17 Ways to Boost Your Instagram E-Commerce Strategy

A Winning Instagram E-Commerce Strategy for Your Brand

How can you get the most value out of your Instagram e-commerce strategy? Instagram can be a powerful marketing tool, but only if you know how to use it effectively. Countless e-commerce brands have already found success marketing on Instagram, thanks to practices like targeting the right audience, posting frequently, and engaging followers in conversation. 

But there have also been plenty of brands that lost money and time due to overconfidence or basic misunderstandings.

Getting More Out of Instagram for Your E-Commerce Brand

An e-commerce Instagram approach can be elevated with the following strategies:

1. Start with a comprehensive profile. Before you start posting on Instagram, spend some time sketching out a comprehensive profile. Include plenty of keywords that accurately describe your brand and links that point back to your main site. This will make it easier for people to discover you and give them adequate descriptions and direction when they want to know more about your brand.
2. Post at least once per day. Your Instagram account is never going to take off unless you’re consistent with regular posting. So create a strategy that allows you to post at least one new image or video per day. The only caveat to this is that you don’t want to bombard your followers; posting too frequently can eventually annoy your audience, causing them to unfollow you.
3. Use photos and videos. Instagram built its platform on still photos, but videos are also popular. You’ll need both mediums if you want your Instagram account to take off. Highlight some of your best products with gorgeous still photography, and use videos to highlight things in motion and catch more attention as people watch the complete video.
4. Include persuasive calls to action (CTAs). Many of your Instagram posts should feature calls to action (CTAs). If you aren’t familiar, a CTA is any direct callout that encourages users to take a specific action, such as visiting a website or making a purchase. Your CTAs can take many forms, encouraging followers to follow your secondary account, sign up for an email newsletter, visit your website, or take advantage of a recent sale. What’s important is that you’re motivating your audience to take the most valuable actions for your brand.
5. Talk to your specific audience. E-commerce brands on Instagram are more likely to find success when they talk to a specific audience rather than a general one. It sometimes feels like you’re broadcasting to the entire world on social media, but if you take a generic approach, you’re never going to generate traction. Instead, get to know your target audience well and make sure all your posts are relevant to them.
6. Utilize the power of hashtags. Hashtags make it easy to search for photos and videos relating to a specific topic, so make sure you load your posts with at least a few relevant hashtags. This will make your brand much more discoverable – just don’t go overboard.
7. Tag other people when appropriate. For example, is there someone else in a photo you posted? Tag them. It’s a great way to boost visibility or grab someone’s attention.
8. Offer giveaways and other incentives. Human beings respond well to incentives, so incentivize your followers however you can. Some of the most common tactics here include giveaways and drawings for free products.
9. Converse with your followers. Instagram isn’t always conducive for long conversations, but it does support interactive commentary. People will feel much more engaged and will be much more likely to continue following your brand if you interact with them regularly.
10. Reach out to new people. Consider reaching out to new accounts on a regular basis. This is a social networking platform, after all. You’ll increase your visibility by doing so, and you’ll get creative inspiration from seeing what other people are talking about.
11. Tap into the power of influencers. Influencer marketing has enormous potential if used correctly. Consider reaching out to some influencers in your niche and see if they’d be willing to review one of your products or talk about your brand. They may even be willing to collaborate with you on a shared content product.
12. Broadcast live. E-commerce Instagram brands often see success from live broadcasting. Live content draws people in and encourages interaction, giving you a chance to forge stronger brand relationships.
13. Provide exclusive Instagram content. Instagram isn’t going to be your only marketing or advertising platform. You’re going to be posting content in many locations, and because of this, providing exclusive Instagram content could be exactly what you need to make Instagram more uniquely appealing.
14. Stoke some controversy. Since controversy inspires more shares and engagements, don’t be afraid to stoke some controversy. You don’t want to offend or anger your audience, but you can provoke some emotions and deep thoughts with controversial opinions or takes.
15. Leverage user-generated content. Why do all the work yourself? Leverage the power of user-generated content to encourage people to interact with your brand and give your account more content to work with at the same time.
16. Consider paid ads. Reaching people organically on Instagram is getting harder and harder. Even if you have an excellent organic content strategy, you may still benefit from paid advertisements on the platform. It’s an excellent shortcut to greater visibility and higher follower counts.
17. Measure and analyze carefully. Always take the time to measure and analyze your results. Which posts are most successful? Is your account growing or remaining stagnant?

Updating and Adapting

Your Instagram e-commerce strategy can be a powerful tool, but there’s no guarantee you will see amazing results in your first foray into this strategy. In fact, most brands initially struggle to get the kind of results they want. Don’t let this discourage you; over time, you’ll learn more about your target audience, your experiments will tell you what works and what doesn’t, and you can update and adapt your strategy accordingly. As long as you remain flexible and willing to grow and improve, you’ll set a course for better results.

Are you interested in getting help with your food brand’s Instagram e-commerce strategy? Do you need help building your brand and marketing from the ground up? NewPoint Marketing is here to help. Contact us for a free consultation today!