Instagram, which is the fourth largest social media site in the world, is a great place to sell things online. Every month, more than 1.3 billion people use Instagram to find and follow friends, brands, and other people, find new products, and get ideas for their own lives. Instagram is still one of the best ways for e-commerce drop shippers to make sales because it is so focused on pictures.
Based on Instagram’s own data, things look very good. More than eight out of ten users say that the platform helps them find information about products and services. Also, 9 out of 10 Instagram users follow at least one business account. They want to find new things to buy, and many of them are in the shopping mood when they look around.
Now comes the big question: how do you use Instagram to make sales?
We’ll tell you everything you need to know to start selling your dropshipping products on Instagram and reach a growing number of people around the world.
How to Start Selling on Instagram
First things first: you need an Instagram business account to sell on Instagram. With an Instagram business account, you can use business tools and features like paid promotions and tracking your analytics.
Instagram business accounts are always free; you only pay for advertising if you want to. You can change your personal Instagram account to a business account. This lets you keep all the followers you already have and start with an audience that already knows you. This process takes less than a minute to finish.
After that, you can link your business Instagram account to your business Facebook page. This step isn’t required, but it gives your audience a different way to talk to you. Your Facebook fans will find it easy to find you on Instagram, which could help you grow your audience more quickly.
Set up Instagram Shopping as the last step. If your dropshipping website is made with Shopify or BigCommerce, setting this up is pretty quick and easy. You can link your storefront to Instagram so that you can promote all of your products on the site.
You will have to set up Instagram Shopping by hand if you don’t use Shopify or BigCommerce. Think of it like opening a shop on Instagram. This is where you’ll sell and promote your products on Instagram, give information about the products, and even let people buy them without having to go to your website.
If you set up Instagram Shopping, you could be featured in the Shopping tab, where people go to find new products and brands. Here, you can find out more about Instagram Shopping and how to set it up.
Gain more followers on Instagram
If you just started using Instagram, one of your first goals should be to get more followers. You can also focus on growing your audience if you already have one.
The more followers you have, the more people you can show your content to. This is a big win for brands that don’t want to spend a lot on paid ads and would rather rely on organic reach.
But you might find that a paid ad campaign helps you build an audience faster and easier. Paid ads show your content to people who aren’t currently following you but fit your target audience. The goal is to get more people to find you, learn about your brand, and follow you so they can keep seeing your products and content.
You can also spread the word about your new Instagram channel on other social media sites, in addition to running paid ads. Share it with the people who already know you and ask them to follow you. Send an email to all of your past customers to let them know you’re now on Instagram. Include a link to your profile in the email. These are people who already know you, like you, and trust you. They can help you quickly (and for free!) grow your audience.
Use Instagram ads to promote your products
Having a business account is important because you can use Instagram ads with it. If you don’t have it, you can’t use paid ad features.
Paid ads help you get more people to see your product. Using the ad manager, you can choose the type of audience and their characteristics to make sure that your content is shown to the people who are most likely to buy from you.
Also, you decide how much you spend on ads. You can change the amount you can spend each day at any time. Any of your regular Instagram posts can be turned into ads. This is good news for e-commerce store owners who don’t have a lot of time because it means you can “recycle” content and don’t have to come up with new content for your ad campaigns.
Different ways to show off your products
On Instagram, the things you post are what sell you. Even if you don’t pay for ads and promotions, every post you make could bring customers to your site.
Having said that, you can get creative with how you show off your product. Here are some of our favorites:
Make posts about your products
Use Instagram to show pictures of your products. Choose a product and talk about what it does and how it helps. Give people a reason to care as much as you do about your products.
Show people how your products are made
Do you know where your things come from and how they’re made? If so, show your audience how it works. If you know more about the products you sell, you can connect more deeply with your audience.
Show how your products are different
Shirts in three different colors for sale? How about pots and pans of different sizes? Make a post that lists all the sizes and options for your products so that buyers can make a choice that is right for them.
Showcase a number of products that go well together
Your online store probably has a number of items that belong to the same group. Instagram is a great place to show off multiple products that go well together in the same post. Point out things that are often bought together. Prove that you can meet more than one need at once.
Show how your products can be used
A picture says a lot more than words. Instagram is the perfect place to show your customers how they can use your products instead of just telling them about them. Think about how your items will be used by the end user. Show how other people have used your products so that they can see themselves in that picture.
More advice on how to sell on Instagram
All of this should give you enough information to start selling on Instagram. But if you want to make the most of your chances, keep in mind the following:
Keep on brand
Branding is a big part of how well you do on social media. When you do branding right, people start to recognize you not just by your logo or tagline, but also by the content you post. By using the same images, tone, and style in all of your content, you can start to build your brand.
If you want to hire an agency or freelancer to make your content, it’s helpful to make a branding guide for them to follow. Your brand guide should tell you how to use images, what to say and what not to say, what hashtags to use, and anything else that could affect how others see you.
Use everything Instagram has to offer
You can do more on Instagram than just post pictures and add hashtags. Use all of its features to reach out to more people. These include, among many other things, Instagram Stories, IGTV, video posts, filters, and Stories Highlights. You can get creative with the content you make and how you share it by using different features. It also gives you a better chance of getting more people to follow you, since different people like different things.
Use content created by users
One of the best compliments you can get is when people make content on behalf of your brand. It shows that they like your products enough to want to tell other people about them. Your customers are probably already making content for your brand. They could, for example, take a picture of themselves wearing or using something they bought from you.
You can start “collecting” user-generated content by asking your customers to tag you in their photos using a certain hashtag. If you can’t find any user-generated content, you might want to run a campaign to get more people involved. Ask your audience to use certain hashtags on all of your social media sites and in your other marketing. User-generated content shows your audience that other people like, trust, and buy from you.
Now that you have a strong base on Instagram, it’s time to fill your store with good products that you’ll want to promote. dropshipcorporation gives you access to thousands of dropship products that you can sell in your store. This can help you improve your store and boost your sales. Start off with a 30-day free trial.
