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Author:
Gemma Graye
Instagram is a tool that allows eCommerce brands the opportunity to promote their business and sell their products by utilising the features of the platform.
eCommerce brands are increasingly becoming more popular due to the consumer's preference for transactions conducted online. eCommerce marketing is a big part of what we do here at April Ford, this includes a specialist team that lives and breathes eCommerce.
In an industry that follows consumer trends and faces ever-changing expectations, it is essential that all opportunities for growth are utilised.
Here are features we believe eCommerce Brands should implement to utilise the Instagram platform.
Instagram is a tool that allows eCommerce brands the opportunity to promote their business and sell their products by utilising the features of the platform.
eCommerce brands are increasingly becoming more popular due to the consumer's preference for transactions conducted online. eCommerce marketing is a big part of what we do here at April Ford, this includes a specialist team that lives and breathes eCommerce.
In an industry that follows consumer trends and faces ever-changing expectations, it is essential that all opportunities for growth are utilised.
Here are features we believe eCommerce Brands should implement to utilise the Instagram platform.
In Commerce Manager on Instagram, you can set this up with a custom view. You can select a hero image or order the products how you want them. You can also create 'collections' that allow you to customise your shop by curating products into themes, such as new arrivals, by release name, apparel/swim, dresses/pants, best sellers, almost gone etc. Product description pages will also pull through any tagged images to the product page.
Hot Tip: Make sure you tag all products where possible to boost this feature.
If you’re running a sale, you might want to be aware of sales that aren’t applied to the product listing, such as a 20% off code. You can use the Instagram promotional feature to match the discount offer so that customers can easily see the discount and won't miss the sales offer when viewing the product or tags etc.
Businesses can request to feature content organically created by their community to then add this content to their shop and manage all permissions in the Instagram app or via Commerce Manager. When a customer posts a product photo & tags the business, you are then able to link it to your Instagram shop product page. It gives shoppers the chance to see a'real life' image of the product and further insight into what the product is like.
Some brands are reportedly seeing some great success from Instagram shopping live. Doing a live preview to launch a new collection for example, which you can set up to pre-tag the products you are going to feature. The product tags will then appear throughout your live video. The Live video also gives you the opportunity to show movement, ask & answer questions etc.
You can highlight up to five items from your catalogue directly in your Feed, Stories, Reels and Live posts. It is a great opportunity to be able to tag products through these three different posting options.
Instagram has just released a feature for customers and influencers to also product tag, so far this is only available in the US. This allows customers and influencers to actually tag your product from your Instagram shop in the images they post on their own feed. It's as simple as tagging a brand and then opting to find and tag one of their products. The business's product tag will then appear on the customer and influencers' profile feed. This feature is amazing!
Lots of reports out there suggest the use of Instagram reels (and multiple Instagram features) are helping with the algorithm to generate more organic reach across your entire profile -suggesting Instagram rewards those that use their features and in particular the new features they want to push. We can confirm that we have seen extra engagement, views & profile traffic generated from the use of reels.
Instagram story highlights are a great way to save Instagram stories to your profile in curated collections. Highlights add an additional way for new customers to 'research' your products and brand.
Some labels have been utilising this feature really well through videos showing try ons with movements/spins, try ons of a new collection or an up-close look at fabrics and details. Businesses can still feature a professionally styled model doing the try on and set up, to appear on-brand to avoid the brand appearing amateur.
There is a great feature that allows you to add a start date to signify an event on an Instagram post, which then allows users to tap and set a reminder for the event. You could use this feature to tease when you are going to reveal a new product, host a sale or launch a new collection, do a live Q&A etc.
Start implementing these Instagram features to promote business growth within your eCommerce business.
Ready for business growth? Enquire Now.
Instagram Shop Storefront
Instagram Shopping Promotions
Instagram Shopping Community Content
Instagram Shopping Live
Instagram Product Tagging
Instagram Product Tagging - Customers & Influencers - US ONLY
Instagram Reels
Story Highlights
Organic Instagram Story Videos
Dated/Reminder on Posts
Dated/Reminder on Posts
In Commerce Manager on Instagram, you can set this up with a custom view. You can select a hero image or order the products how you want them. You can also create 'collections' that allow you to customise your shop by curating products into themes, such as new arrivals, by release name, apparel/swim, dresses/pants, best sellers, almost gone etc. Product description pages will also pull through any tagged images to the product page.
Hot Tip: Make sure you tag all products where possible to boost this feature.
If you’re running a sale, you might want to be aware of sales that aren’t applied to the product listing, such as a 20% off code. You can use the Instagram promotional feature to match the discount offer so that customers can easily see the discount and won't miss the sales offer when viewing the product or tags etc.
Businesses can request to feature content organically created by their community to then add this content to their shop and manage all permissions in the Instagram app or via Commerce Manager. When a customer posts a product photo & tags the business, you are then able to link it to your Instagram shop product page. It gives shoppers the chance to see a'real life' image of the product and further insight into what the product is like.
Some brands are reportedly seeing some great success from Instagram shopping live. Doing a live preview to launch a new collection for example, which you can set up to pre-tag the products you are going to feature. The product tags will then appear throughout your live video. The Live video also gives you the opportunity to show movement, ask & answer questions etc.
You can highlight up to five items from your catalogue directly in your Feed, Stories, Reels and Live posts. It is a great opportunity to be able to tag products through these three different posting options.
Instagram has just released a feature for customers and influencers to also product tag, so far this is only available in the US. This allows customers and influencers to actually tag your product from your Instagram shop in the images they post on their own feed. It's as simple as tagging a brand and then opting to find and tag one of their products. The business's product tag will then appear on the customer and influencers' profile feed. This feature is amazing!
Lots of reports out there suggest the use of Instagram reels (and multiple Instagram features) are helping with the algorithm to generate more organic reach across your entire profile -suggesting Instagram rewards those that use their features and in particular the new features they want to push. We can confirm that we have seen extra engagement, views & profile traffic generated from the use of reels.
Instagram story highlights are a great way to save Instagram stories to your profile in curated collections. Highlights add an additional way for new customers to 'research' your products and brand.
Some labels have been utilising this feature really well through videos showing try ons with movements/spins, try ons of a new collection or an up-close look at fabrics and details. Businesses can still feature a professionally styled model doing the try on and set up, to appear on-brand to avoid the brand appearing amateur.
There is a great feature that allows you to add a start date to signify an event on an Instagram post, which then allows users to tap and set a reminder for the event. You could use this feature to tease when you are going to reveal a new product, host a sale or launch a new collection, do a live Q&A etc.
Start implementing these Instagram features to promote business growth within your eCommerce business.
Ready for business growth? Enquire Now.
Instagram Shop Storefront
Instagram Shopping Promotions
Instagram Shopping Community Content
Instagram Shopping Live
Instagram Product Tagging
Instagram Product Tagging - Customers & Influencers - US ONLY
Instagram Reels
Story Highlights
Organic Instagram Story Videos
Dated/Reminder on Posts
Dated/Reminder on Posts
In Commerce Manager on Instagram, you can set this up with a custom view. You can select a hero image or order the products how you want them. You can also create 'collections' that allow you to customise your shop by curating products into themes, such as new arrivals, by release name, apparel/swim, dresses/pants, best sellers, almost gone etc. Product description pages will also pull through any tagged images to the product page.
Hot Tip: Make sure you tag all products where possible to boost this feature.
If you’re running a sale, you might want to be aware of sales that aren’t applied to the product listing, such as a 20% off code. You can use the Instagram promotional feature to match the discount offer so that customers can easily see the discount and won't miss the sales offer when viewing the product or tags etc.
Businesses can request to feature content organically created by their community to then add this content to their shop and manage all permissions in the Instagram app or via Commerce Manager. When a customer posts a product photo & tags the business, you are then able to link it to your Instagram shop product page. It gives shoppers the chance to see a'real life' image of the product and further insight into what the product is like.
Some brands are reportedly seeing some great success from Instagram shopping live. Doing a live preview to launch a new collection for example, which you can set up to pre-tag the products you are going to feature. The product tags will then appear throughout your live video. The Live video also gives you the opportunity to show movement, ask & answer questions etc.
You can highlight up to five items from your catalogue directly in your Feed, Stories, Reels and Live posts. It is a great opportunity to be able to tag products through these three different posting options.
Instagram has just released a feature for customers and influencers to also product tag, so far this is only available in the US. This allows customers and influencers to actually tag your product from your Instagram shop in the images they post on their own feed. It's as simple as tagging a brand and then opting to find and tag one of their products. The business's product tag will then appear on the customer and influencers' profile feed. This feature is amazing!
Lots of reports out there suggest the use of Instagram reels (and multiple Instagram features) are helping with the algorithm to generate more organic reach across your entire profile -suggesting Instagram rewards those that use their features and in particular the new features they want to push. We can confirm that we have seen extra engagement, views & profile traffic generated from the use of reels.
Instagram story highlights are a great way to save Instagram stories to your profile in curated collections. Highlights add an additional way for new customers to 'research' your products and brand.
Some labels have been utilising this feature really well through videos showing try ons with movements/spins, try ons of a new collection or an up-close look at fabrics and details. Businesses can still feature a professionally styled model doing the try on and set up, to appear on-brand to avoid the brand appearing amateur.
There is a great feature that allows you to add a start date to signify an event on an Instagram post, which then allows users to tap and set a reminder for the event. You could use this feature to tease when you are going to reveal a new product, host a sale or launch a new collection, do a live Q&A etc.
Start implementing these Instagram features to promote business growth within your eCommerce business.
Ready for business growth? Enquire Now.
