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October 10, 2019

How to Sell Your Products on Instagram

BY: Instagram Business Team

San Francisco, CA

(Update on November 14, 2021 at 9:00AM PT: This blog post was published in 2019. For up-to-date information, please visit our Instagram Shopping page.)

With Instagram Shopping, people can buy your products directly from your photos and videos. Learn more about how you can inspire people to purchase your offerings.

Feature your products on Instagram with these 9 tips

In a survey commissioned by Facebook, Inc., 81% of respondents said Instagram helps them research products and services1. Here are 9 tips on how you can feature your product consistently in your posts so people can learn about your products on Instagram.

Build a habit of posting about your products.

Create posts about your products at a regular cadence, like a certain day of the week, so your community members build a habit of looking at your products regularly.

Reveal the process behind creating your products.

Take your community behind-the-scenes using stories to see the hard work that goes into making your products.

Show all variations of your products.

Display all your product options, so your customers can have a selection of different colors, sizes, and types of material to choose from.

Create Story Highlights for different products.

Stories may disappear after 24 hours, but you can highlight specific stories that showcase certain products on your profile. Learn how to add Story Highlights to your profile here.

Use a backdrop.

Think about what colors and textures will help your products pop, like a white or patterned wall. You can just use a piece of fabric as your backdrop.

Feature multiple products with a flat lay.

A flat lay is a picture taken from above of items laid out on a flat surface. For instance, look at this flat lay @tattly created of their tin boxes.

Share photos and videos your customers have posted with your products.

When customers tag your product in photos and videos, ask their permission to share it on your Business Account.

Create tutorials on the different ways people can use your product.

Use stories to create a step-by-step guide or share longer videos on IGTV. (Update on October 5, 2021 at 10:00AM PT: IGTV and feed videos have been combined into one format, Instagram Video.)

Encourage interaction to build confidence.

Use the question sticker in your stories to open it up to questions on your products. This way, people can learn more about your products and feel confident making a purchase.

Sell your products using Instagram Shopping with these 4 tips

In a survey commissioned by Facebook, Inc., 83% of respondents surveyed said Instagram, a visual-first platform, helps them discover new products and services1. It’s why Brooklyn-based temporary tattoo company Tattly has always focused on showcasing their best tattoo designs on their Instagram. Instagram’s product tags helps them to do just this, while still increasing their sales.

Instagram Shopping has been really great at driving people from our Instagram feed to our website to buy the products that they’re actually seeing in the posts,” Tattly’s creative director Cristina Gomez said. “Having the shopping feature allows us to focus on the fun part of Tattly and not the sales-y part of Tattly.

To help people buy your products, add product tags to your photos or videos in your feed and stories using Instagram Shopping. People can view the name of the product and the price of the item when they tap on the product.

See if you are eligible to use Instagram Shopping and find a step-by-step guide to set it up for your Business Account here.

Tell your customers that they can shop directly on your Business Account.

For example, create a story telling your community they can now shop the products they see on Instagram.

Tag more than one product in a post.

Make an impression and drive consideration by displaying multiple eye-catching products.

Experiment with different post formats using Instagram Shopping.

You can tag your photos, videos or multiple images or videos in a carousel post in your feed. You can also tag your stories with product stickers.

Make sure each tag touches the correct product.

This helps make it clear for shoppers so they know exactly what product the tag is referring to. Take a look at how @tattly tagged their sunflower tattoo product.

Create buzz for new products with these 5 tips

Planning to launch a new product soon? Create buzz within your community on Instagram with these 5 tips.

Tease products ahead of the launch.

Show glimpses of your product without fully revealing it, like shooting different angles of it without showing the full thing.

Use the countdown sticker on your stories.

Announce the date of your product launch using the countdown sticker, which you can find by tapping
when editing your stories. Prompt your followers to tap Remind Me so they know when the day finally comes, or to Share Countdown in their own story.

Make products available for sale on launch day.

Don’t forget to remind your customers they can immediately purchase with a simple call-to-action like "Tap to shop" in the caption of the post. For instance, @tattly shared this photo to announce a new series of tattoos they had launched.

Go live to take questions.

Use the Live feature in your story to show your followers the moment you’ve made your new product available for them, and answer customer questions about your new product in real time. Learn more about going Live here.

Create a hashtag for your product launch.

It can be as simple as #yourproductname. Encourage your followers to use the hashtag when ordering the product on launch day, so you can share it on your Business Account later.

5 tips to drive people to buy your products on Instagram

In a survey commissioned by Facebook, Inc., 80% of respondents surveyed said they use Instagram to decide whether or not to make a purchase1. Try these 5 tips to drive people to buy your products.

Create multiple posts for your most popular products.

Check Insights and see metrics like product views to learn which products your community has engaged with the most. Consider creating more posts for that product to build confidence towards purchase, both in feed and stories.

Include a call-to-action in your caption.

Adding a call-to-action that prompts people to act, like "Tap to Shop" in your captions, effectively reminds your community to purchase.

Create an exclusive sale or promotion.

With a limited time, Instagram-only promotion, you can create a sense of urgency and prompt people to shop. Take a look at the photo @tattly shared during their Pride promotion.

Regularly feature your products.

Shoppers may take some time to decide to make a purchase, so regularly feature your products in your posts to keep them top of mind.

Highlight a Creator using your product.

From public figures to artists to entrepreneurs, Creators are the cornerstone of Instagram communities. Seeing Creators use specific products can spark their followers’ interest in these items, so make sure to highlight that in your photos and videos by tagging the Creator.

BY: Instagram Business Team

San Francisco, CA