As of 2021, Instagram has celebrated its 12th birthday and reached 1.22 billion users per month. In 2021 18 to 34 year olds make up the biggest share of Instagram’s audience and Instagram had became second most-downloaded app in the world after Tiktok.
Needless to say, Instagram advertising is a pretty big deal. As a platform, Instagram gives customers an up close and personal look at products and experiences that you share–and it lets you tailor your brand.
It also helps you find your target audience and appeal to a niche. The picture format allows you to create a clean, eye-catching aesthetic to represent your business–and attract new customers.
If you haven’t already started using Instagram to boost your sales, there’s no better time than now to get on the action.
Let’s get into some tips, strategies, and practices for learning how to sell on Instagram like a pro.
A Beginner’s Guide on How to Sell on Instagram
Learning how to use Instagram for marketing can offer any business a great opportunity to drive sales and appeal to a niche audience.
Whether you’re making the product yourself or you’re drop shipping through a retailer, Instagram provides a great opportunity to reach new customers and boost your sales. Here are some tips to make the best of that opportunity–and take your Instagram for business to the next level.
Read also: How to Promote Your Dropshipping Business with Instagram Shopping
1. Use Shoppable Posts
A big mistake that a lot of beginners make is trying to put links in the description of their photos. Not only does it look awkward and distracting, but your followers won’t even be able to click on them.
Thanks to a new feature, you can use shoppable posts to link directly to your product.
In these posts, you can tag your product like you would a person in a personal photo. When the user clicks on the photo, a link will pop up that can take them to the website.
Shoppable posts are marked with a shopping bag icon in the corner of the photo. Users can also browse your entire shop directly from the profile.
2. Don’t Slack on the Photo
Having a beautiful, compelling, and eye-catching photo is the key to having a successful Instagram.
Your captions are important, but the photo is always the centerpiece. Take professional, high-quality photos of your products. Get creative with the presentation, background, and filters that you use.
When your photos look sleek, professional, and pleasing to the eye–your business will too.
Mix up the shots with some out of the box ideas. Use models to show off your product, show behind the scenes action, or give a sneak peek at a new product.
Professional photos are a must, but followers also love to see consumer photos. Try to find great photos from buyers online and re-post them on Instagram with credit. This makes your product seem more popular and trustworthy.
3. Develop a Signature Look
Instagram is all about the aesthetic–and that goes beyond the attractiveness of each individual photo.
When you think about your brand, what colors come to mind? Do you think of light, bright colors or darker, grungier colors? Is there a general vibe that you’d like your photos to give off?
All your photos should look nice individually, but it’s even better if they fit together in a theme. Photos with similar colors and a universal filter will help everything look smooth and aesthetically pleasing.
You can use apps like VSCO to make your photos look sharp, clear, and similar in tone.
4. Use the Right Hashtags
Hashtags are a big part of getting your product out there on Instagram–but if you use it the wrong way, it’ll have an adverse effect.
Use the search feature to explore the top hashtags for your niche. Pick three to five of the most relevant hashtags to use in your campaign.
It might be tempting to throw all the hashtags onto your post, but keep in mind that this can come across as tacky or unprofessional to your audience. Be smart with your hashtags. Use them wisely and sparingly.
You can also create your own branded hashtag. This can be used for customers to share pictures or for you to run something like a giveaway.
5. Create Partnerships with Influencers
The exploding popularity of Instagram can make certain people shoot to online stardom–whether it’s for art, fitness, modeling, or more.
There’s no shortage of Instagram influencers out there with a large following in a wide range of niches.
Find a few Instagram influencers that match up with your intended audience, and reach out to ask about working with them. In exchange for payment or free products, they can help you advertise your products and services on their page.
6. Interact with Your Followers
How active you are on Instagram is a big part of how many people will follow you. People are more likely to follow active accounts and will unfollow accounts that don’t post as much.
It’s not just being active that gets your brand loyalty. Followers love brands that interact with them. Be sure to re-post your followers’ photos, respond to their comments, and mingle with other accounts.
The more social and outgoing you seem–the more approachable your business will look. Plus, it gets your name out there to more people.
7. Don’t forget about Stories
500 million accounts use Instagram Stories daily and 58% of users say that they discover Brands looking at Stories. Another 50% of Instagram users declared that they purchased something from Stories and probably, for this reason, Instagram Stories generate a quarter of the platform’s ad revenues
Statistics show that in 2022, Stories ads could generate revenues for $16 billion in global net ad revenues.
Plus you should know that Brand Stories have an average of 86% completion rate depending on the type of industry. The largest increase in completion rate are for Stories in the Entertainment and Sport industries.
8. Also Reels are important
Instagram released the new feature “Reels” on August 5, 2020 in over 50 countries and it was a big success for the company.
Reels are relatively new on Instagram and they allows users to create vertical short-format video content, similar to TikTok. For sure this features was inspired by the popularity of TikTok, but now has its onw life.
Last year Meta gave the possibility to sponsor reels (but only under 30 seconds) and to put banners on other people Reels.
In 2021 Reels received 22% more engagement than regular videos and seems that 70% of marketers are looking to increase ad spend in video.
Putting It All Together
No matter what kind of products you sell, Instagram can help you get your products seen. With higher sales, better visibility, and a clearly defined brand image, learning how to sell on Instagram is guaranteed to boost your business.
If you post high-quality content, stay active on your account, and make good use of the tools Instagram has to offer, you’ll already be on your way towards better sales and a better business.
If then you have a Dropshipping eCommerce there is no better way to show your products.
So if you are looking for more advice for selling your products online? Check out our blog for more information.
If, on the other hand, you are looking for reliable suppliers for your goods, or a 3PL logistics partners that take care of storing and shipping your products, try Yakkyofy. We are a platform that offers services for entrepreneurs like you who sell online.
We take care of the search for reliable suppliers, storage and shipping of goods and we fully automate the entire process of fulfilling your orders with our software integration.
Not bad right?
