Connect with your users! Increase your sales! Sell on Instagram!

How to sell on Instagram? In today’s world, online sales are essential for all businesses. Social platforms work as a bridge to connect brands with thousands of users around the world and Instagram is one of them. Its exponential growth in recent years has made it the favorite among brands.

This is because, due to its many functions, it offers versatility like no other.

Besides, over 95 million photos and videos are shared daily on this platform and its interactivity reaches 1 billion users per month.

This makes it the perfect place to sell anything from products to services.

Because of this, here at BluCactus, we will give you the main tools so that you know how to sell on Instagram and increase your sales.

Important data about Instagram

According to figures from DataReportal in January 2020, this is the sixth most used social platform around the world.

Likewise, We are the Social Hootsuite charts for this year showed that adults between 18 and 35 years old are the main users of this platform.

This makes selling on Instagram a good option to boost your digital business.

However, even though we must consider this age range, it must be said that it also showed that there are active users of all ages.

Thus, this is an excellent opportunity to offer endless products or services.

With this data, we can confirm that there are many reasons to sell on Instagram. Besides, it’s one of the social platforms with the highest growth in both users and functions.

One advantage of this platform is innovation. This is an elementary factor that keeps it as a favorite around the world. The last tool it added to its list was Reels.

This is a feature that allows users to make editable 15-second videos. It also allows users to add effects and background music, much like TikTok.

What are the main Instagram tools?

With the amount of diverse content that can be created.

Instagram is undoubtedly at the forefront of the empire made up of social platforms.

However, there are other important functions that we recommend to take into account when selling on Instagram.

Next, we are going to show you the main tools of this social platform:

How to sell on Instagram? Photos and videos:

Users can post a maximum of 10 photos per post and videos of up to 1 minute.

These can have a caption where they can type a maximum of characters. People also have a lot of options when it comes to choosing filters to edit their photos. Some of them are:

• Clarendon: At first, this was only used for videos, then it was also enabled for photos. This filter is ideal for illuminating reflections.
• Perpetual: With this filter, users can add pastel tones to their photos.
• Inkwell: Allows any photo to be black and white.
• Amaro: This filter brightens photos more, but adds focus to the center of the image.

Hashtags:

The platform introduced these in 2011 to make it easy for users to find photos or other people.

The idea of hashtags is that they are specific and novel so that they are successful.

Thanks to hashtags, people have been able to create trends on the platform.

Besides, the most successful trends tend to be highlighted weekly on Instagram.

One of the most famous is #ThrowbackThursday or simply #tbt, which users accompany it with a not so recent photo.

How to sell on Instagram? Instagram Direct:

Instagram created this feature in 2013. Here, different users can send pictures and videos through private messages.

People can also interact with their friends through a group of up to 15 people.

They can send messages to people who they don’t even follow or who don’t follow them.

If they do this, Instagram will mark the message as pending and the receiving user must accept it beforehand to see it.

Other functions that allow you to sell on Instagram

Instagram Stories: 

This tool came out in 2016 with the aim that people could take or upload photos, with effects and filters to their Instagram stories.

This function lasts only 24 hours, similar to what Snapchat allows.

Later, Instagram included the option of videos and incorporated 5 and 15-second ads.

Here, the user can see them between the stories as well as skip them.

IGTV: 

This is a tool that Instagram included in 2018.

These are vertical videos that can be up to 10 minutes long.

However, verified users can extend the duration of this tool.

This allows them to upload videos of up to 60 minutes.

Reels: 

This is the latest tool from Instagram.  It consists of short videos where users can exploit their creativity by creating different content.

People will also be able to try out various sounds and special effects to optimize their 15-second videos.

It’s still too early to know how to measure user reception, but without a doubt, it’s a new and different opportunity to show products.

These are the main tools that make up this social platform. Now that you know what they are, you will think about how to use them to offer your products. Not all functions work for all sales strategies.

That is why we recommend to study and test them to find out which is the best suited to the product or service you are offering and which is the best to sell on Instagram according to the characteristics of your business. In BluCactus we will give you some tips for the growth of your brand on Instagram to be noticeable and get satisfactory results.

How to use these tools to sell on Instagram?

Raising a marketing strategy has never been easy, and much less if you try to incorporate various factors such as, for example, how the objectives are to be drawn.

Whatever the strategy, you must establish various plans to achieve your goals.

In the particular case of selling on Instagram, it’s advisable first to consider a target audience and, also, to know what part of that loyal audience is active on this social platform.

In this way, it will not be so difficult to consider the main objectives based on the needs of the brand and the usefulness of Instagram to achieve the proposed goals.

For this reason, we present some tips to choose a marketing strategy and be able to sell on Instagram:

Identify what you want to achieve:

Knowing what the goals are in the online business is an important factor that you must take into account.

The role that Instagram will play in achieving the established objectives is also fundamental.

Think about what this platform has that makes it unique and that they have no other means to achieve.

Besides, we recommend complementing the fact of selling on Instagram with the other platforms that make up the marketing strategy.

How to sell on Instagram? Create content:

Content is one of the most important things on any social platform, not just on Instagram.

For this reason, it’s necessary to establish a content strategy that adapts to the needs of the audience and the functions that the platform can offer.

Therefore, keep in mind what your audience wants to see on that social platform.

Ask yourself what is the best way to show this content:

A video? A story?

Fortunately, Instagram offers different formats to create content in one place.

But be careful with this point, the idea is not to create content to fulfill space.

It’s necessary to know what things we can offer and to be clear about the representation of the brand on the platform.

For this, we recommend identifying and order the contents.

This way you will have greater clarity when publishing and will know if they are better in a video or photo format.

Be interactive:

It’s important to constantly interact with the public. You can do this by either responding via direct message or exchanging opinions in the comments. Constant interaction with the audience is essential if you want to sell on Instagram.

How to sell on Instagram? Stay active:

Many brands use a schedule with the content to be published, as well as the date and time. They do this to stay active and be able to sell on Instagram. You may do the same to keep up with posts. Originality and spontaneity are big factors on Instagram, but that doesn’t mean being careless.

Part of the success is also in knowing at what time to publish. It’s also important to study your target, to know what is the best time to publish, and so that more people see those publications.

How to start your business to sell on Instagram?

Many have the knowledge, but it’s difficult for them to take the first step to start their online business. Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot of preparation.

All you could need is knowing where you want to go by using these platforms.

Remember that they can work as an intermediary between the business and the client.

Instagram is no exception, so below, we will show you some basic steps that brands use when they want to sell on Instagram:

How to sell on Instagram? Create a company profile:

A while ago, Instagram added the creation of company accounts to the platform to get certain benefits. One of them is to ally this account on Instagram with your company’s Facebook account.

This will allow you to access the Facebook API and manage the posts and comments on Instagram.

Other benefits are access to advanced profile statistics, promote a post, and advertising on the platform. In the case of raffles, you can export all comments to choose a winner.

Focus on getting loyal customers:

Here, quality is more important than quantity.

Having loyal followers who view and interact with your content is better than having many more inactive followers.

Thus, it’s important to apply different strategies.

This way customers will feel identified with the essence of the brand and be part of it.

How to sell on Instagram? Use Instagram shopping:

This tool is exclusive for companies and helps a lot to show products with much more detailed information.

Plus, it’s a useful feature that makes it easy to sell on Instagram.

Likewise, we can show the price as a tag, something similar to those used by users with other people.

This function also helps users who want to purchase the product from Instagram, because they will be redirected to the company website.

Publish content of interest to the consumer:

This is key to getting loyal customers on the social platform.

The contents that you publish must go hand in hand with the essence of the brand and the needs of the customers.

How to sell on Instagram?

Invest wisely in advertising if necessary: 

There are many ways to advertise on Instagram.

Below, we show you the most common ones so that you can see.

Which one is the best suited to your needs:

• Photo ad: This is the oldest way to advertise on a social platform.  Here, advertisers appear on the platform’s main home page with a photo. There, brands create creative and authentic content to surprise users.

• How to sell on Instagram?Ad in sequence: It’s the ad in a photo with the particularity that in this case several images are shown in the same ad. This mode is useful if you want to show several products in a single moment. It’s also effective if you want to expand the information of a single article.

• Video advertisement: It’s like photo ads, with the difference that videos can offer greater visibility. Likewise,  they have a maximum duration of 1 minute. However, it’s important to note that the first few seconds will be crucial for users to see the ad until the end.

• How to sell on Instagram? Advertising within stories: This is a more dynamic way to attract the public since the Instagram stories function has had very good receptivity among users. With stories, companies have the possibility of completing brand content and doing some promotions to sell on Instagram.

What are the most successful brands on Instagram?

Many brands have used Instagram to position themselves and increase sales. Although each one has its style, they share something in common: the proper use of the platform.

It’s undeniable that this social platform came almost a decade ago to stay. So it was time to show you some successful brands that have made it big on Instagram:

• How to sell on Instagram? Vans:

This brand has a characteristic street style that it displays on the platform, making its loyal customers feel part of that style.

So not only does it publish sneakers to its over 17 million followers but also on Instagram it reflects the essence of the brand and the way of life of those who use it.

• Oreo:

This is a very interesting case study, as the famous cookie brand has several points going for it.

It shows not only creative and innovative content attached to interesting and important events but also, in its profile, it shows many recipes that can be made with Oreo.

Likewise, it also showcases other ideas of interest to its audience, which exceeds 3 million followers on the platform.

• How to sell on Instagram? Lego:

It has created life-size figures that have surprised everyone, but besides that, they can be in tune with new trends to transform them into their characteristic dismountable objects.

One of its latest adaptations has been the epic Super Mario characters created by Nintendo:

Mario and Toad.

Currently, they have over 6 million followers on the social platform.

• Hollister:

This is a brand created for young people.

By having a clear target and target audience, it uses the Instagram platform to display fresh photos.

Currently, it has over 5 million followers.

The photos are mainly filled with various facets and youth experiences so that the audience feels identified.

Another point in favor of this clothing brand is that it allows consumers to create various styles without losing its essence.

• How to sell on Instagram? RedBull:

This brand’s Instagram is full of various extreme sports.

This shows that the drink is much more than just a liquid, it represents an entire lifestyle that allows you to overcome all kinds of challenges.

This strategy has apparently worked as the brand now exceeds 13 million followers.

These are some brands that have executed an assertive strategy on the platform by creating unique content on Instagram.

With these tips, we hope you gain all the tools to venture into one of the most preferred social platforms by users.

At BluCactus, we are prepared to satisfy all the needs of your online business.

We know that the digital world is in constant transformation and we have at your disposal innovative strategies that will undoubtedly boost your business.

We have at your disposal a unique method to meet your goals and boost your business.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.