In this blog post, I will show you every essential step, along with some tips and tricks to get you started off strong. First, the basics:
Last year Instagram rolled out Shopping on Instagram to a test pool of businesses in the USA, but now - at the time of writing - the feature has been made available to businesses in:
Shopping on Instagram allows people to browse and buy your products seamlessly through the app, or as Instagram puts it, "a visual shopfront to explore new products from businesses they follow. "
Your products' prices and details are easily accessible, too. Shoppers can tap on a tagged post within the Instagram feed or through the Shop button on a business profile to take the next steps.
To get your business approved and Shopping On Instagram-ready, there are two main things you need:
This can be created and managed on Business Manager, through Shopify or BigCommerce platforms or directly through a Shop section on your business' Facebook Page.In addition, the products you sell must be physical good and comply with Instagram's commerce policies. Basically, nothing illegal or prohibited. Here's the full lowdown on that here.
How you will link your Instagram account to your Facebook catalog will differ slightly depending on where you're selling. Here are the instructions for each of the three options:
If your store's products are hosted on Shopify or BigCommerce, you can can choose to set up a shop on Facebook directly through those platforms. Make sure the Facebook account connected to Shopify and BigCommerce is the same as the account connected to your Instagram business account, and you should be good to go.
To setup a shop on your Facebook Page, click the Shop tab. If you don't see the Shop tab:
With the shop in place, follow the steps necessary to setup your Facebook Page Shop section fully - payment options, products, etc.
The Business Manager account must either own or have access to the catalog.Once you fulfil the requirements for any of the above options, your account will be reviewed for access to Shopping on Instagram. Instagram says the review process should usually take a few days, but sometimes we may take longer.
When your Instagram account is approved for creating a shopping experience on your profile, I'm sure you'll be keen to get the feature up and running! Here's how to enable product tagging on Instagram, and how to tag products.
Note: If you don't see the "Shopping" menu under Business Settings, your account is probably still under review or it hasn't been approved for Shopping on Instagram.
To preview posts or save a draft of a post, click Preview Tagged Products or Save Draft on the page that allows you to add a caption to your post, under Tag People and Tag Products.
Will you be setting up Shopping for Instagram on your account? What have your experiences of it been so far? Let me know in the comments below!
Andrew Macarthy is a social media consultant and the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips.
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Instagram Help CenterFacebook Ads GuideFree Online CoursesNearly half of people say they use Instagram to shop, weekly.1
Instagram Shopping is a set of features that allow people to easily shop your brand’s photos and videos all across Instagram.
Open your shop by completing the set-up process below in Commerce Manager.
You can choose to onboard onto Instagram Shopping by setting up your shop in Commerce Manager or a supported platform. Or, you can get started directly within the Instagram app.
You can choose to onboard onto Instagram Shopping by setting up your shop in Commerce Manager or a supported platform. Or, you can get started directly within the Instagram app.
GET STARTED IN COMMERCE MANAGER
@instagramforbusiness
Elena
Sergeeva Targeted advertising specialistAccording to Facebook Ads, 70% of users learn about new products from Instagram.
To help sellers promote them, Instagram created the Instagram Shopping tool, which became available in Russia in March 2021. We will tell you why to connect this tool and how to set it up.
Instagram Shopping is a tool that allows you to tag products in your posts and Stories. Instagram takes information about products from the catalog that the seller uploads.
The profile with the option enabled looks like this:
There is a bag icon on the photo, which means that if you open a post, goods will be marked in it. Source: COSSeveral items can be noted in the photo. When clicking on shopping tags, users will see the price and description of the product, and will also be able to follow the link and place an order on the site. nine0007
In addition to prices and the products themselves, the user also sees additional information about them: in the description, you can specify the composition of the fabric, size, available colors, etc.
The user can also view the item from different angles in the gallery or learn about other products of the online store All this without leaving Instagram.
To get to the catalog with goods, you need to click on the "View store" button. Inside the store, products can be grouped into thematic collections, such as new arrivals or gifts. nine0007
US residents can pay for items within the app using Facebook Pay. In other countries, including Russia, this option is not yet available: users follow the link on the product to an external site and pay for the order there.
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You can't post items on your personal profile. How to set up a business account on Instagram, we tell in the instructions. nine0031 
Log in to Commerce Manager, also found in your ad account.
The system prompts you to create a shop or catalog. The store is a single storefront for Instagram and Facebook, which is available to companies with physical goods. To promote products on Instagram, click Add Catalog. Choose the type of catalog depending on the subject of your business, e-commerce is suitable for online stores.
In the next step, you need to configure the parameters and method for loading products. From the drop-down list, select the advertising account to which the catalog will be linked. nine0007
You can create a catalog yourself - by uploading a spreadsheet or by connecting a pixel - or through integration with one of the partner platforms.
In the second case, the goods will be loaded from an existing online store.
Click the "Create" button - the catalog is ready.
Important : the catalog must contain exact prices and information about the availability of each item. In addition, the rules for returning goods must also be indicated - on the store's website or in the Instagram account.
To proceed with product creation, select the desired catalog in Commerce Manager and then click Add Products.
Add products using one of the following methods:
If you choose to download manually, a form will open. In it you need to add the name of the product, its description, images, link to the site and price. The system will tell you which data is not required.
After completing the form and uploading, the products will appear in your catalog. nine0007
Inside the catalog, products can be grouped into collections: for example, by subject, season, upcoming holidays, etc. Collections help sellers to get to the user's interests more accurately, and users to quickly select goods.
You can create not only the standard collections, but also those that will attract more attention, such as "Top 10 coats" or "Gifts for best friends".
You can combine products into groups manually or using filters, for example, if there are a lot of products.
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At the final stage, specify the name of the collection and click the "Create" button.
After creating a product catalog, you need to send an account for verification. The verification may take several days.
To add a catalog to Instagram, go to the "Settings" section in the application and select the "Company" tab.
Then click "Set up Instagram Shopping" and follow the prompts.
If the catalog passes the check, a "Purchases" section will appear in your Instagram account. Once your account is approved, turn on Instagram Shopping. To do this, in the "Purchases" section, select the product catalog that you want to connect, and click "Finish". nine0007
To tag an item in a post, start posting as usual - add a photo and post text, and then follow these steps:
You can also mark the product in Stories. To do this:
Up to 5 products can be tagged in one photo, up to 20 in total in the gallery. In Stories, a sticker is added to only one product, but you can change its color and text.
Instagram Shopping will increase sales and user engagement in your account. The product catalog can be used not only to familiarize subscribers with the assortment, but also to set up targeted advertising on Facebook and Instagram. nine0007
We especially recommend this tool for e-commerce: the user immediately sees the price and all information about the product. True, if a product or service involves preliminary communication with the client and a long transaction cycle, then the published price may scare the user away.
Therefore, before using Instagram Shopping, consider whether the tool suits your product and the behavior of your target audience.
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Since March 2022, Instagram has been banned in Russia. In other countries, all its features are still available.
Instagram Shopping allows users to buy directly from a photo or video in any section of the social network. At the same time, there are different opportunities in different countries. About all the nuances - in this article.
When creating a store, you can choose a sales scheme. On the website, on Facebook, on Instagram or through private messages. There are limitations here.
Somewhere you can’t sell inside the application - only show tags, information about the product in the card, and then go to the site, from where you can already place an order.
In the US and a number of other countries, full functionality is available - placing an order directly in the application. It works on the basis of the Facebook Pay service. Companies decide for themselves whether to connect the checkout feature on Instagram or not. nine0007
If they decide not to connect, they will be able to transfer the user to the site, and use Instagram solely as a showcase. The company and bank account must be registered in the United States.
If you're temporarily in a country where Instagram Shopping isn't available (for example, while traveling), you may lose the ability to tag products. Restoring access takes up to 2 weeks.
Consider a variant with limited functionality when sales go through the site. The feature is available on business accounts that are connected to a Facebook page.
MySklad already has integration with Instagram Shopping and Facebook — you can automatically upload products, current balances and prices to social networks, and add product links directly to posts.
Create a catalog on your page on the social network, and unload the goods, their modifications, photos, prices and balances from My Warehouse. The data is synchronized automatically - you can set the interval or start the update yourself at a convenient time. nine0007
A link to the main online store is attached to each product - the buyer follows it and places an order. Integration is available free of charge on all tariffs of MoegoSklad. You can set it up if your business account on the social network has the Instagram Shopping feature. See video instructions for more details.
It usually takes several days. The verification status can be found at any time in the "Purchases" section in the settings. As soon as the account is approved, a notification will be sent from Instagram. After that, you can create a post with a shopping feature. Up to five products can be added to a post with one image, and up to 20 products can be added to a post with multiple photos or videos. You can only add one product sticker per post in Stories. nine0007
Thus, you use Instagram Shopping as a storefront - a buyer on the social network will examine the product, but will go to the site to purchase.
Instagram Shopping has a set of tools that make trading easier.
Collections of goods. You can collect products into groups by topic. At the same time, it is not necessary to make collections that are familiar to everyone, for example, “New Products” or “Hits of Sales”.
Categories can be any and convenient for customers. You can create "10 Gifts for Grandma" or "All for the Holidays". nine0007
Product tags. Instagram Shopping Tags are special tags. The user clicks on them and gets to the page with information about the product. From there, he can go to the site and make a purchase. Thus, the number of clicks decreases, and the client does not postpone the purchase.
Advertising. You can set up ads with product tags. You can promote already existing publications with tagged products in the feed or popular, or create new ads in Ads Manager. nine0007
You can also create custom audiences for advertising: select groups of users who have performed a specific action. For example, those who viewed or saved the product. How to set up ads - we tell below.
You can attract new customers by creating new custom audiences or expanding old ones. Create a user group from both Facebook and Instagram. You can include more sources if you choose audience expansion.
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For example, you can create a shopping custom audience that includes people from both Facebook and Instagram. You can also create a shopping custom audience based on multiple events. For example, based on the Add to Cart and View Product Details events.
To understand which product is easier to promote on Instagram, you need to look at the portrait of the platform's audience. It's more of a female audience. Age category from 18 to 34 years. nine0007
Hence the assumption of which products will sell well on Instagram:
nine0031 The list can be supplemented with household appliances, car parts and pet products. We will talk about limitations in the next section.
The US was among the first to gain access to Instagram Shopping in 2018. And there, entrepreneurs can already draw conclusions about its effectiveness.
Magnolia Boutique women's clothing store owner Susan DelPriore told Big Commerce that after publishing 117 tagged posts, traffic from Instagram increased by 4% and revenue from the social network increased by 20%. She advised telling subscribers about the new feature in the feed and stories, as well as doing cross-promotion in other social networks. In addition, it is important to give instructions on how to place an order correctly. nine0007
John Lott, director of children's clothing store SpearmintLOVE, said that after 208 posts on Instagram Shopping, traffic from the social network increased by 12.61%, and revenue from Instagram increased by 8%. He also noted that it was important to tell subscribers about the new feature - the store published instructions in stories for two weeks.
Do not forget that in the USA the option of ordering and paying directly from the social network works.
Instagram is owned by Facebook and is part of its advertising network. The same rules apply for paid publications of both sites.
For example, you cannot advertise and sell tobacco and tobacco products, as well as prescription drugs, drugs, and wiretapping devices.
We have put together in a table a list of all products that cannot be advertised on Instagram. Download and study it.
Fragment of tableDownload Facebook and Instagram trading rules
On Instagram, just like on Facebook, you need to upload the products you are going to sell to a catalog. There are two ways to link a catalog to your social network account:
By the way, if you have a store on Shopify, you can connect it to the MyStorage service. This is how you add data on orders and counterparties from the platform for launching an online store into a single accounting system, where there is everything for online trading.
In My Warehouse, you can always see information about the balances that will be automatically uploaded to Shopify.
Try MySklad
With the catalog you can: nine0007
nine0031 Read also: 7 problems that prevent trading on the Internet
It is not necessary to create multiple directories. All product data can be stored in one. You can change information about a product in the catalog at any time. But it is important that it always contains accurate data on prices and availability of each item. nine0007
Also, the rules for returning goods and funds should be written either on your website or in the store's Instagram account: for example, in current stories or in a separate post.
Sometimes sellers do not indicate the cost of goods and call it only in private messages. But not everyone does this. For example, the NeBabushka yarn store does not hide prices, says its owner Natalya Maltseva.
The ability to put a price tag directly on a photo in a post is convenient for her. nine0007
We have never closed prices. The price in the label in the post will not scare anyone away. And if this happens, then this is not a representative of our target audience.
Natalia Maltseva
shop owner "NeBabushka"
See also: How to tie big money: the success story of the Nebushka yarn store
According to Natalya Maltseva, Instagram Shopping tools will help meet spontaneous demand: “Now it’s traditional for us — follow the link in the profile description. And the person is forced to either leave the post and follow this link, or enter the name of the site in the browser.” nine0007
But for some sellers, the main disadvantage of Instagram Shopping is precisely that live communication with the client is lost. Sellers say that sometimes with the “answered price in PM” format, a dialogue is started with the client, which ultimately leads to a sale.
Indeed, in a live conversation, the seller can always offer an alternative or resell something else.
Firstly, you can use visual content to attract potential customers, and secondly, you can immediately get feedback. nine0007
“If you break Instagram down into elements, then there will be no unique tools for promotion in the social network,” says Ekaterina Pyankova, a target specialist at MoegoSklad.
Hashtags, targeting, bloggers, smart feed - all this is also available in other social networks. Taken together, the social network continues to be one of the best for business. There are probably almost no brands left that do not have an Instagram account.
Ekaterina Pyankova
targetologist of My Warehouse
The owner of the NeBabushka store believes that the secret of Instagram's effectiveness is that communities of people with the same interests are quickly formed there.
People come to see what's going on in the store.
And through Instagram, we convey the atmosphere that residents of other cities and countries cannot feel when they come to the store. For them, this is a kind of window.
Sales in social networks are suitable for those who want to receive orders online and at the same time do not invest in the creation and promotion of an online store. Watch our tutorial to learn where your products will sell best, how to process orders, and how you can save money. nine0007
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There are three main ways to promote your store on Instagram:
Ekaterina Pyankova considers target to be the most effective of them. This is an advertisement that is shown to an audience according to predetermined parameters: user behavior on the network, their age, interests and field of activity.
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It is easier for those who use it to increase sales, because in this way the publication is most likely to be seen by those who are interested in buying. To run targeted advertising, all you need is a business account.
There are no fixed numbers on Instagram. Sometimes it's expensive and good, sometimes it's cheap and bad, sometimes it's expensive and bad, sometimes it's cheap and good. Any result is useful information for further work.
To run targeted ads, you need to set up a campaign in your Ads Manager dashboard. Through it, for example, you can run ads on: nine0007
Most stores stop at targeting or working with bloggers.
We review our products and engage bloggers to talk about our products.
We didn’t work with targeting for a while, but now we have changed a specialist, and we will launch this type of advertising again. nine0007
Instagram Shopping tools complement existing types of advertising. For example, you can promote posts with tagged products or create ads from scratch in Ads Manager.
Product tagged ad For a business that has been promoting its products on Instagram for a long time, the button to go to the site under the publication is a chance to increase sales even more.The ability to place a link to buy under the post will significantly increase the conversion. nine0007
Since 2016, Instagram has had an algorithmic feed, so the time of publication of advertising posts does not affect their effectiveness in any way. But the cheating of subscribers, which is still sometimes used by both business and bloggers, will not lead to anything good.
In the worst case, you can lose your account.
There are other difficulties that a business may face.
If you don’t have a constant influx of new subscribers, the number of outreaches decreases. Our task now is to ensure a constant influx of fresh subscribers. nine0007
“The audience has high requirements for brands. The account must comply with trends and actively adapt to new ones. And at the same time, there are high requirements for sincerity and openness,” explains Ekaterina Pyankova.
The influence of Instagram is based on visual imagery and on conveying emotions through text and video. If a person did not immediately respond to your offer, it is likely that in a second he will be distracted and fly away somewhere else. nine0007
For example, it’s not enough for a clothing brand to simply post a photo. The audience expects videos from production, promotions, contests, high-quality videos, user-generated content.
The audience of the social network is spoiled, any “respite” threatens with replies and loss of interest.
