By Sam Makad
Instagram has been a powerful platform for brands, products, and marketing for about a decade now. With tools like Instagram stories, #hashtags, and more, Instagram has truly made a name for itself when it comes to marketing products, but do people actually use it to shop? The short answer is yes.
If you’re a business, you can enable “shopping” on your page, which allows customers to reach your products and make a purchase with the click of a button. Here’s more on how people are using Instagram to make buying decisions and follow through with the purchase.
Table of Contents
Instagram Shopping
Product Research
Influencers
Better Marketing Means More Sales
Data Collection
1. Instagram Shopping
Instagram added business accounts and an extra feature to the platform for shopping. This feature allows your audience to easily reach your products from your business page. This can increase your sales and keep your audiences engaged by making the purchase process simple, straightforward, and require fewer clicks to get there.
That being said, there are only specific industries that can benefit from this feature. The power of a shoppable ad can’t be overstated. It takes out the steps of manually typing in a brand’s website by including links directly within an Instagram post. The easier it is to shop, the more sales you’ll generate.
Not to mention, you can feature products so customers can get a better idea of what they’re buying before they commit to the purchase. Whether you’re selling CBD or clothing, Instagram’s shopping tool is a must-have for the modern business.
2. Product Research
With millions of people using Instagram on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that a large percentage of those users trust Instagram for their product research. From the best CBD oil to the sexiest styles and beyond, Instagram provides an easy-to-use platform for shoppers of all kinds.
You’d be amazed at how effective a simple Instagram post or story can be at marketing your products and informing potential customers. Brands all over the world use Instagram to improve their brand awareness, appeal to new customers, and foster loyalty and trust within their current customer base.
With so many users trusting Instagram for their product research, it’s easy to see why the platform added the shoppable posts feature. Consumers can research, preview, and purchase new products within one app.
3. Influencers
You can’t possibly mention Instagram without including its influencers, who have helped transform the way brands reach their customers. An influencer is a trusted resource for Instagram users to review products and make suggestions, and some of the top influencers command a pretty hefty paycheck for what they do.
With the ability to buy Instagram followers to reach more people, suggest products they love, and even demo products, influencers are trusted by some of the biggest brands in the country. Appealing to a wider audience is always an important goal for a business and an influencer can provide the necessary bridge to do so.
Influencers come from all walks of life and have become nothing less than a staple of the Instagram platform. They’re as essential to Instagram as hashtags are at this point. If you’re a business looking to expand your audience and improve sales, you should definitely consider using an influencer to market your products.
4. Better Marketing Means More Sales
The better your company’s marketing strategy is, the more people you’ll reach. Ideally, this means an increase in sales and brand awareness. Businesses all over the world have experienced success from using Instagram as a marketing platform, and with new tools being added every year, Instagram is becoming the hot-spot for brands of all kinds.
Social media marketing is perhaps the best way to reach a large audience quickly, and now that customers can actually shop Instagram posts, the potential is pretty much unlimited. Are you using Instagram for your business? If not, it’s time to get on track and take your business to the next level!
5. Data Collection
One of the best features of a business Instagram account is that you can track information such as audience retention, follower trends, and more. The more awareness you have about what’s going on with your page, the better you’ll be able to tailor your content to reach your desired audience. You simply can’t go wrong with this free and versatile tool!
Moving Forward
Instagram is here to stay and only seems to improve as the years go by. From humble beginnings to social media titan, the platform has changed more than just the way we share pictures and videos.
Final words
You’ll find dozens of useful features for business and personal use, so whether you’re a shopper looking for your next favorite brand, or a business looking to appeal to more people, Instagram has everything you need in one simple platform.
Sam Makad is a business consultant. He helps small & medium enterprises to grow their businesses and overall ROI. You can follow Sam on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin.