Initially, Instagram was created as a free photo-sharing application. Now, sophisticated entrepreneurial minds have started to use Instagram to sell products and services as it works wonders with visual images. An account on the popular social network Instagram is a great opportunity to attract new customers, communicate with them and generate leads.
According to the 2019 Statista report, Instagram has become the 6th most visited social network in the world and over 500 million active users around the world open Instagram every day. 80% of all users follow at least one business page on Instagram.
New features allow millions of retailers to use Instagram to offer products, collect feedback, retain customers and attract them to sites for purchase. So, we will talk about some Instagram solutions for e-commerce to increase traffic to the site, customer loyalty, and generate sales. Let’s mull now.
- Choose an Account Type Based on Your Niche and Instagram Goals
There are several types of Instagram accounts for business promotion. You can determine the type of account as per your specific business needs. An Instagram account with good live followers, feedback, many hundreds, or even thousands of hours of invested work and money worth exorbitant amounts.
Types of Instagram accounts | Brief Explanation |
Instagram showcase (For Online Stores) | Showcase the images of your popular products and service to generate leads. |
Image account (For all companies) | Apart from images, company news, personnel, awards, etc, are shown here. |
Thematic account (To Interact with the audience) | It acts as a community whereon posts are made on specific topics and a corresponding target audience gathers. You can monetize such accounts through the sale of advertising slots. |
Personal Account | For personal branding. Can be used to promote products and services and communicate with the audience. Suitable for companies that perform business in B2B Model. |
Traffic accounts | They look like landing pages. You can use such accounts to convert traffic to subscribers and customers. A great option for traffic arbitration. |
- Create Interactive Instagram Content
The peculiarity of Instagram sales is that the pictures are the main content. The video is a step behind and is not popular among its users. You need to follow some rules while choosing images for sharing on Instagram.
- The image must be original and unique. So, click images yourself. Don’t steal them for image search results,
- Visualize your products and services in the best possible way to get calls from customers and
- Add fresh emotion and sensuality. Boring posts will not attract anyone and all your efforts for sales will go in vain.
Always keep in mind that Shopping on Instagram will allow users to interact with content by choosing different layers. Thanks to this new feature, they can find out more about the product and go straight to the seller’s website by clicking on the “Buy Now” button. It’s just a perfect solution that offers a smooth and understandable shopping experience.
- Go Extra Miles to Trigger Customer Actions
If you are really serious about generating sales through Instagram, don’t get satisfied with basic functions. Just use dedicated online platforms to give a unique shopping experience to customers. Such tools help you to display star rating, recommendations based on purchasing behaviour, the total number of sold products, customer photos, automatic publications, custom headlines, colours, descriptions, selection of similar products, links, and additional photos, etc. When users view a product in an Instagram post, they can follow the link in your profile that will redirect them to a site with a similar interface. Users can see the product rating, CTA buttons, and marketing posts of the brand. All these increases the chances of transactions up to a great extent.
- Create a Content Publication Schedule
It doesn’t matter how valuable your content is, you should not clog the news feed of subscribers with too many posts. Most companies make 1-2 posts per day to get immediate responses from customers. Through trial and error, you will find out the exact time and data when your subscribers most actively “like” posts. Use a dedicated Instagram marketing channel to create a schedule of posts on your Instagram account. Connect Instagram with other social networks to spread your posts on different social networks & increase their visibility.
- Use Hashtags to Make Posts Go Viral
Using tags, you can help your target audience to find your brand easily on Instagram because tags help you to sort pictures by subject and make your brand look different from others. You can use them to create new trends and promote the sale of goods and services. But, don’t make its excessive use.
- Use 15 Second Videos
Instagram videos will allow you to announce new products, perform mini-reviews, entertain your audience, contact them directly. Always keep in mind that people are more likely to watch this video than follow the link on YouTube.
- Affiliate with bloggers/popular People/Opinion Leaders
If possible, sign a contract with a well-known person, such as a film star, a successful artist, architect, etc. Post a recommendation from a reputable person who has already earned the trust of the audience. It will work wonders for you sooner or later.
Final Remarks
After seeing the increased interest from the business community all over the world, Instagram has introduced new features and functionalities for business promotion & marketing. So, start using Instagram as a sales tool to create leads and sales by leaps and bounds. Good Luck!