How to make instagram shoppable shopify

How to Sell on Instagram with Shopify to Bring in More Customers

The benefits of selling online are many and various. Compared with a brick-and-mortar retail setup, your online store can reach shoppers all over the world, and you don’t need someone to operate the cash register.

Beyond that, you aren’t limited to one way of selling.

Not only can you sell from your Shopify store, but you can expand to other sales channels where your potential customers hang out.

Like Instagram.

With the introduction of Instagram Shopping and Instagram Checkout, it became a powerful force for ecommerce brands.

Where Instagram previously excelled at driving engagement for ecommerce brands, it now could also become their store away from their homepage.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

Reasons to sell on Instagram
How to set up Instagram Shopping
Connecting Shopify with Instagram
Adding your Instagram feed to Shopify
Tips for effective selling on Instagram

To begin, we’ll talk about a few of the compelling reasons for selling on Instagram.

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Why sell on Instagram?

The question is, why wouldn’t you sell on Instagram?

There are so many reasons to start using Instagram as a sales channel. Let’s look at a few big ones.

A huge and active user base

With more than 1 billion active monthly users (and 500 million daily), Instagram is a powerful platform for acquisition.

Not only that, but 90% of accounts follow at least one business on the platform.

No wonder it’s such an attractive place for businesses to showcase their products. People use Instagram to shop, and you should be there with everyone else. The top Shopify stores know the value of being on Instagram, so follow their lead.

80% of people use Instagram to research products and services. To be in front of prospective customers when they are making decisions is huge. Don’t miss out.

You can sell directly on Instagram

With Instagram Shopping and the checkout feature, you can sell your products straight from the platform.

Use product tags on posts, Stories, IG Live, and advertisements, then let them buy directly within the app.

Image: @blueland

Then they can continue scrolling their feed, knowing something special is on the way and it was so easy to buy.

People shop with their eyes

What we buy is based mainly on how it looks. While it definitely matters how it functions, how it looks matters most when shoppers are considering a product.

Half of Instagram accounts use the Explore feature every month—a visual feast of posts from across the platform, many of which are from brands like yours.

Over 80% of consumers say they use Instagram to discover new products or services, and nearly the same number say they use it to make their final purchasing decision.

And this isn’t only about Instagram posts. The Stories feature is extremely popular with more than 500 million accounts active on it every day.

Creates a great customer experience

With Instagram Checkout, customers can speed through the checkout process by doing it all within the app, ultimately increasing your conversion rates and making their experience top-notch.

Image: @warbyparker

This cuts out friction from the buying process, and your new customers come away with a high opinion of your brand, increasing the possibility of subsequent sales.

#cta-paragraph-pb#Are you posting when your audience is online? Learn the best times to post on Instagram for better engagement.

What is Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping is the overall capability of merchandising your product across your Instagram account. This consists of many features.

Throughout Instagram, visitors can shop your products through product tags within your posts, videos, Stories, and ads.
Your shop on Instagram is an image-heavy mini store where you can show off your products for purchase.
Visitors can view your product detail page by clicking on a product from your shop, complete with an image gallery and product description.
With Collections, you can categorize your product lines into themes, just as you do on your Shopify store.
Finally, you can use Instagram Checkout to complete the purchase in-app (or send them straight to your Shopify store).

Image: @nike

It isn’t tricky to get started with Instagram Shopping. Let’s break it down, step-by-step.

Step 1: Confirm the eligibility of your brand and products

Like with any platform, you want to make sure your products comply with the policies. Take a look at their Commerce Eligibility Requirements before you go any further.

You also need your own site domain, which won’t be a problem for anyone with a Shopify store.

Finally, see that your country is a supported market for the service.

Step 2: Create an Instagram business account

You can’t unlock the powers of Instagram Shopping if you aren’t using a business account.

If you are, great work. You can move on to the next step.

To switch to the business account:

Head to your profile
Click the menu icon in the upper right corner
Go to Settings
In the settings menu, click Account
Click the link at the bottom that reads “Switch to Professional Account”

With a business account, you’ll not only have the ability to sell on Instagram, but you’ll also have access to helpful analytics that will give you insights to grow your business.

Step 3: Connect your Facebook business page

To make your Instagram shop operational, you’ll have to connect it with your Facebook page.

If you don’t already have one, you can create one. Integrating these two properties opens up the ability to run ads, share posts on both platforms, and unite the messaging tools they offer.

Step 4: Add your products to Instagram

Now that your business is official across Facebook and Instagram, it’s time to get your products uploaded.

Once your Facebook sales channel is connected, your product catalog can automatically sync with your Instagram and Facebook shops, which we’ll cover in more detail below.

You can add products manually, but for Shopify users, the simplest way is to upload them directly from your store.

Step 5: Start tagging and selling on Instagram

Once you get your products added, you can turn on Shopping features.

Then you can begin tagging your wares in your posts, Stories, IG live videos, and ads so that people can buy directly from your fancy new Instagram account.

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How to connect Shopify to Instagram

After following the steps above, you should be most of the way to selling on Instagram. But, a vital piece of this is getting your Shopify products into your Instagram shop.

Let’s figure it out.

Step 1: In your Shopify dashboard, add the Facebook sales channel

In the menu along the left side of your dashboard, you’ll see a SALES CHANNELS section, under which you’ll find your Online Store.

Next to SALES CHANNELS, there’s a plus icon. Click it, and you’ll get a menu of available sales channels to add to your store.

Click the green plus icon next to the Facebook option. This will bring you to a screen detailing the permissions required for adding this sales channel.

Click Update sales channel. Facebook will now show under your SALES CHANNELS in your dashboard.

Step 2: Set up Instagram Shopping in your sales channel

In your Facebook sales channel, you’ll see some options for getting started.

You’ll go to the “Sell your product on Instagram” section and click Start setup for our purposes here.

It’ll have some recommendations for a smooth review process, such as using an established Facebook account, having admin permissions for the account, and having already switched to an Instagram Professional account.

You’ll then review the terms and conditions and request approval. This will take 1-2 days, as they review your products.

Step 3: Add your products to Instagram

In your Instagram app, go to your business profile options and click Settings.

Go to Business > Shopping, confirm your Facebook account, and choose your product catalog. Click Done.

With your Facebook sales channel in place and all of the little details worked out, your products will automatically sync from your Shopify store to your Instagram and Facebook shops.

Your product visibility will automatically change to include your new sales channel. To make any changes to the visibility of any individual product, just go into that product’s edit page to update those settings.

Step 4: Update your checkout method

In your Facebook sales channel commerce settings, you can choose between two checkout options: Directly on Facebook and Instagram or Your Shopify Online Store.

Both options have benefits and limitations, but if you want to create a friction-less sales option within Instagram, you should set up Instagram Checkout.

With that, you need only start customizing your Instagram shop to reflect the beautiful customization of your Shopify store.

How to add your Instagram feed to Shopify

Now that you have your Shopify store on your Instagram account, here’s how you can add your Instagram to your Shopify store.

You’ve done all the work to capture amazing images for your Instagram, so why not pull all that great content back over to your Shopify store?

There are a few ways to do this. In our guide to the best Shopify apps, we highlighted Instafeed, which gives you the ability to add customizable Instagram feeds to Shopify.

If you’d rather keep your app stack minimal, Shogun can help bring your Instagram feed to your store as well.

It just takes a few steps to add your Instagram feed with Shogun. Here goes:

Step 1: Drag the Instagram element where you want it

After navigating to the page you want to add your feed to in the Page Builder dashboard, you scroll down to the Instagram element and drag it to your desired location.

Once in place, you’ll need to point it to your specific Instagram account.

Step 2: Add your Instagram account and authorize

To add your account the first time, you just need to click the link to add your account.

You need to be signed into the account you want to add, so make sure you do that first. You’ll be asked to authorize Page Builder to use your account.

Once authorized, your feed should start showing up.

Step 3: Customize your Instagram feed

With your feed in place, you can now change the appearance to fit your brand.

In the Controls tab of the element menu, you can change the number of columns, the number of posts, the vertical and horizontal spacing, and how you want the images to display in your feed.

In the Styles tab, you can update many of the stylistic components of your element, such as margins, padding, dimensions, borders, alignment, background, and visibility.

In the example below, you’ll see three variations of the same Instagram feed with changes to the number of columns, number of posts, and spacing.

Three style variations for Page Builder’s Instagram element

You can make your feed display exactly as you like to show off your unique products. A perfect way of bringing your two storefronts together.

#cta-visual-pb#<cta-title>Add your Instagram feed to any page with Page Builder<cta-title>Drag and drop elements make building your store super easy.Start building for free

Tips for successful selling on Instagram

With your brand new sales channel in place, it’s time to maximize its conversion potential. Here are some tips to get you from good to great.

Use stunning photos

Just like with your Shopify landing and product pages, the use of incredible photos is non-negotiable.

On Instagram, it’s the difference between someone scrolling right on past and someone pausing to investigate.

Capture their attention with powerful product images that highlight the specific details of your offering and what it looks like in action.

Copper Cow creates a stunning image with great staging, lighting, and color

To create great product photos, here are some quick tips:

Great lighting is your friend. For great natural lighting, shoot during the early morning and late afternoon. Utilize reflectors and light diffusers to get the lighting just right.
Stay consistent. The look of your photos is reflective of your brand, much like your brand voice. Stay consistent across your collection and make sure the images are of high resolution.
Show your product in use. Great lifestyle photos show how your product can fit into your customers’ lives, and studio photos follow up with the little details.
Edit your photos to perfection. While it’s tempting to go from shoot to publish, you’ll want to spend some time editing your images for the best brightness, sharpness, color, and background detail.

Video drives engagement

Great photos aren’t where it stops, though. Make those images move with engaging video content.

One study found that 84% of people said they’d been convinced to purchase a product or service by watching a video from the brand.

A good mix of videos and images can nurture engagement with your brand, increasing awareness, likes, shares, clicks, and ultimately, purchases.

You can also take to IG Live to connect with your followers in real-time, even dropping product tags so they can buy directly from your live stream.

Reels are another excellent option for creating short TikTok-esque videos to share with your fans.

Don’t sleep on Stories

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, over 500 million people use Instagram Stories every single day. So many people!

In a survey, 58% of people said they’ve become more interested in a brand when they’ve seen it in Stories. Plus, half of respondents said they’ve visited a website to purchase something after seeing it in Stories.

Vaer Watches creates informative and engaging Stories on Instagram

So, obviously, you need to take advantage of this powerful tool.

You can use it for your organic followers and expand your reach by utilizing Stories ads interspersed within users’ organic Stories roll.

Take advantage of your profile

Many users will navigate to your profile to learn more about your brand and your products.

Choose a profile image that represents your brand well and can be easily understood at the small scale at which it displays. Often this will be your logo.

Your bio is one of the only places where you can describe your brand on Instagram. Use the small space wisely. Quickly describe what your brand is about, using emojis as needed to draw interest, and finish with a URL.

This is the only spot you can use a link, so choose a good page to link out to. You can change your link whenever you like, depending on what’s going on with your brand at the time.

Curate fantastic user-generated content (UGC)

Your loyal customers aren’t just a great source of recurring revenue—they can also be a powerful marketing asset.

Put the call out for UGC and add those candid images to your Instagram feed.

This not only creates great engagement and relationships with your existing customers but also engenders trust in potential customers. It illustrates the excitement your product has earned and how your product looks/fits on real people.

Create strong captions

Pair your amazing photos with captions that drive the message home. They add context and tell your audience what action they should take.

It’s also a great place to show off your brand personality, creating a unified brand experience throughout all your properties.

PANGAIA packs a lot into this caption with a clear CTA

Here are a couple tips to make your captions count:

Keep them short. Instagram is very visual, and users don’t come to read a novel. Don’t overexplain. Instead tell them precisely what they need to know and drop your CTA.
Proofread your content. You want to get the post out quick, but you want to make sure it’s correct. Give it a once-over before publishing to make sure it sounds good and is free of errors.
Include a call to action (CTA). Each post should give users an opportunity to do something. What do you want them to do? Make it clear at the end of your post.

Take your hashtag game to new heights

Using hashtags is a great way to improve the visibility of your posts by showing up for trending terms in Explore. Don’t stuff your post with them, though. Be purposeful.

Use relevant hashtags that actually have volume. If nobody is searching for it, you are just wasting space in your caption.

When used correctly, hashtags can increase your reach and drive up the performance of your posts.

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Capture new eyes with influencers

You can only reach so many people with your posts, Stories, Reels, and ads. But new audiences await you with the help of influencers.

With a built-in audience, influencers are the combination of advertising and social proof. Their followers treat their brand plugs as more honest than traditional marketing, boosting your brand’s estimation in their minds.

At the same time, they are cheaper than traditional advertising, so it is a big win both ways.

You can either go searching for influencers to approach about a partnership or use influencer marketplaces to use as a middleman for your influencer marketing.

Drive sales with gorgeous ads

A huge benefit of adding the Facebook sales channel is that you can create impressive ads across both Instagram and Facebook that are targeted to your ideal audience.

You can manage all your ads from Facebook and even use a pixel to track the actions customers take on your Shopify store for creating better ads.

Your ads can come in many forms—photos, videos, Stories, slideshows, swipeable carousels, and more. Get in front of more people really fast.

Sell smarter with social sales channels

Your Shopify store is your headquarters, but there are many different ways to sell online.

Utilizing channels like Instagram and Facebook to expand your sales reach is a powerful way to grow your business. With Shopify, it’s super easy to make this a reality.

Adding your Instagram feed to your Shopify store via Shogun Page Builder keeps that uber-visual channel ever-present on your central store, driving customers to engage further with your brand.

Happy selling!

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Instagram Shopping · Shopify Help Center

This page was printed on Dec 19, 2022. For the current version, visit https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/facebook-instagram-by-meta/instagram.

You can sell your products on Instagram by using the Instagram Shopping feature in Facebook and Instagram by Meta. Instagram Shopping creates a shop on your Instagram profile and lets you tag your products in posts and stories. Customers can select View Shop on your Instagram profile to view all of your products in Instagram. Customers can also click on posts to view a tagged product, and then select View on Website to make a purchase on your online store.

If a customer clicks a product listed on Instagram to view it and make a purchase, then the order is listed as referred by Instagram.

To use the Instagram Shopping feature you need to be located in a country or region that is supported by Instagram and your products need to meet the product requirements for selling on Facebook and Instagram by Meta.

Learn more about adding your product catalog to Instagram in the Facebook Help Center.

Tagging products

Note

Tagging your products in Instagram is available to you if you are in a country supported by Instagram.

You can tag products in your Instagram posts and stories. Customers who find your tagged products on Instagram can tap a link to view and buy a product in your online store.

Products need to be available in your Facebook catalog and Shopify online store to be tagged in an Instagram post or story.

Tagging products on Instagram

When you see that you're approved in your Instagram business profile and you have added your Facebook product catalog, you can tag your products in Instagram posts and stories.

To learn more about tagging products, see How do I tag Instagram products in posts on Instagram?.

Note

When you tag a product on Instagram that has more than one variant in Shopify, you need to choose a variant for the product tag.

Tagging products in Instagram stories

You can tag your products in Instagram stories using shopping stickers. You can only tag products on image story posts, not videos. To learn more about Instagram stories, see Stories in the Instagram Help Center.

Moving or deleting tags on Instagram

You can move or delete product tags on Instagram. To learn more about moving or deleting product tags, refer to How do I move or delete products I've tagged on Instagram? in the Instagram Help Center.

Changing your product's description

To change the product description, name, or price shown in the product tag details, you need to edit the product listing on Shopify and publish the updated product to Facebook. Your product description cannot be different on Instagram than it is in Shopify.

If there's an incorrect price for a product on Instagram, then make sure that your price and compare at price are correct in Shopify. You can also check your Facebook Commerce Manager to make sure that there's no sale start or end date on the product.

How to connect Instagram Shopping | Manual

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.

Instagram Shopping Features

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. nine0003

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.

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. nine0003

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.

How to connect Instagram Shopping

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. nine0003

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.

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. nine0003

How to set up Instagram Shopping

Create and link a directory. Can be done using the Commerce Manager tool, a desktop platform for managing sales on Facebook and Instagram. The service helps to create a new catalog or connect an existing one, process orders, etc. To use product tags and stickers, select an e-commerce catalog.
Connect Instagram Shopping in your profile settings and submit your account for verification. 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. nine0032

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.

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 Tags and other opportunities to promote

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".

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. nine0003

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.

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. nine0003

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.

Who and what niches Instagram Shopping suits

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. nine0003

Hence the assumption of which products will sell well on Instagram:

Things that reflect the lifestyle - clothes, jewelry, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, perfumes, sporting goods.
Trendy products that reflect the spirit of the times. It can be anything from a case for wireless headphones to masks and sanitizers.
Visually appealing products whose purchases are dictated by emotions. For example, decorative interior items or handmade. nine0032

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. nine0003

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.

What not to sell on Instagram

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 table

Download Facebook and Instagram trading rules

How to manage the range of products in Instagram Shopping

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:

Via Commerce Manager. This is a do-it-yourself tool available in Facebook Business Manager.
Through a partner e-commerce platform. For example, Shopify or Big Commerce. nine0032

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 to 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: nine0003

Add and manage product details. You can upload an image, write a description, set a price, change color or size. And also - add several positions at once and a link to the store's website.
Group ads. This is useful if you need to combine different posts with a common theme. For example, information about discounts and promotions.
Create selections for shops. To show customers all the products that may be of interest to them. nine0032
Assign permissions. Then other people or partner companies will be able to work with your catalog.
Download country and language information. This way, buyers will automatically see the correct information and prices for items in the ad or in the store.

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. nine0003

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. nine0003

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 Nebabushka yarn store

According to Natalia 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.” nine0003

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. nine0003

“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. nine0003

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Targeted advertising

There are three main ways to promote your store on Instagram:

targeted advertising,
advertising with bloggers,
advertising in thematic communities.

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. nine0003

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: nine0003

people who "similar" to your customers in terms of age, occupation and hobbies;
all visitors to your page or site;
regular customers;
visitors who added items to their cart but did not purchase them.

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. nine0003

Shopping ads and posts tagged with Instagram Shopping Tags

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 their 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. nine0003

What hinders the promotion of goods

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. nine0003

“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. nine0003

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. You need to constantly post new exciting content and communicate with subscribers.

How to increase user engagement on Instagram:

Post real photos: anything that looks too photoshopped or perfect will turn off. nine0032
Encourage user generated content. Ask customers to take a photo or video of your product and then post it to your feed or stories.
Collaborate with others. You can expand your audience by partnering with different complementary brands. For example, if you sell sunglasses, caps or hats would be an addition.

Can Instagram disapprove ads?

Yes, if it violates Facebook's ad trading rules. For example, you cannot advertise illegal products and 18+ products. And there should be no hints of discrimination and violence in advertising. nine0003

They may not miss it by mistake - due to a failure in automatic moderation. In this case, you can challenge the decision, and the ad will be re-checked by a person.

How to add a product catalog to Instagram, how to tag products

Elena
Sergeeva Targeted advertising specialist

According 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.

What is Instagram Shopping

Instagram Shopping, or Shopping, is a tool that lets you tag products in your posts and Stories. Instagram takes information about products from the catalog that the seller uploads. nine0003

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: COS

Several 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.

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. nine0003

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.

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.

Why connect Instagram Shopping

The selling element is integrated into the content , which is convenient for both the buyer and the seller. The buyer does not need to switch between applications and communicate with the seller to select a product and find out its characteristics. And the seller can do without the same type of posts in the “follow the link in the description” format.
Sellers don't have to create multiple posts for different products: they can be placed on one photo. Adding products does not take much time, and you can mark them not only in posts, but also in Stories. nine0032
Also can be found in automatic recommendations in the "Shop" tab, which appeared for some users. You can keep up to date with the latest from your favorite brands.

Setting up Instagram Shopping: Getting Started

Check out Facebook Ads Trade Agreement for product requirements, party responsibilities, and more. For example, Facebook prohibits the sale of replica brands and any infringing products rights, and in order for the system algorithms to work correctly, the advertiser must agree to the transfer of data from his site. Violation of the trading agreement can result in account suspension. nine0032
Create an Instagram account - for business or for the author. You can't post items on your personal profile. How to set up a business account on Instagram, we tell in the instructions.
Link your Instagram account to your Facebook business page . For more information on how to do this, we have described in the article. If you don't already have a business page, create a Facebook Business Manager account first, you'll need it to set up your store in Commerce Manager. With Business Manager, you can manage your Facebook and Instagram accounts and pages, and assign people who can work with them. nine0032
Download product catalog . The new catalog is created in Facebook's Commerce Manager, a section within the social network where you can manage your inventory and sales. If you already have a catalog, you can add it using one of the partner platforms: OpenCart, WooCommerce, Shopify, etc. We will talk about this when we go through the setup.

In the catalog you can

Manage products: create them, edit the image, description, price and other important characteristics. nine0032
Combine products into collections to show customers exactly what they are interested in.
Give access to product management to other people or partner companies.
Set the country and language so that buyers see the correct information and prices.

How to add products to Instagram through Commerce Manager

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. nine0003

The next step is 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.

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. nine0003

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:

Manually - this method involves filling out a form for each product and is suitable for companies with a small assortment.
Via a data feed (spreadsheet). You can download many products at once and set up regular updates. Files in CSV, TSV and XML (RSS/ATOM) formats are supported, as well as Google Sheets. nine0032
Automatically - through integration with one of the partner platforms. In this case, the goods will be loaded from the existing store.
Using the Facebook pixel. If you haven't installed the pixel yet, we recommend contacting the webmaster.

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. nine0003

How to create a collection with products

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. nine0003

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.

How to add products to Instagram

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". nine0003

How to tag an item

To tag an item in a post, start posting as usual - add a photo and post text, and then follow these steps:

Click Mark Items.
Find the product you need and select it from the catalog.
Click "Done" and share the post with your followers.

You can also mark the product in Stories. To do this:

Select an image to publish and click on the sticker icon in the upper right corner of the screen. nine0032
Select the product sticker and the desired product in the catalog.
Tag a product with a sticker and share your story with your followers.
Learn more