Now Instagram isthe platform where brands of all sizes can easily connect with their customers.But creating an Instagram account isn’t enough. Every online store owner shouldbe aware of what’s happening on this social media channel, and this year it’s allabout engaging stories, reels, and shoppable posts.

 

So read on tolearn a couple of well-tested tactics on how to convert your business Instagramaccount into a stable source of traffic and orders.

 

1. Start postingInstagram Stories regularly

Instagram Storieshave over 300 million daily active users. It means that approximately 60% ofInstagram’s 500 million daily active users are viewing or publishing content onInstagram Stories. Needless to say, not using this feature puts your businessat a great disadvantage.

 

But apart from thenumbers, why should you care about Instagram Stories? Well, they only appearfor 24 hours. So if you have plenty of content to share, you don’t have to spamyour Instagram feed. Just use Stories!

 

Let’s take a lookat some of the features that can make your Instagram Stories more effective:

 

Highlight stories.

As we mentionedabove, Instagram Stories vanish after 24 hours. But now you can save them toHighlights. This feature lets your followers rewatch your best Stories, ordiscover the ones they haven’t had a chance to see before they startedfollowing you.

“Swipeup” feature.

It’s easy to sendyour customers directly to your shop – just add the link to your Instagramstory. But remember that at the moment this feature is only available foraccounts with 10,000+ followers, or accounts that are verified.

Shoppable Stories.

If you have abusiness account that’s connected to a Facebook catalog, you can also tagproducts by adding a product sticker to your Instagram Stories. This way yourcustomers will have the option to see product info in-app and decide if theywant to make a purchase.

Promoted Stories.Organic Instagram reach is slowly decreasing, so it can get tricky to maintainthe same engagement without paid advertising. That’s why promoted stories canhelp you cut through the noise and get in touch with potential customers.

 

What should e-commercebusiness owners do to really SELL via stories?

√  Make them eye-catching.

Make your storiesnoticeable using Boomerang, GIF stickers or Face Filters. Simplebehind-the-scenes photos of your business also work well, since they make youcloser to your audience, and adds that ever-important sense of trust.

√  Engage with your followers through Q&Aand poll stickers, or emoji sliders.

Today like neverbefore, customers want to be part of your brand. So let them contribute bysubmitting a question, voting or expressing their emotions. This way customersare invested in your brand, and are more likely to continue to shop in yourstore.

√ Addoutbound links to your content.

Create anexcellent post, add the link to your store, or to the product you’re tellingabout, choose the right target audience, and enjoy higher conversion rates.

 

2. Try to makemore live videos

Live videostreaming is on the rise, and according to multiple studies, its’ popularitywill continue growing by the day. Live streamed content is popular among peopleof all ages, and 63% of people between 18 and 34 are already watching this typeof content regularly.

 

Live streaming isa great tool you can leverage to engage with your audience in real time.Besides, it gives you an opportunity to build a stronger connection with yourcustomers by showing them the person behind your brand name.

 

If you’ve neverhosted an Instagram live stream, here are a few ideas of what you can do duringone:

√ give your customers a glimpse of exclusive brand events

√ do aninterview with someone whose experience is valuable to the audience

√ Showyou or your customers unboxing the products

√ announceupcoming events and novelties in the assortment

√ givethe link right to your store and encourage people to act immediately, so you’llget more leads

 

What should e-commercebusiness owners do to really SELL via Live Videos?

The first step isto involve as many viewers as possible. Make an announcement in a post and/or astory before streaming and explain what you’re going to do during the Livevideo. This way more followers will be aware of the event beforehand, and whenInstagram sends all your followers an automatic notification that your accountis going live, they’ll know exactly what to expect in the video.

 

And don’t forgetto prepare beforehand: plan the content you want to share and make sure yourstream session is fun and engaging. Last but not least, don’t forget to testthe video and audio quality before going live!

 

All thesepreparations show that you’re dedicated to your brand and your followers, whoare more likely to become loyal buying customers.

 

3. Make yourInstagram profile your second home page

More and morepeople use Instagram, not Google, to find more information about the brandsthey like, or are curious about. And this means that your Instagram accountshould be not only aesthetically pleasing but informative too.

 

For example, KakaClo’s Instagram feedhas a recognizable branded style that immediately shows off their uniqueidentity. It’s also very easy to contact the company – there is a direct linkto the store in the link-tree, as well as an option to email them. Moreover, inHighlights, you can see the best of their content.

What shouldecommerce business owners do to really SELL via their Instagram profile?

√  Useyour brand’s style to make the profile recognizable. If you don’t have anindividual style yet, it’s time to create one

√ Write abio that will help followers understand who you are and what you are doing

√ The biois the only chance on Instagram to add a clickable link. So, don’t forget toadd it

 

By creating aunified, sleek look on your Instagram account, you create a sense of awell-established, trustworthy brand, and anyone who browses your Instagrammight be convinced to become part of what you represent by ordering one of yourproducts.

 

4. Start usinguser generated content

User-generatedcontent (UGC) is the most significant source of content for many brands.  Using UGC puts the customers in the center,and lets them tell your story. It also provides social proof and shows thatyou’re open to conversation with your audience. All these things make UGC

more trustworthy thanbranded advertising. And it’s free!

But the questionis: how do you legally repost UGC on Instagram? You can follow Stitchfix’sexample:

 

When a customertags one of Stitchfix’s products in their photo, the brand requests apermission to repost that photo on Stitchfix Instagram account by leaving acomment under it. If a user agrees to have their photo reposted, they can replyto the comment with a unique confirmation hashtag. For Stitchfix it’s #yesstichfix.

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What shouldecommerce business owners do to really SELL via UGC?

Carefully followyour brand mentions on Instagram to find the best possible content you mightuse

Reach out toindividuals who shared content related to your brand and ask for permission torepost their content on your account or website

 

5. Work with microinfluencers

First, let’sdefine who a micro influencer is. It’s a brand advocate who has between 2,000and 100,000 followers. Advertising on micro influencers’ accounts was aprevalent tendency in 2020, and it seems like it’s only going to grow.

 

But are micro-influencersthe right choice for your brand? There are both pros and cons.

 

Pros:

√ Comparedto A-class opinion leaders, micro influencers have a closer bond with their followers.It’s quite simple – a smaller following allows them to interact with theaudience, and respond to comments or direct messages more often.

√ Workingwith micro-influencers costs less.

√  Followerstrust the opinion of a micro-influencer more than they would trust an ad.

Cons:

√ It cantake time to find the right micro-influencer.

√ To meetyour campaign goals you might need to work with more than one micro-influencerat a time.

√ In thatcase, managing content and payment can take some time, since each influencerwill have their own pricing scale and requirements.

√ It’spossible to buy followers, so you should make sure that influencers you want towork with aren’t doing that. Here are some tips on how to find out whether aninfluencer’s followers are real.

 

What shouldecommerce business owners do to really SELL with the help of micro influencers?

√  Find amicro influencer with the audience which is close to yours for the opportunityto sponsor their content.

√ Measurethe success of your campaigns to determine if your chosen micro influencerstrategy works. For example, provide the micro influencer with a discount promocode.  If the results don’t satisfy you,try another micro influencer with a different audience.

Investing inpartnerships with other content creators is worthwhile if these people aretrusted and appreciated by their followers. Needless to say, an honestrecommendation by these thought leaders can build awareness of your brand andwhat you produce.

 

6. Use shoppableposts and Stories

We alreadymentioned shoppable Stories, but did you know that earlier this year Instagramintroduced Shoppable posts? Now all Instagram business account owners can markup to five products per image, or up to twenty products per carousel, todisplay product names, short descriptions, and prices. If a user clicks on theproduct on the picture, they’re automatically directed to your shop for moredetails. The best parts? Setting up shopping on Instagram takes only a fewminutes!

What shouldecommerce business owners do to really SELL via shoppable posts?

The main sellingpoint is that Instagram followers don’t even have to leave the app to make apurchase, so this is the easiest and most direct way to sell on Instagram. Yourtask is to use everything the feature offers, so your followers would have asmuch information as possible:

 

Create anattractive product picture

Make a shortproduct description that will fit the space

√ Set theprice

√ Add thelink

Tag your old postsas well.

This way, if someone’slooking through your account, they can buy the products seen in posts that werecreated before the shoppable feature went live. What’s more, creating more than9 shoppable posts will trigger a new “shop” tab in your account, wherefollowers can see all your shoppable posts in one place.

 

Bonus: Otherservices that’ll make your Instagram account shoppable

Linkinbio

Linkinbiocreates a landing page which looks like your Instagram feed, but the photos areclickable.

By clicking on thelink in bio, you are taken to the landing page. On the landing page you can tapon any picture with a product you like and buy it.

 

KakaClo Explore

KakaClo is awholesale platform for fashion business owners, providing not only in-stockapparel custom production and dropshipping service.

However, withinthe website, there’s also a great feature for Instagram commerce.

A resource pool ofall fashion Instagram posts, looking into the latest trending styles for outfitinspo, sourcing products for selling ideas.

All in “Explore”.

The ShopifyShopping Feature

Recently Shopifyannounced its integration with Instagram, making any Instagram post shoppable.The new Shopify Shopping Feature offers tagging the products that are in stockand, what is really cool, purchasing them within the app.

 

Foursixty

Foursixty turnsInstagram content into shoppable galleries that you place on your website. Thepage looks exactly like the Instagram feed. The difference is if you tap on thephoto you can see the tagged products that you may purchase.

Is your Instagramshoppable yet?

Instagram isperfect for ecommerce businesses, but you need to find out what works the bestfor you. There is no “one size fits all” solution, so coming up with your ownInstagram strategy requires some work.

 

That’s why testingand analyzing data is essential. Implement the techniques one by one, closelymonitor the results, and keep only those features that perform best. Choosewisely, focusing on your target audience, and its’ interests and needs.

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