With over a billion active users across the globe, Instagram is a social media sensation that is only getting bigger with each passing day. Due to its popularity, it has changed from a simple photo-sharing app to one of the most powerful marketing tools for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Ecommerce businesses, in particular, have taken great advantage of Instagram in recent years, and in this post, we’ll give you all the information ecommerce owners need to succeed on the platform.
Starting
The first thing you should do on Instagram is set up a business profile. If you don’t know the difference between a business profile on Insta and a regular profile, consider the following points:
A business profile allows owners to access analytics to evaluate trailer information, reach, impressions and much more.
A business profile can be used to add calls to action and other interactive features that allow your followers to get in touch with promotional posts.
Business profile supports third party integration.
So if your business doesn’t have an Instagram profile yet, it’s time for you to think about switching. The process of switching from a regular Insta profile to a business profile is simple and will only take you a few minutes to make the switch.
What’s next?
So you managed to switch to Instagram business profile. But is that enough for your ecommerce business? The short answer is simple – no, no. Once your business profile is set up with all the relevant photo, video and text content, it’s time to turn on the Instagram Store feature.
Instagram Store is a feature that you can use to integrate all your products with the business profile that you just transferred. Once the feature is enabled, you can display your entire product catalog to your target audience on Instagram itself. Instagram also recently added a feature called Checkout, which allows people to purchase products without leaving Instagram. So, by combining these features, your ecommerce business is sure to succeed.
Let’s take a look at all the benefits of the Instagram Store feature:
No need to leave Instagram viewers : Undoubtedly this is the biggest benefit that Instagram Shop offers to ecommerce businesses. Most social media users these days do not want to visit different websites to see the products they want to buy. They would prefer to get all the information on the platform they use.
If Instagram users like the products you have to offer, they are more likely to feel naturally visiting your Web site. This ensures that the people who visit your website sociallygo are more likely to buy from Instagram, and as a result, generate high quality traffic to your website.
Lets product tagging across posts : You will need to post regularly from your business profile on Instagram if you want to stay visible and relevant in the eyes of your target audience. With the Instagram Store feature, you can tag products across all your posts.
Once you optimize the hashtags for these posts, there’s a great chance they’ll be in front of your target audience in another recently introduced feature of Instagram – the Shopping Explore tab. Insta users usually look at the Shopping Explore tab which they already intend to buy.
Direct product promotion : Before the Instagram Store came along, it would be relatively difficult for ecommerce businesses to generate conversions from the platform. Sure, it was still a popular platform for strengthening customer relationships, but when it came to conversions, it was lacking. This is because Insta only allowed one link to be added. So every post that was a product or brand promotion had to have this kind of calls to action – see the link in the bio.
However, Instagram Shop has spice things up. Now, businesses can showcase their products directly, and also in different ways by using different posting formats (photo, video, Stories) without any adverse impact on the user experience. Thanks to Instagram Shop, it will be so easy to tag products across your posts and tag others.
Starting an Instagram Store for an ecommerce store
So now that you know all the benefits that the Instagram Store feature has to offer, you naturally want to know how to set up an Instagram Store for your ecommerce store. This will take some time, as it involves integrating certain moving parts and seeking Instagram approval to set it up. But don’t worry, the hassle is minimal and ultimately, it’s worth it!
The first thing you need to start your Instagram Store is the Facebook Store, which is the source for all the information Instagram has successfully created from your Instagram Store. If you do not have a Facebook store, here is how you can set it up.
Independent Facebook Store : The first option you can explore is to start an independent Facebook Store. However, it has the potential to complicate things, as you will need to create a product catalog from scratch and deal with inventory management in many areas.
Facebook’s ecommerce management system has also been sharply criticized, for not offering some features that are standard offerings on dedicated ecommerce platforms. However, it ‘s all about your preferences. If the Facebook Store works independently for you, there’s no reason you shouldn’t go ahead with it. However, if there seem to be problems with managing individual inventories and orders, there is also a second option to explore.
Synchronize your ecommerce store with Facebook : If your ecommerce store is on a platform like Shopify, BigCommerce, or Magento, you’re in luck. You can integrate your entire product catalog in a few minutes and the best thing about this option is automatic inventory tracking.
