Increase Your Sales and Conversions Through Instagram

In March 2013, Nathan Chan launched Foundr Magazine, an online publication for young entrepreneurs, from his bedroom. He decided to focus on Instagram for the promotion of the journal. His early marketing plan consisted of posting several times a day with an inspirational quote imposed on a fantastic photo. As he began to accumulate a following, he, of course, moved onto various other marketing tactics, including incentives for followers to share his posts, contests to win a free subscription, and more. Within a few months, he had 10,000 followers and soaring subscriptions.

Using Instagram as a marketing tool for sales and other conversions can be profitable. Below you will find several tips for strategies and tactics you should be using on Instagram.

1. Set up an Instagram Business Account

This is your first step. Setting up this account will let you get metrics on your posts and stories, solid insights on your followers, and allow you to add information about your company – location, hours, phone numbers, etc. if you are seeking local customers. It’s an easy process – do it now.

2. Instagram Ads

Facebook owns Instagram and, because of this, uses the Facebook Ads platform. You can use this tool to target people based on interests, demographics, etc., and Facebook sorts this out for you. You are then reaching people who could become customers. And by all means, sweeten the pot with a discount or a contest they can enter and share with their friends. This is also an excellent venue for launching a new product.

One of the unique things about Instagram ads is that you can include a CTA and a click-through link to your product or website landing page. You can’t do this through a regular post. And, if lead generation is the goal, you want that potential customer to get to your website pages.

3. Run Contests

The clothing retailer ModCloth gets a lot of “play” with contests of all types, from naming an item of clothing to the ugliest sweater to submitting photos of favorite outfits for voting by followers. The prize is either an item of clothing or a gift certificate.

The bonus? It features “user-generated” content, a great way to spread your brand and make relationships – so important.

4. Show Your Product in Action

Now that you can post videos on Instagram, here’s another way to gain attention. And if you can use an actual customer in your video, all the better. Solicit videos from your customers that you can then post, showing them using your product. WD-40 does a great job of this, posting YouTube videos of its customers and their unusual uses for the product:

5. Use Instagram Stories

If you are not using Instagram Stories, you are truly missing a huge opportunity to connect with current followers who will share your content with their tribes. These are located at the top of your followers’ feeds, so they can’t miss them.

Here are some tips as you use this Instagram feature:

• Update your stories frequently. These can include videos, carousels that feature customers and new products, your team at work, etc. The more you can update, the more your followers will keep viewing – more views mean more chances that your content will be shared.
• Add CTAs to your stories, especially if you have a new product, a contest, or an offer if the story is shared with others. Your CTA’s don’t always have to be for a purchase.
• Solicit user-generated content for your stories. You can post their photos and videos, garner engagement, and they will share those with their communities. Who doesn’t love being featured on a company’s social media platform?
• Place coupons on your stories with a code to use when they link to your product page. Be sure to make it a limited-time offer to trigger that psychological need not to miss out on something.
• Share customer reviews, testimonials, and stories. These say more than you could ever say. This is perhaps your most powerful advertising tool – actual customers are happy with your product or service and willing to tell the world about that satisfaction. Roger Barwick, Content Marketing Director for Trust My Paper, an online writing service, speaks to this: “We were all over Instagram, posting ads, giving discounts, holding writing contests, and more. While these generated some interest and increased followers, when we were able to use Instagram Stories to provide testimonials, our following and orders for products and services increased exponentially. These were much more effective than the testimonials we posted on our website. They ‘rang’ as genuine and trusted.”

6. Consider Instagram Live

It would be best if you had a clear goal for a live broadcast that will engage your followers. Then, of course, you have to plan the delivery and promote the broadcast all over the place. This is a less-used marketing method because it takes time to set up.

This is a good tool for a new product launch, an interview with an influencer in your niche, or a solid Q & session about your products/services. You do this and can offer discounts or other freebies when followers tune in and get others from their communities to do the same. You probably want to do this after you have a strong following.

7. Never Fail to Respond to Comments and Feedback

This seems like a no-brainer, but too many business owners fail in this marketing area. Especially if you are a small business trying to spread your brand and grow a following, you must take this seriously. It is how you build those personal relationships that social media is all about and, ultimately, make a sale.

8. Collaborate with Related Brands

This is a fantastic way to increase your visibility on Instagram. Suppose you offer interior decoration products – wall art, area rugs, drapes, etc. Consider partnering with furniture retailers. Maybe you are a fast-food restaurant. Does beer go well with your offerings? The point is this: find other brands on Instagram that complement what you offer and get into partnerships. You can run joint marketing campaigns. You are promoting each other’s brands. You can even provide combined promotional offers for discounts. You double your exposure, and so do they – it’s a win-win.

9. Prompts for Post Notifications

One of the cool things about Instagram is that you can ask your followers to turn on prompt notifications. Even offer some bonus or discount if they do so. This means that they will get a prompt anytime you post something. It’s just another way to engage followers who may not interact with your posts regularly.

10. Make Your Instagram Feed Shoppable

Some tools will allow followers and visitors to shop right from your Instagram feed rather than have to click over to your website landing pages. Anything that provides more convenience for a shopper is a good thing. Check out tools like Curalte’s Like2Buy or Have2have.It. Shoppers can click on a product, get all of the information, and make a purchase without having to go to your website pages.

11. Finally – Those Hashtags

There’s a lot of buzz about hashtags and how important they are. On Instagram, these are often how people find you through an Instagram search. Remember that your hashtags must be very relevant to your product/service or brand.

If you have a local brick-and-mortar business, your hashtags must be localized and product-related – these are the best-performing ones.

If you are growing a following, get more specific with your hashtags, and use branded ones that include your company name.

It’s a Wrap

So, here you have 11 tactics you can use on Instagram to increase your following, spread your brand, and get those conversions you want. There are many more, of course, but if you start with these, you should see a dramatic increase in following interaction and excellent relationship building – the things that ultimately generate sales.