8 Effective Tips in Implementing a Social Commerce Strategy on Instagram

Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have made it easier and more accessible for brands to connect with their target audience. Social commerce has boomed, and brands have leveraged that to boost sales. Instagram, in particular, is one of the best platforms to implement your social commerce strategies. And if you want to try selling on the platform, follow these strategies on social commerce on Instagram.

Before we share our tried-and-tested strategies, remember these things when selling on Instagram:

• Set up an Instagram business account
• Use Instagram Shopping to promote your products
• Add relevant hashtags so prospective customers can find your posts easier

1. Inform or Educate More, Sell Less

Hard selling will not do you any good on social media, especially if you’re starting your social commerce strategy on Instagram. Creating educational or informational posts is the best way to approach selling on the platform. You can incorporate your products or services into the post. From there, slowly build your target audience’s interest and persuade them to purchase from you through other posts.

Tip: Make sure to create high-quality posts for this strategy. You need to invest in video and graphic design services or software applications to create the following posts:

• Images
• GIFs
• Stories
• Videos
• Reels

2. Post User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) is a common yet effective Instagram social commerce strategy. After all, Stackla finds that UGC influences purchases. Plus, with UGC, you can establish trust and authenticity. 

Most brands would use hashtags to track posts created by users. Other brands would ask their followers to tag them. Or, some users tag them unprompted, not to get publicity, but to share their experience about the product or service.

Tip: Create a variety of posts for UGC. Sure, you can repost your customer’s posts or Stories. But on some posts, use a snippet of your customer’s review on one post. You can also use other excerpts on ads and Stories.

3. Post More Stories

According to Social Pilot, around 70% of Instagram users watch Stories. That promising statistic should encourage you to post more stories. However, your competitors and other businesses have already thought about posting stories to captivate your target audience. There’s no best practice on what Stories you should post. But you should mix up your Stories content too.

For example, you can schedule an Instagram Story without a link. You can post a photo of your product or a screenshot of your online service. Another idea could be a Story with a link to your new landing page or Instagram Shopping page. If you include a link, make sure you have a convincing call to action that will make users swipe up and lead them to another page or site.

Tip: Save these stories as highlights. This introduces your new followers to your other products and services. Plus, they learn more about your brand and connect with you.

4. Be Strategic with Links

Adding links to every post can be considered hard selling. Remember, the goal is to develop a connection with your target audience and turn them into loyal patrons. Most businesses and brands would go for the “Link to Bio” option to avoid off-putting links. The Link to Bio posts is a perfect opportunity to feature various website pages. Or, you can compile all your essential links, such as website, social media links, eCommerce page, and more.

Tip: Use linking services like Bit.ly to measure the number of clicks or LinkTree to consolidate all necessary links in one place.

5. Leverage Data

Any social commerce strategy is pointless without checking your analytics first. You need to know the following:

• Which posts do your followers engage with often?
• What is the best time to publish your posts?
• What is the click-through rate if there are links on the posts?

With these in mind, you can create high-quality images and videos that your followers will love.

Tip: Don’t hesitate to use other social media analytics tools. With these tools, not only will you learn more about your audience, you can schedule posts on these applications. Plus, you can generate reports to analyze and improve your metrics.

6. Engage with Your Target Audience

Connecting with your target audience is one part of building your brand on social media. It’s not about posting information or educating them on your product or service. You have to do the work by engaging with them. But you don’t have to pour all your energy into replying to every single comment or reacting to Stories.

Aside from that, you can publish interactive posts too. You can do this by posting Stories and allowing them to comment on your post. Or let them create their own posts that you can share on your page.

Tip: Make your brand personable by using emojis and stickers when replying to your target audience or liking their posts. For example, when an Instagram user comments on one of your posts, hit the like button and respond to their comment with a cute emoji. If they post a story, send a sticker or react to it.

7. Tap Influencers

Instagram is the go-to and preferred platform by many brands for influencer marketing. This could be attributed to the billions of users that can be reached on the platform. And even though other social media platforms are catching up with this trend, Instagram is still the leading site for influencer marketing due to quality leads and reach. 

When using this tactic, choose influencers with the same values as your brand. Plus, make sure that these influencers are relatable to your target audience.

Tip: Reach out to micro-influencers. They pull in followers and prospects to your brand.

8. Invest in Ads

Our final social commerce on Instagram strategy is none other than posting ads on the platform. Paying for ad placements to gain traction online is highly advised. And when it comes to ads, you should also set up a plan to ensure your advertising strategy doesn’t go to waste. 

Tip: Select the products or services you want to promote the most. You can get more out of your advertising if you pick items from your inventory that your target audience may need to consider.