Shhh.... Sign up now!
And get 20% off on our software to create ads
Selling on Instagram: a quick guide [updated 2022]
- May 17, 2021
Sell on Instagram? Isn’t Instagram just for sharing photos and getting likes?
True, that was the initial idea. When Instagram was created it was with the goal of photography professionals to expose their photos, the ideal competitor for Pinteres. But it quickly grew at a breakneck pace and it’s today the second largest social network in the world.
In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for about $ 1 billion (cheap isn’t it? 😉). With the growth of the platform, new features came, and today it is an incredible sales tool.
So tell me! How do you sell on Instagram?
There are 3 ways to sell on Instagram:
- Instagram Ads/ Instagram for Business;
- Instagram Shopping;
- Both options
What is Instagram Ads?
Instagram Ads was the platform created to generate ads for Instagram. However, when Facebook bought Instagram, it decided to merge this platform with the existing Facebook (Facebook for Business), and nowadays all ads for both social networks are made on that platform.
This union brought other advantages, such as the possibility of being able to advertise on Instagram without even having an account on it.
So who can advertise on Instagram?
Everyone who has a Facebook page, or a professional Instagram account.
Do you work with Facebook Ads campaigns? We’ve listed 14 things you’re doing wrong and you didn’t know
How to advertise on Instagram and what are the advantages?
Creating Instagram ads is relatively easy and the results tend to be quite interesting. Although Instagram does not have the organic reach problem that Facebook does, in reality when it invests in ads, it speeds up the reach of your content considerably, and obviously, it helps to gain followers and visibility. To create ads on Instagram, there are only two ways: through the “promote” button, or through the Facebook ad manager.
Disapproved ads
It happens that Facebook sometimes does not approve ads. Uncle Mark is not exactly a pious person nor is he very prone to explanations. That is, it is quite likely that at some point you will receive a “your ad was rejected” notification on Facebook because it violates one of the privacy policies. In that case, either find out immediately what the problem is or it is best to try a new strategy.
Tips to creating an effective ad:
- Good-quality image
- Appealing copy
- Optimized marketing strategy
Ads on Instagram are the most effective way to increase the visibility of your company and consequently increase the sales of your products/services. And this does not mean that you have to sell a kidney in order to advertise, no! It all depends on the product/service you have and the target audience.
Instagram Shopping to tag your products
The other and most current alternative to sell on Instagram is Instagram Shopping or Instagram Store, which allows companies to tag products in their Instagram posts and connect those products through a virtual store on Instagram. We’ve already talked in depth and explained step-by-step how to activate this feature in this 5-minute guide to Instagram Shopping. However, you can read the summary below.
Instagram Shopping? What's the fuss about it?!
Instagram Shopping allows you to tag multiple products in photographs on Instagram and link these products to more detailed pages about those same products, leading the user to checkout on the brand’s website, and purchase the product in question. Instagram Shopping is now available in many countries and has become an important marketing tool on Instagram.
How does Instagram Shopping work?
When tagging a product on a post and after the user taps to view its content, by clicking on the image, the product is identified with a label related to the product name and price.
When clicking on a product, the user is automatically directed to the brand store on Instagram, where (s)he will be able to view the product tagged in the publication, as well as more products of the same brand.
This screen opens from the bottom up in the Instagram app, when the user clicks on a product label or on the “view products” button that appears in publications with identified products.
The user can also mark products as favorites and easily add them to their collections of favorite items on Instagram.
If the user clicks on the product already inside the store on the brand’s Instagram, (s)he will be redirected to the details of that same product.
In the details, you can view multiple photos of the same product, the name and price of the product and below, view a quick shortcut to the brand’s store, as well as a “follow” button to start following the brand’s Instagram account.
In the center and highlighted, the user finds a button “See on the Site” so that he can view the same product in the E-Commerce of the brand in question and buy if (s)he is interested.
What is the best way to sell on Instagram?
Both strategies are valid, and will certainly help to increase your sales through Instagram and it is essential to A/B testing to understand which of the approaches generates a better return for your business/brand, taking into account the user experience as well.
The key is to hire digital marketing services that understand what you do so that you can get the best out of this social network that has so much potential to offer.