Instagram is a platform that we believe all businesses should be using to spread brand awareness and build customer relationships. Instagram has 500 million daily users with as many as 50% following at least one business, so it’s an invaluable channel when it comes to marketing.
Instagram’s biggest 2020 update brought us Instagram Shops, which is an essential feature for any business with a strong Instagram strategy.
What is Instagram Shops?
Instagram Shops is a feature that allows businesses to upload their product catalogue and tag and promote products within a post, story, or a “Shop” tab which appears on your Instagram profile. Clicking on the tagged product directs users to your website to gain more info and make a purchase quickly and easily.
You can tag up to 5 products per image, or if you post a carousel up to 20 products per post. When users click on the product tag they can quickly see information such as the name, price and more images of the product.
How To Set Up Instagram Shopping
As Instagram pulls information from Facebook to create your Instagram Shop, you need to have a Facebook Shop up and running first. At Onefeed we use Shopify to sync your entire product catalogue to Facebook, which you can then easily transfer to Instagram by adding Instagram as a sales channel on your Shopify account.
Once your products are uploaded, your Instagram Shops journey is ready to begin! You need to create just one product post to activate the shopping tab on your Instagram profile. As silly as it sounds, also ensure that your Instagram account is set to a business profile, or this won’t work.
The Advantages of Using Instagram Shops
There’s a long list of advantages for using Instagram Shops, but we’ve picked out the three which we think are key. Any size business should be using Instagram Shops to really maximise their site interaction and additionally their conversions. According to Bigcommerce, brands have reported seeing a 1416% increase in traffic along with a 20% increase in revenue after implementing Shops on their Instagram account. Along with this increase in revenue and traffic, other advantages businesses can expect from Instagram Shops include:
Letting users discover your product easily
Social Media is a platform where users go to discover new products, and which brands utilise to catch these users’ attention. By allowing you to tag products, Instagram Shops helps you provide more in-depth and instant information for users, making them more likely to make a purchase – and quickly. In fact, AdEspresso reports that 1 out of 3 Instagram users have made a purchase after discovering a new product on Instagram, and the Shops feature only enhances this.
Creating more authentic advertising
Consumers are now looking for a more authentic shopping experience. Your brand can now incorporate UGC posts by tagging the product directly. This allows your followers to see the product being used by a real person, rather than a model or a member of your staff.
Increasing Engagement
When sharing content on Instagram, the main goal for businesses is to gain social media engagement and spread brand awareness. By using Instagram Shops, making posts shoppable helps potential customers who want to learn more about the product click on the post to discover all the details. This increases the potential for users to interact with your account more in the future!
Now that you understand the key benefits of Instagram Shops, we know you’ll want to use the feature to grow your business. Onefeed is an award-winning digital marketing agency specialising in eCommerce, so why not send us a message at hello@onefeed.co.uk or call us on 0800 130 3140 to find out how our expertise in social media management can improve your account through Instagram Shops.
