Sell More Products With Instagram Shopping

Why use Instagram shopping posts?

Instagram has become an essential platform for retail brands. On average 200 million Instagram users are visiting at least one business profile every day.

In the past, Instagram was a great place to build your audience and connect with your audience. You were encouraging them to visit your website or brick-and-mortar shop. But in recent years, Instagram shopping has allowed brands to transform their profiles into virtual storefronts. Users can now shop directly from an Instagram post without having to leave the platform.

The opportunities that Instagram Shopping brings is huge: 70% of shopping enthusiasts use Instagram for product discovery, and more than 130 million users click on a shopping post at least once per month.

With just a few easy steps, you can set up Instagram Shopping to unlock an easy, enjoyable shopping experience for your customers.

How to set up Instagram shopping posts

Getting started with Instagram shopping requires some prep work, but you can be up and running in just a few days! Here is a checklist to follow.

Step. 1: Make sure you meet the requirements:

Before you can set up Instagram Shopping, you have to make sure that your business meets this criteria.

• You’re based in a country where Instagram Shopping is available. Check the list to confirm. Also, you can only sell physical products.
• You must have an Instagram business profile. If your account is set up as a personal profile, you will need to change your settings to business.
• Your  Instagram profile is connected to a Facebook Page. This is so that you can set up your product catalog in Facebook. Learn how to add or change the connected Facebook Page.

Step 2: Create your product catalog on Facebook

Once you have added all of your products to the Facebook catalog, you’ll be able to tag them in your Instagram posts and Stories. You can also set up a shop on your Facebook Page.

Tip: When adding product names, you will want to make sure that they’re descriptive enough.  You want to make sure your users know what item in the photo has been tagged. For instance, “The Khaleesi” doesn’t explain what product is for sale, instead using “The Khaleesi Leather Vest” is more helpful. These product names along with the image are all your audience sees at first glance. You want to make sure the name is attention grabbing, and descriptive enough to get your client to click on it.

Step 3: Get approved for Instagram shopping

Once your catalog is set up on Facebook and you have checked that your business fulfills the requirements, you can submit your account for review.

Go to your Settings, tap Business, and then Sign Up for Instagram Shopping. Follow the steps and hit submit. Review and approval may take a few days.

Step 4: Turn on shopping in the Instagram app

Once you have gotten the stamp of approval from Instagram, you will see a new option under Settings and Business, titled Shopping. Tap this to turn on shopping in the Instagram app.

Step 5: Set up your first shoppable Instagram post!

You are now ready to start making sales! First you will need to upload a photo just like you would for a regular post. Then tap on the items you want to tag. You are able to tag up to five products per post.

You can start typing the name of the products you want to tag. These names must correspond to the names in your product catalog. It is important to double check this and make sure everything matches. You will then select the product as they appear in the search box. You are also able to tag up to five products in video posts. A tray will appear where you can select the products.

Tips:

• Any Instagram shoppable posts will be identified in your feed by the shopping bag icon in the top-right corner.
• Any products that your account has tagged will appear on your profile under the Shopping tab.

Setting up Instagram shopping Stories:

Roughly 500 million users watch Instagram Stories every day. Now customers can shop straight from your Stories. You are now able to tag one product per Instagram Story.

You will first start by uploading your Story. Then tap the sticker icon in the top-right corner, and select Product. From there, select the item from your product catalog like you would in a regular post.

Tip: You can customize the look of the product sticker to match the colors of in your Story.

Instagram Checkout

Instagram checkout is exactly like it sounds like—this  feature allows users to purchase products without leaving the Instagram app. This is very convenient. Most users don’t want to take the time to switch apps and would rather do everything in one place. This is also a very quick way to get a sale, as it only takes a few clicks to complete the sale.

According to Instagram, this checkout process enhances the shopping experience by making the purchase simple, convenient and secure. People will no longer have to navigate to a browser or new app when they want to complete a purchase. And with all of their protected payment information in one place, they are able to shop their favorite brands and stores without having to log in and enter their information multiple times in multiple places.