Use URL In The Instagram Profile Bio

This is the hot-spot so to speak, the only space where you can venture the most and acquire major clicks. When a new customer happens to come across your Instagram page, they will by default end up looking through your bio page and clicking on the link you provide. 

Here’s how to further maximize and make full use of the Instagram bio:

• Always make sure to add the link to your website
• Make sure to use emojis to space out the text and make it more attractive
• Use that tiny space and describe your skills/role as a business owner with the use of smart choice of words
• Always keep in mind to include a call-to-action button, such as “Shop now“ or “contact” etc

5. Explore and Exploit the Instagram Stories and Reels

There is no better way to get your target audience to your page other than using the Instagram stories and reels to the fullest. There are about 500+ million daily users worldwide who check these spaces on a daily basis, therefore, using these in the best space could be an advantage for the company. 

Here’s what you can do on Instagram stories:

• Capture the business product in action
• Promote any kind of special offers 
• Host behind the scene posts and showcase how the products are made to build a trust factor

Another best way to make use of the space and drive traffic through the URL is by adding the link to your stories, and here’s how:

• Capture a photo/video on the Instagram stories 
• Now, click on the chain/attachment icon and choose the link sticker from the options
• Once done, enter the destination of the URL and tap the checkmark to complete

6. Instagram Advertisement

If in case you’ve been struggling with driving traffic, then the next sure-shot thing that you must do is get into Instagram advertising. Here, you’ll need to curate an Instagram ad campaign by posting sponsored content on the Instagram platform in order to reach your targeted audience.

Here are a few options that you could consider for the Instagram ads:

• Photo ads are the most effective advertising format and the easiest to do, that is, by simply adding a photo on the Instagram grid
• Video ads are the next option where you must upload a video that is about 120 seconds long 
• Stories ads through either image or video 
• Carousel ads by using a set of 2-10 photos or videos for the viewers to swipe through 
• Collection of ads that allows the customers to browse and discover a collection of your products 

7. Instagram Shopping

This is a relatively new feature on Instagram that offers businesses a storefront to tag their products in the posts. By doing so the customers will have access to pricing and product details. 

Getting started:

• Create a Sellfy store in order to sell physical goods, but make sure the business is located in a supported market.
• Now, convert your account into an Instagram Business Account and connect it to the Facebook Page, but make sure that the business complies with Instagram’s commerce policies.
• Now, connect the Instagram account to a Facebook catalogue with the help of the Catalogue Manager or Facebook Partner.
• Next, visit the Instagram profile’s settings > tap on “Business” > “Instagram Shopping”.
• Once done, submit the account for review which might take up to a few days

8. Instagram Selling Tools

In case Instagram Shopping isn’t available in the country you reside in, don’t be disheartened as you can still sell by using Instagram selling tools. These are third-party tools that offer software to help make the feed shoppable and monetize your channel. Here’s how:

• Add a storefront link in the bio section of Instagram to a shoppable page with the same design as the Instagram feed by using Like2Buy by Curalate or Have2HaveIt.
• Now turn your product images into shoppable Instagram posts using Soldsie. Here, the users can purchase by commenting “sold” or by adding necessary information like the size of the product or the color. This can also be done through apps like Spreesy. 
• By using Inselly or Boost you can curate dedicated hashtags to add to the description for the users to find the shoppable content. 
• Using affiliate links is another option, such as Liketoknow.it that embeds product credits via the affiliate link where the user needs to only like the photo to receive an email with a list of shoppable items in the post. When purchased, it gets a commission.

9. Reach Out To Influencers

Instagram collaborations play an essential role to boost social media strategies. The reason behind this is that the consumers fail to trust the traditional advertising methods, therefore, gaining the trust via influencers.

How to reach out:

• First things first, you need to identify an Instagram influencer who resonates with the target audience. Look for someone in a similar niche as yours to build trust.
• Now plan on developing a schedule, as to how many posts are you expecting the influencer to post? In other words, create an influencer marketing calendar that makes it easy to follow.
• Once done, establish a deal by understanding the expected pay or if not through money, close a barter system for mutual benefit.
• Understand that working with micro-influencers can be far easier than working with influencers who have larger followings. So choose your pick as per the budget and benefit.

To Conclude: Getting Ready To Sell

If the planning is done right, the revenue that can be earned is massive and extremely beneficial. However, it isn’t also fair to leave it to fate or the algorithm of Instagram itself, meaning there has to be a plan to run things through to start working on the magic. The best way to sell on the platform is by cross-promoting on other social media platforms whenever possible and letting the followers be aware of the process, and making sure to build trust through effective measures.