How often do people often visit your site?
For you to become successful, you need to rely on web traffic to increase conversions. But the thing is – what if the same people aren’t navigating your site every single day?
In a study about the online shopping behaviors in the US, 40 percent of users purchase products and services online a couple of times each month, while 20% buy every week.
While these numbers are encouraging, you can’t merely rely on your site alone to generate traffic and sales.
You need to utilize other platforms to market your products.
Take Instagram, for instance. It has 500 million daily active users, and approximately 80 percent of those users follow a business profile.
The platform has also become a lot more convenient since the introduction of Instagram’s Shoppable Post feature.
Before, the only way for you to reach your prospects with your products was through the links in IG stories, or on the link found in your bio. But now, this new feature offers users an optimal experience, making them purchase products directly through your posts.
So are you ready to start selling on Instagram?
In this article, you’ll learn how to create shoppable posts on the platform:
1. Turn your Instagram to a Business account
Before you can create shoppable posts on Instagram, you have to switch to a business account first.
If you don’t have a business profile yet, then you’re missing out on critical analytics that is vital in growing your account.
You’re also losing out on massive opportunities to make conversions (by making your Instagram shoppable.)
To switch to a business account, log in to your Instagram profile. Click the “gear” icon on the top right corner of your screen so that you can access your account settings.
From there, click on the “Switch to Business Profile.”
Remember that your profile must be set to “Public.” Otherwise, if you set it to Private, it isn’t possible for you to switch to a business profile.
2. Be in the right country
After you’ve switched your account, make sure that you are in the right country. When the feature first came out, it was only limited to 9 countries.
Currently, it’s being expanded to 46, with plans of going global. Check out Instagram’s post to see if your country is eligible.
3. Update the app
Ensure that you have the latest version of the Instagram app. If you want to check if you’ve already updated yours, head over to the App Store and go to Updates.
4. Time to sell!
The next thing that you need to do is to check if you’re selling products that readily comply with the platform’s merchant agreement and commerce policies. You can sell anything tangible from art, clothes, mugs, etc.
5. Create a product catalog on Facebook
By utilizing Facebook business manager, you can develop a catalog of products that you can sell on Instagram.
Your catalog is a file that has a list of the products that you want to sell.
Head over to the Business Manager account that has your Facebook Page on it, and the one linked to your Instagram account.
From there, you can develop a new catalog, or choose a previous list that you want to use.
Open your Business Manager Settings, and click on the People and Assets. You’ll discover a Catalog option. Select, “+ Add.”
Then, click Create a New Product Catalog.
Remember that you need to give your product catalog a name, as well as choose what kind of products you are adding to your catalog before adding it in your product feed.
At this point, it’s crucial that you keep your product catalog linked to your Facebook Page. You also have to ensure that all the prices and product descriptions are accurate.
If you will be running sales and promotions in the future, see to it that your product catalog accurately reflects this as well.
6. Wait to be approved
After doing the previous steps, your account should be approved. Initially, your account will be reviewed by the platform before it can gain full access to the shoppable feature.
Remember to be patient, as this process can take from a few hours, up to a couple of days!
Once you’re approved, you will see a notification at the top of your profile. After getting notified, you will need to add a couple of finishing touches to your Instagram profile.
Go to Instagram Settings, and click Business Settings and look for Shopping. Once you click continue, you’ll view a catalog, the one that you created on Facebook – listed.
To continue, select that catalog.
Voila! Now you can move on and tag your Instagram posts with your products.
How to tag products with Instagram Shoppable Posts
Once you’ve gained access to shoppable posts on the platform, and you’ve finished all the steps, adding tags in your posts are pretty straightforward.
Start uploading a photo on Instagram just like you would for any other post.
After you’re done with the effects and filters, click on “Next.”
Once you have the product feature enabled, you’ll now see an option allowing you to tag products on the screen, where you would usually put a caption and other relevant information.
Afterward, put the names of the products that you want to tag. Choose them as they appear in your search box.
Once you’re through with the edits, click on “Done” to publish your post.
Here’s a helpful tip – it’s possible for you to tag products in both your new and existing posts in your business profile. In a single image, you can tag up to 5 products or 20 products in a carousel post.
Measuring the results of your Shoppable Posts
All business accounts on Instagram have access to analytics in their shoppable posts, such as knowing how many people viewed their product information or have completed a click-through on a product page.
This information is crucial especially in understanding what kinds of products (and product tags) resonate well with a given audience. That way, it’s easier to identify any disconnect in the buyer’s journey.
Just like with your other social marketing efforts, data performance should be accurately measured to know what drives the best results.
So, once your business starts selling on Instagram, it’s essential to always be creative with your copy, shopping tags, and images, and other factors that may help in driving your Instagram sales in the long run.
Focusing on your Instagram analytics helps you know what your audience wants, as you work on improving your content.
Over time, this drives in more traffic and sales.
Over to you
So there you have it! Those are the fundamentals that will help you set up Instagram Shoppable Posts. By following these tips, you’ll be able to use it to boost your eCommerce product sales.
Guest author: Kevin Urrutia is the founder of Voy Media, an Instagram marketing agency in NYC. He helps businesses maximize the benefits of Instagram Advertising, leading to a dramatic improvement in sales while pushing down costs. Voy Media thoroughly studies each client and comes up with tailor-fit solutions to bring about the best results.