We live in the age of social commerce. Instagram has given sellers a new channel to gain exposure, connect with fans, and, now, make sales. Learn how you can sell on Instagram, with tips and examples from brands doing it right.by
Instagram attracts more than two billion active users who spend an average of 12 hours on the app each month. That’s a selling opportunity your brand can’t afford to ignore.
To sell on Instagram, businesses and creators use Instagram Shopping—the platform’s social selling solution. It turns your profile into a branded shopping experience, and gives approved accounts the ability to tag your products in posts, Reels, and Stories.
Learn how to sell on Instagram here. This post explains how to set up Instagram Shopping for your account, then gives you seven ways to help boost your IG sales.
Instagram has become one of the hottest platforms for driving sales. With over 2 billion monthly active users, it provides a massive reach for businesses to showcase and sell their products directly to potential customers.
In fact, according to Hootsuite, 21% of Instagram users have purchased a product they discovered on the platform And Instagram itself revealed that 130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts to learn more about products every month.
Clearly, Instagram offers tremendous opportunity for sales growth But how exactly can you capitalize on this?
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process for selling successfully on Instagram. Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to skyrocketing your Instagram sales.
Step 1: Set Up an Instagram Business Profile
The first step is creating an Instagram business profile. This unlocks key features you’ll need, like Instagram Shopping and Instagram ads.
It’s easy to switch your personal account to a business one. Simply go to your profile, tap the menu icon, choose “Settings”, then “Account”, and switch your account type to “Business”.
With a business profile, you can access:
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Instagram Insights – View analytics on your followers, engagement, website traffic and more. This helps you identify what resonates most with your audience.
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Contact options – Add contact details like phone number, email or address so customers can easily get in touch.
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Promotions – Run special offers and sales promotions to boost revenue.
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Shopping features – Set up an Instagram Shop and use shopping tags to drive product discovery. More on this next!
Step 2: Set Up Your Instagram Shop
Instagram Shops make selling a breeze. Customers can browse and buy your products directly within the Instagram app.
To get started, go to the Commerce Manager and follow the steps to create your shop. You’ll add product details like titles, descriptions and images.
You can also connect your Shopify or other e-commerce platform to automatically sync your product catalog. This saves tons of manual work.
Finally, choose your preferred checkout method – either checkout on Instagram or direct customers to your website to complete purchases.
Step 3: Drive Traffic to Your Shop
Now it’s time to promote your shop and products to potential customers. Here are some highly effective tactics:
Use Shopping Tags
Tag your products using Instagram Shopping tags. When users tap on the tag, they’ll be directed to your shop to view details and purchase the product.
Shopping tags work in both feed posts and Stories. Use them consistently to boost product discovery.
![Example of shopping tag][]
Run Targeted Ads
Create Instagram ads showcasing your products and target them to your ideal audience. The platform’s powerful targeting options allow you to zero in on your perfect customers.
Ads appear in the Instagram feed with “Sponsored” labels so they stand out. Include compelling calls-to-action to get clicks.
Partner with Influencers
Team up with influencers in your niche to promote your products to their engaged follower base. Give them unique promo codes to track sales.
The right influencer partnerships can rapidly boost product discovery and awareness.
Host Giveaways
Giveaways are hugely popular on Instagram. To enter, users often have to follow you and tag friends – expanding your reach.
Offering an attractive prize incentivizes users to engage with your brand and products.
Share User-Generated Content
Repost user photos featuring your products. This builds trust and provides social proof. Make sure to ask permission first!
User-generated content feels authentic, so it can effectively influence purchase decisions.
Step 4: Optimize Your Instagram Shop
As you drive traffic to your Shop, focus on optimization to maximize sales:
Showcase Full Product Range
Feature your entire product catalog – all variations of colors, styles, sizes etc. This gives customers plenty of options to find their perfect match.
Use Detailed Product Descriptions
Don’t skimp on product descriptions! Include details like materials, manufacturing methods, measurements, etc.
More info builds confidence for customers to purchase. Answer their potential questions upfront.
Categorize Products
Organize your Shop using categories like “Popular Items”, “New Arrivals”, “Bestsellers” etc. This makes navigation easy.
Offer Limited-Time Discounts
Time-bound deals create urgency and spike purchases. Try “20% off this weekend only!” ![Limited-time discount example][]
Respond to Questions
Answer any product questions promptly via DMs, comments or Stories. This provides excellent customer service pre-purchase.
Knowledgeable staff can make the difference between a sale lost or gained.
Step 5: Analyze Performance and Optimize
The key to success on Instagram is continually testing and optimizing based on data. Instagram Insights provides the analytics you need.
Study metrics like:
- Impressions and reach for your posts and Stories
- Engagement rate
- Website clicks
- Content type performance
- Shopping tag taps
- Sales attributed to Instagram ads
Look for trends and insights you can act on. For example, if a specific product is getting high engagement, create more content spotlighting it.
Proven Ways to Boost Instagram Sales
Beyond the basics, brands can employ a variety of tactics to move the needle on Instagram sales:
- Leverage trends – Capitalize on viral trends like hashtag challenges to expand reach.
- Highlight new arrivals – Draw attention to new inventory with launch announcements and teasers.
- Cross-promote – Cross-promote Instagram content across other channels like email and Pinterest to maximize eyeballs.
- Reward loyalty – Offer exclusive perks and special discounts to top customers.
- Curate holiday guides – Share themed product guides for gifting occasions.
- Stage seasonal sales – Schedule sales around peak seasons or annual events.
- Ramp up during competitions – Increase activity and offers before or during key competitor sales events.
- Test variable pricing – Experiment with different pricing models like bundles and tiered plans.
- Highlight social proof – Repost happy customer photos and positive reviews.
- Share behind-the-scenes – Provide sneak peeks into your production process to build brand love.
Key Takeaways
Selling on Instagram provides an opportunity to expose your brand and products to a vast audience. Follow this guide to set up and optimize your Instagram shop for sales success:
- Switch to an Instagram business profile to access key commerce features
- Set up your shop and sync your product catalog
- Promote your shop consistently with shopping tags, influencers and targeted ads
- Engage followers by responding to questions and sharing UGC
- Organize your shop with categories, detailed descriptions and full product range
- Analyze performance data and continually optimize
- Employ proven tactics like holiday guides and seasonal sales to boost revenue
With the right strategy tailored to your brand, Instagram can become a highly lucrative sales channel. So get creative, start connecting with shoppers, and watch your Instagram sales take off!
Use product tags
The path from product discovery to purchase is not linear on Instagram. As your customers are scrolling, tags give them a chance to switch tasks and easily find out more about a product. They can visit your website at the moment of discovery, and even make a purchase from Instagram itself.
Tag products in your posts, Stories, and Reels so people can easily shop wherever they find joy in the app. If you’re a business with checkout-enabled shopping, you can also tag Live feeds.
If your goal is to get your product in front of more customers, it’s worth knowing that tagged products can also appear in users’ Explore feeds.
Users can also tag your products. When your product receives a tag, you’ll get a notification. You can view all tagged content on your profile and control tagging permissions in settings.
According to Instagram, 1.6 million people tag at least one product each week. Using product tags can help expand product awareness and drive potential customers to your products.
Reels let your business create and publish videos up to 60 seconds long. It’s easy to get creative with text overlays, AR filters, and popular background music to tell your brand’s story. Reels can also appear on the Explore page, where anyone on Instagram can see them.
The coolest part? You can tag products in your Reels, so that when someone views your Reels they can easily access any products or collections mentioned.
Curate user-generated content
If people are buying and enjoying your product, chances are they’re posting about it on social media. User-generated content is a great way to fill your Instagram feed with quality content while still taking advantage of Instagram Shopping features.
For an example of a brand leveraging user-generated content, take a look at tattoo company Inkbox. They curate and repost mentions and recommendations to their 1.5 million Instagram followers.
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand Vuori also leverages a user-generated Instagram content strategy. Nikki Sakelliou, the company’s chief marketing officer, told Glossy Vuori initially was hesitant about tagging products and featuring user posts in its feed. But thanks to the success of the approach, about half of Vuori’s posts are now shoppable.
Many brands have come to see social media marketing as the gateway that lets them connect authentically with audience members one on one. With user-generated content, brands give users the opportunity to tell real and relatable stories—something that can be hard to achieve with traditional content.
How To Sell On Instagram: Set Up An Instagram Shop In 15 Minutes or Less
How to sell your Instagram account?
As a seller, all you have to do is follow these steps; Just click on the “Sell Tab” and list your Instagram account for sale. Our team will verify your Instagram account and in case of any need, we will contact you via email. It is an imperative process. Your account must pass the verification stage and then only we will start working on it.
What are some tips for selling products on Instagram?
Here are 9 tips on how you can feature your product consistently in your posts so people can learn about your products on Instagram. Build a habit of posting about your products. Create posts about your products at a regular cadence, like a certain day of the week, so your community members build a habit of looking at your products regularly.
How to list your Instagram account for sale?
As a seller, all you have to do is follow these steps; Just click on the “Sell Tab” and list your Instagram account for sale. Our team will verify your Instagram account and in case of any need, we will contact you via email. It is an imperative process. Your account must pass the verification stage and then only we will start working on it.
How do you use product tags on Instagram?
In a nutshell, Shoppable Posts let you add product tags to your content so people can buy directly from them. Product tags on Instagram are similar to tagging other users in your posts, except you’re tagging your products. This allows shoppers to click on your tags and quickly shop your catalog of products.
