Instagram is undeniably one of the most popular social media platforms with over 1.3 billion monthly active users. According to recent social media statistics for 2023, Instagram has been a major power player in social media marketing as it ranks 5th in the list of the world's most 'active' social media platforms and marketers can reach nearly 1.5 billion potential audiences with ads on Instagram.
It’s evident that the ever-so-popular app is no longer just for personal use; Instagram for E-Commerce has allowed brands to promote their products in a friendly and authentic way to bring conversions.
Because Instagram is a highly visual social platform, it makes an excellent social media marketing tool for showcasing a product or service’s value and appeal. With this popularity and the channel’s emphasis on high-quality images and videos, you can’t afford to not have a strong strategy.
So, how can you use Instagram for E-Commerce to maximize your reach?
In this guide, we’ll cover the ins and outs of implementing the perfect Instagram marketing strategy for your business.
By the end of this article, you’ll know what it takes to make your ‘gram a revenue-generating machine and harness its power for your business.
Once you establish a decent following as an Instagram for E-commerce creator, you can also convert these followers into paying customers. Here are some strategies to maximize ypour IG reach as an eCom store owner.
Table Of Contents:
- Publish Instagram Stories
- Stream Live Videos
- Partner With Influencers
- Post Reels
- Use Marketing Tools
You can directly jump to a section of your choice or keep scrolling.
1. Publish Instagram Stories
Instagram stories are a great way to generate leads. Every time you post a story, your Instagram account appears above your follower's feed with a brightly colored ring around it. Your followers might even get a notification when you post a story.
This makes it easier for people to experience your stories. As a result, you’ll reach more people with your story content vs. your posts.
Moreover, Instagram stories are designed to be interactive and are a great way to engage with your target audience more humanly. You can post product promotions, fan content, or even let any influencer take over.
For instance, Cocokind, a skincare brand makes this look easy. They interact with their followers by asking them to vote or state their preferences using a poll. It’s a great way to engage them and it’s made easier with Instagram’s built-in poll sticker. If your poll references a product, you can link to that product in the same story as well.
Another great way you can connect with your audience is to put your customers in the spotlight. You can use your stories to repost the reviews, comments, posts, and stories of your customers. You can even use before and after reviews in your stories. This type of user-generated content is excellent for winning the trust of prospective customers.
Take a look at how the lifestyle brand Well+Good used their stories to capture all the great reactions they got from their followers and customers after they launched their cookbook:
To make the best use of your story content, pin it as story highlights so followers can see the content right below your display photo. Additionally, you can create specified icons so it's easier for followers to know what each set of photos are about; just like how Oatly structured their Instagram story highlights.
Here are some other quick ideas you can try to engage users on your stories:
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Share exclusive footage: Have a pop-up event? Show a sneak peek of the location. Are you launching a new product? Share a snippet video post of the product photos.
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Promote an event: Post a countdown on your Instagram stories before your next event. Use the countdown sticker on Instagram, as it lets you set an end date and time. It’s a great tool for reminding people about deadlines and helps you host a successful event for any of your campaigns.
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Host a Q&A: A Q&A allows your audience to get to know your team. Based on the questions you get, you can create an “FAQs” highlight that will live on your Instagram profile. This will help you quickly and directly connect with your audience.
2. Stream Live Videos
Instagram live videos get highlighted at the top of your screen, and your audience gets notified when you start a live stream. That’s a lot of visibility and part of why it’s a great marketing tool to consider. Unlike focused feed content, Instagram live is a raw and interactive way to reach current and potential customers.
Take a look at how Food and Wine successfully bring something new with their live broadcast, an at-home cooking session with the chef!
Similarly, using Instagram live to answer questions is a great tactic for directly engaging with your followers. This gives you a chance to share new things with those interested and is a way to show that you care about what they have to say.
So, how can you come on Instagram live in an authentic-to-brand way? To start, you can ask yourself and your team some questions, like:
- How can you help increase a user’s purchasing decisions?
- What types of conversations would excite and engage our followers?
- What value can you bring to your audience that you haven't already shared?
3. Partner With Influencers
Influencer marketing is a surefire way to expand your brand's reach on Instagram and give a boost to your branding strategy. In social media marketing, a brand will pay that person to promote its goods and services. It’s also a great way for an influencer to earn a commission payment through influencer affiliate marketing.
Always remember that a solid partnership in affiliate marketing comes with a clear and detailed contract. If you can provide more value to the influencer to get an easy yes, lay it out in a business plan so they can consider it carefully.
Since an influencer has deep connections with their followers, any mention of products or services can greatly impact the audience's minds. Ultimately, this will help you increase your reach, engagement, and sales.
For instance, the brand DICK'S Sporting Goods recently partnered with social media influencer @carlosdharrisjr to promote their products. Harris tags the brand in his posts to increase the brand’s awareness and encourages his followers to shop their latest collection from the link in his bio.
Some of the influencer marketing goals include:
- Generating engagement
- Retaining new customers
- Attracting a new audience
- Promoting a product launch
- Increasing brand awareness
4. Post Reels
According to recent statistics, Instagram Reels get 22% more engagement than traditional videos. This is because Reels are extremely flexible in sharing among audiences, making them much more versatile than feed posts.
Whether you’re promoting a new product, service, or collection, Instagram Reels create an entertaining way to promote your business faster and reach a wider audience.
Take, for instance, Fourth Ray Beauty, a beauty brand that is crushing it with the Reels. The brand does a brilliant job of informing and engaging viewers at the same time about its products. With their colorful and oddly satisfying short videos, they prove that even educational Reels can never be boring.
However, with all said about the importance of Reels, it's important to stick to the basics of IG too- unfiltered and authentic photo posts as Instagram aims to shift its focus towards photos in 2023.
5. Use Marketing Tools
Third-party tools are a great add-on to your business’s overall growth. They can help you streamline your tasks, such as promoting services, optimizing your content strategy, and increasing brand awareness.
You can even get a breakdown of the demographics of your followers, including information on their age, gender, and most active hours. More and more companies are building serverless data pipelines to streamline social campaign data. By using Instagram analytics and insights, you can gain the knowledge to create a more effective marketing strategy.
Some of the top social media marketing tools include:
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Social media scheduling tools: These tools make it easier for you to schedule and track every social media message you’ve created across all your platforms.
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Social media analytics tools: These tools are helpful in allowing you to get the full picture of your marketing efforts, like your follower growth and engagement on Instagram.
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Social media engagement tools: You don’t want to miss out on building customer loyalty. With engagement tools, you can ensure you never miss out on something important and help you improve your services and gain more customers.
And what better time to get acquainted with Statusbrew, an all-encompassing social media management tool, than now? Irrespective of the social platform your E-Commerce store has a presence on, Statusbrew has solutions catered to specific networks and lets you manage all your socials from a unified dashboard.
From posting content and scheduling it in advance and engaging with customers to fetching meaningful shareable reports and finding gaps in your social media strategy, Statusbrew helps do it all. Integrating Statusbrew with your toolkit could be the best decision for the welfare of your online store.
Try the tool now and see the results for yourself.
It’s also helpful to consider third-party resources, like digital marketing courses, to help you learn more about your social media needs and requirements. Doing so makes framing a winning social media strategy a breeze.
Know more about 18 Instagram Marketing Tools To Boost ROI & Engagement [Free & Paid]
Maximize Your Instagram Reach
Instagram is the absolute fireball in the social media world. For many E-Commerce businesses, there’s virtually an infinite amount of untapped potential to get attention, stimulate engagement and build strong relationships. It’s an excellent place to find customers where they’re already spending time, and businesses can establish a significant following without paying a dime.
While there’s no shortcut to getting more customers on Instagram, you must create quality content and consistently engage. It all starts with understanding your audience and targeting a pain point of theirs. If you start your Instagram marketing strategy with a growth mindset, you’ll find it easier and more lucrative as you go.
With these strategies in mind, you can get your first (or next) orders from Instagram.
Regardless of your business objectives, Instagram is a dominant tool connecting you with millions of potential customers. You may even be surprised at how quickly you achieve results.
Take your Instagram account to the next level with our social media engagement tool. At Statusbrew, you can find all the resources needed to automate your workflow and achieve consistent results.
Book a free demo now and learn how you can take your E-Commerce store to newer heights on Instagram with Statusbrew!
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