A social media network that made quite a splash in the social media waters recently is most definitely Instagram and the introduction of the Shopping feature. Business accounts received quite an uplift with this feature, prompting brand accessibility and turning business accounts into shoppable storefronts. A shortcut which links potential customers to the brand more easily, allowing a more direct connection to the offered products. How does it work exactly and how can you use it to your advantage? Ben Givon has the scoop.
Brands and stores are now able to tag their products on posts — as easy as tagging other people on regular posts. After a testing of the feature was submitted in the US, Instagram users all over the world had the chance to welcome the new feature in late 2020, and since then it has received praise.
Businesses can choose photos or carousels they’d like to promote and tag up to five products per a single image or twenty products per a carousel post. This type of notification allows the viewers/potential customers to access the details behind the products and their price. A link is also revealed, which leads you to the website where customers can actually buy the products.
How to Gain Access to Instagram Shopping
Brands, stores or businesses that want to attain this feature need to fulfill certain requirements before enabling it. Ben Givon leads you through the process, step by step:
- Having a business profile.
- Having a fan page on Facebook.
- Having at least 9 shopping publications.
- Having the latest version of the Instagram App.
- Selling physical products from a verified, official website.
- The business profile connected to a Facebook catalog.
Installing Shopping on Instagram
If your brand met all the listed criteria from above, proceed with following the steps that will lead you to feature activation on your profile.
- Go to Settings on your business Instagram account.
- Tap on Shopping next.
- Continue by selecting a product catalog.
Once the enabling process is completed, the next step is uploading the pre picked photos and tagging the products. In order to do so, tap on the products that you wish to tag, enter the demanded details and tap on done. Now, it’s important to differentiate how the novice tool works for users and how it works for businesses.
User Advantages
The users, or potential customers now have an option to look up and buy products from this social media platform more directly. Statistics show that 70% of shoppers turn to Instagram for product discovery and inspiration, while 87% of users say that influencers inspire them to purchase products. When motivated by something they saw, users were more likely to take further steps to finding and buying it right away.
Images containing links to products will have a shopping bag icon on the top right corner of the image. After clicking on the image, the message “tap to view product” will appear in a small window. When tapping on a product, a pop up window will appear holding additional details and a buy option. The main advantage for users is that it saves time, since it’s no longer required to go to the “link in bio” and continue shopping.
Business Advantages
First things first, having access to a new sales channel. As a business you’ll be able to measure sales easily but also, the following list of advantages:
- More traffic from Instagram to website — an increased number of visitors to your website. All interested customers will be redirected to your site as soon as they click on “shop now”.
- A higher number of orders is implied when using this tool. You can increase sales, but also follow the exact numbers and observe which ones came from Instagram.
- The Instagram Shopping tool might be an additional source of positioning. If your brand doesn’t have a favorable SEO positioning on Google, you can refocus your strength to Instagram and get better positioning on social media channels.
Instagram Shopping is definitely a game changer when it comes to the way businesses sell products, but also design product cards. There is a new storefront unveiled for the world to see, and Ben Givon advises using it to its maximum advantage in order to go with the ever changing marketing flow on Instagram and expand your brand to the fullest.
