Founded in 2010, Instagram, a simple photo-sharing app, has evolved into a busy business hub, allowing businesses of all sizes to demonstrate and sell their products directly on their Instagram profiles. By 2020, Instagram celebrated a significant milestone with approximately 1 billion users. The increase in the number of users shopping on Instagram drives this growth. A remarkable number of people report that they shop on Instagram every week. It has made shopping effortless through features like the shopping tab, product tags, and buy now buttons. However, you may wonder how your brand can stand out in Instagram e-commerce marketing, with innumerable businesses fighting for attention. This extensive article will be your ultimate guide to Instagram E-commerce marketing, providing you with all the details to craft a winning Instagram E-commerce strategy for 2023.
What is Instagram E-commerce marketing?
Instagram E-commerce Marketing uses the platform to demonstrate, promote, and sell your products. The businesses can run their entire e-commerce operations on Instagram or use it as a complementary channel to running a sponsored ad to their existing online stores.
To establish a shop on Instagram, brands must first have a business account. Once that is in place, they can set up an Instagram Shop, acting effectively as a virtual storefront on Instagram. Instagram shops are trendy among the younger generations. In the United States alone, Gen Z and millennials most likely make purchases through social media, guided by its convenience.
Imagine casually scrolling through Instagram’s Explore section and stumbling upon a captivating perfume. With a simple tap, you can hit the “Shop Now” button, add the product to your cart, and complete the purchase—all without leaving the app. It’s a shopping experience that’s truly effortless.
Embracing Instagram Shops for your e-commerce Instagram Store doesn’t just promise a potential boost in sales. It brings forth a plethora of other advantages as well. Let’s delve into the top six benefits of Instagram E-commerce marketing:
1. Simplified Shopping with Instagram Features
Instagram Shopping streamlines the entire buying process. Thanks to its user-friendly shopping features, around 44% of social media users have purchased via Instagram. Shoppers can discover and purchase products without exiting the app. Integration with platforms like Shopify further simplifies the process, enabling brands to sync their products to Instagram, create shoppable posts, and run ads. This harmonization maintains the consistency of the look and feel of their Shopify store on Instagram Shops.
2. Loyal Customers Turn into Promoters
Satisfied customers are often inclined to share images of their purchases on Instagram. This user-generated content (UGC) is powerful and persuasive advertising and is free. Encouraging customers to post and tag your products with a branded hashtag can be highly effective. Brands can then selectively reshare the best UGC with their audience.
3. Enhanced Customer Interaction
Instagram boasts a median average engagement rate of 0.67%, surpassing Facebook and Twitter significantly. This high level of engagement makes Instagram an ideal platform for engaging and interacting with consumers. Features such as direct messages (DMs), contact buttons, comments, and Stories provide brands with multiple avenues for establishing personal and interactive connections with their customers.
4. Wider Reach to Target Audiences
Given Instagram’s massive global user base, it provides easy access to your brand’s target audience. Many users actively explore business profiles in search of products and services. Over 200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profile every day.
5. Openness to advertising
Instagram users are not only open to encountering products and services on the platform, but they also embrace it. An astounding 90% of Instagram users follow at least one brand, and 50% express heightened interest in a brand when they encounter Instagram ads. Users follow brands to stay updated on new products and services, making promotional campaigns highly effective. 87% of users act impulsively after seeing a product on Instagram.
6. Boosting Brand Awareness
According to Meta, around 44% of people are open to shopping for new brands they discover on social media. Many users actively search for products on social apps, making Instagram an ideal platform for elevating brand awareness.
Five Examples of E-commerce Stores Leveraging Instagram Shops
- Beardbrand: This male grooming and personal care brand educates its Instagram followers about beard care, tips, and product ingredients. In its Instagram Shop, Beardbrand showcases its bestsellers and latest launches, offering product bundles for convenient shopping. The product descriptions are easily accessible to the users, who can purchase within the app.
- Tentree: This fantastic brand is committed to sustainability as it plants ten trees for every sold item. They make their clothing from sustainable materials such as hemp, cork, and organic cotton. Also, their Instagram handle features educational posts about sustainable material sourcing, user-generated content, and appealing giveaways.
- Cowboy Bikes: They specialize in electric bikes for urban cyclists. The Cowboy Bikes exhibit their electric bikes against aesthetic cityscapes on Instagram. They also provide a comprehensive guide on how to use its app with its electric bikes and point out the environmental achievements—neatly organizing the bikes into collections for easy browsing within the IG Shop.
- Allbirds: This footwear brand is also a sustainable option committed to educating its consumers about environmental sustainability while promoting its products on the IG Shop. The shoppable posts simplify the experience, allowing the customers to explore product pages and make purchases smoothly. They collaborate with influencers and regularly share UGC to connect with their audience.
- Package Free: They brag about their well-organized IG Shop that simplifies the shopping experience for the customers as they have carefully curated sections with products divided into Kitchen, Bath & Body, and Zero Waste Kits. An “On the Go” section spotlights products that seamlessly fit into consumers’ daily routines. The brand’s shoppable Instagram Stories provide an additional avenue for customers to engage with its products.
Five Sale Strategies that would get you E-commerce Success on Instagram
After seeing the above inspiring examples, let us now see a few essential sale strategies that are sure to propel any e-commerce store to success on Instagram, particularly in the domain of Instagram E-commerce Marketing:
1. Product Tagging
Power shopping tags to transform your Instagram posts into direct shopping opportunities. Through these tags, the users can easily access the product details, price, and description. A simple tap lets you navigate your Instagram shop and complete the purchases efficiently. As a brand, you can also make shoppable posts as IG ads. For example, Meow Meow Tweet does a great job of prompting customers to buy things directly on Instagram using unique post tags. It makes it simple for customers to find and buy products because each item is tagged and linked.
2. Use stickers in your Instagram Stories
That let people shop. It makes users more interested and engaged with your content. They are achieving Your Instagram E-commerce Marketing Goals in 2023. These stickers guide users to the specific products that pique their interest, delivering a seamless shopping experience.
3. Collaborate with Influencers
When it comes to trust, people tend to place more faith in the opinions of fellow individuals rather than brands, especially when that content feels authentic. Influencers are essential for showing your products to more potential customers. Instead of mainly choosing influencers with many followers, it’s wise to pick those with lots of interaction with their audience. According to Glossy’s Influencer Index, sheer audience size is no longer the sole indicator of success regarding influencer partnerships.
Additionally, a survey of US adults revealed that 61% of respondents expressed interest in brands that offer authentic content. In online shopping, it often means teaming up with regular people with smaller followings, like nano-influencers and micro-influencers. These people, who have fewer than 100,000 followers, are seen as more accurate and down-to-earth than celebrities. For instance, Allbirds, a shoe company, often partners with an influencer named Ethan Glenn to reach more people on Instagram.
4. Utilize Shopify Collabs
Shopify Collabs is a program that allows approved creators to earn revenue by partnering with Shopify merchants. This initiative follows Shopify’s acquisition of influencer marketing firm Dovetale in April 2022 and aims to fuel merchant growth further. Through Collaborations, sellers and influencers can easily connect, collaborate, and promote products to fresh audiences through various social platforms. Merchants can establish their payment terms for content and negotiate rates with creators.
5. Host Giveaways
Instagram giveaways are a great way to generate interest and excitement among the followers and customers for your brand’s products. You could consider hosting giveaways during holiday seasons or through new product launches. To encourage participation, you must give clear and precise instructions in the captions on how they can enter. For instance, you could request the participants include specific hashtags in their stories or posts and tag a certain number of their friends in the comment section to enter the giveaway contest. Take Lunchkins, for example. They like to do fun giveaways to get folks talking about their brand. In one of their giveaways, they ask people to follow six different accounts and join through the link in their bio. Participants can earn additional entries by tagging more accounts in the comments section.
Promote User-Generated Content (UGC)
With 42% of consumers saying it strongly influences their shopping decisions in beauty, health, and wellness, user-generated content (UGC) is a powerful tool. UGC is more tempting because it is a simple, affordable way to expose your business to a significant percentage of your target audience. Encourage your devoted customers to post images of your goods on social media and relevant hashtags, and mention your company to take advantage of UGC. Choose the UGC that best fits your brand’s image and repost it for your followers. The case of Tentree, a sustainable apparel company, is a prime illustration of this tactic. They encourage their customers to share images of their outfits using the hashtag #EarthStuff, and then they select a few of these posts to share with the audience.
Review Instagram Analytics
Instagram offers built-in analytics that provide invaluable insights into the performance of your Instagram E-commerce marketing strategy. These concrete numerical metrics highlight areas where you can improve your marketing efforts. Dive into your audience insights to determine whether your intended audience is actively engaging with your posts. Examine the best times for engagement and decide if your account fits inside these windows of time. Create key performance indicators (KPIs) based on your statistics to determine whether your account is on track to achieve your goals.
Master Instagram E-commerce Marketing Goals in 2023 and Succeed
Instagram’s e-commerce market is thriving and will likely expand in 2023. Businesses should harness user-generated content, engage influencers, employ features like shoppable posts, and adapt to changing trends to flourish. Share content that connects with your audience consistently, and pay close attention to metrics. Everyone, from major e-commerce businesses to emerging Instagram storefronts, can benefit from this increase. Accept Instagram E-commerce, and you’ll see your brand grow.
In conclusion, the development of Instagram into a significant e-commerce hub offers enormous economic prospects. By utilizing Instagram’s capabilities, implementing successful techniques, and keeping an eye on statistics, your brand can succeed with Instagram E-commerce marketing. The platform offers enormous potential for growth and profitability, regardless of whether you are an experienced
e-commerce marketing company or a newly launched e-commerce Instagram store. Use Instagram’s e-commerce capabilities, and your brand will grow in 2023 and beyond.
HRL Infotech, a leading E-commerce marketing company, can guide you every step of the way. Learn more about the world of e-commerce on their blog https://www.hrlinfotechs.com/blog/what-is-e-commerce/ and supercharge your Instagram E-commerce marketing strategy in 2023.
