Introduction
130 million people are tapping on an Instagram shopping post every month. So if you have an e-commerce business, being on Instagram is justnon-negotiable. Setting up shop on Instagram is without a doubt the right move when it comes to making more sales for your business. Plus over the last few years, we’ve definitely seen Instagram make more of a move towards online shopping. So you don’t want to be that last business that’s late to the party and get left behind. And that is why in today’s video, we are going to talk about what an Instagram shop is, how to get it set up and how you can use it to start making more sales for your business, so let’s get it. But before we go any further, let me introduce myself. My name is Michelle and I am a creative strategist, and I am a social media expert. Now, if you are new to this channel, if you are new to learn with Shopify, welcome. This is a channel where we give entrepreneurs and the knowledge that they need either to start, run or grow a successful online business. So if you are an online entrepreneur, make sure that you’re hitting that subscribe button. And if you want to expand your e-commerce business, if you want to be your own boss and reach financial freedom, then this is the place to be. All right. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
What is Instagram Shopping
So first of all, what is Instagram shopping? So Instagram shopping syncs all of the products that you have on Shopify. To your Instagram account so that you can easily create shoppable posts. It transforms posts and stories so that customers can view and buy your products right on Instagram. They can see which products are being shown in a picture using product tags like this here. So you would tag products in your posts in the very same way that you would tag a friend. This adds a little shopping bag icon to your image. And then when users tap the photo, they can view the prices of the products featured and tap the product labels to view the product pages. And if we go back to the profile, customers can also view your entire catalog with this button right up here. So this really does offer a smooth shopping experience. And you’re basically just bringing the look and feel of your Shopify store to Instagram shops. So if a customer sees a product that they like and they want to buy it, they’re then redirected to your Shopify store and can make a purchase there. You can also use Shopify to create, track and manage your ad campaigns and your orders all in one organized and centralized place. So as the merchant, you can actually see that the sale came from Instagram and that’s really going to help you understand how much traffic and how many sales are actually coming from Instagram. And finally having this, you know, set up here, it’s just going to make things easier for you to expand your audience through Instagram and Facebook ads. Okay, so if you are eager to hop into the tutorial part, um, you can definitely go ahead. I’ve timestamped everything so that you can just, you know, get to that specific part that you need to. But I think it’s important to understand that there are some serious key benefits of building an Instagram shop and probably the most notable, the most important benefit, is that it makes shopping easier for customers. So if your customer is already spending time on Instagram, you’re not forcing them to come to you and your site. You’re actually coming to them by having your products on Instagram. It’s just easier for them and we all know that an easy shopping experience means more conversions, it means more sales, and it means more money in the bank for you. Sherry Lott, founder and CEO of kids clothing brand Spearmint Love said, when we launched the feature, we experienced a 25% increase in traffic and an 8% increase in revenue attributable to shopping on Instagram. So the proof is in the pudding, but without further ado, let’s get into the actual tutorial.
Make Sure You Are Eligible
So step one is to actually make sure that you are eligible to actually create the shop and use the feature. Now, unfortunately right now you can not sell services. You actually have to be selling a physical goods and your business also has to be located in a country that supports Instagram shopping. Also make sure that you have the latest version of Instagram. Otherwise this feature is not going to work. So just to double check, make sure that you’re seeing the cute little shopping bags on the top corner of your Instagram posts. And that’s how you’ll know that you are on the latest version that supports this feature. Also, I should mention that this particular tutorial is going to be for all of you guys that already have your Shopify stores set up. You can also use a different e-commerce platform set up and in place, so that’s totally fine too. Now, if you don’t have a Shopify store set up, we actually offer a free 14 day trial. No credit card required, which is quite nice. And you would just click the link in the description box. I will leave it for you there so that you can get started.
General Housekeeping
Let’s do some general housekeeping. So first things first, you’re going to need to make sure that you have a Facebook business manager set up. Now, if you’re not sure what this is, you don’t have this setup, it’s super easy. All you have to do is go to business.facebook.com and create an account. It’s really straightforward, but I will leave a link in the description box for you guys on how to set this up, step-by-step, in case you do want it in full detail. And then you’re also going to want to have a Facebook business page set up as well.
Convert Your Profile to a Pro Account
so next, you’re going to want to convert your Instagram profile to a professional account. Now, this is really only going to take a couple of seconds and it’s actually pretty useful because now by doing this, you’re going to get access to other business tools, like the ability to run ads. So in the Instagram app, you’re going to want to open the profile that’s associated with your. then you’ll tap the hamburger icon, yes, that’s actually called a hamburger icon, and then next you’re going to tap settings. So after that, you’re going to tap account, then switch to professional account. Boom, super easy. You’re going to want to select a category for your business once you’re here. And then you’re going to want to confirm your contact details. After that you’re going to want to connect your Facebook business page to your Instagram account. So to do that, go to settings, you’re going to tap account, linked accounts and link it to your Facebook page. So super easy. And then you’re going to choose the Facebook page that represents your shop, of course, but also make sure that that is a page that is associated with your business manager.
Sync Your E-Commerce Website to Your Instagram Shop
Okay so, step number four is to sync your e-commerce website to your Instagram shop. Now, if you are with Shopify, you can easily sync your entire product catalog, which is really nice because that means you don’t have to manually add in each product and it’ll automatically sync your inventory and track all of that. So all of that’s automatic, which is, you know, less work for you. So we’re going to go over to our Shopify dashboard and right next to sales channel, we’ll hit the plus icon hit Facebook. Now, head to the product manager in the Shopify dashboard. Select your products, click make products available in the drop-down menu and select Instagram super easy.
Wait for Your Account to be Approved
So the next step, which is not really a step is you’re just going to have to wait for your account to be approved. Now this might take a few days, but once your Instagram account has been approved, Instagram is going to show you a little notification and they’re just going to let you know that you can now start tagging your products on Instagram. Once you received the approval notification. All you need to do is confirm which Facebook shop you want to connect to your Instagram profile. So in order to do this, tap get started on the notification, or you can head over to Instagram’s a business settings and tap shopping. Then once you’re here, simply click the Facebook shop you want to use with your Instagram profile and that’s it. Okay, amazing. So now all of your products are sinked across Instagram, Facebook shops and your Shopify store. So, awesome. And that is pretty much it. So now that you’ve got this all set up, Instagram shopping is really going to help you promote sales and it’s going to help encourage new customers to shop with you. Do you ever wonder how you can actually make money on Instagram? Maybe you’re opening the app and you see tons of brands and tons of influencers making money. Well, what you can do is you can register using the link in the description box. I will leave a link for you guys, and that’s going to give you access to a free webinar that will walk you through proven methods for growing an Instagram following from scratch. And it’ll show you the variety of ways that you can start to monetize, even if you have a thousand followers. So in just 45 minutes in this webinar, you’re going to learn strategies to get more engaged followers and how you can use Instagram to drive traffic and sales to your store.