Instagram has just accelerated from a social media platform where businesses are discovered to a site where business is done – with Shoppable Instagram Posts. As we wrote about previously in Using Instagram As A Sales Funnel, stats were predicting Instagram to generate more than $6.5 billion in mobile ad revenue in 2018.
With more than 800 million users per month and 200 million users visiting a business profile per day, Instagram has been standing out, generating billions of dollars in sales for brands. And they’ve taken the relationship between shopper and retailer next level: following 12 months of testing in the US, Instagram has launched Shoppable Posts across Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK.
What This All Means
Shoppable Posts are a game-changer, turning online shopping on its head for a far more meaningful, interactive, and pleasing experience. It’s like digital window-shopping where you see something you like in the window then walk in to browse, look and buy.
The new shopping function means more than 9 million active Australian users can browse and shop by clicking on tags embedded in Instagram posts directly from the feed, without the buyer exiting Instagram to a retailer’s online store – through sales and transactions are still made through the retailer’s eCommerce site. Since Instagram only allows for URL links in bios and not captions, this makes Instagram’s feed purely shoppable.
Getting Started
If you haven’t already done so, make sure
- your Instagram is set to a Business Account and linked to the Shop section of your Facebook page. More details on how to do that >here<
- you have the latest version of the app installed on your phone
- your business complies with Facebook & Instagram’s merchant agreement and commerce policies
What To Do
- Go to your Profile
- Tap Get Started
- Tap Shopping
- Tap Continue
- Select a product catalogue by connecting your Instagram with a shop – or what Facebook & Instagram call a Product Catalog and then Done.
- You’ll be able to navigate from Business Settings to Products.
Instagram will review and approve your account. And given the current influx of everyone wanting in on Insta’s latest move, this approval process might be long and lengthy. More in-depth details from >Instagram here.<
How To Tag Products In Posts
Similarly to tagging people, you can Tag Products and search from the list of products on your connected Facebook store.
- Create at least 9 posts to activate the Shop button from your Instagram profile for your audience
- Tag multiple products in your posts for your audience to explore and browse
- Tag the products in the photo you want to tag – you can tag up to 5 products per single-image post or 20 products per carousel
- Enter the names of the products you want to tag then select them as they appear in the search box
- Tap Done
- Tap Share
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Tips
- Leverage different shopping formats like tagging a single image or a carousel for your very own Instagram Look Book
- Use insights to monitor and understand your audience and their habits
- Make sure each tag touches the correct product, so shoppers know which product the tag directly refers to
- Make sure your catalogue is up to date and features your best product
- Use Instagram Stories to promote your Shoppable Posts
- Embed your Instagram feed to your website
Why So Good?
This is certainly excellent for big business but it’s just as wonderful for small business too. Shoppable Posts will lead to an increase in site traffic, driving more followers to e-commerce sites while appealing to shoppers’ immediate FOMO and impulses. Currently, Insta users can view Shoppable Posts through search, visiting a business’s profile or by receiving a direct message or notification. It promises to be a ‘tasteful’ process without a deluge of tags: pricing information will only be available to those following the account and once they click into the post for more information The next likely step will see retailers marketing to new buyers and followers by promoting Shoppable Tags.
Who’s In On It?
For retailers to remain relevant and in business, they will absolutely need to incorporate mobile e-commerce and Instagram into their marketing strategy. Myer, Country Road, and Pepper Mayo have already plunged in head first, partnering with Instagram to trial Shoppable Posts across Australia now, while e-commerce platform BigCommerce has come onboard to monitor how the shopping option improves traffic.
What Next?
Using the right strategy, Instagram can elevate your business to effectively funnel customers, generate sales and create brand loyalty, while gradually directing a lasting and interactive relationship that turns followers into paying customers. Shoppable Posts brings businesses and customers closer together more than ever before – any closer, and the customer would be wiping their feet on the doormat.
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