There are a few other terms you should be aware of:
Buying and selling over social media, or social commerce, is quickly becoming a way for non-techy users to access services like dropshipping or affiliate marketing without the hassle of managing a website or being bogged down with complicated eCommerce software. It simplifies online merchandising and makes taking payments easy. Things like Instagram shopping tags can be used on any content featured in posts, reels, videos and live broadcasts and help you to share and display items which have been added to your catalog. Items can be tagged not only by you, but by your partners and other qualifued accounts. Completely control how and where your products are tagged and and exactly which brands or accounts are allowed to share your products with their audience.
Advantages of Instagram for eCommerce
Instagram currently racjks up over 2 million users a month, which is great news for sellers and retailers. As Instagram is a visually based platform it presents multiple opportunities to showcase products, share items, and display goods. Keeping your Instagram feed up to date with high quality images to expand your reach and entice users, makes them better informed and aware of your brand and product offerings. As you grow, managing your content may be best handled by a social media manager to allow you focus your energy on engaging with users and expanding your business.
Using Instagram for Ads
Along with their suite of eCommerce tools, Intagram also allows product sellers to advertise with easy to set up ads. Built in targeting options help even non-marketers to position their adverts in front of relevant audiences. Boosting posts and generating ads effectively boosts sales and raises brand awareness quickly. This can be very helpful for new sellers who are trying to gain a foothold within their chosen niche. Using Instagramd ads promotional campaigns and merchandising content may be quickly set up to promote limited time sales, discount deals, and new product launches.
Connect with your audience
With over two-thirds of Instagram users using the platform to follow and learn about their favorite brands, it allows a very real and direct interaction with customers. Connecting with users, having a real conversation or dealing with problems are all be managed in real time. This effective communication leads to better relationship building, helping you convert your followers into paying customers, or attracting those who will become an advocate for your brand. Users gain security from knowing that you or your service team can be easily accessed and contacted, resulting in them feeling more connected to a brand that engages actively with their followers.
Build credibility
Consistent high quality posts and advertising undoubtedly raises customer awareness of your brand but it also creates interest. Having a solid Instagram presence raises trust and confidence in your company and its products, and engaging with your audience builds your reputation and credibility. Handling complaints, managing issues and fixing problems is all be done visibly and with a high level of transparency, which gives potential customers much reassurance when they choose to buy from your business.
Craft organic posts
While using paid advertising to boost and sell your products is effective, you will also want to keep your feed up to date with organic content. Instagram and its range of visual tools makes it ideal for sharing photos, images, and graphically rich content. Effects and filters bring a new dimension to organic content and make it instantly appealing. The right blend of paid and organic content builds brand personality, raises awareness and creates loyalty among your followers. Plan your posts well in advance by using scheduling tools. Alternatively, many Instagram sellers choose to use a social media service to generate on-brand content on their behalf. This ensures that you are posting quality content that is professionally designed for your business.
Monitor analytics
Like most social platforms, Instagram provides analytics to review and present insightful audience data. This in-depth view of your content provides information that can then be used to refine and target your content more effectively. This feature proves especially useful when running paid ads. Understand what resonates with your audience and what kind of posts are working well. Analytics when used right will save you time and money as you focus efforts on the type of content that works best. Determine what your own key performance indicators are (KPIs) and watch them closely. If you are failing to meet your goals then try new angles and strategies until you find what works best.
Partner with influencers
People trust friends, peers, and other people more than they trust brands, so partnering with an established Instagram influencer can be a stellar move when it comes to promoting your own products. You will need to choose people who align well with your brand. If you business is selling products that are designed for those who love the outdoors for example, it will not serve you to partner with someone whose niche is beauty products – no matter how many followers they have. Working together with an influencer that aligns well with your company will not only make your offerings seem more authentic, it will promote your products to users with similar interests and values. Influencers don’t alway have to have a massive following to be effective, smaller accounts or micro-influencers frequently have a highly engaged audience within their niche. Often sending a free products or offering a discount for their followers is enough to get them to promote your goods. Selling products via a micro-influncer typically involves a relatively low up-front cost but yields a high return on investment. Generally speaking the more niche the account, the better follower to purchase rate so it is a marketing tactic that is well worth pursuing.
Leverage user-generated content
Along similar lines of partnering with an influencer, user-generated content or UGC is also extremely effective when it comes to driving conversions. Content that features your actual product users which demonstrates their satisfaction entices other users to buy. If you have followers who have been quietly sitting on the fence, unsure whether to make a purchase, then UGC often provides the motivation needed to spur someone from a watcher to a customer. Large brands use UGC in their marketing all the time, think about some of the famous companies you know or follow, chances are that UGC features highly on their social media account.
Cross promote on other platforms
Even though your primary focus and selling platform is Instagram, your products may still benefit from being advertised and cross-promoted on other platforms. Link to different social media accounts like Linkedin or Twitter and add links, post content and attract an even larger audience. Any content or ads should link directly back to your Instagram shop to push all conversions through that particular channel, and cross promotion helps to reach entirely new and different audiences or demaographics that may not be accessible from Instagram alone. Expand your audience, generate a higher number of leads, and make more sales using this method.
Use Instagram reels and live video
Video content has repidly gained ground on other forms of social media. Studies show that up to 80% of social media account users access video content, and many people prefer to learn about a product via video. Promote items and products with engaging and informative videos to inspire trust and loyalty among your users. Video content shows many aspects of an item or shares features in a way that is just not possible with static content. Highlighting advantages, benefits, and showcasing your products in a highly attactive and visual manner. By the same token, live video brings your audience right into the heart of your world, and posts don’t necessarily be solely about your products. Live video allows you to share events and news with your audience on a whole new level. Feature staff, take them behind the scenes of your business, and even share successes or challenges along the way. This authentic and very real look at your company is a way to keep users engaged and really invested in your day to day operation.
Spice up posts with graphics
Photos are great, but photos with fun stickers, spicy headlines, or eye-catching graphics are greater. Millions of images are posted every day on Instagram so to get noticed you will need to offer more than the average account. Make your content more dramatic or appealing by using filters, effects, text, stickers, and animated graphics. Depending on the type of graphics and colours used, an whole slew of emotions can be generated. Make content that looks happy, atmospheric, or even creepy with strategic use of design. Each image created is an opportunity to attract new customers so offering something thats different from thousands of other posts in your niche makes you stand out.
Feature bios
Another clever way to increase authenticity is by sharing posts about the people who work in your organisations. People like to know who they are dealing with so sharing posts about Steve in sales and his recent camping trip is a way to bring users closer to your business. Adding staff bios and running periodic features to show what is going on in their lives puts a human face on your business and is far more engaging than sharing product images alone. Give each staff member a share of the spotlight and introduce them to your audience using posts, reels and live video.
Final words
Being a social marketer for your brand takes consistent work and dedication but posting the right content and partnering with the right people brings a heavy advantage. Find the content that works best for your niche and then layer it with influencer and video posts to build upo your strategy.
For expert help in Instagram content creation contact the team at Smarcomms today.
