How to Take Advantage of Instagram for Your Ecommerce
{Don Debelak’s new book, Turning Your Invention into Cash is now available on Amazon for $3.49. Go to Amazon.com and enter inventions Don Debelak to purchase. From the author of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Bringing Your Product to Market.}
It was only recently that Instagram announced that they now have over 500 million active users every month. Imagine that! And out of these millions, 300 million of them log on to Instagram daily. That makes Instagram and fertile ground for social media marketing. This is especially true given that now, more users of Instagram regularly engage with brands compared to Facebook. Other than that, you ought to start your social marketing on this platform since it is not yet saturated with marketers.
Users of Instagram are most often in the mindset of buying something. They browse to look at the latest fashion and bags and shoes. You can take advantage of this kind of mindset. Imagine if you have a thousand followers on Instagram, you can earn a fortune through brand promotion. If you have an eCommerce store looking for ways to get more sales, Instagram may be the right place for you. In this article, we will look at some ways on how you can make it happen.
Batch, Automate, Repeat
What Instagram users want the most is authenticity but at the same time, they want brands to also be a part of it. Surely, you want to create original content, and you may imagine doing it from scratch. However, as you already know, this is going to cost you a lot of time. Even if you do this, you may find it difficult to respond to the comments at the same time. Imagine all the amount of time you’ll be needing to do that plus build relationships with the influencers in the same niche.
Don’t fret, though. There is a way around this. For this part, I do a technique called “batching.” With batching, you will be doing as much task ask you can but in one sitting, rather than doing it in intervals. What this does is it increases your productivity. You get to eliminate the transition times by allowing yourself to be focused on just one task at a time. It’s a good thing that now, there are a number of tools available to help you with whatever tasks there are for your content marketing strategies.
So now, what are the tasks that you can batch, automate, and repeat?
- You can create contents for your followers in one batch. It is important to remember to not lose quality over quantity. Make sure that all of the contents you produce are only of high-quality. This is how you get your followers to engage with you. You can use the tools Canva https://www.canva.com or Pablo in creating content for the hashtags that are relevant to your brand and products.
- You can schedule your contents for the whole month. This is a time-saving strategy. Instead of logging on to your Instagram account by the hour, you get to think about the contents you’ll be producing for the whole month already. You can use a tool such as Latergramme. Again, do not forget that you should only produce contents of high-quality with regular updates.
- Give enough time so you can engage with your followers. It isn’t enough that you post high-quality contents, you should also be there to answer or reply to the comments. Engage with them, talk to them. Ask questions, or better yet, answer theirs. They have to know that they are talking to an actual human being. You can automate some of the tasks but make sure that you are the one talking to your followers. It makes them relate to your brand more because they can feel a human connection.
Don’t give your followers a hard time
This is especially true when it comes to buying online. When we go shopping online, we expect it to be a breeze. That is why you have to make it effortless for these potential buyers to buy whatever it is you are selling. You want to make sure that the whole process of shopping is smooth, from the choosing to the checkout and payment.
I use third-party tools such as Like2Buy, which you can try for yourself. What it does is it makes your Instagram feed more shoppable. It translates photos in Instagram into related product pages in your site, bringing the potential customers closer to you.
Entice Followers with Freebies and Contests
When you are trying to sell your products through Instagram, it is important that you can make your followers feel special. Make sure that you spend time nurturing the community you have created.
Giving out some freebies and rewards won’t hurt your business. In fact, it may even help you by gaining more exposure and engagement. It makes your followers feel that you are actively engaging with them through your contests and that you are generous.
What people hate the most is if they can feel that you are just trying to rip them off. A few freebies and contest prizes can make them see that you are generous and not stingy in introducing your products to the crowd. Also, imagine the word-of-mouth effect that your contests and freebies will have. You will definitely gain more exposure if you do this.
Takeaway
In order to get more sales, the great thing about Instagram is it won’t cost you too much. It is just a given that the followers are in their shopping mindset. And this is what you have to take advantage of. If you are an entrepreneur, you ought to try some of the steps suggested above and see if it benefits you and your sales. Or better yet, get the help of advertising firms to boost your sales some more. Remember, it is important to produce only high-quality contents and to share them regularly. Try not to get too spammy, though. That will be a turnoff to your followers. Be genuine in engaging with your audience and make them feel that they are talking to a human being. That is a way to gain their trust.
It is also important that you trace your performance such as the sales you have generated in the last thirty days. If you know more about taking advantage of Instagram for your eCommerce, don’t forget to share your knowledge and techniques!
Author’s Bio
Nicolas Finet is a young web entrepreneur working at Sortlist, a Belgium-based independent company bridging the right digital marketing agencies with clients from all over the world. Nicolas loves to travel to meet new people, especially those who share his passion for tech and geeky material that’s related to search engine marketing analytics. Connect with Nicolas through LinkedIn or
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