Instagram

Glossary

Getting Started With Instagram Marketing

How to Start Instagram Marketing

Instagram has become an excellent hub for promoting, advertising, and as a good facilitator of sales for any form of business, especially e-commerce. Instagram has more than billion active monthly users and is the second most popular social media network after Facebook. Not only this, 60% of the customers find Instagram shoppable feed relatable.

Many more exciting statistics related to Instagram will make you wonder why you haven't started with Instagram's marketing strategy yet. Being one of the most popular and having the most active monthly users, Instagram has the potential to leverage your business like no other social media marketing strategy.

Let's start from scratch how you can establish your business on Instagram and boost your sales.l

How to Start Instagram Marketing

Step 1. Create your Business Account

This is easy. Open the Instagram app and login with your business account email id. Enter the required account details not as a personal user but as a business user. Create a username that best identifies your business brand.

The profile picture should be your company logo, an image through which customers recognize your brand. Instagram bio is another essential part of building your brand image on Instagram.

Don't forget to add your website link on your Instagram bio and every other direct, actionable link that could better link your customers to your business. Also, mention the type of service you provide.

Step 2. Manage Business Account Settings

Manage the settings by clicking on the three lines in your account home page's upper right corner.

Click on Settings from the bottom. Under the Privacy section, you can manage your story settings, account privacy, and much more.

Step 3. Connect your Instagram with the Facebook Business Page

Your Instagram business account needs to connect it to the Facebook page to make it eligible for Instagram shopping.

For this, first, you need to make sure your Instagram account is a business account and not a creator or personal account. For this, follow Settings -> Account -> Switch to Business Account.

Once this is done, now go to your profile home page and click on Edit Profile. Under this, click on Page to connect your Instagram account to the Facebook page (provided you already have one maintained) as well.

Step 4. Connect Facebook Catalog manager to Instagram shopping

We assume you already have the Facebook catalog manager set up done. If not, follow these steps on how to create a catalog on the Facebook business page.

After setting your Facebook product catalog, get back to Instagram. This is to connect your Instagram account and Facebook catalog. For this, on your Instagram account, follow Settings -> Set Up Instagram Shopping.

If you are eligible for Instagram shopping, the process will take a few days for approval from Instagram.

Step 5. Tagging Products

Once you have received the approval from Instagram, you can set up Shopping settings and start tagging your products. You can tag your products both in posts and stories as well.

You can tag up to five products in a single image post and 20 products in a single post of multiple images. The tagged posts provide info about the product featured along with its price.

It also includes a link that is redirected to the site from where the product can be purchased. You can also add tags to your stories, but it limits only tagging one product per story. However, stories are best for extending your products' reach and entice users to discover more about your business.

Step 6. Engage your Audience

Lastly, the most important is how you can engage your audience and increase your Instagram posts' reach.

Though paid promotion helps gain a handful of followers and reach, the organic reach can take your brand to the next level as it attracts customers naturally when they start trusting you more and more.

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How to use Instagram for Marketing to Attract an Audience

Once you have successfully created your business account on Instagram, now start using Instagram for marketing by posting stories, videos, and photos. Let's see how you can use Instagram for marketing and take your ecommerce business to new heights.

Create user-generated content User-generated content or UGC is a fantastic marketing strategy that allows businesses and brands to post their users' real experiences. For generating such content, the brands need to entice users to use their products in exchange for the opportunity to get them featured on their website or Instagram profile. Posting and sharing UGC on your Instagram stories and posts is a great way to claim your products' authenticity and reliability.
Use Instagram Ads Expanding reach in the beginning with the help of Instagram Ads sounds good. It encourages you to remain active with your content on Instagram as it leverages the users' response. However, please don't make it a habit, as this could prevent you from creating original content.
Embed UGC on your website Another marketing strategy to convert your Instagram audience into prospective customers is embedding your Instagram feed on your website. Doing so bridges the gap with your digital and social presence, resulting in more conversion rates. You can embed Instagram feed on your website directly with the help of Instagram too. Alternatively, you can make use of social media aggregator tools for the same.
Posting behind the scenes posts Users crave something new. Posting behind-the-scenes posts on your Instagram handle is an effective way to gain your users' attention and engagement. Also, it adds to your material presence. It gets easy for users to trust your brand when you tag location on your posts. This helps in building your brand image and brand loyalty.
Posts educational posts This, in a way, forms part of UGC or reposted posts. Educational posts for any e-commerce business could be related to posts that educate people on using the product, different ways to use the product, and such feeds.

These can be created by the brand itself or could be the shared work of influencers, bloggers, and the general public. For instance, a clothing brand can post videos of users styling their product in different ways, or a food brand can post videos of users using their product in their cooking recipes, etc.

These were some of the ways of how to use Instagram for the marketing of businesses. Once you combine organic search power with paid content, you can quickly drive more sales, understand your buyer's needs, and grow your business. A lot more can be done with the help of Instagram's new reels feature, IGTV, and stories features if you get the hang of using it well.

Use your social media marketing on Instagram to get creative and explore new opportunities for your e-commerce business.