Recently, Instagram unveiled their new shopping program that allows people to purchase products directly through their platform. Much like Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Shopping is similar, allowing consumers to buy products they see on Instagram without being redirected to a different website. This new addition can be a big help to companies that leverage their social media presence to increase sales and market themselves. Let’s take a look at what Instagram Shopping is and how you can use it to help your business.
What Is Instagram Shopping?
Instagram Shopping is a platform designed for ecommerce companies to add a catalog of their products directly to Instagram. Consumers can find product information, reviews, and even purchase directly through the Instagram app. Consumers can also finish their transactions on the ecommerce site if needed.
Historically, brands who advertised their products on Instagram would have to post their shopping link in their bio or to an Instagram story. With this new ecommerce program added to Instagram, brands can easily promote and sell their products in the same place. This easily allows people to move from an Instagram post to your website to complete a purchase.
How Does Instagram Shopping Work?
To set up Instagram Shopping you’ll need to convert your Instagram account to a professional one. Once you’ve switched to a professional version in the account settings menu, you’ll need to connect it to your Facebook Business Page.
Once you’ve connected your two social platforms, it’s time to upload your product catalog. There are a few options to choose from when doing this. You can either manually enter your products through your Facebook Business Account or use an ecommerce platform such as Shopify to integrate your product catalog from your site. The product catalog must be created or uploaded through your Facebook Business Account so having that set up is imperative.
After you’ve uploaded your product catalog to Facebook, you can go back to your Instagram account, select business settings, and add the desired catalogs to your Instagram account. Now, all the products within that catalog are on display in the Instagram Shopping hub and on your profile page.
Marketing Your Products With Instagram Shopping
Now that you have a fully set up Instagram Shopping account and product catalog, it’s time to utilize it in your social media marketing. Whenever you create posts showcasing your products, you can now tag the post’s actual products. Like how you could tag another Instagram account, you would do the same thing with your products. This creates a clickable feature within your posts that allows your followers to quickly navigate to the product page to learn more or make a purchase.
The same goes for posting stories containing your products. You can easily add a clickable tag to your that will direct those who click to that specific product page in the shopping catalog.
The Takeaway
Instagram Shopping is another significant advancement in the world of ecommerce. It allows businesses to sell their products in another place where they likely are already promoting themselves. By engaging in Instagram Shopping, brands can more easily get their products in front of interested consumers and make the purchasing process that much easier by allowing it to all be done within the app.
If you’re currently marketing your products on Instagram, it might be time to try Instagram Shopping to boost your sales and give your social media marketing the edge it needs.