12 Tips & Social Commerce Examples for Selling on Instagram

With over one billion users worldwide, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms.

And your target audience isn’t just looking at the app; they’re also buying it.

This means you have a huge opportunity to get your products or services in front of people who need and want them, all while taking advantage of the creative possibilities offered by a visual platform like Instagram.

In the last five years, I’ve made over $32,500 on Instagram.

It wasn’t my primary sales channel. It was, however, a great source of extra income and a place where I could have some fun and try new things.

With that said, Instagram can be crowded due to its popularity.

Here are some pointers to help you get noticed and sell more on Instagram.

1. Verify that your account is designated as a “business” account

You must have some foundations in place before you can expect to make a dollar on Instagram.

First and foremost, make sure your account is set up as a “Business” account.

This may seem self-evident, but it’s crucial.

Business accounts have features that help with marketing, such as:

Insights into your target market.
More ways to add useful information to your profile so that others can find and connect with you outside of the app.
The ability to promote posts in order to reach a larger audience.

2. Re-evaluate your branding

Next, make sure your branding is consistent across all platforms, including Instagram.

This ensures that your presence is noticed and remembered.

Your profile picture, post style, and even your bio should all be consistent with your existing brand identity.

Look at accounts like @magnolia and @teachable for ideas.

Read Instagram Marketing in 8 Simple Steps.

3. Maintain Consistency And Add Value

How do you make money on Instagram once you’ve established a presence?

Focus on consistency and providing value, not just selling, as you would with your other content.

For many people, a sales-y account is a huge turn-off.

You won’t have an engaged audience for long if all you post are product features with links to buy.

And, as you may know, a more engaged audience leads to higher conversion rates.

People who like, trust and know you are far more likely to buy from you.

The importance of consistent, high-quality Instagram content in the selling equation cannot be overstated.

Regular posting, rather than just in Reels or Stories, helps to build trust over time by establishing a foundation of high-value static and carousel posts.

4. Make High-Quality Instagram Posts to Increase Sales

High-quality posts help you establish a presence on Instagram and attract new followers who may become customers in the future.

What are the characteristics of high-quality posts?

High-quality imagery complements your brand’s overall tone.
Valuable, relevant information – either in the post image itself or in the caption – that demonstrates your expertise, is topically relevant to your industry and gives your audience something to think about (entertainment value counts, too!).
Reliable posting that your audience can rely on (i.e., you don’t go missing for days or weeks at a time).
As part of an overarching content strategy, this is part of a planned content schedule mapped out weeks in advance.

5. Make Use of Smart Tools

Manually managing your Instagram account is a recipe for disaster.

It can be exhausting to post multiple times a day, in various formats, on a daily basis.

Fortunately, there are a number of tools available to assist you in creating a cohesive and consistent Instagram grid.

A good tool will also aid in the scheduling of posts and the creation of captions that include relevant hashtags.

Here are a few tools to think about:

MeetEdgar – This site has a lot of cool features, including an automatic content scheduler that pulls posts from your library.
Later – An all-in-one app with a variety of customizable plans.
Agorapulse – This tool can be used to manage all of your social media accounts, not just Instagram.

6. Addressing Pain Points in Post-Reels

Use all of the features available to you when selling on Instagram for the best results.

Posting Reels that specifically address a difficult pain point for your audience is a great strategy.

Your product/service should be the solution you provide, which you can link to in your bio and mention in the Reel or caption.

7. Make Strategic Use of the “Link in Bio”

Don’t link to your homepage in your Instagram bio if you want to sell more.

Instead, send customers who came from the platform to a targeted landing page where they can make a purchase.

You can change the link to point to different landing pages for different products, and then include CTAs in your “link in bio” on static posts featuring those products.

This is a great way to get around the fact that you can’t link to static posts directly.

Take a look at this VSCO post, for example, and note where they say, “Discover more through the link in our bio.”

8. Include a link to products or services in your stories

Another great way to sell on Instagram is to use Stories to share about a product or service, especially since you can use a sticker to link directly to the product.

It also doesn’t have to be fancy – talk directly to the camera about the product and show it off, tell a story about a client who was happy with a service, and so on.

On the story, you can put a link sticker that goes straight to the product page.

By the way, this feature used to be restricted to certain types of users, but Instagram recently made it available to all users.

9. Save Product-Related Stories To Highlights

Have any of your product-related stories gone over particularly well? Save them to your Story Highlights instead of letting them vanish into thin air!

Make a separate Highlight just for stories about products so that customers can find them easily. Take a look at Magnolia’s profile, where they kept it simple by titling their product highlights “shop.”

You can also make different highlights for various product types, for example.

10. Promote Product/Service-Related Posts

One of the simplest ways to create an Instagram ad is to promote (or “boost”) a product post.

This will increase the visibility and traction of your post, resulting in more people seeing your product or service.

Promote posts that are already doing well in terms of engagement in particular.

Because you know these posts will appeal to your existing audience, they have a better chance of performing in front of new eyes.

More good advice can be found in Instagram’s short, visual guide to boosting posts.

11. Make Good Use of Hashtags

Many of the selling tips in this guide can be combined with hashtags to give your products/services an even bigger boost.

The right hashtags can make a big difference in how easy it is for new customers to find you, your company, and your products.

Spend some time researching these topics and categorizing your posts, Stories, and Reels accordingly.

Branded hashtags should also be considered.

These are tags that you create specifically for your brand and products, and they can help existing customers find exactly what they’re looking for.

Magnolia, for example, uses the hashtag “#MagnoliaHomeRugs” to help customers find posts about this product type.

12. Use Instagram Shopping to Make Money

Finally, don’t forget that Instagram has a feature called Instagram Shopping that allows you to sell directly from the app.

You can create a “shop” on the app after enrolling and connecting your online store, and link directly to products in your shop in posts, Reels, and Stories.