Studies show that Instagram has one of the highest conversion rates on mobile devices and that Instagram users spend the most time on your site per order compared to other social media platforms. Appreciating striking photographs is wonderful use of time after all…Ah!

Instagram even outperforms parent company Facebook when it comes to brand engagement and this visual medium has a huge appeal especially among the millennials and younger audience. All these stellar data points make Instagram an essential component of your social media marketing. In order to really sell though, you have to be seen and followed!

Have you started advertising or even posting on Instagram?

It is Time to be on Instagram

Generating Sales
Instagram is one of the most visually appealing platforms on the web that does not require you to have a huge budget to generate sales. Its younger audience likes to shop and the platform can bring great returns for the business because users are already in a buying mindset.

An artistic and inspiring feed for your target audience helps generate prospects. A large number of followers are good to have, but to ensure conversions businesses have to make it easy for followers to buy. With product tagging in Instagram photos one can have a seamless customer checkout experience. This is made possible by clicking on the “Shop Now” button that takes you to the product page and enables you to complete the purchase.

Using relevant hashtags (a label for content) helps to maximize the reach of your Instagram marketing campaign and spread your brand name. It helps in gaining followers, getting more likes and increasing engagement.

It pays to recruit some Instagram Influencers to back and market on your behalf because consumers will trust another individual’s recommendation over yours. Costs of hiring influencers is affordable considering the distribution.

Make your followers feel engaged and special and boost your Instagram sales with contests and plenty of user generated content. Also, do not forget to respond to comments by your Instagram followers on your social feeds.

As in other social media platforms, using interest-based audience targeting is extremely important for reaching new audiences and upping your conversion rate. A good idea would be post on Instagram and test the popularity of your products organically before doubling down with paid ads. Once you know which products get the most views and purchases then you can embark on a paid campaign.

 

Types of Ads on Instagram

  • Photo Ads that promote specific posts to a targeted audience. Here you can post one simple photo in landscape or square format.

  • Video Ads that can be up to 60 secs long. These also have the same promotional and targeting options but include sight, sound and motion option.

  • Carousel Ads include multiple photos and videos that people can view by swiping.

  • Stories Ads advertise/ promote Instagram stories with photo or video content.

 

Making the Most of the Ad Campaigns
Just like Facebook, Instagram also allows you make targeted options for your Ads based on location, demographics, interests, behavior etc. You could also have custom audiences (groups of people who have already connected with your brand in some way) who you can target on Instagram.

The Ad campaign would usually look at developing Awareness (of your business, product or service), extend the Reach (of your product and brand) and have potential customers learn more about your products or services. The campaign should also focus on Conversions (increasing sales), mobile app downloads and engagement.

Some recently introduced features like Instagram Scheduling will allow business profiles to schedule posts. Currently the feature only works for photos, and is available through third party apps. This is an important development and this is going to have a significant influence on how social media marketers interact with the platform.

Carousel ads are one of the highest engaging ad formats having a significantly higher engagement rate, click through rate and conversion rate. They are very effective and now available for Instagram stories too.

Instagram stories allow you to connect with your audiences and Links within the Instagram stories will allow them to promote and share content via a recent update to stories. For example, by using Instagram stories you can showcase your new product, highlight its features and the reasons to buy it. This can then be linked up to the checkout page so that interested customers can purchase it.

 

To Choose Instagram or Facebook?
Instagram works better for businesses that depend on a lot of visuals to advertise. It is clean without much clutter and easy to navigate that makes the posts more visible and leads to greater engagement. Instagram is more intimate and the perfect platform to engage a younger customer base and has been an impactful source of traffic and sales for many companies.

Parent company Facebook has a larger user base and has more acceptance across different age groups. This can give access to consumers who have higher income and spending power. It also allows you to share unlimited links to your blogs and product pages and is undoubtedly better for distributing information.

One of the biggest drawbacks of Instagram is the lack of links in individual posts although a direct website link can be put in a sponsored ad. Because of this, brands have had to direct Instagram followers to the link and continuously update that link as they post new products.

So which one is right for you? The goals and objectives of your campaign will ultimately help you decide on the best platform to choose and can that choice can be very subjective and vary from case to case.

Although studies show that conversion rates from click-through tends to be low in the case of Instagram, it could still be a better choice for engaging with your audience and promoting your business. And why not get the best of both? A good idea would be to combine your Instagram Ad engagements with Facebook’s marketing and selling capabilities to ensure higher onsite conversion rates.

 

It is Time to be on Instagram

Some Tips to Create High Quality Content

  • Attractive Visuals, strong content, thumbnails with bold colors and well-crafted texts with key points are a must to draw interest and continue to grow your following.

  • Instagram’s Carousel Ads that allow you to display up to 10 images or videos within a single ad unit. It can help you highlight several products or specific details of 1 product.

  • Instagram Stories, with their non-permanent format has also proven to be a marketing success. Their short lifespan creates more of a sense of urgency and coupled with engaging features like location are an excellent marketing tool.

  • Instagram stories can now be displayed on Explore. This feature increases the likelihood of brands with similar products and services being “discovered” by consumers, thereby capitalizing on the audience’s similar interests.


Conclusion
Instagram allows you to be creative and tell stories through pictures and easily reach out to millions of potential customers and make them aware of your store or product. The platform has the highest level of customer engagement amongst all such social media and hence the need for you to make it a part of your social media marketing strategy.

Moreover, it is a fantastic testing ground for new ideas and does not require a huge budget. Clever usage of hashtags, perhaps some Influencer marketing and a good advertising campaign can play a critical role in converting the awareness generated by your Instagram post to sales and revenue for your ecommerce business.

If you are using a platform like Shopmatic Go to set up your store, you will find it is very easy to link instagram to your site and upload pictures. So go ahead and up your game now!

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