Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms. It seems that younger audiences prefer Instagram over other alternatives which is why it’s important to build a strong Instagram presence for e-commerce businesses.
In this article, we will go through the benefits of a strong Instagram presence for e-commerce businesses and how to build it, including effective Instagram marketing strategies. Let’s have a look!
Benefits of a Strong Instagram Presence for E-Commerce Businesses
The reason why Instagram is such a strong tool in a business’s arsenal is because it allows one to create content that is both creative and relatable for the target audience. This relevance and creativity bring a lot of benefits. Here are some that can positively impact E-commerce businesses:
- Brand trust – Instagram, unlike other traditional advertising strategies, has a much more engaging style of marketing, providing ways for the audience to communicate with the brand. This improved two-way communication can significantly improve brand trust.
- Brand awareness – brand trust usually leads to a lot of word-of-mouth marketing which will boost a brand’s awareness.
- Boosts traffic – a strong Instagram presence for e-commerce businesses often leads visitors to the business’ online shop or application. In fact, 65% of users who have seen a product/service on Instagram, end up checking out the brand website. The bigger the following and reach on Instagram, the bigger the boost in traffic.
- Targeted ads – As we mentioned previously, one of the strong points of Instagram is the freedom of creativity for brands. With almost unlimited freedom for content creation, brands can accurately target their audience.
How to Build a Strong Instagram Presence for E-commerce Businesses
As we mentioned earlier, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms with 2 billion monthly active users. With these benefits in mind, let’s have a look at the steps of how to build a strong Instagram presence for e-commerce businesses.
#1 Have Your Online Shop Ready
Before you start your strategy for building your Instagram account, your e-commerce site needs to be ready. It’s one of the first signs that shows customers that your brand is legit and can be trusted, otherwise, the growth of an Instagram account might be considerably hindered.
In fact, most people consider brands with an Instagram presence to be a lot more relevant and creative. This kind of impact on shoppers leads to an increase in sales, which is why most E-commerce businesses should consider building their brand through Instagram.
So, ensure that your online shop is ready to go because you never know when your first customer will show up. And, to mitigate any issues with product orders, find an e-commerce hosting provider that already has a template for product listings, stock management, order fulfillment, etc.
#2 Optimize Your Bio
When Instagram users visit your brand’s profile to check out your products, the first thing they will see is your bio. That is also where your product/website link is located, so this part of your account is very important.
However, the IG bio is limited to just 150 characters which means you don’t have a lot of room to advertise your products to potential buyers. So, you will need to come up with something catchy to pull in buyers, but also something that fits your personality. Many brands use their slogan/tagline, so if your business has one, make sure to include it in your bio.
You can also include CTAs as they can boost conversion rates and lead inquires. Here are some examples of Instagram CTAs: “Shop now”, “Buy now”, “Learn more”, “Sign up now”, “Get started”, “Discount ends in 2 days”, etc.
#3 Create A Content Calendar
A content calendar not only boosts your brand’s presence on Instagram but also helps with collaboration within your organization. With it, employees can support each other to create the best possible content, and keep things consistent, and having a direction on what to do in terms of posting makes things much easier.
To create a content calendar, first set goals on various things like followers, views, viewers directed to shop, leads, etc. With goals in mind, you can build the calendar layout with information such as the date/time of posting, content formula, topic, the current state of the post, and the person assigned to the task.
#4 Find Your Content Strong Point
While you may have an image in mind that you want your brand’s Instagram page to withhold, unique content is worth a lot more when it comes to creating leads. You need content that will make viewers stop scrolling to check out your product.
Nowadays, a lot of brands are turning professionalism down a notch and using memes or other humorous content to grab people’s attention because Instagram has a much younger audience, so if you want to stay relevant, you need to post relevant content.
One way to find this strong point for catchy content is to track trending memes, reels, and other trends and then design your ad around it.
#5 Consistent Posting Is Essential
Even with a content calendar, it is still possible to miss or be late on a couple of posts. However, Instagram is very punishing when it comes to inconsistency, which is why you have to ensure you follow your content calendar to the dot.
But, if you are still new at building your Instagram presence then you probably shouldn’t build a content calendar with daily posting. Start slow with posts once or twice a week and then increase the frequency of posts (if possible).
#6 Reels Are The Recipe For Success
TikTok took the world by storm and quickly became one of the biggest social media platforms in the world and that probably happened off the back of the short video concept. Soon after, both YouTube and Instagram copied the idea with Shorts and Reels, respectively.
That’s why on Instagram Reels are making a killing, with trending Reels raking in millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes. That combined with the pinned comment feature, you can advertise your product to a huge audience if you craft the right reel.
So, adding Reels to the content calendar is vital for boosting Instagram presence for e-commerce businesses.
Finals Thoughts
A strong Instagram presence is crucial for e-commerce success. By utilizing relatable content and utilizing all of Instagram’s features like Stories, Reels, Carousel posts, and others, businesses can connect with their audience and drive sales. Consistent branding, follower interaction, and staying updated with reel/post trends will enhance your strategy.
FAQs
1. How Can Instagram Benefit E-commerce Businesses?
Instagram offers e-commerce businesses a highly engaging platform to showcase products creatively and interactively. It boosts brand trust through direct communication with customers, enhances brand awareness through word-of-mouth marketing, and drives traffic to online stores.
2. How Often Should Businesses Post on Instagram?
Consistency is key. For new businesses, starting with 2-3 posts per week is advisable. As you become more comfortable and understand your audience better, aim to post daily or every other day to keep your followers engaged and maintain visibility.