Instagram Shopping: the way to sell via social

Good news for retailers: Instagram has launched a new feature that allows you to showcase your products for free. This new feature is also known as Instagram ‘ Shopping ’. Curious to find out how it works and what opportunities it offers for e-commerce? We’ve looked into it!

Instagram is more popular than ever! The 2018 ‘ Social ’ media survey by research agency Newcom reveals that there are 4.1 million Dutch users active on Instagram. Young people, in particular, use this platform regularly. It is therefore becoming increasingly attractive for e-commerce businesses to be active on this platform, as it offers an accessible way to promote your product or service to this target audience. Thanks to the launch of Instagram Shopping , this has become even easier.

What is Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping is a handy and free new feature that allows you to showcase your products. You can do this by tagging products in a photo. With a single tap on the image, users can see which items are for sale and how much they cost. By clicking on the tag, interested parties are taken straight to the product page on your online shop. Here, they can purchase the product. It’s therefore well worth getting started with this feature if your company’s target audience is on Instagram. Do make sure you use high-quality images, as this will encourage your followers to make a purchase.

Setting up an Instagram Shopping

Setting up an Instagram Shopping isn’t particularly complicated, but if you’ve never done it before, it’s handy to keep the step-by-step guide below to hand.

Step 1: Ensure you meet the requirements

Before you can set up Instagram Shopping , you must ensure that you meet the following requirements:

• Your online shop must be active and eligible for Instagram Shopping.
• Your Instagram account needs to be switched to a business account.
• You must have the latest version of the Instagram app installed on your mobile device. Please visit the Google Play Store or App Store to download it.
• As Instagram and Facebook are now united under Meta, you must have a Facebook page and be the administrator of that page.

Step 2: Prepare your product catalogue

An important part of Instagram Shopping is having a product catalogue. There are various ways to do this:

• Use the ‘Shopping’ feature on Facebook to add your products.
• Use an e-commerce platform such as Shopify or WooCommerce to manage your product catalogue.
• Products can be added manually via Facebook Business Manager.
• Tag your products correctly with prices and descriptions.

Step 3: Engage an Instagram Shopping

Once the preparatory work is complete, you can get started with setting up Instagram Shopping .

• Go to your Instagram profile and tap the three horizontal lines in the top right-hand corner.
• Tap ‘Settings’
• Tap ‘Shop’.
• Tap ‘Continue’ and select the Facebook page linked to your product catalogue.
• Awaiting approval from Instagram. This may take some time.

Step 4: Tagging products in your posts

Once you’ve activated Instagram Shopping , you can tag products in your posts. Setting up Google Shopping can now really begin!

• Prepare a new feed post
• Select the photo or video you want to display in the timeline
• Click on ‘Add products’ and select the product you wish to tag.
• Don’t forget to add text, filters or captions to the post.

Step 5: View and purchase products

Followers (and non-followers) can now view your products without having to leave Instagram. If they want more information, they can click through to the product page, where the actual checkout can take place.

Do make sure to update your products regularly, so that your customers are presented with an up-to-date catalogue.

Take a strategic approach

Now that you know how Instagram Shopping works, we have a few final tips to help you achieve the best possible results. Don’t just dive in; take a strategic approach. Make sure your visuals tell a story or inspire people. This is how you’ll grab people’s attention. So, avoid using boring product images; instead, place your product at the centre of a scene. It’s also advisable to keep a close eye on your analytics. You can view the analytics for each post individually. You can also see in Facebook Business Manager how many of your products were ultimately sold via Instagram Shopping . We also recommend that you publish at least nine Shopping posts. Once you’ve done that, you’ll get an extra ‘Shop’ tab on your profile.

Having trouble setting up Instagram Shopping ?

Would you also like to get more out of your Instagram account, but are you struggling to set up Instagram Shopping ? Traffic Today can help you with this! Incidentally, we can help you with more than just Instagram Shopping. We’re also well-versed in this channel’s advertising platform, so if you want to promote your business, we’d be happy to help you with Instagram advertising– in other words, promoting your business, brand or product through adverts.