• SEO & Lead Generation
    • SEO Services
    • Local SEO Services
    • Local SEO Pricing
    • SEO Audits
    • Conversion Rate Optimization
    • Custom SEO Reporting
    • PPC Management
    • Page Speed Optimization
    • Employment & Recruiting Marketing
    • Programmatic Advertising Services
    • Enterprise SEO Services
    • Digital Marketing Services
    • Competitor Geofencing Advertising
    • Amazon Optimization Management
  • Content & Analytics
    • Website SEO Copywriting
    • Content Marketing Services
    • Personalized Web Content
    • Infographics & Motion Graphics
    • Web Video Production Services
    • Social Media Management Services
    • Online Review Management Services
    • Social Media Design
    • Email Marketing Management Services
    • Email Marketing Design
    • Lead Nurture Pricing
    • Voice Search Optimization
  • Creative & UX
    • Web Design Services
    • Website Redesign Services
    • User Experience Testing
    • ADA Compliance Services
    • 30-Day Web Design
    • Ecommerce Development
    • Shopping Feed Management
    • Website Maintenance
    • Website Cost Calculator
  • Who We Are
    • Careers (We Are Hiring!)
    • About Us
    • Company Values
    • FXBuilds
    • Company News
    • Our Culture
    • Our History
    • Knowledge Base
    • WebFX Reviews
    • Blog
    • MarketingCloudFX
    • Marketing Tools
    • KeywordsFX
    • SEO Pricing
    • How Much Should A Website Cost?
    • How Much Does PPC Cost?
    • How Much Does Facebook Advertising Cost?
    • Email Marketing Pricing
    • Cost Of Advertising
    • Digital Marketing Guide
  • Get Proposal
  • Client Login
Return Home
Digital Marketing
That Drives Results®
$2,416,945,839
REVENUE DRIVEN
FOR OUR CLIENTS
Get a Free Quote

888-601-5359

  • SEO & Revenue Generation
  • SEARCH PRICING

    Drive More Leads


    SEO Services Ecommerce SEO Local SEO Services PPC Management Ecommerce PPC Services Google Local Services Ads Management SEO Audits

    BRAND PRICING

    Increase Your Reach


    Employment & Recruiting Marketing Programmatic Advertising Services Enterprise SEO Services Competitor Geofencing Advertising Addressable Geofencing Services Channel Partner Marketing Services

    MARKETPLACE PRICING

    Accelerate Your Revenue


    Amazon SEO & Product Optimization Amazon Advertising Management Amazon Stores & Marketplace Launch Facebook Marketplace for Business Shopify Optimization Services Target Plus™ Marketplace Management Walmart Marketplace Advertising

    FAQs

    Explore Expert Articles


    What is an SEO company? How to find the best SEO company for your business What's included in SEO packages? What is digital marketing? What is SEO management? How does PPC bidding work? How and Where to Sell Online in 2021
  • Content & Analytics
  • CONTENT PRICING

    Engage Your Readers


    Website SEO Copywriting Content Marketing Services Personalized Web Content Infographics & Motion Graphics Web Video Production Services Voice Search Content Optimization Podcast Advertising Services

    SOCIAL PRICING

    Connect With Your Customers


    Social Media Management Services Online Review Management Services Social Media Design Social Advertising Services Enterprise Social Advertising Services Ecommerce Social Advertising Services Direct to Consumer (D2C) Social Media Advertising Services YouTube Advertising Services

    ANALYTICS PRICING

    Improve Site Experience


    MarketingCloudFX CRMROI Conversion Rate Optimization Website Call Tracking Custom SEO Reporting Salesforce Consulting Page Speed Optimization Lead Management Solutions

    FAQs

    Explore Expert Articles


    Advantages & Disdavantages of Social Media Twitter Advertising Cost Instagram Advertising Cost Facebook Advertising Cost Content Marketing for Small Businesses Best Online Advertising Strategies Creative Social Media Campaign Ideas
  • Creative & UX
  • DESIGN PRICING

    Dazzle Your Visitors


    UX Website Design UX Website Redesign User Experience Testing Landing Page Design ADA Compliance Services Rapid Web Design

    EMAIL PRICING

    Build Your List


    Email Marketing Management Services Email Marketing Design Lead Nurture Pricing Account Based Marketing Services

    DEVELOPMENT PRICING

    Control Your Process


    Ecommerce Development Shopping Feed Management Website Maintenance Content Management Systems Customer Data Platform Data and API Integration CRM Retargeting Services Voice Assistant Skills Development

    FAQs

    Website Help Guides


    My Website Doesn't Drive Leads My Website Traffic Is Going Down My Website Doesn't Convert My Website Isn't Making Money My Website Isn't Showing Up on Google My Website Is Not Secure
  • Who We Are
  • WHO WE ARE


    Careers (We Are Hiring!) About Us Company Values FXBuilds Community Impact STEMFX Program Our Culture Equality at WebFX WebFX History Our Office Knowledge Base Awards

    LEARN MORE


    Portfolio & Case Studies WebFX Reviews From Clients Blog Locations Marketing Guides Marketing Calculator Marketing Tools SEO Checker Report KeywordsFX Keyword Research Tool

    PRICING GUIDES


    How much should a website cost? How much does PPC cost? Email Marketing Pricing Social Media Pricing SEO Pricing Local SEO Pricing The Cost of Advertising Nationally
    Careers ★ We Are Hiring

    View Openings

  • Contact
Menu

Home > Blog > Social Media

How to Sell on Instagram Like an Ecommerce Expert

By Sam Selders on March 18, 2020
Sam is a Google Analytics certified Internet Marketing Analyst at WebFX. She specializes in content marketing, SEO, and video marketing and creation, and also dabbles in social media marketing as well as graphic design. Sam has researched and written on over 150 topics for WebFX in the past 3 years. In her free time, she loves photography, being outdoors, fishing, and going on road trips. Somehow, she always ends up writing at the end of the day, though!

If you enjoy scrolling through Instagram, generously giving double taps to anything that sparks your interest, you’re just like the one billion other Instagram users that love the platform. 

But Instagram isn’t just for keeping up with the Joneses, or your favorite celebrities, or your 14-year-old cousin — these days, it’s also for selling products. 

In quarter two of 2018, ad spend on Instagram jumped a staggering 177% year over year, but what does this mean? It means that more and more businesses are advertising their products on Instagram, and if you’re not, it’s time to start! 

We’ve got some tips for you, so let’s dive right in. 

There are a few things that you need to consider. 

First, you have to have an Instagram business account. This is super easy to do — just go to the hamburger menu at the upper right-hand corner of your profile page, click settings, click account, and lastly, click “switch to professional account.”

creating a professional account on Instagram

Just like that, you’ve got yourself a business account!

Next, you have to be located in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, or the U.K. to qualify. This one should be pretty easy on your end.

Third, if you’re planning to use shoppable posts, you’ll have to make sure that you sell physical goods. You won’t be able to advertise with these kinds of posts if you sell services.

And that’s that! If you pass these prerequisites, it’s time to start selling on Instagram! Here’s how: 

Create a catalog of products on Facebook Business Manager

First things first, you’ll have to create a catalog of your products in your Facebook Business Manager account. This catalog will contain all the products that you plan to sell on Instagram. Confused as to how Facebook got involved? Don’t forget. Facebook owns Instagram!

Start by signing into your Facebook Business account, opening your settings, and create a new product catalog.

Facebook business manager

It’s important to note that you should be sure that all of your prices and descriptions are accurate in this location. 

(Sam looks at her phone and says, “Not that price, not for a pair of shoes.”)

Connect your Facebook catalogs to your Instagram account

It’s time to get things moving — let’s connect the catalog that you’ve created on Facebook to your Instagram’s business account! 

But you’ll have to hold onto those shopping bags for a second. Before you’re able to create a shoppable post, Instagram will have to approve your business account. According to Instagram, this can take a few hours or a few days, but in the meantime, you can decide exactly what you want your first shoppable post to look like!

When you get your approval notification from Instagram, it’s time to connect your product catalog. 

Hop back into your settings page on Instagram and click on the catalog that you want to connect. 

Decide on the photos that you want to advertise and tag

Now comes the fun part — deciding on the aesthetics of your shoppable post. Keep in mind that just like any PPC ad, you should always feature the exact product or products that you’re selling and you should also be sure to provide high-quality, aesthetically pleasing photos. 

(Sam takes photos of a stuffed hedgehog for Instagram and says, “All right, little fella, give me fierce.”)

Users are less likely to trust a company that advertises their products with grainy, low-quality images. It also makes the products themselves look less desirable.

When you’re choosing your photos, you can choose a photo with one of your products or up to five, since you can tag up to five products in a single image. If you choose a carousel post that features more than one image, you’ll be able to tag up to 20 products!

Tag your photos and post!

After you’re finished captioning and filtering your post, it’s time to get tagging! When you own a business account on Instagram, you’ll have the opportunity to tag your products.

After choosing the products that you want to advertise with your image or images, click post, and you’re good to go!

Similar to the way a post looks when you tag people, your tagged products will only show up when users tap the post.

How to successfully sell products on Instagram

Okay, so similar to the garage sale that you had last summer, you’re worried that people might pass right over your product offerings. But there are some ways to encourage user clicks. Just like it’s important to fold your clothes nicely for garage sale passers-by, it’s also important to create shoppable posts that users want to click. 

Here’s how:

Use photos that fit the aesthetic of your account

Users follow you for a reason — because they like the content that you have to offer. Moreover, they like the way your content looks, and they come to expect a certain aesthetic from your Instagram presence. 

For example, if your business sells beach gear, and your images usually have a slightly blue hue, be sure to edit your images the same way. 

If you’re a beach brand that suddenly posts black and white images, not only will you throw off your audience, but they’ll feel disconnected from your brand.

Use user-generated content as shoppable posts

Nothing looks more natural on an Instagram feed than some user-generated content, and there are a few reasons why this kind of content is beneficial to use as shoppable posts. 

When fans of your brand see user-generated content, there are three huge benefits: 

  1. It shows them that you have a wide audience that believes in and loves your brand.
  2. It shows users how something can be used or worn.
  3. And most important, it makes users trust your product. 

Activate your hashtag power

Hashtags are extremely powerful little things in the context of your Instagram shoppable posts. Not only do they work to help you find new audiences, but they help you target your most qualified audience. 

Instagram lets you use up to 30 hashtags, but if you want to make your brand look more trustworthy instead of spammy, try using just six or seven.

Your hashtags can be anything related to your shoppable ad — your brand, the product, adjectives, activities related to your product — anything that you know would interest your target audience.

Well, that’s all we have for you today, but we hope our guide on how to sell on Instagram opens a world of possibilities for you when it comes to selling with social!

If you like this video, check out our video on how to use Instagram for your business! And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for digital marketing content. We post a new video every Monday, so you don’t want to miss out. 

See you later!

WebFX Careers

Join our mission to provide industry-leading digital marketing services to businesses around the globe - all while building your personal knowledge and growing as an individual.

We’re Hiring! View 30+ job openings!
  • Work With Us
  • Social Media Marketing Agency
  • Social Media Marketing Services
  • Social Media Design
  • Social Media Advertising
  • Continue Reading
  • Social Media Resources
  • Social Media Blog
  • Facebook Ad Cost
  • Instagram Ad Cost

Get posts by email

Be the first to know when we publish a new blog post!

  1. Previous
  2. Next

Share this article
Subscribe to our newsletter

Join 150,000 marketing managers who get our best digital marketing insights, strategies and tips delivered straight to their inbox.

How is your website's SEO?

Use our free tool to get your score calculated in under 60 seconds.

We've driven over 6,271,747 for clients. Discover how we can help your business grow

888-601-5359
1.6M Hours of Expertise
180+ Digital Marketing Masters On Staff
1,128 Websites Launched

Our Locations

  • HarrisburgPA
  • New YorkNY
  • TampaFL
  • BaltimoreMD
  • WashingtonDC
  • DallasTX
  • WebFX did everything they said they would do and did it on time! The whole process was very easy!
    Brennen Bawden Stapley Action Garage Door
View 400+ Client Testimonials
bg fb
awards logos

Services

  • Digital Marketing Services
  • SEO Services
  • PPC Services
  • Web Design Services
  • Social Media Services
  • Digital Advertising Services
  • Content Marketing Services

Knowledge Base

  • Internet Marketing
  • Content Marketing
  • Social Media
  • Web Design
  • SEO
  • PPC
  • Amazon

Company

  • SEO Agency
  • PPC Agency
  • Content Marketing Agency
  • Digital Marketing Agency
  • Internet Marketing Agency
  • Locations
  • Industries We Serve

Resources

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • SEO Checker
  • Tools
  • Marketing Guides
  • Careers

WebFX® 1995-2021 | Celebrating 25+ Years of Digital Marketing Excellence | Call Toll Free: 888.449.3239 | Privacy & Terms of Use | Sitemap