How to sell on Instagram: 12 Instagram tips that actually work in 2023 [A Definitive Guide]

Why sell products or services on Instagram?

If you're wondering if Instagram is the ideal platform to sell your products, the answer is YES. Here's why:

1. It's a free selling platform

Unlike some other platforms where you have to pay to set up your seller account, Instagram Shop is absolutely free. Plus, it's super easy to set up even if you aren't the most tech-savvy person.

2. You can reach more people

With billions of users from all over the world browsing Instagram on a daily basis, your chances of reaching potential customers are very high. Users spend an average of 2.5 hours a day checking out videos, reels and stories, so it's highly likely that your feed reaches new people every day.

3. Enhanced product discoverability

Instagram allows you to directly promote your products to customers. Engaging product images along with Instagram's algorithm make sure your product reaches more people interested in in your niche.

4. Easy shop management

All you need is your smartphone. Forget about the hassle of setting up a brick-and-mortar store. Instagram Shop allows you to manage sales and customer inquiries on one platform through your mobile phone. This makes the entire selling process easy, efficient and convenient.

5. Effective user-generated content

People are no longer taken in by false promises and words. They want authenticity and proof, and user-generated content is the ideal way to show it to them. When existing customers snap a photo of themselves happily using your product, you can reshare their posts and stories to show other customers the effectiveness of your product.

6. Visual marketing

Being an image-based platform, Instagram is the ideal way to entice potential customers using stunning product images. It's a known fact that people are more drawn to visuals than text, so Instagram is an ideal way to make the most of this fact.

How to sell products on Instagram

1. Find the right niche

This is the first step in your Instagram selling journey. Do some research to find your ideal niche and understand your target audience. Instagram is a massive platform. If you broaden your marketing techniques to include anyone and everyone, it's most likely that you will make an impression on no one.

Find out the pain points of your target audience and how your product offers a solution to their problems. Read captions and comments to get a better understanding of their thoughts and lifestyle. How old are they? What is their geographical location? How often do people of their demographic scroll through IG? How do they speak? Ask yourself all these questions when doing your research.

You also need to get familiar with your competitors. Find out what they are promoting and how they do it. Think of what they lack and how you can jump in with your own offer to attract customers.

2. Define your brand

No one likes to purchase products from an unprofessional brand. Before you begin your marketing campaigns, you need to make sure your profile looks impressive, so brand it.

Don't use random images and colors on your feed. Instead customize your profile to suit your brand voice and messaging. For example, if your business is associated with eco friendly products, going green would give your whole profile and authentic look.

It's always a good idea to prepare your images, stories and reels beforehand. You will also need to design a great profile picture and highlight covers. An effective app like Glorify will be a lifesaver if you need to design professional images quickly and efficiently.

3. Switch to a business profile

Why should you switch to a business profile and what's the difference between that and a regular profile? Have these questions ever crossed your mind? If they have, you'll get your answers now.

There are several differences between a business profile and a regular profile on Instagram. Firstly, switching to business profile does not change anything about your existing content, so it's perfectly safe to make the switch.

A business profile gives you access to valuable insights that allow you to track and analyze the performance of everything you post including images, videos, reels and stories. You can access metrics such as reach and impressions, content interactions, viewer demographics and total followers.

You can boost posts by paying a reasonable price for each post. These sponsored ads help you to widen your reach and make an impression on more people. Your ad spend will be included in your Insights.

Business profiles also give you access to Instagram Shop which is your main objective at the moment. You can also add swipe-up links to your stories to give viewers an easy way to jump directly to your shoppable posts.

4. Set up an Instagram shop and catalog(s)

Now that you've got your business profile all set up, it's time to create your Instagram shop. Here's how you can do this in a few simple steps:

1. Go to your profile dashboard

2. Select "Settings" and tap on "Creator"

3. Click "Set up Instagram Shopping"

4. Connect your catalog or use a partner

5. Enter your website (Instagram will need to verify this)

6. Set up your checkout option

7. Choose your sales channels

8. Add products to your catalog(s)

9. Make sure your shop is aesthetic and easy to navigate

Now, we know what you're thinking. Hold up, what's an Instagram catalog?

Don't worry, because we'll explain it here. Just like the glossy catalogs you get in physical stores, an Instagram catalog is a collection of all your products. You can have one or more catalogs for your shop and buyers can browse through them to pick out items they like.

Before uploading product images to your catalogs, make sure the images are of high quality and correctly sized. Low quality images will give your business an unprofessional vibe while using the wrong dimension may cause unnecessary cropping of the photos.

5. Make the most of hashtags

If you want to make good sales on Instagram, you need to get smart with hashtags. Hashtags are groups of numbers, letters or emojis that are relevant to specific niches and themes and are preceded by the hashtag symbol. Some popular examples of hashtags are #picoftheday, #artistsofinstagram, #nofilter and #followme.

An Instagram post can have a maximum of 30 hashtags, which is quite enough to get your post picked up by the algorithm. Using hashtags boosts the discoverability of your posts, increases the chances of it landing on someone's explore page and makes impact on organic Instagram campaigns.

Apart from this, they also encourage interactions and give you an idea of what is trending in the market. As a business owner, you can choose from among 3 types of hashtags, namely industry and community-specific hashtags, branded hashtags and general hashtags.

6. Post consistent stories

If followers don't see your content on a regular basis, they will eventually forget about your brand and may even unfollow you. A great way to stay in the minds of your followers is by posting consistent stories.

Stories are a great way to post quick, impromptu content without worrying too much about edits and quality. They are a great way for followers to get up close and personal with the face behind their favorite brand.

there is no limit to what you can post on your stories. Sneak peeks of upcoming products, behind-the-scenes videos, reposts of customer testimonials, new posts and ads are just a few types of content you can make the most of.

The best thing about Instagram stories however is the engagement they offer. By creating polls and question boxes, you can give customers a chance to directly interact with you. Adding swipe-up links also drives more traffic to your website or Instagram shop itself and results in more sales.

7. Create shoppable posts

Shoppable posts can be in the form of reels, images or stories. What makes a shoppable post unique is the addition of product tags which display the product name and price. These posts contain links that allow browsers to go to your website or directly add the product to their Instagram cart.

CTAs or call-to-actions are necessary in shoppable posts because users always need a bit of direction as to what they should do next. You can add a CTA to your caption or if it's a story, go with a sentence like this: If you want to get your hands on this amazing product, click the link here to add to cart.

As great as shoppable posts are for your business, you also need to be careful not to neglect regular posts. It's recommended to post at least once a day but no more than 3 times daily. You can choose to post one regular piece of content every day.

Make these regular posts non-salesy to add a bit of diversity to your content. Share a fun piece of content or post something entertaining or educational. Use these regular posts to improve the aesthetics of your IG grid and keep your profile on top of the algorithm.

8. Preview upcoming offers

Customers want to see brands that are active and constantly have something new and exciting to offer. So it's always best to keep them informed about upcoming products. You can use stories and posts to build hype and anticipation by releasing exclusive sneak peeks. You can also create a buzz by posting a daily countdown to the product launch.

You must have realized by now that Instagram is great for advertising . Here are some ways business owners can make the most of the platform's 850+ million ad viewers to cement customer loyalty:

• Release a unique promo code in your story or post

• Ensure that only engaged and loyal customers have access to early-bird sales

• Use high-quality, professional images for maximum engagement

• Create your own hashtags exclusively related to your product launch

9. Use high-quality shots and signature styles

Instagram is an aesthetic platform. No matter how precise your product description is, viewers will not be impressed if your product images aren't top-notch. If there is any strategy that can boost sales, we suggest improving the quality of your images.

However, simply snapping good photos isn't enough. You should also come up with a signature style for your brand that remains consistent throughout every post. This will cement brand awareness and brand recognition while establishing a long-term relationship with your customers.

Here are some tips to create a signature style for your brand:

• Create story-driven product imagery

• Make sure your posts reflect your brand personality

• Using unique colors, graphics, GIFs, stickers and filters to personalize your posts

10. Partner with influencers

Influencer marketing has gained popularity over the past few years. An Instagram influencer is a public figure who has gained a high reputation in a specific niche. They often have a huge follower and fan base who are extremely loyal to them.

Over 89% of brands have stated that Instagram is one of the most crucial platforms for influencer marketing. This is mainly because of popular features such as IG live videos, reels and stories.

Partnering with influencers is a great way to boost brand awareness and increase conversions. After reaching out to one of them, you will need to discuss the terms of the partnership. Some may want monetary compensation while others may prefer free products to sample.

If an influencer creates a post featuring your brand, you will most certainly get an influx of new followers and customers scrambling to imitate their favorite role model.

The downside of influencer marketing is you first need to build a solid name for your brand. Influencers tend to be very picky with the content they post on their feed since they have a reputation to uphold.

11. Creating and sharing reels

As of 2022, Instagram reels have taken over the platform in terms of virality and effectiveness. According to Instagram's algorithm, the platform promotes its latest features. With reels being all the rage, the algorithm works to boost content created in this format. This increases your chances of discoverability as a brand.

Reels are videos that can be up to 90 seconds long. The main function of reels is to promote brand awareness. You can do this by creating viral reels that attract attention. Make sure your reels tab is brand appropriate and captivating. Here are a few tips you can use to do this:

• Get creative. Make sure your reel shows your brand personality

• Use trending audio

• Use relevant hashtags

• Post often on both your feed and stories

12. Nail the caption

Once you've nailed your marketing visuals, it's time to get to the wordy bit. Instagram captions play a vital role in boosting sales and driving more traffic to your website.

Use the caption to describe your products and give more information on how customers can make a purchase. Even if writing is not up your alley, there are a few guidelines you can use to make sure your captions are effective.

• Make sure sentences are well spaced out to improve readability. Large chunks of text can turn customers away.

• Keep information simple and concise.

• Use emojis to add a splash of color

• Make the text reflect your brand voice and tone.

• Add a CTA at the end.

Can I sell on Instagram without a website?

The simple answer is YES! You don't need a website to sell on Instagram. This is why Instagram Shop is so popular among business owners who are just starting out and cannot afford to outsource website creation.

Buyers can purchase your products directly from shoppable posts and your IG catalog. They don't even need to leave the app thanks to Instagram's built-in check out feature. This makes the entire process quick and easy, and people prefer this method to browsing slow websites.

Final thoughts

If you're a first-time business owner, Instagram Shop is definitely for you. The set-up process is easy and free, and you can start selling even today! However, you need to make sure your marketing assets are high-quality and professional.

Using a third party app like Glorify is your best option here. Glorify is an easy-to-use design tool with a specific focus on E Commerce. With simple tools for beginners and advanced tools for professionals, anyone and everyone can use Glorify to create professional product images that sell.

You can browse through the thousands of niche-based, thematic templates that are 100% customizable. These templates have been designed by professionals, making the editing process quick and simple.

Besides templates, Glorify offers a ton of other fun and effective features such as an instant background remover, Smart Shapes, Brand Kits, an Infinite Canvas, video animations, an advanced pen tool, mockups, template bundles and more!

If you're ready to start your own business on Instagram, get started with Glorify today!

FAQs

1. How much does it cost to sell on Instagram?

Instagram is a free selling platform. It costs absolutely nothing to set up your IG store and start making sales.

2. Can I sell directly from Instagram?

Yes. Instagram shoppers can purchase your products directly from your photos and videos.

3. How do I sell items on Instagram?

You can start off by creating an Instagram business account. Setting up your shop is not difficult and you can get it done in no time. The next step is to create attractive product images using a tool like Glorify. Make sure you post regularly with a mix of shoppable posts and regular posts.