The development of Instagram has been full of action. One day we’re trying to find the perfect filter for a square cropped photo of a cup of tea. In the next step, we’ll explore how to get approval for Instagram Shopping.
At least that’s how this marketer’s story arc went.
The platform has evolved from a simple feed of blurry photos to our friends a business powerhouse looking for exposure, lead generation and sales.
But is it really worth the hype?
Below we will explore it new HubSpot research Answer this question, explain how to get approved for Instagram Shopping (with some advice from my own entrepreneurial adventures), and share some tips for successful sales.
New to Instagram? Our free instagram for business kit can help you lay the foundation for your strategy.
Table of contents
Are Instagram shopping tools effective in 2024?
“Effective” really depends on your business goals and resources. Despite it, A HubSpot blog study found that 37% of social media marketers reported that 25-50% of viewers clicked through on Instagram within the first 30 days of publishing a shoppable post.
About a third of marketers said 25-50% of those clicks resulted in purchases, while 40% estimated that the same amount went into non-purchase conversions like email subscriptions or content downloads.
These numbers are nothing to sneeze at, and they continue to grow.
For more information, see “The HubSpot Blog Instagram Shopping Report: Data from 500+ Instagram Marketers.”
Clearly, Instagram shopping can be effective for increasing sales and leads that can be nurtured, but is it right for you?
Should you use Instagram Shopping for your business?
The simple answer is “yes” – and I say that as both a marketer, consumer, and aspiring entrepreneur.
For example, the numbers show that social selling will be a huge profit driver.
According to our 2024 Consumer Trends ReportSocial media is the #1 channel for product discovery for most consumers, and every fourth user has actually purchased something through a social app in the last three months.
When I look at this, 84% of my marketing colleagues I expect social media shopping to overtake third-party sites like Amazon and brand websites as the preferred purchasing channel, and I agree with them.
Just think about your own buyer behavior. Things really change when it comes to social selling.
Our research also shows that modern consumers shop more often on their smartphone than any other device, and it is also where they are most active engaged on social media as well as.
It only makes sense that these two behaviors combine to make shopping as convenient and, frankly, natural as possible.
Instagram in particular has an influence that cannot be ignored. According to GWI, it is the social media platform with the greatest cultural impact. This is where billions hang out, learn, follow news, be entertainedand even Connect with brands.
It’s that third most popular social media in the world platform And second most used for social shopping.
So it’s definitely worth experimenting with. Plus, only about half of marketers Take advantage of Instagram shopping and social shopping in general today.
This means brands that embrace them now have a real chance to make an impact without having to worry about noise or competition.
Learn more about the current state of Instagram marketing and how you can adapt your strategy in our Instagram Engagement Report 2024.
Advantages and challenges of Instagram shopping tools
Let’s delve deeper into what Instagram Shopping can look like for your business by breaking down the pros and cons.
Advantages and Benefits of Instagram Shopping
1. Product discoverability
When we asked marketers what the biggest benefit of using Instagram’s shopping tools was, their number one answer was: “Increased.” Product discoverability.
As mentioned earlier, Instagram is the third most popular social media platform and enjoys great popularity 2 billion monthly active users.
Also according to the Kepio’s Instagram Stats Report62.7% of Instagram users report that they follow or research brands and products on the app. When you add features like the Explore tab, there is a chance that your product will be found by new buyers solid.
2. Better shopping experience
Gone are the days when you had to leave the app to make a purchase. Now you can discover a brand and buy at the same time. That means a more pleasant process for consumers, which can lead to more sales.
Additionally, Instagram’s “Save” feature (similar to a wish list) allows users to save products they are interested in and even get notified when they go on sale. (I know I’ve taken advantage of this many times.)
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3. Easier influencer collaboration
Another key advantage of Instagram’s shopping tools is this Influencers can tag products. When you work with creators, they can easily tag the products they promote in posts or reels and send traffic directly to the brand’s store page for action.
Disadvantages and Challenges of Instagram Shopping
Now to the not-so-big obstacles of Instagram’s shopping tools.
1. Fees
Recent blog research from HubSpot found that one of the biggest challenges for marketers is this Fees in connection with Instagram’s shopping tools.
37% of marketers expressed complaints about it Instagram’s selling feeswhich is currently 5% per shipment or a flat fee of $0.40 for shipments of $8.00 or less.
This does come with a relatively high cost, but you could definitely avoid it by directing traffic to your website instead.
2. Loss of user data
Another big concern is this Loss of user data. If Instagram serves as an end-to-end sales platform, brands may lose valuable data that could inform future strategies, such as browsing behavior.
Can Instagram Shopping be your only sales channel?
Our research found that Instagram Shopping was the only e-commerce platform for many brands.
In fact, 41% of marketers surveyed said that most brands they work with exclusively use Instagram’s shopping tools. However, is exclusivity a smart move?
One in four marketers said launching a product exclusively on Instagram was effective due to its high discoverability and ease of purchase.
In fact, 83% said they had worked with a brand that successfully launched a new product exclusively on the platform.
However, 15% said that launching a product/service exclusively on Instagram was worse than launching it elsewhere. So it’s clear that it could be a stroke of luck.
Pro tip: Test the water first.
Like many things in marketing, I recommend approaching Instagram Shopping as an experiment. To be honest, given some of the requirements, I was surprised that so many companies were exclusively using Instagram Shopping.
(More on this in our next section.)
But if you have met all the requirements and have the means to maintain your shop, And If you can afford the fees, go for it. Try listing your products to see if this helps increase sales.
This data will help you determine whether it is worth investing more or even all of your efforts into the channel.
How to Get Approved for Instagram Shopping
Now that you have an idea of what to expect from Instagram shopping, how do you actually get started?
As someone who has tried Set up Instagram Shopping For a passion project, I can tell you it’s not exactly easy. Nevertheless, it can be summarized in three major steps.
1. Make sure you meet all the requirements.
To be approved for Instagram Shopping, you must meet certain criteria.
Sounds pretty straightforward and helpful, right? I hate to break it to you, but it isn’t.
Once you get to grips with the various links and guidelines, things can get tricky. Meeting the criteria is often a process in itself. Speaking of which…
Pro tip: Before you apply for Instagram Shopping, focus on increasing your follower numbers.
Many of Meta’s policies are frustratingly vague, particularly the “Eligibility Requirements for Trading.”
To do this, the website states that you must have “an authentic, established presence.” This may include “maintaining a sufficient follower base,” but what that means in detail is not listed anywhere.
When I managed to call meta support for my store last year, I discovered that you need to have at least 100 followers on your Instagram or Facebook page before You are eligible for Instagram Shopping.
Although there are no longer the 10,000 that there used to be, this still represents a barrier to entry for new companies and Meta does not mention this anywhere.
Full disclosure: It’s been a while since I received this call, so I’m not sure if this follower minimum still applies. But admittedly this was similar to Facebook Live requirements (and these are still being enforced), I think it’s worth not taking any risks.
Focus on growing your presence on Instagram and then go shopping. I share 17 tips in this article.
2. Submit your product catalog.
Once all the parts from step one are in place, you can create a product catalog Meta Commerce Manager to connect to your Instagram.
This catalog can be added manually (Steps here) or from another platform like Shopify or BigCommerce (Steps here).
Personally, mine was sourced from a Square online store.
Note: This is actually where my Instagram shopping journey ended.
From here I learned that I needed to enable “Check Out on Facebook and Instagram,” which required sharing personal information for taxes. This all makes sense, but be sure to consider your views on privacy before doing so.
3. Enable shopping features.
After your catalog is reviewed and approved, you’ll need to actually activate your Instagram shopping features.
To do this, proceed as follows:
- Go to your Instagram business profile in the app and tap the hamburger menu. (The three horizontal lines are in the right corner.)
- Click on “Settings”.
- Then tap “Business” and “Shopping.”
From here, you should see a message confirming that your account has been approved for Instagram shopping and find the Shop button added to your Instagram profile. Finally!
Instagram product tagging
Okay, I know that was a lot, but hey, you’ve made it further than me so far. Congratulations!
Now you can start adding Instagram product tags (some call these tags Instagram shopping tags) to your content.
Why should you tag products? Well, a product catalog on Instagram is only useful if people can find your products. Tagging is the easiest way to ensure this.
Additionally, brands that use product tags generate revenue 37% more sales than those who don’t.
How to add Instagram product tags
You can add Instagram product tags to many different types of content on the platform, including feed posts/carousels, stories, and videos/reels. This is how it works according to Meta.
How to Tag Products in Instagram Feed Posts (Including Carousels)
- When creating (or editing) a feed post, tap Tag Products to open the tagging menu.
- Tap the item you want to add product tags to.
- Browse your catalog to find the product you want to tag.
- Select the product(s).
- Tap “Done.”
Dollar Shave Club is great at tagging products in its feed posts. As you can see in this examplehighlight a different product on each slide of the carousel.
How to tag products in Instagram Stories
- When creating a story, tap the sticker icon.
- Tap the “Product” sticker and select the product you want to tag.
- Publish your story.
Many brands choose to link to their website in Stories to try them out rather than tag products – perhaps to avoid fees – but Allbirds does a great job of incorporating a mix of both.
Again, people can only use your Instagram shop if they know it exists. Linking in content that attracts a lot of attention, such as: B. Stories, is a smart way to spread the word.
How to tag products in Reels/Videos
- Once you’ve recorded your reel, tap “Tag Products.”
- Add the products or collections you want to showcase.
- Tap “Done.”
South Asian fashion line HoliChic by Megha doesn’t shy away from highlighting products in creative Reels. Just take This video for example.
Many of you may be thinking, “But what if the products are sold out?” Wouldn’t that make the content redundant and result in a poor customer experience?
While users may be disappointed when a product is out of stock, it’s not like they’ll be hit with a 404 page.
Tagging products in Reels takes viewers to your Instagram shop even if the products are sold out, so they can explore similar options.
Who knows, maybe they’ll find something they like even more.
Note: Companies can tag up to five products per post And Add tags to captions and Instagram Lives.
Smart tips to get the most out of Instagram shopping
So you know how to tag products and drive people to your Instagram Shop, but how do you really get the most out of it? Here are some tips and tricks from experts.
1. Optimize your product detail pages (PDP).
Like your website or eCommerce store, optimize product detail pages in your Instagram Shop to create the best shopping experience.
This means including in your descriptions the details buyers need to know to make a wise purchasing decision, such as:
- Prices
- Product size/dimensions
- Materials/Ingredients
- Product Uses/Benefits
- Shipping/Return Details
World Market has impressive PDPs, but they have a unique way of enticing users to check out their website rather than Instagram directly.
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You can see all the details about the product, its price, shipping time and even return information.
Need help writing your product descriptions? Check out our article: “8 Strategies for Writing Product Descriptions That Generate Sales.”
Pro tip: Product descriptions are also a great use case for AI tools like HubSpot’s Breeze.
2. Add high quality images and videos.
Another important part of a successful product detail page on Instagram Shopping are high-quality images and videos.
As with any online purchase, people can’t touch and feel the products they browse on Instagram the way they could in person.
The visuals on your product page are the only way to get an idea of what they are actually buying. Therefore, make them clear, detailed and visually appealing.
Here I have to praise HoliChic again. Their PDPs always contain multiple visual representations of their products, including studio and editorial images and videos.
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If you’re new to product photography, don’t worry! Our article “The Beginner’s Guide to Product Photography (Tutorial + Examples)” can help.
3. Collaborate with influencers and customers to brand products.
Another thing you’ll notice about HoliChic’s PDPs is that they have tons of influencers and User Generated Content.
If you ask me, this is one of the best features of Instagram Shops – the pages automatically pull in content where the product is tagged on the platform to provide even more detail to potential buyers.
Knowing this, you’ll definitely want to work with influencers that your audience enjoys promoting and tagging your products in their content.
Connecting with voices your buyer trusts showcases your brand and helps you reach new audiences and increase your chances of making a sale.
Dive deeper into Instagram influencer marketing The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Influencer Marketing for Brands.
Nike takes advantage of this in its Instagram shopping strategy. As you scroll through the shop, you’ll see it highlighted in a section titled “Shop the Feed.”
4. Set up collections (also called categories).
Collections, or categories, however they are listed, are one of the best ways to organize your Instagram Shop and make it easier for shoppers to navigate and find what they are looking for.
Like Bath & Body Works, you can use collections to group products by theme, such as: B. New arrivals, gifts, seasonal trends and even collaborations.
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5. Make sure that the tags do not overlap.
As mentioned, you can tag up to five products in your Instagram posts. However, make sure that they do not visually overlap.
While it can be an eye-catching experience to tap on a post and see a bunch of different links pop up (at least I think it’s a fun surprise), when one tag covers another it can look chaotic and confusing .
This also makes it more difficult to click on the relevant tags.
In this example, Glossier does a great job of getting a lot of product promotion out of one post, but I wish the tags were a little further apart to make them easier to read.
6. Add stories to highlights with product tags.
Stories are Instagram’s most popular feature, so you’ll naturally want to tag your products in them. But remember that stories expire after 24 hours.
Don’t let all this great content go to waste. Make sure you add any stories that contain product links to “Highlights” to your profile so they don’t just disappear.
This way, your audience can enjoy the content for as long as you want to present it, and an additional link and tag to your store is retained.
I really like Allbirds’ strategy of using Highlights to organize featured stories by product.
In fact, that’s where I got the example I shared earlier.
7. Promote your product content with ads.
Everything we’ve mentioned so far is a tried-and-true organic tactic, but let’s face it – it can take a while to see organic results on social media. If you have the budget, try promoting your product-focused content using Instagram ads.
Instagram ads (which run through the Facebook advertising network) allow you to target the exact audience you want to reach and pay to have your content featured there.
Here are a few articles to get you started:
Pro tip: If you’re just starting out with Instagram ads, don’t start from scratch. Experiment by “boosting” a post that is already generating strong interest. What is a boosted post? This article can explain it.
Get approved and get results.
Shopping on Instagram may not be the most common behavior right now, but it is on the rise.
If you are an eCommerce business that has the means and followers, use the tips we have outlined in the article to get approved for Instagram Shopping and see what results it can achieve for you.