﻿It’s getting harder and harder to earn and keep customers’ attention. Soon,
just maintaining an online store won’t cut it. Social media sales are expected to reach
1.2 trillion dollars by 2025, meaning social commerce will outgrow ecommerce,
drastically changing the way we approach customers.
It’s not just Gen Z and Millennials who use social media to get their shopping done. Even Gen Xers
and baby boomers appreciate how easy it is to shop straight from a store’s social media account.
But why exactly do some people prefer social commerce over ecommerce and brick and mortar
shops? There are two main reasons, the first one being comfort. Once people see a product
they like in an Instagram post, they can buy it or be directed to the shop’s website
straight from the social media app. The second reason resonates most with Gen
Z and Millennials—they’re not keen on blatant advertising and, instead, want to buy from a
business or person they trust and support. The way they shop is much more social and
influenced by the people and brands they follow and the content they consume
online. So the best way to reach younger audiences is through social media.
Social commerce also makes sense to business owners like yourself. 87% of Instagram users
say they take action after seeing a product on the app. That’s a huge number of people
ready to shop! Why not take advantage of the audience available to you?
If your audience is aged 18–34, you’ll find that Instagram is a great place to reach them.
If you already have an Instagram account for your brand, you’ve probably invested a lot of
time and resources into creating content that resonates with your audience.
So the natural next step is to let your customers shop directly from your account. This easy and
quick checkout process leaves people with less time to second-guess their purchases,
likely increasing your sales. If this sounds good to you, let’s
take a look at some marketing strategies for your Instagram Shop in 2023.
Instagram Shop is like your brand’s digital storefront, allowing customers to browse products
right on your Instagram profile. But to set up your Instagram Shop for success, you have to…
Your product catalog is the one place that holds information about all your products.
The more detailed your descriptions and visuals are, the better the shopping experience is for
your customers. Nobody wants to buy a cat in a sack, so descriptions, photos,
and videos are a must if you want to gain people’s trust. Make sure your descriptions are polished,
and you have at least 4 high-quality images or videos showing off the product.
By tagging your products in a variety of post formats, you can reach people in many
different places all over Instagram. According to Instagram, businesses that tag products in
their feed posts get 37% more sales on average than businesses that don’t tag products in their
posts. That’s a pretty impressive difference! You can use product tags for your regular posts
and reels and add click-able stickers for your stories. The goal of social commerce is to make
the shopping experience as easy as possible. Reels is one of the most popular features on
Instagram, taking up 20% of the time users spend on the platform. So why
not reach new customers where they’re at? Pull in a new audience with video content
that appeals to their ears and eyes. Show off how you’d use and style your product,
and share how you came up with the design. Don’t forget to tag your product in the reel,
so people can purchase it right away. If you have any user-generated content (and
permission to use it), share it! Social proof is an effective way to show that your brand is
truly worth your customers’ trust and that the product is as good as you claim it to be
Reach more customers by running ads with product tags. This allows more people to
engage with your shoppable content and, therefore, increases the size of custom
audiences that you can target with ads. Instagram ads appear throughout the
app—in people’s feeds, Stories, Reels, and the Explore page. They look like regular
posts but always contain a sponsored label to indicate that they’ve been paid for. With ads,
you gain access to more features like links, call-to-action buttons, and an option to
link your product catalog in the ad. From an ad, you can guide potential customers
to your online store or straight to Instagram Checkout. If you want to learn how to run ads
with product tags, learn more at Instagram’s help center. I’ve linked it in the description.
Last but not least, you can try a more interactive approach to marketing.
Did you know that live stream shopping revenue in the United States is estimated
to hit $20 billion by the end of this year? Video content is the king of
Instagram. Live video where people can interact directly with your brand? That’s even better! As
I mentioned at the beginning of the video, people who prefer to shop on social media do it for the
social and convenience aspects of it. By viewing your live stream, they get a better chance to
understand if they want to buy from your brand. You can tag products in your live stream so people
can buy them right as you describe them. Are you excited to start selling your products
on Instagram? Make sure to review our step-by-step guide on how to get started
there, I’ll also link it in the description. Alright, see you in the next video, bye-bye!