How to Sell on Instagram in 2021

Want to learn how to make your page more profitable and sell on Instagram in 2021? Read our new blog post for the top tips and tricks!

Posted 3 years ago

Written by

Julia Cohen

Posted 3 years ago

One thing that became apparent on Instagram in 2021 is the platform’s intention to integrate e-commerce and social selling even more. And, Instagram can be an extremely profitable means of reaching consumers if done right. Why? Because users spend an average of just under an hour on Instagram, daily. The platform is just one of the multiple touchpoints that have become prominent in a customer’s buying journey, and there are multiple ways to sell on Instagram – whether direct product sales or just putting yourself in front of buyers who are at the start of their path to purchase. In today’s article, we are going to talk you through how to effectively sell on Instagram in 2021, as well as share our best practices for making your profile, profitable!

How to Sell on Instagram in 2021 💸

In Instagram’s bid to solidify itself as more of a marketplace and not just a social meeting place, they have added a host of new features that make shopping and selling much easier.

Instagram Reels Shopping 🛍

One such new addition is the ability to sell and shop on Instagram Reels – the platform’s newest means of creating content.

As of today you can shop with Reels. Creators can tag products in Reels, and, if you’re interested, you can find out more about them inline. I’m excited to see how this helps people find and share new things you love. pic.twitter.com/vA26LF6Bpm

— Adam Mosseri 😷 (@mosseri) December 10, 2020

Reels are an organic way for users to grow on the platform, as videos can become viral quickly and rack up views if users engage and interact with the content. They are one of the best ways to reach new people, as Instagrammers are suggested Reels based on their personal interests and the content they already interact with, making it much easier to get your content in front of a fresh audience. Recently, Instagram announced the ability to tag products in Reels, so that viewers can ‘explore more’ about featured products. However, product placements can sometimes turn people off if they come across as inauthentic, so it’s important to make sure your Reels don’t just come across as an ad.

A seamless way to sell on Instagram Reels is by partnering with influencers that fit with your brand or customers who can feature your product in a more organic way, by talking about the benefits of your service. For example, a series showcasing household products you didn’t know you needed from Amazon went viral and spiked sales because of its relatability and the way in which it fit in with other content on the platform.

Another great idea for an Instagram Reel that will sell, is by featuring a product in a video without necessarily making the video about that product. For example, by wearing a scarf in a comedy video, you are still placing that product in front of viewers’ eyes, without making the video an advertisement. That way, if viewers like the scarf you are wearing, they can click to explore more about the product, and not necessarily feel ‘targeted’.

Adding a Shop to Your Instagram Page 🎁

Online sales have also risen naturally as a result of Covid – Global digital sales grew 45% year over year to reach $181 million Dec. 1- Dec. 14, Salesforce says.

In our previous article, we talked about how useful Instagram storefronts can be for your brand, so of course, this is one of the number one ways to sell on Instagram in 2021. One of the reasons why Instagram shopping is effective in itself is because users are actively looking for products on your page to either buy or consider. Instagram shops are particularly useful for smaller businesses that are aiming to employ a direct-to-consumer model and can’t necessarily afford to produce different shopping channels from the get-go. So, how do you use Instagram shopping the right way?

First, you need to make sure you are set up as a business account on Instagram so that you can add a shop to your profile.

Next, make sure to tag your posts with their product link in your shop anytime they are featured. This allows for ease of shopping for your consumers so that if your posts appear in their feed, they can explore products without having to tap through to your page to find your shop link. When you tag a product in your posts, it may be included in Instagram’s shopping Explore tab (used by more than half of Instagram users each month), which will show the post to users actively shopping. So, just by tagging a product, you are expanding your reach to consumers that are actively looking for products as well as those who are just discovering your page on their feed.

Promoting Your Shop Using Native Instagram Features #️⃣

A great way to propel your products and increase your chances of selling on Instagram is by using the platform’s native features to increase your visibility.

One such way to increase the discoverability of your shop is by using the right hashtags. Much like normal posts, hashtags can increase the organic reach of your account and your shoppable posts. Moreover, if someone follows your branded hashtag or a hashtag you frequently rank highly on, you essentially get a free marketing stream to promote your products to audiences within your niche. Fashion brand Natori saw an increase of 1,416% in Instagram traffic as a result of their Instagram shop – the brand frequently uses related hashtags on their shoppable posts.

Another feature native to Instagram that can increase product sales is Instagram Stories. Instagram has included the option to add a product sticker to your Story posts, which features and links through to a product in your shop.

Using Instagram Ads 💰

Long known as one of the most effective ways to sell on Instagram, running Instagram Ads make your posts work harder. These allow you to tailor the posts you sponsor to audiences that meet specific requirements and are thus more likely to convert. In order to sell, it’s important to invest, and targeting users is a great way to ensure your posts are being seen. You can build your ad audiences based off of people who are interested in similar products, fit within a specific age range, or are located in your top region. You can also retarget people who have already explored your website or profile by using Facebook pixels.

We hope you gained a little more insight into how to sell on Instagram in 2021. If you want to learn more about what the right hashtags are to get your products seen, just tap the banner below!