Guest Post By Max DiNatale, Owner of Max DiNatale Digital Marketing

Yes, Instagram seems to officially be all the rage these days. And it isn’t slowing down.

What started as a Facebook-only world quickly became a social media battle when YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and tons of other companies joined in and tried to spark as much excitement as Facebook once had.

They had new features, a new way of connecting with friends or total strangers, and *gasp* less drama!

Then came other, smaller apps with “we can do that too!” mentalities such as Vero, Vine, and a plethora of others. However, despite Facebook’s larger reach (it may just always be the giant), Instagram seems to have officially taken over in terms of popularity for many demographics.

And, hey, Facebook can still say it’s “winning” since it owns Instagram anyway! But in today’s digital marketing world, it seems that Instagram somehow has that special something that nobody else can capture.

What Makes Instagram Better As A Marketing Channel?

Both individuals and businesses just plain love Instagram.

Individuals love it because they can not only connect with friends and celebrities, but with businesses they love to support.

Businesses love it because they can not only connect with their customers, but with other businesses too. From my perspective as both an individual user of IG and a digital marketer, I understand both sides.

Younger generations aren’t telling their friends to add them on Facebook – they’re telling them to add them on Instagram, or “Insta” as they might prefer to say.

Businesses are no longer concerned with their Facebook presence as much as their IG presence.

I often hear from clients and prospective clients that they are more interested in starting their promotion on IG, and cross-posting to Facebook.

They feel like Facebook has lost not only some of its authenticity and credibility, but also a ton of its engagement (many posts have to be sponsored or boosted to even be seen by the public; clients now feel like they can get a much better organic reach on Instagram, even though IG’s algorithm is always a hot topic of discussion!).

They also like the highly visual aspect Instagram provides—something that Facebook doesn’t – it’s an automatic way to tell their brand’s story in picture form without needing a ton of words.

It shows the concept of “this is who we are and what we like, and we hope you’ll like it too.”

Tips & Tricks For Promoting Your Store On Instagram

So, should you be promoting your Shopify store with Instagram? And how does a brand effectively use Instagram to make this connection with customers?

How does it move your followers from “that’s a pretty photo” to “I want to buy that!”

Below are a few tips to help navigate the e-commerce side of Instagram, and how to truly make it work for your business.

Shoppable Instagram Posts

One of the key ways to generate sales on Instagram is to use shoppable ads. In order to do this, you must have a Facebook business shop.

You can house your products directly in your Facebook shop, or do what many people do, and connect the shop to your sales software where your products are already listed. Many businesses use Shopify, but there are tons of platforms that can integrate with Facebook to help migrate your products over.

In Shopify, for instance, it’s as easy as making sure Facebook is one of your sales channels/apps, connecting your Facebook business page, and enabling your shop (there’s a little downtime during the enabling/migration process).

Of course, on the Instagram side, you’ll also need to make sure your profile is a Business profile, and that you have Shopping enabled/connected in your Business Settings.

After the initial set up phase, you can officially tag products in your photos, meaning in less than three clicks, a customer will automatically be taken to your website to check out the product and hopefully make a purchase.

No more guessing or comments like “hey I love that outfit on your Instagram; I wish I knew how to buy it!”

Now – just tap and go!

Shoppable Instagram Stories

No more waiting on the sometimes insurmountable 10K followers mark to get people from your Instagram Stories to your website. (Yes, the “swipe up” feature is still only reserved for the elite.)

Now, you can tag products WITHIN your stories too, not just the posts! This will allow people to move just as quickly from IG over to your website to make a purchase.

If your product tagging is enabled like it was for Point 1 with Shopify or any other platform, you’ll eventually get access to the same tagging feature in Stories.

Post a story, swipe up for more options, and choose the “Product” option to easily tag a specific product, just like you did in a post.

Instagram’s Shopify Sales Channel Integration makes creating shoppable posts a breeze

Instagram Ads

Let’s say you want to reach beyond the organic side of Instagram and put some paid advertising dollars toward the platform.

This is a great idea to reach beyond your current fanbase and target new people within a specific geography, age, gender, or set of interests.

You can also reach people who have been to your website or social pages previously with retargeting or find people who are look-a-likes to those people. With the right targeting, even a budget of $10/day can go a long way.

Interested in setting up a paid campaign? Click here for a complete step-by-step guide on how to build look-a-like audiences and retargeting campaigns.

Short video ads are a great way to really show off your products’ features, although static images work as well. With Instagram ads (they can be set up through the Facebook platform, and you can choose whether you want to be in just the feed or Stories too), people can click directly on an ad and be taken to your website.

Also, make sure to split-test your ads to ensure your paid marketing improves over time.

This is a great option if you don’t have product tagging enabled for your organic posts; these paid ads can also link directly to your e-commerce website.

Reach the people who matter most to you.

Are You Doing Your Part?

Yes, the “look” of your page and how you engage with customers is sometimes just as important as all the technical ways to get people to your e-commerce website.

If you have a sloppy page with unclear photos, an inconsistent look/feel, or posts that feel too repetitive, you’re going to lose customers’ interest.

You need to keep them engaged with good photography, fun and personal video stories to make them feel like they are a friend and not just a customer, giveaways/contests, and the like. Don’t expect to just throw a product up and hope it gets clicks.

Engage with your customers – Like their comments, reply back, and maybe even Like some of their own photos. Trust me, this personal connection can go a LONG way to someone’s deeper feelings toward a brand.

Click here for some creative content tips and tricks straight from the Instagram Business Team.

Conclusion – Time To Get Started Instagramming

If any of this feels overwhelming, don’t feel bad! Everything takes a bit of learning, plus trial and error.

The best news with digital marketing is that you can measure results to see exactly what’s working or not working.

In the meantime, Happy Instagramming!