Instagram has grown a lot since it first launched. When it originally hit the market, the platform was solely for sharing photos with friends. It worked in a unique way, wherein you follow profiles that interest you, whether they are your friends, family, or your favorite brands and celebrities.
But over the years, the platform has slowly been adding new features that add more functionality to the app. Currently, you can upload photos, videos, and even reels (short-form videos on Instagram) to your profile.
On top of that, you can share posts to your stories, chat with other people, and shop for different items. One of the newest and coolest features of Instagram is shoppable posts. These posts allow businesses to sell on Instagram while users can shop directly from the posts on the app.
For example, you can post a picture with one or two of your brand’s newest products. Then, you can convert it into a shoppable post so that users interested in the products can tap on them and order one for themselves.
This doesn’t just make it more convenient for users to shop from their favorite brand but can also be an additional revenue stream for your business.
What Are Shoppable Posts, and Why Should I Use Them?
As the name suggests, a shoppable post is a post that allows users to shop for an item right on the Instagram app. This is a pretty simple but very innovative feature that changed how brands and businesses use Instagram to do business with their followers.
With the shoppable post feature, you won’t just be using Instagram for marketing. Instead, this turns Instagram into a full-on shopping platform wherein users can place orders, pay for them, and have them delivered all without leaving the app.
This feature isn’t available in all locations as it’s still pretty new. However, in the locations where it is available, many brands have been using it to boost their sales and brand recognition.
The biggest reason businesses on Instagram should consider using shoppable posts is that this feature makes the shopping experience for the end consumer flawless. Remember, Instagram doesn’t allow anyone to have clickable links on posts’ captions.
So, even if you post an advertisement for a product that reaches a wide audience, users would have to jump through many hoops to order the product for themselves. But with the shoppable posts feature, buying products on Instagram is made much easier.
This is why it’s highly recommended to sign up for Instagram shopping if your account qualifies for the feature. Again, this isn’t a feature available for all accounts. If your account doesn’t yet qualify, in the next section, we’ll go into more detail on what you need to do to be able to start selling on Instagram.
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How to Sell Products on Instagram with Shoppable Posts
While shoppable posts make things simpler for the business and the customer, this isn’t something available to all accounts. Before you can sell products on IG with shoppable posts, you need to qualify for the feature, upload your catalog, and receive approval from Instagram.
So, we’ll explain each of these processes before showing you how to make your posts shoppable.
Become Eligible to Sell
First of all, you need to be eligible for shoppable posts. To do this, you will have to operate in markets where the feature is available. You can find a list of the locations where Instagram shopping is available here.
Additionally, you must have a business or creator account. If you only use a regular Instagram account, you won’t be able to use this feature. You will also need to ensure that you sell products that meet Instagram’s merchant agreement and commerce policy.
Lastly, you have to connect your Instagram account to your Facebook business account. Once you complete all of that, you can proceed to the next step.
Upload Your Catalog
Before making your posts shoppable, you must upload your catalog to Instagram. Your IG catalog is basically a comprehensive list of items that you have for sale with their price tags and description.
You can do this manually through the Facebook Business Manager. However, if you want to save time and effort, you can also do it through a third party like Shopify or BigCommerce.
When doing this, ensure you find a third-party service compatible with Instagram and Facebook shopping.
Submit Your Account
When you have your catalog connected to your platform, you’re almost ready to post shoppable content on the platform. But before that, you need to submit your account to Instagram so that the IG team can review it and approve your account for shoppable posts.
To do this, go to the Professional Dashboard and tap the “Set Up Instagram Shopping” option. From there, follow the prompts, submit your catalog, and submit your profile for review. Approval usually takes a couple of days. In some cases, Instagram may ask you to submit additional information before they reach a decision.
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How to Upload Shoppable Posts on IG
Once you get the approval from Instagram to create shoppable posts, doing so isn’t that hard. Since you already uploaded your catalog beforehand, it’s already saved to Instagram. So, you won’t have to manually add prices and product descriptions again.
To make a post shoppable, you first have to edit the picture or video and then set up your caption. Before publishing the post, you will see a “Tag Products” option underneath the “Tag People” button.
When you tap on the “Tag Products” option, you can select the item on the picture you want to tag and select the product from your catalog.
From there, all you have to do is upload the photo, and it will appear as a shoppable post. You can also do this to old posts by going to the photo and selecting the “Edit” option. This allows you to tag products to the photo and edit the entire post.
You can read additional Instagram articles here.
