Instagram’s New Shop Feature: A Digital Marketer’s Dream
BY LAUREN GILLY
The field of digital marketing is broad yet targeted, as practices can be molded to fit specific audience segments. Digital marketing, which uses the internet, search engines (like Google) and social media platforms to reach consumers, is growing in popularity. Social media platforms, such as Instagram, are commonly used to increase brand awareness while corroborating social trust.
About Instagram
Instagram, launched in October 2010, is the sixth most popular social media platform worldwide. The site had 1.2 billion member visits in October of 2020, and of those, 500 million were Daily Active Users (DAUs). This provides ample opportunity for digital marketing to a large audience on this site.
Instagram’s Active User Demographics and Purpose
Maintaining connection with friends and family is one of the main reasons people start using Instagram. Instagram users, who will be referred to as media consumers in this instance, likely trust the judgment of the people they follow—or at least trust the judgment of most of the people they follow.
When a friend posts about a product they like, this creates a ripple effect of trust in their circle of followers; because we trust them. We feel connected to them. Consumers stand a greater chance of purchasing the same or similar items as their friend because, if their friend had a good experience with the product, they could, too.
Example of Influencer Marketing
Digital marketing is important because it can lead to influencer marketing. As described above, when someone sees that someone they trust uses a product, that individual is more likely to trust the company that makes the product as well.
Most of the time when we see the phrase “influencer”, we jump to an image of someone with a million followers who earned their fame from reality show stardom. However brands are beginning to recognize that micro-influencers (those with 10,000 - 50,000 followers) often offer more connection with their audience. Folks like Becca Ashmon of A Pretty Hot Mess may have a niche audience, but those followers readily await the next product she recommends for them to buy, which makes her ideal for brands to want to work with.
Over the past year or two, I have had three friends become ambassadors for companies on Instagram (two clothing companies, one jewelry company). These companies were small and I had not previously heard about them prior to my friends’ involvement. When my friends posted pictures of the products, I became interested in the brands and shopped on the company’s site.
When I asked my friends where they learned about these companies, since they were small start-ups, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that each of them had learned about them through Instagram. The sales my peers made, as a result of their posts, were the exact goal of the digital marketer who placed the sponsored ad on Instagram looking for ambassadors.
Business Accounts
Nine out of 10 of Instagram’s users follow a business account. Business accounts are unique because they provide owners with the ability to view native analytics, post shoppable posts with links to their store, and include a link to their store at the top of their profile.
What is the Instagram Shop Feature for Business?
The Instagram Shop feature is revolutionary and extremely beneficial for digital marketers. Not only does the Instagram Shop feature allow the company to include a link to their online store in their Instagram Business Profile, but it also allows the site to be opened in the app.
The ability for the shop to open in the app is important because it simplifies the process for consumers-- fewer barriers to shopping heightens their chances of spending, increasing business revenue.
Streamlines Digital Marketing and Purchasing
As a digital marketer, you have an important job—that is to initiate leads that result in purchases from a particular brand. The Instagram Shop feature makes your life easier, as it simplifies the process, removing an entire step.
In the past, digital marketers would have had to convince their audience that merchandise was so worthwhile that they should go out of their way—leave Instagram and go directly to their business’s website—to order products. With the Instagram Shop feature, the way of the future, consumers can simply click on the product, without leaving the app, to place an order.
My Client Prefers Sites such as Etsy. Can I Link to Those Sites?
Yes! On online retail sites like Etsy do make your products discoverable, however realistically it’s a bit like a catalog: it doesn’t do any good unless you help get it out in front of people. It can be difficult for shoppers to find your specific products if someone goes into the site without your guidance, particularly if it’s not even something they know they need, like an adult coloring book of mid-century modern furniture.
Random? Yes. Would I look for it? No. Do I need it? Absolutely.
Through Instagram, shoppers have an easier time finding products or companies that might be of interest. If an individual viewing Instagram stumbles upon a digital marketing advertisement, they may be more likely to look at it longer than if they were on a site overwhelmed with similar advertisements. When caught off guard, consumers’ interest may be stimulated.
When you post a product to Instagram you can use a shopping tag linking to your client’s Etsy page. This will guide traffic in the direction your client wants while enhancing chances of purchase with direction.
Shopping Tags
A unique feature of the Instagram Shop is that you can tag products in images just as you would tag people. When a consumer sees the post in their feed—whether they follow the page, or it is a sponsored advertisement—they also see that the tagged product has a price tag associated and is clickable. The ability for viewers to see tags in posts may increase the likelihood that they further look into the product or company.
Wrappin’ It Up
Instagram’s new shop feature is a beneficial tool for businesses and digital marketers alike. Not only can transactions be facilitated through the Instagram app, but digital marketers have the ability to provide link tags in posts to attract business. The Instagram Shop feature streamlines digital marketing and purchasing, allowing for a seamless shopping experience.
About the Author:
Lauren Gilly is a content writer for Magnus Opus and has years of experience learning about social media platforms, first as a user, then as a marketer.