Instagram has over 1 billion users, so if your business isn't on it, you are missing out on a lot of potential sales. An Instagram Shop is a huge advantage for any brand looking to increase their business revenue.
When you add a shop to your Instagram profile page, it gives people the option to purchase directly from your account which means no extra effort for them. If you are thinking about setting up an Instagram shop on your profile, or are running a business and have already decided that an Instagram shop is the right fit for you and your brand, then this guide to setting up an Instagram shop is definitely for you.
In this guide, we cover every step of setting up your shop and its key benefits, including making sales/profits. Here’s everything you need to know.
Contents
Businesses can showcase their products on Instagram Shop and anyone with Instagram can scroll through the items and buy them. They can also follow the brand featured on the page, or visit their online shop.
This allows business owners to improve their exposure on Instagram while also enabling new users to discover their brand for the first time. You can sell your own branded merchandise, run promotional giveaways and create hype around your brand.
Brands can carefully organise a list of shoppable products that are accessible through the “View Shop” button on their Instagram profile page.
Their product will also be featured on the Instagram Shop tab — a brand new purchasing destination accessible from Instagram’s main navigation menu.
Products displayed on Instagram shop are tailored to individuals based on their previous engagement and the posts and brands followed.
Instagram shopping posts make it simpler for individuals to shop the items they find on Instagram by surveying "tagged" items in posts.
Instagram is quickly turning into an online business force to be reckoned with and is fast becoming an e-commerce powerhouse.
With Instagram Shop, you can incorporate your product catalog into your Instagram profile. This enables you to promote your products directly to Instagram users through Posts, Stories, Explore tab, and a special Shop tab on your profile.
Here are four key benefits of an Instagram shop;
It's no longer news that the social media space is crowded with a lot of noise. There are so many businesses competing for users' attention, it can be challenging to compel customers to visit your store.
The perfect solution? Take your store to your users.
Shoppers can browse through a lineup of products, select the ones that they are interested in, and check out right on the retailer’s Instagram page without having to visit another site. While this particular feature is only available for US users at the moment, it's a good point to note!
By adding your products to an Instagram profile, you can create a customer database and have loyal clients who are waiting for your newest product to be released.
Instagram has always been a fantastic platform to connect with your target audience and create deeper customer relationships.
With business owners getting more creative with their Instagram posts, they face one major restriction: Instagram only allows one external link in your profile. This makes it difficult for consumers to find your product if you’re not already a part of one of the “known brands” that have already branded their products as an alternative for Instagram users.
When you feature products in your bio that direct them away from the main post, it makes the overall experience poorer for both you and your audience.
An Instagram Shop lets you seamlessly incorporate all of your Instagram content with your store. There isn’t any need to direct your followers to “Click the link in bio!”
This feature makes buying decisions much easier because your products will be exposed to your target audience based on the interest and previous engagement of your users. Also, most Instagram users choose to follow businesses based on product offerings, and Instagram shops are a great place to engage potential customers and help them make a purchase decision.
Once a product is tagged in a post, it will be added to Instagram's new Shopping Explore tab and users can click directly on the link to shop.
By optimising your hashtags, you can get your products to appear in the Shopping Explore tab for specific categories.
Instagram Shop product pages showcase everything your potential customers might want to know before purchasing your product. This includes:
With an Instagram shop, you can make a real connection with customers and make a true-to-life shopping experience. It enables you to promote your products directly while adding a personal touch to your marketing endeavours.
Bottom line, Instagram Shops are an excellent way to boost your sales and increase profits.
So how can you create an Instagram Shop?
Follow these simple steps to start sharing Instagram shopping posts with your audience;
If you sell products online and your business ticks all of these boxes, you are eligible and able to set up an Instagram Shop.
Go through these steps to change your account into a business manager account.
A business account allows you to include additional business information, examples are your opening hours, your business address and phone number, plus a link to your website.
Follow these steps to successfully link your Instagram business account to a Facebook Page.
Bring your product catalog to Instagram Shop by connecting it to your Instagram business account. Try these two methods;
After you connect a product catalogue to your Instagram and have products in your catalogue, follow these simple steps to put your account in review.
Profile reviews typically take a few days but sometimes may take longer.
If your business is notified to give additional information that proves ownership of their website domain, follow the steps to complete your domain verification process.
You can turn on shopping features, once your account is approved. If you don't find Shopping in your settings, it means that Instagram is still reviewing your account.
Shop, product tags, and shoppable stickers are highly beneficial to businesses. This includes the Explore page's shopping channel, the new "checkout" feature, and shoppable feeds that help to bridge the gap between product discovery and sales.
Right now it’s more important than ever to create incredible shoppable Instagram posts that appeal to your target audience and showcase your products.
Here are 5 great tips for creating great shopping posts that convert!
Ensure the visual content you choose as your shopping posts are in line with your overall Instagram aesthetic. A beautiful and consistent Instagram aesthetic is outwardly satisfying and can incredibly improve brand recognition and business achievement. It will pass on your brand's voice, character, and story and help your followers identify your brand content when it pops up on their feed.
This means using the same editing style, brand voice, content choice on your shopping posts so they can easily fit in with your feed architecture.
Instagram now allows businesses to tag products in the same way as they tag people. This is a huge increase in simplicity for tagging your products. With this feature, you can tag up to five products in a single post on Instagram. For the best results, ensure you cross-check your product links so they are not broken or misleading. This little effort makes the buying process easier for users who want to make a speedy purchase.
Remember you created an Instagram shop to help your users shop faster and without stress, so the little time spent in double-checking your links once it goes live can make a real difference to your customer's experience and your business sales!
Since the Instagram product tag feature is relatively new and exciting to explore, you might be tempted to go all-in at once, which could severely hurt your brand.
Remember you can tag up to 5 products in a single image post, so you need to make sure they’re evenly spaced out so they don’t overlap and disrupt the information on the tag. You don't have to fit in all the product tags in one single post. You can always tag the other product items in another post further down the line, or even make a carousel post.
Your post becomes 'searchable' on the Explore page with descriptive hashtags or appears in the new Shopping channel. This provides more opportunities to have your products discovered by the right people.
By using hashtags effectively on your Instagram shopping posts, engagement and conversions increase as people discover and follow your posts.
It’s better to spread your Instagram shopping posts across your feed and stories.
By doing this, your followers and audience won’t feel like they’re being hit with a sales pitch 24/7 and the shoppable tags can incorporate smoothly into your overall feed and aesthetic.
We know how exciting exploring a new feature on Instagram can be— and sometimes this excitement can turn into over-use of that feature. Avoid this by carefully following the tips and strategies we shared at your own pace.
Launching a Shop section on your Instagram profile will allow you to promote your products in a much better and straightforward manner than using your own profile page alone.
If you have a physical store, it will also give you the chance to offer special promotions and discounts to your shoppers without necessarily having them visit your store and keep an eye out for customers through the Instagram app itself.
Interested in setting up your Instagram Shop and get more sales? Heroes of Digital is the top social media agency in Singapore. With more than 600 clients under our belt and half a decade of experience, we are the go-to Singapore social media marketing agency.
Get your free social media marketing consultation with us today!
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