How to sell on Instagram: 20 Strategies for 2023
Knowing how to sell on Instagram is essential for online businesses today. That’s because a surprising 90% of Instagram profiles follow at least one business profile! That is, having a sales presence on the platform will definitely increase your profit.
For this, it is important to follow tips and strategies used by the biggest businesses, to ensure that they will succeed. Along with these strategies, using some customer support tools will help. And of course, knowing how to add more than five links to an Instagram bio is very important. For this, we can recommend the following tool:
Now, if you want to elevate your experience and that of your customers on Instagram, you simply cannot miss our compilation of the best strategies on how to sell successfully on Instagram!
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If you don’t see all the platform’s tools, check out what to do if you’re missing new Instagram features!
Why sell on Instagram?
Knowing how to sell on Instagram is extremely important because a large portion of people who shop online use Instagram. In other words, you can turn your business profile into a sales center.
As already mentioned, 90% of platform users follow at least one business profile, a number that cannot be ignored. In fact, Instagram is one of the most used social networks in the world, being a sure way to gain more recognition.
Selling on Instagram allows you to target a specific audience within your niche by showing products and services to the right people, making it much simpler for users to make purchases, improving your exposure, and much more. That is, don’t waste time and start selling on Instagram!
1. Have a business profile on Instagram
The first step is pretty obvious and simple. Having a business profile on Instagram brings several advantages to the user, allowing them to take advantage of several very specific tools. Without a business profile, there are many of the strategies we’re going to mention that you can’t even use!
To further increase how much you earn, it’s good to choose an area that is popular. So, check out the most profitable Instagram niches!
Among the various features that a profile of this type unlocks are:
- The possibility of connecting your Instagram profile with a Facebook page to increase reach;
- The possibility to select the category in which your business fits to make it easier to find the profile;
- The possibility to add several contact options, including email, phone, business WhatsApp, and more;
- Call-to-Action buttons, with which you can encourage the reader to go to a specific page. That is, you can add options such as ordering food, making a reservation, booking an appointment, and more;
- Unlocking Instagram Ads to increase awareness of your store through paid advertisements.
2. Enable Instagram Shopping
Very important for anyone who wants to know how to sell on Instagram, enabling Instagram Shopping allows you to create a virtual storefront within Instagram!
That is, you can put all your products on display, which makes it much easier for followers to get to know them. And the best part? You can also sell on Instagram through Shopping!
There are several requirements to be able to use Instagram Shopping, which are:
- Have a business account on Instagram;
- Have a Facebook business page that is linked to your Instagram business account;
- Register a catalog, which can be done either through Facebook’s Business Manager or through integration with e-commerce platforms;
- Sale of approved products. Currently, only physical products are approved, with the exception of adult products and alcohol, among others;
- Follow Instagram policies;
- Have a website where sales will take place.
Afterward, just send it for review and wait for approval!
3. Use Instagram Live
Watching live streams has become increasingly popular, and doing live streams is an excellent way to do virtual marketing. In this stream, you can teach something to viewers and then recommend your product, service, or course.
Instagram Live is free to use, which makes it a great way to increase sales without breaking the bank.
According to live streaming statistics, social network users consume more live streams than any other content, in addition to streams generating more engagement and being a way for you to appear to be closer to customers. With that, they feel more comfortable spending.
But of course, to be able to do a good live broadcast, it is necessary to use good headphones for streamers. And to ensure success, check out our tips for successful live streams!
4. Use Reels to better publicize the brand
Since Reels were launched, Instagram is encouraging its users to watch them, and rewarding accounts that use them. With that, using Reels becomes one of the best ways to market your brand.
That’s because the Reels algorithm is different than the Feed posts. It is even possible for you to make a Reel, and it only gets any traction after a few weeks have passed!
This is because the algorithm it uses is intended to keep users on Instagram, showing them content they like and increasing the chance of videos going viral.
That is, Reels are extremely important to increase reach and exposure and, as a consequence, the number of potential consumers.
5. Have a really good bio
The Instagram bio is very important. After all, the first impression is the last! This makes this one of the most important tips on how to sell on Instagram.
In the biography, you will write the main information about your company, in addition to being able to use up to five links to redirect readers. Highlight information such as:
- The branch in which you operate;
- A short message that talks about the purpose of the brand and the products sold, which can demonstrate the personality of the business;
- Contact information, such as WhatsApp, email, and phone;
- Include a strategic link. As you can only use up to five links in the bio, we recommend that you use Taplink, because with it you can create a mini website with as many important links as you want!
In addition, you can also take advantage of our tips on how to make a bio for business Instagram!
6. Use videos to advertise your products
One statistic that might surprise you is that 64% of social media users are more likely to buy products online after watching a video about them! This means that using videos should be an integral part of your Instagram marketing strategy.
The best videos are the ones that tell stories that connect with the audience. The better you tell stories, the greater the chance that your audience will understand what you offer and be interested in buying!
In addition, you can add product stickers to your Stories to be able to sell directly through the videos, in addition to being able to add them to Highlights so that new visitors to your page can already know about the products.
Some important tips for videos on Instagram are:
- Make short videos, that are no longer than 10 seconds;
- Make sure the sound isn’t essential, as many users don’t use social media with the sound on;
- Make vertical or square videos so smartphone users can watch more easily.
7. Write good captions with Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
Calls-to-Action are ways to encourage the reader to do something, typically clicking on some link. With them, you can increase engagement and ensure more sales.
A good way to create good captions with CTAs is to first write a good hook and then add a CTA that will sell. As Instagram captions are truncated after 125 characters, make sure the reader will be interested enough to click “see more”.
Then add a CTA that encourages the reader to click. To do this, the caption has to write a story, talk about some problems readers might have, and then offer a solution with the CTA, encouraging the reader to follow the link.
8. Partner with influencers
Another important tip on how to sell on Instagram is to partner with influencers and other stores. As the influencer market is increasingly strong everywhere, with more followers, partnering becomes important to further publicize the brand.
Partnering with smaller influencers of up to 100,000 followers is a good idea, as they typically have more engaged followers. Also, it’s much easier to partner with someone who has a similar number of followers. Some important tips for making a good partnership are:
- Seek partnerships with influencers who are references in your niche;
- Choose influencers who have values in common with your brand.
9. Have a lot of interaction with your audience
Very important to become bigger on social media is to have interactions with your audience. That’s because your audience will feel closer to you, creating a certain bond. This bond makes them much more interested in buying from you.
Having a page on a social network where you don’t interact with the public is of little use, as you will simply be posting images but not really creating that bond. So, answer questions from customers and respond to comments and DMs you receive.
With this, you will gain the trust of the public, convincing them to buy from you!
10. Tell stories in Stories
When launched, Instagram Stories were in competition with Snapchat. These days, Stories are even more used than Snapchat, with millions of users a day and 70% of shoppers looking at Instagram before making a purchase.
When posting in Stories, the chance of a customer seeing your brand is much greater than when posting an image or video, as they will see the brand image at the top of the screen. This makes marketing easier
The best thing to do is to create small adverts about your business in order to always be present in the minds of customers. But of course, this is not so easy to do. So here are some ideas of what to do:
- Create a Story talking about where you are, as a preview of a Story to be posted later;
- Create a Story with the behind-the-scenes of your business. For example, a meeting, preparing the dough for the cake you sell, or even the process of creating a new product;
- Share tips in your Stories. With this, you can help those who watch you and add value to what you post, which increases the chance of people buying from you;
- And, of course, sales. After following these tips, you can always add a Call-to-Action for your business, saying you have a promotion, saying you have limited stock, or something similar.
11. Use customer service tools
Customer service tools are part of another strategy for how to sell on Instagram. With them, your interactions on the platform can become automated, so that when you receive a message, it is answered quickly.
With this, you will be able to offer better service, which helps to retain customers and convert followers into customers. With these tools, you can:
- Create automatic responses;
- Solve problems that customers have with greater agility;
- Direct messages to different members of specific areas;
- Easily check old conversations;
- Convert more users into customers.
12. Make sales through DMs
Using DMs to make sales is another great idea. After all, through DMs, you can send several messages and links to potential customers. This bypasses the limit of five links in the bio and avoids the need to use one of the Linktree alternatives.
However, as much as your goal is always to sell, it’s not a good idea to start a conversation by trying to sell. The best thing to do is deepen the relationship with the customer and establish yourself as an expert on the subject. With that, the chance to sell will always be greater!
Another good thing to do in DMs is talk to customers who have posted about your products or services. Ask them for permission to use the images they’ve posted and create a bond!
To make your use of DMs even better, check out the best support tools for Instagram DMs!
13. Invest in product launches
Social networks are one of the best ways to advertise, and this is part of one of the strategies on how to sell on Instagram. On Instagram, you can create posts whenever you want talking about your products or upcoming launches.
If you make clothes, you can make posts talking about the process, creating a mystery about the next pieces that will enter your catalog, for example. Tell little “spoilers” about your upcoming products in order to pique your customers’ curiosity.
By doing this, your audience will be more interested in finding out what’s to come and will stay tuned to your publications. Don’t only make this type of post with an advertisement for a product or promotion so that the interested audience ends up making a purchase. Use creativity in posts!
14. Use SEO techniques for Instagram
SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. Using SEO is very important in all aspects of virtual life because by doing optimizations you increase visibility.
In short, it is a set of practices that aim to optimize the site in order to be at the top of search results on Google and other platforms. With that, you have much more traffic and sales opportunities.
Well, Instagram also uses an algorithm to rank search results. Therefore, it is possible to use SEO techniques to improve the positioning of your content within Instagram and, therefore, gain visibility!
For this, it is recommended to add keywords connected to your business in the captions of the publications and in the hashtags used. This will make it easier for your target audience to find your posts, which increases the possibility of sales.
Learn a little more about these techniques in our SEO for Instagram article!
15. Create a post schedule
Having a schedule for your posts is very important. That’s because those who follow your profile want to see content that is relevant, that has quality, and preferably on a regular basis.
After all, if you post inconsistently, your followers won’t know when to expect a new post. As a result, your visibility decreases.
Finally, it’s good to organize your post ideas by the date and time you plan to post, resources you’re going to use to boost (if you want), and more. All this will help you create better posts that will get more views.
16. Use Paid Ads!
A very useful tool to increase your reach on Instagram is to use Ads. With them, you can create paid advertisements that will reach people who have never seen your page.
That is, you can increase the audience and, with that, the amount of sales made! Of course, for this, it is necessary to make a certain investment, but it is a good idea to win new customers.
To create paid ads, you need a Facebook Business account that is linked to your Instagram account. Afterward, just choose the post you want to boost and create the paid ad!
17. Make posts that are high-quality and professional
Another important area when talking about how to sell on Instagram is having high-quality posts. This will instill confidence in those who follow the page, in addition to being able to attract and convert new users into customers.
For this, posts need not only to be high-quality but also to provide good information. These two characteristics are very important to generate engagement!
Some important tips, however basic, are to include high-quality photos and images, offer information clearly and objectively and include captions that draw attention. The more engagement you manage to generate, the more Instagram will show your posts to other users!
18. Use good hashtags
Hashtags on Instagram are extremely important to increase the reach and number of followers and, with it, the number of customers. They are used by the algorithm to show your publications to users. In addition, it will be possible to find your posts by searching for the hashtag!
The best hashtags for your business will be those that relate to your post and business. However, it is also good practice to use both high-usage and low-usage hashtags.
That’s because if you only use extremely popular hashtags, your posts will be buried in the middle of thousands (or millions) of others that use the same hashtag! By using hashtags that best represent your niche, your business is easier to find. Check out our selection of the most popular hashtags on Instagram to get an idea of what to use!
19. Run sales and giveaways
Sales and giveaways are good ways to promote your brand and gain new followers. However, it’s not a good idea to run too many sales and giveaways in a row, as this can result in your followers only following you to participate in giveaways, and only buying your products when they’re on sale!
Still, doing giveaways ensures greater reach. This, interspersed with good posts, can easily convert new followers into customers!
Want to learn how to increase the number of followers on the platform? Discover the best apps to gain followers on Instagram!
20. Think about your brand’s aesthetics
Another interesting aspect to keep in mind if you want to learn how to sell on Instagram is having a cohesive aesthetic. This is true not only for your Instagram profile, but also for your website, your advertisements, and even your packaging.
That is, invest some time thinking about what is a good aesthetic for your brand, that represents you, the brand, your products, and everything related to it. This includes colors, filters, fonts, and even the language used in your captions!
To add a special touch, it might be a good idea to use different fonts. To do this, discover the best websites to create your font for Instagram here!
Do you have to pay to sell on Instagram?
No! Instagram allows you to make sales without having to spend absolutely nothing. However, to increase your reach through ads you need to spend at least $1 per day.
What can I sell on Instagram?
Instagram only allows the sale of physical products. The user may not sell drugs (licit or illicit), beverages, supplements, health items, or counterfeit coins, among other similar items.
Can I sell directly through Instagram?
Yes! Your customers can buy the products they want without ever needing to leave the app, thanks to Instagram checkout. It is a safe way to sell your products on the app that’s also much easier for your customers!
