Instagram has become the prime source of eye candy for any e-commerce. With 700 million active users, Instagram has already surpassed Twitter and is already seen as the most influential social network after Facebook, their owner. It's extremely popular among young adults and women. So let's talk about how to sell on Instagram and redirect traffic to your e-commerce.

How to sell on Instagram and redirect traffic to your e-commerce

Right now we're working on a really cool project with a client who requested that we add a module to the site that will allow them to sell from Instagram. It's because of this recent request that I decided it would be interesting to talk about this topic. I'd like to address a lot of doubts about how to sell through Instagram. Many of you understand the large volume of traffic this social network generates. The potential is limitless.

It's true that there are certain limitations of Instagram. For example, when you want to add links you can't include a photo of the product linked to its product listing in your online shop. Instagram considers itself a social network for the present moment. That's why they are extra cautious when introducing updates that could negatively impact this characteristic that's made them so popular.

In recent months we've see how Instagram has added new features. For example, the ads can now include a call to action to take users to external websites and online shops. But these options aren't available for normal posts, only for paid ads. Nonetheless, you can utilise certain apps to boost your conversion on Instagram.

A landing page that replicates your Intagram

Foursixty, Olapic or Shoppable Instagram are some very interesting services to help you sell through Instagram. These sites let you create a landing page and replicate your Instagram with all your photos. The idea is that your Instagram followers click on a link in your Instragram bio and are redirected to your landing page. You can add tags to each product or several tags for each image. Then when users click the tags they will be taken directly to your product listing in your online shop. Some platforms even allow your followers to create content with hashtags.

These are some of the services that let you easily create landing pages: 

• Foursixty
• Olapic
• Shoppable Instagram
• Expercity
• Photoslurp

• Timberland, created with Olapic
• Ban.do, created with Foursixty
• Adore me, created with Shoppable Instagram
• Skullcandy, created with Expercity

Regarding prices, most of these services offer several pricing plans according to your needs. For example, Foursixty offers three options: the most basic is 50 dollars a month, the next level is 100 and the most premium is 300.

It's a better option than just linking to your homepage

Without a doubt Instagram is aware of the potential they have for e-commerces and are probably already working on tools that will let us sell and buy without leaving their platform. Nonetheless, until they allow this we have to get the most out of the one link we can share: the link in our Instagram bio.

When finding how to sell on Instagram and redirect traffic to your e-commerce it may seem redirecting to a "Parallel Instagram" isn't the best tactic. However it's infinitely better than simply redirecting users to your shops homepage. If the link in your bio goes to your homepage the user interested in a particular product has to find it on their own. Depending on how many products you offer in your shop this could take time and they will probably give up quickly. The last thing you want is to lose a sale because this, right?

On the other hand, if the user finds a replicate of your Instagram through that link, all they have to do is find the photo they liked and click to see the product listing in your online shop. It's a quick and intuitive solution.

Other ways to sell through Instagram

Instagram doesn't make it easy to sell, but you can always use your imagination. Take these examples:

• You can use link shorteners, such as Bitly, which let you create short links that are easy to remember. Although the user must open their navigator and type the link, it's easier done with a short link than a long one.
• Use tags in the photos to link them to different accounts, each one dedicated to a product. Check out how Ikea and Mercedes used a similar solution.

Although these probably weren't the solutions you expected, I hope this post enlightened you a bit on how to sell on Instagram and redirect traffic to your e-commerce.

Talk to you soon!