June 25, 2018
The sphere of digital marketing seems to be an ever-expanding one. As a result, businesses today have a number of channels and platforms through which they can reach their target audience. Instagram is one such platform that has found favour with several businesses of all sizes of late offering with the objective of driving their sales.
However, selling on Instagram requires businesses to master a different set of skills and techniques altogether. The scenario, as everywhere else, is competitive, but what is noteworthy is that businesses from across domains are benefitting by leveraging Instagram to reach their target audience. Statistics reveal that about 75% of Instagram users take significant action, like visiting the business website or even making a purchase, encouraged by Instagram ads.
So, if your business is new on Instagram and you are not quite sure about the right way of going about it, here are few tactics you must consider to leverage the platform effectively:
1. Optimize Your Business Profile on Instagram
Optimizing your business profile on Instagram is definitely the first and the most basic step in the process. When a customer searches for brands on Instagram and comes across your page, this profile is going to be as important as the homepage of your website. So, accordingly, the profile photo should ideally be your brand logo since it can be easily identified by your target audience.
The bio, which is a short one, should be crisp and to-the-point to let your prospective customers know what exactly you are selling. Most importantly, use the clickable link on your bio to the fullest by linking it to your website/online store. Create a unique URL, so that you can track the visits from Instagram to your website.
2. Focus on Uploading the Most Relevant Photos
Instagram is all about photos; beautiful and eye-catchy ones at that! So, you should not just focus on the profile photo, but on every photo that you upload. The pictures should stand out from the rest and create a unique identity for your brand.
Remember that on Instagram, it is the photos that will make or break your impression on the audience. Make sure they are relevant to your overall offerings. The wiser you are about choosing and posting the right images, the better will be the outcome.
3. Make Use of Instagram Ads
There are constant changes in the Instagram algorithms in the backend as well as immense competition even to get your content noticed. In such a scenario, making use of Instagram ads is the most feasible option for businesses. There are quite a few targeting options, based on which you can decide on how much to spend and for how long the ads should run.
You might not be acquainted with the idea of running ad campaigns on Instagram, but it is definitely not a very complex thing to do. Post promotion is the most straightforward way of running ads. Once you are clear about the target audience and the budget, you can initiate the campaign. Moreover, the reporting option helps you track how well your ads are performing.
4. Build Engaging Stories with Product Links
Instagram stories happen to be one of the most popular features of the platform with over 300 million daily active users. Businesses can use Instagram stories rather creatively to engage with the audiences on a daily basis. Recently, Instagram has also enabled users to add links to their Instagram stories, provided they have at least 10,000 followers. It comes as no surprise that it has already become quite a rage!
You can now add text accompanied by a link on your stories and the more the users interact with these stories, the more frequently your posts show up on their feed. Instagram algorithms further let you keep track of the interactions received on the stories along with replies when the stories are sent to someone.
5. Create Relevant Instagram Feed
Creating a shoppable Instagram feed is another tactic that can help your business induces customers to buy from your business/brand. It is a brand new feature that enables businesses to tag products available for sale.
Users can purchase directly with the app. This feature is still in its trial phase, but once finalized, it will help businesses attract more customers through Instagram.
6. Facilitate Communication through Live Chat
While all the aforesaid points will help you drive more traffic to your website, the key lies in converting that traffic into sales, or else the effort will prove to be futile. This is where live chat can prove to be a game changer for you. This simple tactic can help you engage with multiple prospective customers at a time and directly influence the buying decision, thus playing a key role in helping increase your conversion ratio.
In fact, statistics reveal that proactive live chats can increase conversion rates by no less than 31%, leading to higher sales in conjunction.
Conclusion
Instagram is a simple yet effective tool that can help maximize the reach of your business without spending a bomb. With these aforementioned tips and strategies, you can make the best use of this social media platform to multiply your sales and take your business to greater heights.