First things first when it comes to Instagram; followers are fine but quality fans are better. Because if you don’t have the right audience, how can you expect the ones who are ‘there’ to really connect and in turn, buy from you. If the goal is selling more products on Instagram your followers matter.
Additionally, people used to really look at Instagram fans and likes as social proof, right? However, more recently many accounts have shifted from being unable to see how many likes are on images unless it’s your account.
Sort of takes that social proof thought process out of the game a little bit, doesn’t it? In any event, we don’t claim to be Instagram experts by any means. But, we do know what’s worked for us and in turn, can work for you.
3 Tips to Selling More Products on Instagram
Since we covered audience already (although briefly) simply keep this in mind when marketing on Instagram. Seek quality over quantity. Follow and engage with accounts that fit your ideal customer or business partner. The best way to get their attention is by showing love on their pages.
Additionally, make sure you have hashtags as part of your strategy. And while using hashtags PLEASE make them relevant to you and your offerings. Going with hashtags solely because they’re trending won’t attract your ideal customer and that is the goal.
How you Showcase your Products, Matters
When your goal is selling more products on Instagram, the quality of your images is important. Some recommended tips to ensuring your product placement is optimized are;
- Lay your products flat — choose a plain, neutral background for your shot
- Add/Edit images — leave some space for a text or graphic overlay
- Take plenty of pictures so you have multiple options to choose from
- Use close up shots — if your products have a unique design you want to stand out
Some other things to consider are; incorporate people into your pictures, use lifestyle (relevant) photos where appropriate, keep things light and bright and consider creating a grid on your timeline to showcase your hard work, best.
Showcase Sales with Branded (to you) Graphics
Let’s assume you have a special sale going on. Take the time to edit the image to include words like ‘flash sale’, ‘on sale now’, etc. Although captions can be powerful in and of themselves, often users will scroll on by.
This is why we recommend that if you are looking to sell more products on Instagram that sale posts on your newsfeed be created to stand out.
Some cool apps we recommend for photo editing are;
- PicsArt
- Snapseed
- Prisma
- Adobe Lightroom
Or, Canva on desktop (mobile version is quite limited still) is always a great go-to. Your Instagram graphics can also announce grand openings, new arrivals, featured items, and so on—the potential is limitless.
10K or More Followers?
This last tip is for those of you who have reached 10K (or more) followers. 10,000 has been the magic number that unlocks a few more features especially — the Swipe Up feature. Have you ever noticed scrolling your Instagram Stories and you were prompted to ‘swipe up‘?
Had you done so, this action would have taken you to whatever website the account holder set it to be. There are no limits that we’ve seen to how many websites you can use on various images and let’s be honest there are some cool GIFs encouraging the follower to take action.
If you are someone who has reached the necessary follower numbers — and you want to sell more products on Instagram, you NEED to use this feature.
What tips and tricks are you finding that are working exceptionally well on the Instagram platform? We would love to hear about what’s worked for you and what hasn’t — and of course how we can help serve you even more!
