As the fastest-growing social network, Instagram has a lot to offer e-commerce stores.
It’s a platform where visuals reign supreme. For brands hoping to introduce consumers to their products in a variety of ways—from elegant and beautiful to fun and funky—Instagram is a natural fit.
And fans want to be introduced to your products. Over 60% of Instagram’s 1+ billion monthly users report using the platform for product discovery, and 75% of them frequently take action after they see a brand’s post, such as visiting their website or making a purchase.
Your Instagram fans follow you because they’re interested in your brand. They like your products, and they’re looking to you for inspiration on how to get more out of them. If you’ve got something new coming out, they want to be the first to know about it.
Instagram Shopping is the perfect avenue for helping them achieve those goals.
You’re already posting photos with your products styled just right, or #regramming customer posts that highlight your products. With Instagram Shopping, you can tag those featured products with direct links to your website product pages, so it’s easier than ever for fans to click through and purchase.
With Instagram Shopping, fans don’t have to comment to ask you what the product is, wait for you to respond, and then go hunt for it on your website. They can do it all right from Instagram—the moment they see your post.
That’s the brilliance of Instagram Shopping. Shoppers never have to leave the app. If they see something they like in your post, they can simply tap it and they’ll be taken right to the product page on your website, while still in the app, where they can see more product details, add it to their cart, and checkout, before returning back to Instagram.
It’s been less than 2 years since Instagram first launched the Shopping feature, and fans—and brands—are loving it.
According to Instagram, Over 90 million users tap to reveal product tags every month. In fact, Instagram Shopping has been such a hit, that Instagram rolled out shoppable Instagram Stories to all brands just this September.
Whether you’re a new online seller or an established e-commerce brand, you can benefit from using Instagram Shopping.
Interested in using Instagram Shopping for your e-commerce store? Here are the steps to take to get started.
First, we should note that Instagram Shopping is currently only available for businesses who sell physical items, which are allowed under Facebook’s Commerce Product Merchant Agreement and Commerce Policies. If this describes your brand, keep reading.
Congratulations! You’ve now enabled Instagram Shopping for both posts and Stories.
Now that you have your product catalog set up, it’s time to start tagging! The process is a bit different if you’re tagging products in a regular post vs. a Story. We’ve separated them out below so it’s easy for you to follow.
How are brands using Instagram Shopping today? Get inspired by these creative approaches.
Your products don’t exist in a vacuum. Many of your products actually go with each other and combine to create an even better experience for your customers.
In your Instagram Shopping post, combine multiple complementary products to show your customers how they can wear or use your products together. This may encourage them to add all of the products to their cart, instead of just one. Even if they’re still only interested in one product, by showing multiple products, you increase your chances of any one product attracting their interest.
In their post, Anthropologie takes an image from their catalog, and tags the various products the model is wearing. This “think pink” look is outfitted by Anthropologie, head to toe.
The only place where Anthropologie missed the mark? Not tagging enough products. A quick look at the Comments section reveals the image piqued several customers’ interest in the shoes.
You should feel free to treat Instagram Shopping posts as an extension of your product lookbook or catalog.
In contrast to the Anthropologie example above, Kate Spade focuses all their attention on a single product, just like they would in their catalog. However, instead of simply repurposing a photo from their catalog, they make it personal. They share the creative vision behind the bag and even describe the person who designed it. This familiar approach might seem like TMI in a product catalog, but is just right for social media.
Unsurprisingly, the editorial shot and the personal touch earned the post over 8,000 likes. Now, that’s how you transform your catalog for social media!
Like any good product photo, the shot brings the product front-and-center, while blurring or eliminating the face of the model This makes it easier for fans to imagine themselves using the product. You’ll notice this trend in many of the Instagram Shopping posts we’ve highlighted in this article.
Three-quarters of people follow brands on social media because they’re interested in their product or service, but nearly half will unfollow a brand if they’re too promotional.
While Instagram Shopping has a clear promotional function, brands should be careful about toeing this line between overly promotional and just right. Find ways to keep your Instagram Shopping posts just as visually intriguing and fun to consume as the rest of your posts.
For example, Kate Spade uses the opportunity to take fans behind-the-scenes. They shared a photo of their models from a recent runway show and tagged the products. Fans love this kind of sneak peek content.
According to Smart Insights research, being responsive is one of the top actions a brand can take to encourage their customers to click through and buy.
Kate Spade recognizes that. They do a good job monitoring the comments in their Shopping post, so they can be quick to respond whenever a customer has a question on where they can buy a tagged product.
When you #regram customer posts on your own account, it helps your brand feel more inclusive. You’re actively part of and engaged with your Instagram community, listening to them and giving them a platform. You’re not standoffish, isolating yourself and refusing to post anything other than your own carefully crafted Instagram posts.
Beauty brand Glossier regularly #regrams photos from their customers wearing their products. Their fan-first approach to social media comes off as authentic—they don’t have to use models; they genuinely believe in their product and how it makes their customers feel (and look) good.
In this #regram of beauty micro-influencer @cocoaflowerr, Glossier even copied the caption. It worked for @cocoaflowerr, so if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
The micro-influencer’s original post earned 6.5K likes. When Glossier regrammed it, The post racked up over 29K likes and hundreds of comments.
We mentioned above that many Instagram Shopping posts refrain from using models’ faces, choosing to focus on the product instead. The exception to this rule is when you’re using real people, especially when those real people are customers. This is social proof at its best.
Another time you want to use faces? When those faces are mega-famous, like Rihanna’s.
To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line, Sephora regrammed the brand’s photo with Miss RiRi herself. Since you can only tag so many products in a Shopping Post, Sephora made sure to call out the other products in their caption.
When an influencer’s behind an entire product line, fans recognize it as a serious endorsement. That endorsement goes even further when you can point to the specific products she’s wearing. Rihanna’s not just trying to make money off her fame; she believes in and wears the products herself.
When they released Instagram Shopping for Stories in September, Instagram also announced that they are currently testing a Shopping Channel for the Explore tab, to be released in the near future. Like the rest of the Explore tab, Instagram will algorithmically curate this channel for each user based on their shopping interests and brands they like, so they have a chance to discover new businesses.
Keep an eye out for that, and remember that when you create Shopping posts, you’re not just creating them for your current fans and customers, but for new people who haven’t discovered you just yet.
Until then, make your Instagram Shopping posts stand out.
Work with influencers big and small, and take fans behind-the-scenes. Go beyond what they expect from your product catalog. Give them a unique shopping experience, that they can only enjoy on Instagram. That will keep them following your brand, and purchasing from you, too.
Amelia is a writer, content marketer and SEO strategist who spends her days trying to crack the code of Google's mighty algorithm. When she's not working, you can find her running around town with her dog Rockefeller.
