How to optimize your Instagram account to achieve more sales

It’s no secret that Instagram is making a big play into the world of e-commerce. Last March they announced the launch of Shoppable posts, whereby e-commerce brands can now tag products within an image. Not long after that came the ability to tag products in stories, through the shoppable sticker feature. They’ve also announced that a standalone Instagram shopping app may very soon be a reality.

So what does this all mean for e-commerce brands wanting to acquire more customers and generate more revenue? One thing’s for sure, the launch of shoppable media on Instagram could certainly put less significance on your website, and shift more importance to how your Instagram feed looks, and how optimized it is for sales.

With that being said, if you’re an e-commerce brand, being an early adopter when it comes to shoppable media, and creating a beautifully cohesive feed, will certainly pay dividends long term. Below are some tips you can use to optimize your Instagram account for more sales.

Create great content.

This sounds obvious, but it’s the first step in growing a loyal audience on Instagram. Too many brands don’t put enough emphasis on the crispness of their imagery, the size of the images they upload, and how professional their photos look in general. Creating HD content is the first step when it comes to standing out within a busy newsfeed. So, how can a small business achieve this? Consider hiring a part time photographer/editor to ensure those shots look clean and crisp.

Write compelling captions

Writing compelling copy can often be the secret to success when it comes to an Instagram post. Once you establish how you want your brand to sound, be consistent. Whether humour, educational, or motivational is your style, it’s important that your language resonates with your target demographic. But how can you tell if a caption is on-brand or not? A test I like to use is, asking myself “Would one our followers write this as one of their own captions?” If the answer is yes, then you’re probably on the right track.

Use the most optimized hashtags.

Instagram allows users to use up to 30 hashtags per post. Our advice? Take full advantage of this. Researching what hashtags your audience use on a daily basis will pay huge dividends. Using the most community orientated hashtags will ensure you consistently appear on Instagram’s explore page, and appearing there as often as possible will ensure that you account garners more exposure and attracts more visitors. Some of my favourite hashtag discovery tools to use are Leetags, and TopTags.

Make your posts shoppable.

Finally, you’ve done all the hard work, you’ve made sure your images are crisp and HD, your captions are on-brand, and that you’re using the most optimized hashtags. Now it’s time to tag your products. First of all, to be eligible for shoppable posts, you must satisfy 5 requirements:

• Have the latest version of the Instagram app
• Make sure you have a business profile on Instagram
• Are an admin on a page or business manager account
• Have a product catalogue associated with a shop on Facebook
• Sell physical goods and comply with Instagram’s merchant agreement and commerce policies

Once you’ve satisfied these requirements, and synced your product catalogue within Facebook, you can begin tagging products. Tagging your products will allow users to tap the product within an Instagram post to find out more information, if tapped twice, the user will then be brought to the “add to cart” section on the company’s website, and thus, making the user experience much more convenient and seamless.

About the Author
Michael Burke is a Brand Manager at SelfMade, one of New York City’s fastest-growing startups, where he helps eCommerce business scale online. When he is not helping eCommerce companies scale their businesses, he is writing for Entrepreneur Magazine, Business.com, and running TechPress, an online PR database he created to help thousands of startups get their business featured in the news more often” Get in touch here Twitter and LinkedIn.