In 2021, eleven years after its launch, Instagram hit 2 billion monthly active users. With a fast-growing user base of engaged people, when 90% of Instagrammers follow at least one business in-app, Instagram has moved further from its origins as a photo-sharing platform.

Today, Instagram is one of the most effective tools for brand promotion as the majority of users discover and research products in-app, according to Meta’s own data. What is more, seeing products on Instagram affects the buying decisions.

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With the great sales potential of the network, businesses of all sizes and niches establish a presence on Instagram and use this platform to market their products and get in front of potential customers.

Here are 7 best practices on how to market your products on Instagram the right way. Let’s dive in!

1. Turn Your Instagram Profile into a Storefront

Long gone are the days when Instagram was a simple photo-sharing app. However, Instagram is still a visual platform with a strong focus on visuals that attracts visual learners who perceive information via images and videos.

If you want to market your products on Instagram, one of the easiest yet effective ways is to show off your products from all the sides. Thus, it’s a clever idea to make good use of Instagram functionality and turn your Instagram profile into a storefront where visitors can see product photos, read descriptions, and find out prices.

Sandro Paris is a great example of this strategy in action:

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The company has professional product images and it uses these visuals on the platform in a cohesive manner to create a beautiful feed. To make a similar profile, you need to preview images and schedule Instagram posts in advance.

But if you’re a small business who is just starting out, you can rely on AI image generators to combine product images with inspirational content and therefore make your feed eye-catching without investing much time and effort.

However, using product images isn’t enough. Here are more ideas on how to turn your Instagram profile into a storefront:

• Write a descriptive Instagram bio
• Make the most out of Instagram Story highlights to organize collection albums
• Use Instagram shopping features like product tags and stickers
• Create an AR filter for Stories that feature your products virtually

2. Nurture Leads on the Platform

Instagram is not just a communication platform for friends and family anymore. Since an average Instagram user spends 29 minutes on the platform daily, people use the platform for product discovery and research.

If you market your products on Instagram, that’s great. However, keep in mind that just a few users are ready to make impulse buying when seeing your products. Thus, it’s important to nurture leads on the platform and then work with interested prospects on turning them into paying customers.

The best way to nurture leads on Instagram is to tell readers about the benefits of being on your email list and invite them to sign up for it, just like in the example below:

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What is more, you can always rely on lead tracking to analyze where your leads come from and see the effectiveness of Instagram as a lead nurturing channel.

3. Collaborate with Instagram Influencers

Word-of-mouth marketing is still one of the most effective marketing tactics. When people recommend your products, their friends and families are more likely to give your product a try. What is more, referred people are more loyal to your company.

Influencer marketing, when you team up with relevant opinion leaders, gives you more ways to market products effectively. Working with Instagram influencers, you get a chance to enter an already-established community and reach a wider audience of potential customers who pay close attention to peer recommendations and therefore trust your company.

It’s no secret that Instagram videos are popular among users and vloggers help your products shine. Thus, it’s a good idea to invite Instagram influencers to create video product reviews of your products. Check out an example below:

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Pro tip: If you want to guide influencers on how to do product reviews right, organize one-on-one meetings where you can give instructions to opinion leaders and answer all questions.

4. Leverage the Power of Ephemeral Content

With the limited lifespan of 24 hours, ephemeral content creates a sense of urgency that encourages viewers to take action faster. Instagram Stories have quickly become popular on the platform and around 500 million users create or watch Stories daily.

What is more, Instagram rolls out business-specific features for Stories that help businesses market their products and achieve business goals faster. In short, if you use Instagram for product promotion, leverage the power of ephemeral content.

Case in point:

Bali Body is an active user of Stories and the company has different approaches on how to make good use of ephemeral content. Not only does the company upload several Stories to its profile that feature products, but it also reposts fan-made content or promotes its initiative for people who tag their brand on social media.

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What is more, Bali Body saves best-performing Stories as Story highlights and organizes them into separate albums so that Instagram visitors could find relevant information with a few clicks. Let’s take a look at how Bali Body uses Instagram Story highlights on its profile:

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To stand out in the crowd and create eye-catching ephemeral content that encourages viewers to take action, consider using an Instagram Story maker that offers you a variety of ready-to-use templates that can be adjusted to your brand identity with ease. After all, Instagram is a visual platform and its users crave high-quality content even if it disappears within 24 hours.

5. Sponsor Instagram Contests

Another effective tactic to market your products on Instagram and encourage more users to give it a try is to sponsor Instagram contests and offer your products as prizes.

Instagram contests are extremely popular among users and they help brands achieve goals fast when done right. One study found that Instagram giveaways or contests help to grow your following 70% faster and these posts get higher engagement (64x more comments and 3.5x more likes than regular posts).

If you want to market your products and spark interest in it, you can collaborate with other businesses in your niche and sponsor their contests by giving away gift cards or brand freebies. It gives a great chance for participants to learn more about your products and winners get a chance to use your product.

Want to know the best part? Contest winners are more loyal to brands, so they are more likely to spread a positive word about your products which means reaching more potential customers.

Check out an example of an Instagram contest sponsored by several brands:

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6. Provide Customer Service on Instagram

When people seek out products on Instagram, they are ready to make an in-app purchase, but you should be ready for various questions at every stage of their customer journey. Since people use Instagram for shopping, they also opt for asking their questions on the platform.

This means you should be ready to provide customer service on Instagram if you market your products on the platform. And the first step is to include contact buttons in the bio section so that worried customers could get in touch with you.

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If your customers prefer calls, you can use a landline phone service and include your phone number as a contact button to help people contact you faster. What is more, it’s a good idea to write about ways on how to contact you in captions, just like in the example below:

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When people get answers to their questions fast, they don’t lose interest in your business. What is more, providing customer care on Instagram, you can also collect customer feedback as people may want to share their customer experiences with you and other potential clients. All in all, it leads to business growth.

7. Invest in Paid Ad Campaigns

In the last few years, Instagram has proved its sales potential for brands. Today, 25 million businesses hope for the attention of their target audiences on the platform, so the competition is getting higher.

To market your products and make sure your message gets to your potential customers, it’s a smart idea to invest in paid ad campaigns. With advanced settings, not only can you target the right people who represent your customer profile, but also choose the right ad objective like boosting brand awareness or increasing sales to make sure your campaign gets the right results.

Do you want to make the most out of your ad campaign? Make the most out of direct marketing solutions and target people who have an interest in the company’s products.

For example, Clinique used Instagram to target people who have shown interest in its products previously. The company created engaging video ads and showed them to lookalike audiences of people similar to its past product purchasers and repeat customers.

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The above-mentioned example proves that video ads perform well: with the dynamic nature of videos, these ad campaigns can tell viewers more about your product in an interesting and engaging way. If you want to create a video ad with ease, choose a reliable Instagram video tool that makes it easy for all people to create stunning videos on the go.

In a Word

No matter what your business niche or size is, it’s always a good idea to market your products on Instagram and interact with your potential customers on the platform as people are ready to communicate with brands. To make the process effective, consider checking out best practices we’ve collected. Let us know what works best for your company!