How to sell on Instagram — 8 tips for increasing sales

Instagram is currently very popular and many businesses are taking advantage of its reach to boost their sales. In this article, we'll share tips and strategies for effectively selling products on Instagram and achieving sales growth.

Instagram reached the 1 billion user mark in 2020, and this popularity of social networks is attracting the interest of businesses. Just creating an online store on Instagram is not enough to start selling. An entrepreneur must use sales-generating tools and understand how the social network works.

This article will tell you how to sell on Instagram and increase sales.

Optimize your profile

Turn your profile to business account mode. Visually, subscribers won't notice the changes, but you'll get additional tools to promote the store. For example, you'll have new ad customization options and advanced audience statistics.

Profile design should show you're a solid store, not a junk shop-like account. Your profile picture and name should match your primary site, or if you don't have one yet, develop a quality logo not downloaded from the Internet.

Pay special attention to the profile description. In 150 characters, you need to tell what you do and what you offer to customers. Be sure to add a link to your site. Users don't have to look at your profile to buy something - they'll go straight to the site and see the whole store assortment.

Promote your account

Do not hope that free methods are enough to advertise your profile. Sell those who invest in the promotion of the online store. With Facebook tools, you can run ads in your Instagram feed, posters, live feeds and other sections of the social network. And targeting settings can help you reach your target audience.

Sell through stories

Stories are the primary tool of today's Instagram bloggers. Stories are viewed more often than regular posts, and their number is unlimited. No matter how many you post, they still will not seem like spam. Stories have several advantages at once.

1. Efficiency. An Instagram feed doesn't guarantee that a user will see your post, and stock will always take its place in the feed.

2. Nativeness. Regular posts get artificial, so there may be less credibility to them. And stories, even with serious preparation, look less obtrusive. Their communication is informal, although on serious topics.

3. Storytelling. Storytimes allow you to build a whole story that will attract the buyer. Let's imagine you show production footage in the first story, the packaging of the product in the second, and a satisfied customer's review in the third. Such a pitch is much more entertaining than a dry post with a few photos.

4. Interactivity. The format of stories is convenient for contests, polls and other events designed to attract users.

These benefits don't mean you can forget about regular posts. They're just as valuable, but don't skimp on the story.

Timeless stories

While regular pages serve an entertaining content purpose, eternal pages have an informative function. Add to your everlasting pages all the information that might be relevant to customers. It can be delivery and payment terms, promotional offers, answers to frequently asked questions, etc. It will get rid of some of the one-size-fits-all questions. And customers will get the information they need and make a purchase decision sooner.

Learn Instagram algorithms

The operation of the Instagram feed is regulated by artificial intelligence, which evaluates the relevance of posts. If you don't get featured, you shouldn't expect any sales. To always get noticed and even end up on the Explore Page, you need to know how the social network works. For example, how to attract customers, when it is best to post, etc.

Collaborate with Influencers

Promoting through Influencers is probably the most effective advertising tool on Instagram. They gather audiences of thousands of people around them who are influenced. If they recommend you and use your product and leave a review about it, it will attract new customers. Advertising with bloggers is not cheap, but it's worth trying.

Powerliking

Powerliking is a way to promote a publication when a profile with a large audience likes it. The point is that the post becomes visible to the influencer's readers thanks to the likes. Users pay attention to the publication and your store. It's unobtrusive, but advertising nonetheless.

Apply carousels

A carousel on Instagram is a post consisting of several images or videos. Carousels are usually used for visual content, for example, showing the product from different angles. It's no less efficient to use carousels for text, breaking it up into small parts. Informative posts are necessary to promote the profile, but people do not want to read walls of text on Instagram. The text in a carousel format is much better perceived by users, contributing to attraction and sales.

Summary

Apply our tips and succeed, but remember that a store on Instagram is a good sales channel that should not be considered a full-fledged business. There is always the risk of getting your profile blocked. It will ruin everything you've been building for so long. We recommend creating an online store on your domain, which will give you access to all promotion channels simultaneously and help you build a stable business.