With over 500 million daily users, it’s no surprise that businesses are turning to Instagram to sell products. A cursory glance at your Instagram feed reveals sponsored influencer posts, targeted interactive banner ads, and even branded Instagram story ads. According to recent studies, 60% of Instagram users first learn about products on – you guessed it – Instagram. It’s the perfect platform for businesses trying to build brand awareness. As Instagram tightens its grip around global social media behavior, it increasingly builds out its ad platform and adds new features. Instagram recently introduced Shoppable posts that click through to a brand’s online store. The new ad unit promises to help brands monetize their social traffic. Read on to learn more about how you can use Instagram’s Shoppable posts to your advantage!
What are Shoppable Instagram Posts?
You’ve no doubt interacted with Instagram posts that feature products. Whether the post featured Kylie Jenner wearing stunning sunglasses or Lebron James rocking his new shoes, the ad unit with which you interacted allowed you to see and learn a little bit about the product. But until recently, there was no way for a user to make a product purchase from an Instagram post. At best, the brand could write, “link in bio” and direct users to their online stores from there. This method was extremely inefficient. Many impressions would drop off and fail to convert in the journey from the post, to the brand’s Instagram page, to the bio link-out. That’s where Shoppable posts come into play. Instead of sending users on a journey from the post to the brand’s bio, the brand can now put links out to the online store on the actual posts. You can now see Lebron’s shoe and then tap to automatically redirect to Nike’s website.
Should Your Business Use Shoppable Instagram Posts?
Shoppable posts on Instagram are more effective for some businesses than others. To maximize your chances of success, make sure you’re selling items that are easily photographed. If you’re selling shoes, finding a model to wear them, a photographer for a shoot, and creating an appealing clickable post is a straightforward process. This is not the case for products that are more difficult to advertise with pictures. It’s nearly impossible, for instance, to effectively advertise deep-sea oil drilling equipment using Instagram Shoppable posts.
You also need to consider the size of your brand’s following on Instagram. The more people your content reaches, the better response will be to any Shoppable Instagram posts you deliver. It’s important to curate a solid following before pushing your products on Instagram.
Lastly, you want to consider what your customer base looks like. Over 64% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 35. It doesn’t matter if you’re running a digital marketing campaign for Forever 21 or AARP; a vast majority of people interacting with your Shoppable posts are under 35. If your customer base consists mostly of people in their 50s, Instagram Shoppable ads may not be the right move for your brand.
The Best Content For Shoppable Posts
If you want to use Shoppable posts to reach your goals, you must share images that people want to see. It does you no good if everyone scrolls past your image on their feed. So you cannot afford to post anything less than attention-grabbing, high-quality images. A great way to bolster interest in your post is by courting an influential endorsement. Whether it’s a high profile celebrity or an Instagram influencer, leveraging the influence of public figure is sure to increase engagement on your Shoppable posts.
It’s also important to post fun, light-hearted images. It’s hard to sell products like lemonade with a picture. But if you post someone enjoying lemonade on a summer day by the pool, you’re going to entice people to buy lemonade. In a perfect world where budget constraints don’t exist, a perfect Shoppable post will feature a celebrity endorsement engaged in a fun activity, captured in a high-definition photo that gets people clicking, following, and spending.
More Than Instagram – Think Optimal Web Design
Now that you have a solid following and high-quality content, you can capitalize on your Shoppable posts. Shoppable posts make it easier for the customer to access your products. In addition to getting Instagram users to your landing page by serving them high quality paid placements, it’s critical to make sure the page on which they’ve landed is user-friendly and intuitive. The reason for using Shoppable posts in the first place is to make purchasing an item an all-around smoother process for the customer.
You’ll end up wasting your Instagram efforts if your followers land on a poorly-designed page after clicking through from your page. You also need to ensure that the purchasing process is simple and quick. Just because a potential customer is on the page does not mean they’re going convert. Ensuring the website is well designed, has a clear checkout process, and involves minimal steps-to-purchase will crank your conversion rate out of the park.
Leverage Shoppable Instagram Posts With Premiere Creative
Let Premiere Creative help you with your Shoppable posts and website management today. The professionals at Premiere Creative are experts at running social media campaigns, creating new websites, and getting businesses recognized online. Contact Premiere Creative at (973) 346-8100. to connect with one of our social media gurus today.
