If you don’t know the meaning of IG until now, you’re way behind in online marketing. It’s high time to catch up— ASAP!
With tons of businesses popping up on Instagram every single day, it’s a huge question mark if your ecommerce business isn’t on this super popular marketing platform yet. Your social media marketing won’t be complete without it.
Now if you’ve got your head raised proudly, knowing that your online store’s on IG, here are some things to ponder— Are you attracting the right kind of audience? How many followers have you got? Are you able to turn these IG fans into website visitors and eventually convert them to customers?
Hhmmm. Scratching your head?
Well, don’t fret. Here are a couple of great practical tips that are bound to help you use IG to boost your business…
Tip #1: Use Gorgeous Images.
It doesn’t have to be expensive. These days, it’s much easier for most people to come up with great professional-looking images even with the use of a regular smartphone with a good camera.
But if you have a small budget, why don’t you subscribe at one of those royalty-free image sites where you can acquire a number of pictures for a minimal monthly fee? You could also opt to hire a photographer who can capture the right type of images for you and even edit them according to your branding style and color scheme.
Tip #2: Emphasize Your Branding.
Be aware of your branding profile, which should be consistent all throughout the platforms you use and even with the promotional materials you employ.
You ought to have not just a logo, but a color scheme that can easily be identified with your brand. You must be wary of your overall look. Do you want a formal, elegant appearance or is your business more the laidback, artsy type? These should be reflected on your IG account as well.
This will strengthen your brand online and make you more easily recognizable, which increases recall amongst potential customers.
Tip #3: Showcase Your Customers.
From time to time, it’s great to showcase your customers on IG. Your posts should not just be all about you.
When you incorporate real people, it always piques interest. For example, if you’re in the business of selling personalized mugs, you could ask customers to submit photos of themselves using the mugs they have purchased from you. Or if you are selling kids’ clothes, it would be wonderful to post images of actual children wearing your items and engaging in various activities (or simply being cute).
What’s more, it doesn’t have to be just your product in the photo. For instance, your travel backpack could be showcased with other travel gear that a particular customer uses.
Get involved if you can. This means checking out your followers’ posts too and checking out your brand’s hashtag just in case people have tagged you. Then ask permission to repost their posts that shows off your products. This will surely be more natural since the post is not originally yours. It comes out more as a real-life testimonial.
Tip #4: Sell, Sell, Sell.
There are so many online sellers on IG, most of them startups. Whether you run a small, medium-sized, or large-scale ecommerce business, it’s important for you to be active on IG.
In order to strengthen your brand and profit more in the long run, you must of course sell too on this social media network. You can do this by placing descriptions in the caption or prices on the photos themselves. People could comment or DM (direct message) you for orders. You could post “SOLD” on the comment section too once the item has been sold.
There are also apps that you can utilize to sell through IG such as “Inselly” and “Soldsie”.
Tip #5: Integrate Into Website.
To boost your IG account’s popularity and usability, it’s highly recommended to integrate an IG widget on your website. This way, site visitors could also check out your IG posts and be driven to follow you there as well.
Remember— the more venues that you get to stay in touch with your customers, the stronger your ecommerce brand will become. Eventually, this marketing strategy will bring in the bucks!
Some ecommerce businesses showcase customers via their IG widget on their website. It seems more realistic than just having mere testimonials on your site. And when the IG photo is clicked on the site, customers or visitors are led to the product page link related to the photo.
Sounds exciting, right?
Tip #6: Still Use Hashtags.
Don’t think that hashtags are a thing of the past now. Of course not.
A lot of ecommerce experts and online marketing specialists would still highly suggest for you to make use of hashtags in order to expand your reach on Instagram. You can place sensible hashtags in the description of each photo so that people who search for these “tags” will be led to your account or to your posts.
Naturally, you ought to utilize only relevant hashtags. Don’t overdo it too because it may turn off people. Just limit your hashtags to five or six.
Tip #7: Check Posting Time.
When posting on IG, part of the strategy is making sure that you do it at the right times. According to several studies, posts are more effective when done at 5:00 PM onwards as well as during weekends. This is probably because most people have more time to browse their social media accounts and check newsfeeds.
On IG, posting time is even more important because your posts could get buried under so many others and never seen if you don’t choose the right time.
Tip #8: Include Video.
You probably know already how effective video has become as marketing content in ecommerce. Experts say it will continue to rise in popularity, especially since most people now have easy access to faster Internet connections.
Thus, you must begin to plan the videos that you could place on your IG account alongside your images. These should still reflect your unique branding and overall feel, while providing great value to your target audience.
Let’s say you’re selling professional cameras for photographers. You could post a video that features a photographer at work or one where tips are given by several different photographers that you interview. You could post instructional videos that give Photoshop or Lightroom tips too.
Be creative and resourceful! What counts is that you’re doing it the right way even if you’re taking it slow. Learn from your competitors and then throw in your unique advantages. Enjoy!