Did you know that Instagram beat Twitter’s 1 billion monthly active users?

It is no wonder that it is one of the most popular social media platforms for shopping referrals. You are missing major sales opportunities if you don’t have an Instagram account for your online business.

Let’s look at how Instagram can bring you many sales opportunities on your ecommerce site.

Important Instagram Statistics

• Every day, over 500 million people upload Instagram stories

• Instagram users discover new services and products at more than 80%.

• Instagram users follow over 90% of businesses on Instagram

• More than 70% of Instagram users are younger than 35

• Instagram is used by over 85% of the top business brands

• Instagram has 23% more ad spending than Facebook

• Each month, over 130 million people engage with shopping posts

• More than 63% of Instagram users use the app at least once a day

Now you’re aware that Instagram has made a lot of progress since October 2010, when it was launched. We have the top hacks and tips for transforming your ecommerce website from a failure story to success, whether you are just starting Instagram or looking to increase user engagement and boost online sales.

Five Tips to Make Your E-Commerce Website Popular on Instagram

1. Build community

It is a great way to increase user engagement, keep connected with your customers and build brand loyalty by creating an Instagram community. It is also the best time to build meaningful relationships online with customers thanks to the COVID-19-induced social distancing. Your audience should feel part of a community that shares common interests. Glossier and Nike, which are community-oriented brands, have enjoyed great success on Instagram. They are proud to share their appreciation and love on social media and to help the brand achieve a personal lifestyle alignment.

There are many ecommerce websites online. It is crucial that you ensure your customers choose your brand. It is possible to build a strong community. These are some ways to create a vibrant Instagram community.

• To increase the likelihood of your content being shared, use emotions when creating it

• Tell your users to double-tap and tag someone in order to make them feel connected with your ecommerce site brand.

• Use smart hashtags to get your post seen by the most people on Instagram. Use the most popular hashtags and brand-specific hashtags when you are using Instagram. Nike launched #runfree to bring runners together and create a community.

• Instead of using links within the caption, add it to your bio and tell others to go check it out for more information.

2. Celebrate seasons and festivals

When you create an online store, it is the right time to make connections with customers and share the most important moments with them. It is time to reconsider your approach as Instagram becomes more saturated and more brands fight for customers.

Dynamic marketing pages can be created to promote products targeted at customer segments by geography, time, or device. Many platforms offer dynamic marketing tools to increase sales and gain customers’ attention. Check out how Starbucks uses Instagram for red cup season. Starbucks has launched a limited-time offer that creates urgency and has designed reusable cups to celebrate the season.

The FOMO (fear-of-missing out) effect is still a powerful tool for brands and has a huge impact on customers. Festivals are another example of this. Did you know that 88% impulse buying is driven by sales seasons? Don’t delay to announce your seasonal sale on your ecommerce site and encourage your followers to become customers.

3. Strategically optimize your profile, photos, and content

You can promote your business via Instagram. A lot of people will visit your profile. The catch is this: Let’s look at the key elements that make an optimized Instagram account. There aren’t too many things on your profile that you need to be concerned about.

• A fascinating bio

• Your ecommerce website should be creatively described

• Attractive story highlights

• A simple profile picture that looks like a company logo. Your Instagram interactions will be accompanied by a thumbnail of your profile picture. It should be easy to recognize.

• To make it easier for potential Instagram followers to find you, create a searchable username.

• If you have a business account, include your email address and phone number.

• Don’t forget to include a link to your online shop.

Optimizing your images is the next step. Photos are essential for an online store. It is the same with Instagram. You can manage product images and their behavior with the help of ecommerce platforms. However, managing your Instagram visual content is more difficult. You need to be strategic when managing your Instagram visual content. No matter if your images are about an object or a person, you need to capture the image in context and give your brand identity.

4. Be careful with your hashtags

Let’s not get into Instagram photos. Let’s now talk about the caption. It’s not just the images that drive customers to your profile. A picture is worth a thousand words if it’s captioned properly. Telling a story behind a photo is a great way to promote your ecommerce site. You can also go behind-the scenes with your followers to make them more engaged.

Here comes the most important aspect of your caption: Hashtags. These hashtags are the best way to increase your reach on Instagram. To find the right subject matter, most users search for hashtags. Using the right hashtags can help users find your content and connect to other users with similar interests.

Mixing different hashtag types is the best way to harness the power of hashtags to your ecommerce site.

• Brand-specific hashtags – Create your own hashtags specific to an event or company. #TEDTalk is one example.

• Industry hashtags – Widely used hashtags that are specific to a particular industry or client type. #Meeting profs is one example.

• Niche hashtags: These hashtags are those that your target audience uses frequently. #MarketerLife is an example.

• Use content hashtags to relate to the message of your post. #tbt is one example.

We will show you real-life examples of brands that are winning the hashtag battle in Instagram.

• Coke’s #ShareACoke campaign focuses on relationships. 

• Chevy’s #BestDayEver campaign is a moment creation.

• Audi #WantAnR8 campaign is a powerful example of the power of suggestion

• Airbnb’s #OneLessStranger campaign is a great way to build community.

5. Organize giveaways and contests

Engagement is key to Instagram success, as we keep saying it over and over. It doesn’t matter if your goal is to create an online store, or if you already have one. You can’t just advertise your products and expect people to visit your Instagram page.

It doesn’t work that way. Engagement campaigns are the key. Giveaways and contests are a great way to get people involved in your campaigns. You might be wondering if the last contest that you ran on Facebook was very ineffective and cost you . Let’s just say that Instagram users are more likely than others to engage with brands. You can easily find your next participant by using simple hashtags such as #contestalert and #giveaway

These contests, if done right, can bring a lot of traffic to your ecommerce site. It can also bring in many followers, including many freebie chasers.

This is how Birchbox announced a great giveaway to customers. It has received a lot of attention on Instagram.

You can increase participation if you’ve already run contest promotions. Connecting your ecommerce website with Instagram is key. It is easy with the help of your ecommerce platform. This is how it looks on your website.

Get Instagram to transform your ecommerce marketing

With Instagram’s growing popularity among millennials, it has become one the most important marketplaces once you create an online store . The platform has over 25 million businesses and this is no surprise.

To generate sales on Instagram, you don’t need a large marketing budget. These tips will help you increase user engagement and, consequently, sales. If you’re an ecommerce site and want to make your website popular, follow these Instagram tips and let us know how it worked for you. Start now to take your brand to new heights.